Somebody explain it to me...

J

jackknife

Joined
Oct 2, 2004
Messages
17,502
I'm just not getting it.

At the very begining of May, I finally worked up the nerve due to my better halfs constant urging, and shaved off my beard. I hadn't shaved fully since 1975, and always had what I called a Hemingway beard, but of late Karen, my better half, had been calling me Gandalf the gray. It's been pretty weird, having most of my face bare now for the first time in a very long time. To avoid total withdrawl, I kept a small goatee, since it seems the ' in' thing now, and I just couldn't bare to go with a naked face.

So, every morning right after the shower, I lather up, carefully shave, and so far I'm not feeling the love. I'm not getting the razor burn I though I may, and I'm getting a smooth shave with canned shave cream and Gillette disposable razors with a double blade set up. It's okay, and gets the job done. I rinse well, and splash on some Old Spice, and I'm done.

But I'm finding it a P.I.T.A.!!!

So tell me guys, why am I doing this, just to please the old lady?

I do admit I look less like an old fart, and as Karen calls it, more current. Karen also says it took 10 years off me, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. Not sure it's worth it. To me, shaving still seems like a strange practice, scraping your face with a sharp blade to get rid of something that is there anyways. Socrates had a beard, as did Generals Grant and Lee, and most of their cohorts.

If I break down and buy the boars bristle brush, mug, shaving soap, DE razor with hard to get blades, am I going to have some brilliant moment where the sky will part and a beam of light shines on me, and some great enlightenment is going to happen?

Right now I'm tempted to just toss the razor and grow back a close trimmed beard that once a week I run a clipper or scissors over. I'm just not feeling the love of the razor!

Carl.
 
I'm with you, Carl. I use a beard trimmer electric that I use to keep it under a 1/2 inch. (I run it over my head, too. :) )
Never got interested in shaving.
 
I never had an electric trimmer, but just used a really great scissors to trim off anything that stuck out past a very thick comb. Kind of a short Hemingway. But my problem is that I can go from a Hemingway to Gandalf in a just a few weeks. If I shave in the morning, I can see how that nice clean smooth feel is neat. But by late after noon, I have that sandpaper feeling, and If Karen and I go out in the evening to something swanky, Like the Kennedy Center, I have to go lather up and shave again. Giant P.I.T.A.

I don't know, Esav, this may be a very temporary experiment. Maybe I just don't have the metal outlook for it.

Carl.
 
I just took off my beard a few weeks ago, and started using a straight razor. I'm only 28, and wear a beard on and off, but I was using a DE for a few years now and I've enjoyed it. I have a gold Gillette ball end tech (very mild shave), and I can always get a BBS. Beard, no beard, it's really your decision. The beard makes for a more distinguished look IMHO, and fewer men wear them, so you get that unique look. Just remember the acronym SWMBO! Personally, I just enjoy the ritual of straight shaving, and the added bonus of playing with a screamin' sharp blade! BTW, if you are having trouble finding DE blades, I'd check out the 'bay, I got a box of 100 Derby's for about $15, and they tend to last. This being bladeforums however, look into straights!
-Matt-
 
We are going to need before and after pics in order to engage in a comprehensive evaluation.

And Gandalf is very cool, btw. No shame there. I think its only a matter of time before you end up back there.
 
First off, DE blades are not hard to get. There are plenty of online stores that sell a wide verity of blades, some times too many to choose from. Shaving with a DE razor takes a bit longer then with the multi bladed razors, but it is my bias opinion that it is worth the extra time. There is a huge money savings compared to cartridge razors, you can get 100 blades for less than the price of one 4 pack of the latest and greatest cartridge blade.

Switching to a nice brush, I like badger brushes, and some good soap, can make a huge difference in the quality of your shave and the enjoyment of it, or so it did for me YMMV. Get over to youtube and search out Mantic59's videos, he has some good tutorials on making a proper lather and selecting a brush. He is also a member here and posts in this sub forum from time to time.

