SHAVE AND LET SHAVE

In December  2011, I was browsing online and ended up at a website that sold shaving supplies such as creams, soaps, brushes, razors and blades. My first thoughts were, why are they selling the old single blade double edge razors my father used to use in the 70s before he switched on to the fabulous GII by Gillette. I thought there must be a few guys out there in the backwoods still willing to use the old inferior gear and suffer the cuts, nicks, burn and poor shaves associated with such primitive cutlery.

On this site I saw blade wrappers I hadn't seen since the late 70s. I read reviews from the men that bought these blades and razors, and how they raved and rated them with stars. I then read the vendors spiel about this closed comb razor and that open comb razor. I read about fine Italian soaps, creams and aftershave balms that carried the scent of the old barbershop from long ago. Even though I still couldn't understand or get what this clandestine bunch were saying, my overactive imagination drew up scenarios of old men in the Mediterranean opening up a fresh Gillette 7 O'clock blade, whipping up a super lather and applying it with a shaving brush and enjoying a good old-fashioned shave before sitting down to breakfast with their loved ones. This seemed very romantic to me and I thought to myself, is that not the way I would like to shave from now on and why am I shaving with a plastic razor with a five blade cartridge that is supposedly super hi-tech but very expensive? I actually dreaded shaving. I hated canned shaving foam and I actually stopped using this in 1998 when I started using a super little oil called Total Shaving Solution. Why? I have good skin. I do not suffer from any type of disorder shaving may bring. But why is shaving so damn boring? Why is it such a chore? How come the guys reviewing the razors and blades on the shaving site are having fun? Why can't I have fun shaving? The warning bells were ringing and my twenty five year contract with Gillette and their ever increasing technological blade cart shaving systems and expense was about to come to an end. Little did I know at this stage that most of the men in the Western world had been brainwashed in this way of thinking by powerful advertising campaigns that shunned anything other than the latest and the greatest shaving systems and that any other way to shave was stupid and not nearly as close.

So, where do I start? What did I need to start having a ball while removing the whiskers from my face? I needed four things. A razor, blades, soap and a brush, but which razor will I choose? I saw a big selection on this site and at first glance, some of those open come razors looked pretty scary and intimidating. All I could imagine was a short movie from the 60s by Martin Scorses titled 'The Big Shave' (google it)! It soon became apparent I needed a mild closed comb razor and after spending a week online doing my homework I settled on the highly reputable Edwin Jagger DE89L. The DE stood for 'double edge' of course and the L just meant the grip on the highly chromed handle was lined. Simple as that. This razor was being touted as the perfect beginners razor by guys that actually bought them. So after another fews days of looking at creams and soaps I plumbed for a small tub of Proraso green. I bought a few packs of blades and a cheap badger brush (more about brushes down the track) and eagerly waited for my shipment to arrive just before Christmas.

After an unbearable two days waiting for the package to arrive in the post, I finally held it in my hand and slowly opened it up. I saw the blades. I opened the Proraso and sniffed the cream inside the tub. The scent was eucalyptus and it immediately took me back to the old days, whenever they were! The brush had that animal smell that only badger has when it's new. It was soft and beautiful. Finally, I held the razor and inspected a superb chrome finish, it was reminiscent of the exhaust from some vintage motorcycle. Pure class. Now all I had to do was try a shave with my new gear and I could hardly wait for that either.