Lather

Long time since  my last post. I'm still learning how to shave with a double edge safety razor. I say learning, I use it every day and have gotten much better at it. I still cut myself most days but no where to the level when I started this blog. I had decided for a while that it was time to buy some proper shaving cream / soap. I was in the US recently and for the first time in 13 years didn't buy Barbasol while I was there. I still have one unopened can but not sure when I'll next get to the US.

Over Christmas I decided it was time to invest. I bought a silver tip badger brush, some Taylor of Old Bond Street cream and a copper shaving bowl. The bowl was bought from eBay the others from a different site. The bowl has not yet arrived. I did my first attempt at a lather today using a plastic bowl. I was less than impressed. It started forming in the bowl so I applied to my face. I started on my cheeks but found I had a pretty good lather around my mouth but little elsewhere. Shaving was not pleasant. I tried second layer but it did not go well.

I've done a little reading since and I think I need more water and possibly more cream. I'll see how tomorrow's attempt goes. I think I like the cream more than Barbasol, it smells nicer and I like that it isn't in a pressurised can. That said if I can't get a reasonable lather out of it the smell won't be much good. I'll try again tomorrow. Once I get the hang of it I'll update here.

Savings?

One of the reasons I thought to change razor was to save money. I'm honestly not sure that I will. The blades for a double edge safety razor are far cheaper than those for disposable cartridge razors but I find I'm changing blades far more often.

Typically I shave everyday, definitely everyday for work. I've found that I'm currently changing blade every week, I'm also stretching to make them last a week. With my Mach 3, I was keeping the blades for a long time, probably longer than I should have. I never counted, but I would say I was going about 6 weeks per Mach 3 blade. I estimate they cost about €2.50 each, €10 per pack.

I'm hoping to go out and buy some new blades tomorrow, get a bit of a selection. I'll be better able to work out if there's actually a cost saving from that. I know buying in bulk will work out a saving but I need to find a blade I really like before doing that. 

Razors Are Sharp

Safe Disposal

While reading about how to shave, I saw someone discussing how to dispose of blades. I had honestly never thought about this. I consider myself pretty eco-aware, I try to recycle or compost as much as possible etc. With cartridge razors, I used to just bin them. I assumed I would do the same with DE blades. What I never thought about is how dangerous this is.

DE blades are sharp, they will slice your skin open without effort. Putting straight in the bin is both risky and dangerous. They could slice through the bag spilling rubbish everywhere. Worse still they could injure a sanitation worker or someone else. I have a 2 year old son, I'm yet to see him root through the bins but nothing would surprise me. The risk of him cutting himself on a razor blade is frightening. I also looked at recycling them (domestic collection) but it has the same health risks and apparently because they're so small, they can damage the recycling machines.

The best way, that I have found so far, is to get something like a small Tupperware box and cut a small hole in it, just big enough to fit a razor. You should leave this out of reach of children... You should be able to fit a lot of blades in one of these, I have no idea how many. Once full, tape it up with duct tape and write "bio-hazard" on it, it really is a bio-hazard, then dispose of safely. I haven't yet looked into disposal options. Using his method it can go with regular rubbish. When I get around to it, I'm going to see if the local dump / recycling center has any options for these.

Learning it All Again

Shaving For the First Time - Again

Like I mentioned, I've been shaving for a very long time. It was one of those things I could probably do with my eyes closed. Moving to a DE razor has made me rethink this. It's a whole different way of shaving and I'm still trying to work out how best to do it. Today was significant...

With a cartridge razor, I would shave with grain on my face, down my neck, up my neck, against grain on my face. That ladies and gentlemen, is possibly the most boring thing I have ever written... However with a DE razor you use a completely different stroke (it takes them to rule the world). The idea is you lather (in my case apply Barbasol) and shave with the grain. If you need to go shorter you re-lather and shave across the grain. If shorter again re-lather and go against grain.