In the long run you just may be one of the majority of adult men that shaving is just a task they don't like, but if you slip over to the dark side you could become one of the minority that truly enjoys the shaving experience and may even shave off that last bit of your beard.
 
DE is also more 'Traditional' :D:thumbup: as well as cost effective, use effective and a whole lot less waste and mess for the environment.

Not shaving is of course, even more cost effective etc.... but beards of any kind after 30 look like an ageing eye-sore and they need maintenance as well.

As Unky said, decent brush, soap or cream you whip up (none of that canned muck, it doesn't work well and costs more than it's worth) using a nicely weighted DE razor gives not only a proper close shave-no more needing two shaves a day like you do with electric or cartridge- but you get a sense of pride and achievement. So close, totally smooth,no cuts or burn. New face, new skin new feel! With DE you can soon start shaving with and against the grain thus ensuring a real shave, one that is ultra close and done properly. Mantic's videos are wonderfully helpful as well.

Apart from your wife, what do your other friends and family say? I suspect they all approve of the changed you. As for history, certainly the Greeks, Biblical and Koranic types were all bearded but the mighty Romans were largely clean shaven until beards toppled their civilization and plunged the world into a Dark Age of beards that Mr Gillette and others finally lifted (for a while) as for Generals, can you dig Eisenhower, Patten, Rommel, Zhukov or Napoleon amongst others sporting beards??:D

Good luck, keep at it.
 
Carl, Shavings not for everyone and I think you should just go back to your comfortable old self. Write this off as a bad experiement. DM :)
 
David Martin said:
Carl, Shavings not for everyone and I think you should just go back to your comfortable old self. Write this off as a bad experiement. DM :)
Click to expand...

I'm very close to that point. Thanks. I shaved to see what the pleasure was about, ( and to quiet the better half) but it's not happening. I'll invest in a good scissors and keep it trimmed down this time, not let it get to the Gandalf stage. I was letting it get a bit out of hand the past few years. Maybe I'll go for the Hunt For Red October/Connery look. The kids are in a little shock, they've never seen me without my beard since they were born. The grandkids freaked a little.

Carl.
 
While I enjoy a good straight shave, and am comfortable with my DE, if it wasn't for being married and the demands of she who must be obeyed, I'd have a beard. I've just managed to find a way to make what was a chore, somewhat more tolerable. It does also help that my razors are all far older than I am which is pretty cool in my mind.
Karl
 
I've had a beard since 1992. Shaved it 3 times over the years. Once because of work- had to get fit for a resperator,
the other two were at the request of girlfriends. I now have a full beard and don't plan on shaving it off again. Bite
the bullet and tell her you had a beard when you met and it's to late to change you now! By the way I'm married now
and my wife likes the beard.
 
jackknife said:
I'm just not getting it.

At the very begining of May, I finally worked up the nerve due to my better halfs constant urging, and shaved off my beard. I hadn't shaved fully since 1975, and always had what I called a Hemingway beard, but of late Karen, my better half, had been calling me Gandalf the gray. It's been pretty weird, having most of my face bare now for the first time in a very long time. To avoid total withdrawl, I kept a small goatee, since it seems the ' in' thing now, and I just couldn't bare to go with a naked face.

So, every morning right after the shower, I lather up, carefully shave, and so far I'm not feeling the love. I'm not getting the razor burn I though I may, and I'm getting a smooth shave with canned shave cream and Gillette disposable razors with a double blade set up. It's okay, and gets the job done. I rinse well, and splash on some Old Spice, and I'm done.

But I'm finding it a P.I.T.A.!!!

So tell me guys, why am I doing this, just to please the old lady?

I do admit I look less like an old fart, and as Karen calls it, more current. Karen also says it took 10 years off me, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. Not sure it's worth it. To me, shaving still seems like a strange practice, scraping your face with a sharp blade to get rid of something that is there anyways. Socrates had a beard, as did Generals Grant and Lee, and most of their cohorts.

