Hello everyone, my name is Mike and I've just been introduced to this forum and wet shaving in general by ShawnF. from here. Thank you for having me!!! Shawn and I are both blacksmiths on another blacksmithing forum and somehow we got to talking about shaving. He showed me his collection of stuff and I have to be honest, I thought it was a really strange hobby at first to be this into shaving as it was something I had to do like brushing my teeth. Shawn generously sent me two PIF packages of samples, a DE razor, blades, soaps, balms, AS etc to try out. I had my own Ever Ready badger brush. The rest is history.
My shaving history started with electrics, then I switched to carts and goo shaving cream. I was never happy with my shaves so I started shaving in the shower. The shaves improved. This may seem weird to some, but I once ran out of razors and had to use my wife's razor. Let me tell you, the razors for women are far better than the Mach 1 men's ones. I routinely was BBS on the face and DFS+ or better on the neck with no or little irritation. We'd share a razor and I started using her shaving cream which was much softer and moisturizing than anything I'd used in the men's world. So for the last 15 years I've shaving with a women's cart and cream and some Vaseline Intensive Care lotion on the face to follow up.
Then comes along Shawn. I started using the Micro Touch DE he sent with Astra blades about a month ago. The first shave was amazing. It felt good, the soap was awesome (Mystic Waters Bay Rum) and dang if I didn't feel like a real man. Although it felt different than the cart shaves, I was getting smoother shaves with the cart. I was having trouble lathering shaving soap, made some adjustments, and Shawn and I made a trade (I'm still working on my end of the trade) for a Simpson Badger hair brush (yes Shawn is way too generous!!)to replace my beat-up Ever Ready I'd had kicking around. I've tried some other soaps, but having started with MW it's hard to compare others to them. I routinely get BBS shaves on the face and DFS+'s on the neck (and I have pretty good beard growth). I'm still reverting back to the cart for clean-up in sensitive areas on the neck, around the lips and under the nose. This morning I forced myself to do the clean-up with the DE and got BBS on the neck with only a few minor irritation issues and nicks. Shawn has been a great help with all my questions, and he really is a good representative of the Cadre and the type of community you all are trying to establish. You folks are a generous bunch, and Shaw exemplified that. Thanks Shawn!
Now I don't feel this hobby is crazy at all. The experience of shaving has value. Being a craftsman, flintknapper, and blacksmith I realize that the things that really matter in life are enjoyed and take time to do. Shaving can be one of those things.
My current shaves:
Razor: Micro Touch DE
Blade: Astra
Soap: Mystic Waters Sandlewood Coconut
Brush: Simpson Badger
Lather Bowl: Plastic Walmart Salsa bowl
AS: Witch Hazel w/ 14% alcohol (cheap Walmart brand)
Cold Water splash (never knew about closing the pores until now!)
Balm: Nivea AS balm (face only)
My shaving history started with electrics, then I switched to carts and goo shaving cream. I was never happy with my shaves so I started shaving in the shower. The shaves improved. This may seem weird to some, but I once ran out of razors and had to use my wife's razor. Let me tell you, the razors for women are far better than the Mach 1 men's ones. I routinely was BBS on the face and DFS+ or better on the neck with no or little irritation. We'd share a razor and I started using her shaving cream which was much softer and moisturizing than anything I'd used in the men's world. So for the last 15 years I've shaving with a women's cart and cream and some Vaseline Intensive Care lotion on the face to follow up.
Then comes along Shawn. I started using the Micro Touch DE he sent with Astra blades about a month ago. The first shave was amazing. It felt good, the soap was awesome (Mystic Waters Bay Rum) and dang if I didn't feel like a real man. Although it felt different than the cart shaves, I was getting smoother shaves with the cart. I was having trouble lathering shaving soap, made some adjustments, and Shawn and I made a trade (I'm still working on my end of the trade) for a Simpson Badger hair brush (yes Shawn is way too generous!!)to replace my beat-up Ever Ready I'd had kicking around. I've tried some other soaps, but having started with MW it's hard to compare others to them. I routinely get BBS shaves on the face and DFS+'s on the neck (and I have pretty good beard growth). I'm still reverting back to the cart for clean-up in sensitive areas on the neck, around the lips and under the nose. This morning I forced myself to do the clean-up with the DE and got BBS on the neck with only a few minor irritation issues and nicks. Shawn has been a great help with all my questions, and he really is a good representative of the Cadre and the type of community you all are trying to establish. You folks are a generous bunch, and Shaw exemplified that. Thanks Shawn!
Now I don't feel this hobby is crazy at all. The experience of shaving has value. Being a craftsman, flintknapper, and blacksmith I realize that the things that really matter in life are enjoyed and take time to do. Shaving can be one of those things.
My current shaves:
Razor: Micro Touch DE
Blade: Astra
Soap: Mystic Waters Sandlewood Coconut
Brush: Simpson Badger
Lather Bowl: Plastic Walmart Salsa bowl
AS: Witch Hazel w/ 14% alcohol (cheap Walmart brand)
Cold Water splash (never knew about closing the pores until now!)
Balm: Nivea AS balm (face only)