Apparently, in general, you're not supposed to shave against the grain. It pulls the hairs out of your face and cause razor bumps. This has never really bothered me but I never knew I was doing it. What I did like was how smooth my face would feel. I'm currently struggling to get the same smoothness with the DE razor. I have gone against the grain with it but it's challenging. With a DE razor you're supposed to let the weight of the razor do the work, challenging when going up your face.

I'm still trying to master the strokes, even understanding the way the hair on my neck grows is challenging, it seems to mostly go away from the center, it's odd shaving that direction... Though I just had a thought that maybe I should shave down my neck, which would be across the grain... I also learned that you should use short strokes with a DE razor, again more challenging than it sounds. After shaving with a DE razor they say you should apply cold water. This helps with any cuts, so far there are many. I have also learned that there is a difference between aftershave and cologne. aftershave is designed to disinfect and help stop bleeding. I have also bought some cheap aftershave from Lidl which I'm using, though this might be cheap cologne and I'm doing it wrong. Cologne is only for scent. I have ordered and alum block from ebay. These are some sort of post shave soap thing that should moisturize and disinfect. I'm hoping this will help.

I have been applying cold water, (what I think is) aftershave and finally moisturizer and every day I have had a slight burning sensation on my face... Everyday until today. I think I have finally gotten better at my strokes. I believe the key is to ensure there's cream, or at very least, water. I think the burn was from a dry shave. I'm hoping that I'm getting better at this and tomorrow will also be a more pleasant shave.

I'm using far more cream than ever before and a lot more product, I'm aiming for cheap stuff at the moment. If I get good at this I may look for better quality products.

Future of (my) Shaving

Current Status

So upon much reading I decided I would take the plunge into the world of the double edge safety razor. I spent a while looking around Dublin for the Wilkinson Sword Classic. This is a (mostly) plastic Wilkinson Sword DE razor. I couldn't find one anywhere I looked. Eventually I turned to eBay where I was able to buy one, with 5 WS blades and shipping from Poland for around €9. This is cheaper than 4 Mach 3 blades. I thought I'd try it.

I waited, oh how I waited, for it to arrive and eventually it did. It's not a badly constructed razor, it's mostly plastic, quite heavy feels solid. I thought it was worth a go. Anything I had read online said it was a reasonable razor for a beginner or back up razor. My first shave with it was a nigh on which my wife and I were going out. Folks, if you're making the move to DE shaving, do not pick a special occasion for your first attempt. It was stressful, bloody and resulted in me finishing with my Aldi razor. I spent a while trying to make the bleeding stop.

I had read online and watched videos that show DE shaving is very different to using a cartridge razor. In my infinite wisdom I thought I should just go for it. I also assumed, naturally, that something brand new would be both easier and better than the thing I've been doing for at least 22 years. It turns out I was mistaken about this. Sadly I don't think I have any photos of the blood bath. In the end ice was the tool to stop the worst of the bleeding. After about 30 minutes I was able to wash most of them away with cold water and go for dinner only slightly self-conscious.

The blood bath was on Saturday 15 July. The photo below was taken two days later, after shaving for the second time. This is a significant improvement on my first experience with said razor. I should highlight that the razor is not at fault. My DE shaving skills are entirely to blame.

17 July 2017

I continued using this razor for the remainder of the week. In that week I reached point where I could almost shave without cutting myself. Six days later, on Friday the 22 July, I decided I should buy a better razor. Being unable to use that one properly, I thought I should spend money on a new razor. I had read quite a bit online and a common recommendation was the Merkur 34c. I had my mind set on that one and went into town to buy. If you're in Dublin, there is a shop in the Stephen's Green centre which stocks a lot of razors. I held a few of them in there; Merkur; Parker and Muhle. In the end I settled on the Merkur 38c. It has a longer handle than the 34c and I thought a nicer balance. The razor came with a single Merkur blade and the shop gave me a pack of 10 Muhle blades.

Hisory of (my) Shaving

Tools of a Pro...