If I break down and buy the boars bristle brush, mug, shaving soap, DE razor with hard to get blades, am I going to have some brilliant moment where the sky will part and a beam of light shines on me, and some great enlightenment is going to happen?

Right now I'm tempted to just toss the razor and grow back a close trimmed beard that once a week I run a clipper or scissors over. I'm just not feeling the love of the razor!

Carl.
Click to expand...

And you know what they all have in common ?

They are all dead !

Just because they did not listen to the wife.

You may not believe that to be the sole cause of death, for all of them, but at your age can you really afford to take the chance :cool:


:D
 
Hawkings said:
And you know what they all have in common ?

They are all dead !

Just because they did not listen to the wife.

You may not believe that to be the sole cause of death, for all of them, but at your age can you really afford to take the chance :cool:


:D
Click to expand...

Now that made me laugh!

No, at my age I have to hedge my bets all I can. But I think I may have made a break through. The past two days, I've shaved twice. Once I shave very lightly with the grain of the beard stubble, and then lathered up again to shave very lightly against the grain. Both times being very easy with the razor. I've gotten a smooth shave, no irritation, and by early evening my face was still smooth, just a wee bit of sandpaper down along the jaw line. Used lots of water to rinse off, and cold water to finish. This past two days was the very first time I didn't hate shaving. I have to admit it did feel nice to have a baby bottom smooth face, except for the goatee. I still can't bring myself to go with a naked face. Everone is still telling me that getting rid of the gray beard took 10 years off me, but I'm telling the ol lady a really big no to the Just For Men crap. If gray is good enough for Leroy Jethro Gibbs, it's good enough for me!

Now if I keep it up is the question, but I do have to admit my shaves are getting better as I experiment. I don't know if I'll ever feel the love though.

Carl.
 
Jack, Good to see you trying and making the effort for her. My wife is the other way. She likes a beard, I like to shave and sharpen the blade plus it does make one look older. DM
 
Socrates went to extremes to not listen to Xanthippe—the most infamous shrew of the classical world.

His advice? “By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you'll become happy; if you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher.”
 
I went back to shaving with a DE a little over a month ago,that's what I first started with.I've worn a beard for a lot of my life but haven't for the past 10 years although I do still have a moustache that goes to my chin.:DI was hating shaving especially the price of cartridges and have been wanting to get into straight razors for a while now but I never messed with soaps,and brushes before.Like I said I took the plunge and can't be happier about it,I'm just using blades from Walmart or Kmart that are actually cheper than Walmart,I've picked up a couple pucks of soap and I do still need to work on making better lather but my shaves have been closer with no irritation,I don't shave daily mainly because I don't have too but the resulting stubble seems to be a lot softer than what it was when I was using goo and cartridges.:thumbup:
 
IMWILSON said:
I've had a beard since 1992. Shaved it 3 times over the years. Once because of work- had to get fit for a resperator,
the other two were at the request of girlfriends. I now have a full beard and don't plan on shaving it off again. Bite
the bullet and tell her you had a beard when you met and it's to late to change you now! By the way I'm married now
and my wife likes the beard.
Click to expand...

Haha! I've gone clean-shaven once since 1998 and that was due to a respirator fit test as well. My wife told me to never do it again. I have a very weak chin and look like the Campbell's Soup kid without any facial hair. I usually have a close-cropped beard but every few years go back to a goatee for the heck of it. That being said, with a close-cropped beard I need to do detail shaving or else I look like a dirtbag. Disposables were way too expensive so I switched to DE last year. What I found is that now, instead of feeling stubble by the end of the day, I start feeling it sometime during the day after a shave. Using shaving soap has really improved my complexion. And I get way less razor burn than with a disposable. Plus it's more manly, especially when using manly-smelling soaps and aftershaves like Tabac or Speik.
 
I've never grown a beard and have always shaved. Just enjoy it too much. Now, shaving with blades I sharpened I enjoy it more. DM
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top