Apart from loving all of it, I guess I like the weekend shaves most. Taking some more time. Leisurely prepping, taking the time to make a really good lather and taking out a straight or a Rolls Razor and, well, just shave, using old fashioned equipment. Being able to really to take the time to enjoy, savour the moment. Man, just wrinting this makes me want to start all over again and do a second shave today... See you in a bit!
Looking presentable and having a smooth face afterwards. For me, that is not just what I enjoy most about shaving, it is the whole point of shaving.
True, but smooth face and looking decent are the results of the process. I was just curious in asking as to what part of the process does one enjoy the most, rather than why do we shave. I love a smooth face and feeling great afterwards. That's the real reward. But I also find certain aspects of the ritual to be quite rewarding as well.
I would think that head-banging while shaving would qualify as a bad idea, personally. For myself, I like face-lathering.
I thought you were a Metallica fan and used to listen to their music during your shaves. If I'm mistaken, then I'm sorry. For some reason I thought we had an inside joke there. Ha. Some are soothed by a lion's roar, others by the burp of a babe. Myself, I like the sound of water slowly tricking into the sink and whiskers leaving my face.
I enjoy everything about shaving with a Straight or DE. Variety is probably the thing I like most. Our bathroom vanity is 4 feet long and has a drawer the width of it on the bottom. 3 feet of it is filled with different soaps that I am slowly weeding out some that don't get used much to PIF. The bottom right drawer is filled with Straight Razors, just yesterday I was trying to cut it down from about 14 to 7 that are in rotation. My thought was that surely I could pick 7 that I preferred over the rest. I failed and decided to keep them all in rotation. As a matter of fact I just got a Temperite (Posted in the Haul thread) in the mail today that will be added to the rotation. It is kind of neat dealing with how each one shaves a bit differently, and it is a joy to get to a razor in the rotation and rediscover how much I like it. I started with DE razors and built up a pretty good sized collection of them. i was rotating about 20 before I started with Straights. Occasionally I use one of the DE's, and have a holder on the sink with a Merkur Sledgehammer, and my F4 (Birth Quarter) Toggle for those occassions. Under the sink is a small collection of Aftershaves which seems to never stop growing either. Amidst all of this variety, it is strange that even though I have a few brushes, I find myself using the High Mountain White Silvertip I got from Oscar11. Variety the Spice of Wet Shaving!
For me, the satisfaction lies more in the overall experience of the shave rather than any particular aspect. While the individual parts of the shave are all enjoyable, none really stands out as significantly better than the rest. If I had to pick a particular aspect of shaving, however, it would be applying the aftershave. Applying aftershave feels good and also is the culmination of the morning's shave. It is like the icing on the cake - not absolutely necessary, but something customary that makes a good thing even better. That has been particularly true for the past week, during which I have been using the excellent Lea After-Shave Balsam.
If it wasn't for a straight razor I would sign up for lazer hair removal. Hair not on the top of your head is my petpeeve. Love using a straight razor because it's more unique, people just don't do that. I enjoy the extra bit of skill that is required and discipline. With that comes the art of shaving with one is gentlmenly class. Its the little things that sperate a gentlemen from everyone else. When you do things that make you feel great, more accomplished, you start your day off with exuberant confidence. If your going to do something do it to be great, be the lowest common denominator and always take the hard road, the one less traveled because that's the one that provides you with moments in your short life to look back and say you did that accomplished that.
Please don't be sorry! I listen to almost all kinds of music during shaving. Though not all at the same time ! Metallica just might be a nice addition - though the headbanging might not . Today it's Muse, by the way. The 2nd law. Not exactly Vivaldi either, but that might be tomorrow's choice
Getting perfect lather, it seems like you create it from nothing, and when you get there, you take a look at the mound you made, palce a little flag on top and sing the national anthem Oh and getting BBS irritation free
Ah, no. They never seem to agree on what to sing. Then one bumps into another and they all start to horse around. Not while I'm straight shaving, please. So while I'm shaving they're banned from the bathroom. And as it was early they aren't allowed to sing outsinde the bathroom (the rest of the household was still asleep).
Using a freshly-honed and stropped straight razor can certainly train one to be patient, thorough and painstakingly deliberate in approach.