I got my first razor when I was around 12 (maybe I was older, I don't remember), I used it to shave my undercut. I would say I was closer to 14 (22 years ago) when I had to start shaving my face. I always hated it and in my teens did it as little as possible. I remember when I got away with weekly, what I'd give for that now... The first razor I owned was a Gillette senor excel, it had two blades. I had no idea why it needed two blades but that seemed the norm at the time so I went with it. I'm sure I used Gillette shaving cream / gel back then too.

During the mid '90s I was in US and discovered Barbasol shaving cream. I prefer this to any shaving cream (I have tried) available in Ireland. I've been to the US enough times over the past 12 years that I think I have only had to buy shaving cream in Ireland about 3 times. I do tend to stock up on cream when in US. I'm sure there are far better creams out there but I have never used a non-canned cream. Again, I'm not a shaving aficionado, I'm just a guy that shaves daily. That's not to say I won't get hooked on fancy shaving creams, but I haven't yet.

At some point I upgraded my razor to a Mach 3. This was obviously a vastly superior razor, 50% better, it had an additional blade. I remember when I got it not knowing the purpose of the 3rd blade but finding I always managed to cut myself with it. Still more blades is better right? I mean, that's basically Moore's law. I went between using the sensor excel and Mach 3 until I could no longer find the sensor blades. I was sad about this, they were cheaper and they cut me less frequently. Also, the superior number of blades did not equal the same ratio of cuts. I'd say 50% more blades lead to about 4,500% more cuts. It was a good blade to cut ratio, unfortunately not one I wanted.

At some point I upgraded to the 4 blade one (was it called Quatro?). I remember thinking how obscenely large it was (uh huh huh huh). I did like the blade on the back for getting under nose etc. I think I used that until my sample pack of blades ran out. I then went to buy a new set and saw they cost around €20. I then decided to go back to Mach 3 where I have stayed since. Up until recently...

While Mach 3 blades cost about half of the 4 blade one, I still always thought they were too expensive, I think around €10 for 4. I used to try to stock up whenever I went to the US where I think they were about $10 for 5. Expensive but still cheaper. A few weeks back I bought a razor from Aldi to try out. Honestly, it wasn't bad. I preferred the Mach 3 but the replacement cartridges were considerably cheaper than Gillette's. I think this one has 4 blades and an impressively large head (uh huh huh huh). While it was cheaper, I didn't feel this gigantic head was quite satisfying my needs (uh huh huh huh), I didn't feel I was getting a close enough shave.

Frustrated with the price of blades and wanting a quality shave I started searching online to see what others were suggesting. Double Edge safety razors came up time and time again. I thought to myself that this could be worth investigating. One thing I really noticed was how cheap the blades were compared to a cartridge razor.

Welcome

Introduction

The idea for this blog came from my tattoo removal blog. I don't know how long I'll keep this one or how frequently I'll update it. My thinking was that My Arm Got Hot was to document my tattoo removal experience so that others were undergoing removal could learn from it. I decided this one could be for those considering changing their method of shaving. I will be honest, changing razor is less life changing than getting a tattoo or getting one removed. Still it took me a few weeks to decide on things so I thought I might has well write about it.

A caveat, I am going to mention some products in this blog, I am not sponsored in anyway. In the event I do get sponsorship, I will highlight it on the post. The purpose of this blog is not to get sponsorship, it's just to share information and my experiences changing razor. The reason I will mention products is so people can make their own comparisons if they're using or considering similar products.

I have read a few shaving blogs / sites where the guys are really into it, seeing it as a ritual. That is not me, it may become me, but is not me right now. I shave everyday as I like to be clean shaven and I very much see shaving as a chore, something which must be done before work.

I think so far I'm about 3 weeks into shaving with a double edged safety razor. I'm still not sure what I think of it. It's definitely different, takes longer and leaves me prone to cuts. As I mention in my other blog, I had quite a lot (about 24 years) of experience shaving with a disposable razor, using a DE razor is a new, different method of shaving.