here i am playing around in the archives and i found this thread...i love de shaving. while most are still chasing gillettes latest and greatest( which de was a part of back in the day) this just works for me . a learned skill (but not like straights of course) but a skill just the same that rewards when one gets better.whether its a fresh for the day nivea/synthetic/tech shave or a rewarding evening relaxing t and f/badger/aristocrat shave i enjoy them all. much of todays technology is geared to put money in others pockets ,not to improve lives.but thats another story. in a world where corporations push you more for less, a nice older school de shave is a great way to step back from race.
I like your write up on change in our life's, I did a thread over at B&B "The new & old Technologies! A different view point." and the folks like to comment on the changes in their life time and not always for the better. Maybe another generation will come back 180 degrees to enjoy our ways of life that I would not trade for anything else.(it would be nice to leave the negative experiences out if possible that we all witness as we journey along in life.)
It's funny reading this thread; I'm reminded that my oldest showed some interest in using a straight razor, claiming the terrible waste of cartridges going in to the landfill. So being the dad that I am, I research the blazes about straight and DE shaving. At the time he had just lost his sight and hadn't gotten his bearing being blind so I encouraged him to go in to DE shaving and to prove a point I started into DE shaving myself. Well there is a lot of anger and depression in big life change like loosing ones sight, so on top being angry about never learning to drive he said he didn't want to be bothered with it. A few years later for college graduation; I gave him a full shaving kit including a re- plated Slim, blades, bowl, soap and brush. I now have both my boys enjoying DE shaving.
My son learned how to shave with a DE from watching me. His mom had him try with a cart and then he decided that DEs were the way he wanted to go and has looked back once. He got a free Mach 5 in the mail out of the blue and used it until the blade died and then started using his DE again and came to me all surprised about how much better of a shave he got. "Duh," said I, and gave him that look of wisdom that my gray hairs allow from time to time. He went off to boot camp and used the cheap crappy disposables provided and one of the first purchases he made with his bootcamp money was a DE of his own choosing. He's still going strong today. He also bought an adult hooded onesie. Had to add that for some contrast
I am one of the faster guys out there at about 10--12 minutes maybe on rare times longer up to 20 minutes depending on how long my last shave was with the speed I go and do things. Reason why I am so fast is I do not need much for soaps unless it has been more than one sometimes two days, I do not need the soaps but if two days if shaving post shower, then using just barely enough soap to cover the face using foaming hand soap or similar amount of body soap stuff with water as a lubricant letting the soap soak into the skin/hair. Post shower I am quicker on the shave then pre because of being pre wet on the face not needing to go this route as I have to even on no soap shaves put water on my face. One tip that helps me is keeping the blade wet the entire time and if less than 10--12 hours going just the shaver wet no face needed usually as a touch up for an event. I almost never shave by just keeping the head/blade wet only I have to keep the face wet when shaving. Shortest use of the blades I have I get around 27--30 shaves from the King C Gillette made in China/a few early no brand with some even shorter, oldest ones USA Made Personna 100 pack 2017 I usually unless something happened to a blade or a dud that is wavy/has edge chatter I get 45--55 shaves that I could push to 60, then 3rd ones I have are my 2024--2025 USA made Personna 100 pack is 35--40 days though some like my last I pushed to the max of 40--42 days as I was testing the newer blades in my more recently bought vintage Gillette slim Adjustable. I do rotate so the no label 2024--2025 USA made Personna 100 pack I have to keep marking one side edge with a Sharpie/Sharpie Xtreme just to keep using the blades as I rotate the blades after X shaves then sometimes finish off on the side I started with. Then all the 2017 Persona have different top and bottom laser engraved stamp, well same one but one side has a darker harder to read laser engraving. Only the King C Gillette is a single side stamp to emulate some of the older Gillette stainless steel models still made that only have one side stamped up.
Proof, today July 18 2025 my shave was 10 min 30 seconds to 11 minutes when I timed it looking at a clock from going into the place to getting out and bathroom is only 15 feet from where I was standing looking at the clock to going in to shave then coming out. This not including a later clean I noticed my shaver needed when I was done and back in the bathroom (toiletry is on the top of toilet) using a cotton swab to do some of the hard to clean parts on my Gillette Adjustable slim handle. With how hard it is to get double blades or more cleaned out on modern shavers all but the two bigger brands still making Astra II Taconitic and Lord with only Taconic making the shaver in an odd handle shape or this odd Chinese brand Mecha making the Astera II and shaver for it or the single blade disposable Bic models/the similar Chinese Disposables, I end up taking more time getting them clean using some toilet paper, same for my Phillips Norelco One Blade that was one of the longer because one can only get so far down with the shave, so I go at least one more time and cleaning is a pain because mine is the 360 version so the swivel part gets clogged up having to use toothpicks so I only use at times for trimming my side burns down with the trimmer attachment to a better length.
Love my daily shaves. 1 or 2 passes with a few touchups. Don’t obsess over every last hair anymore, but shaves are still very good as I try to focus on good technique. My gear is not fancy, but every piece means something to me. Using nice soaps and balms is a treat, and my skin thanks me for it. Same with using a new blade every 3 shaves. They are cheap, and I have plenty. Ten minutes or so does it for me. It’s a nice relaxing way to start each day. Much cheaper than psychotherapy and I don’t even need an appointment.
