Helping A Friend In Need Of A New Direction

bubbathemoose

bubbathemoose

Messages
55
Location
UK
Helping A Friend In Need Of A New Direction



Please remember that these are the personal opinions/findings and experiences of myself, as in all things YMMV and experiences/opinions vary.



Now some of you may laugh at this.......................
About a month or so ago a friend popped in to say hello, he parked his car outside of my house came in and sat down clutching a small plastic carrier bag, I asked him what he had been up to that day, he told me he had been shopping. I asked him what was in the bag, ''razor blade cartridges'' he replied. I asked him why he hadn't of left them in his car with the rest of his shopping after all where I live is quiet and relatively peaceful, his reply went something like this (the censored version)................

''you got to be ******* joking, these things cost me twelve ******* quid for four ******* cartridges, twelve quid for four cartridges that will last a ******* month if I'm lucky and give me damn awful shaving rash in the ******* process, its a total ******* rip off, for that sort of money I'd want them to be gold ******* plated not plastic and **** steel''

At this point I couldn't resist a little chuckle to my self, although I did feel a little sorry for my mate, obviously the subject of razor cartridges was a sore point (quite literally). He asked me where I got my razor blade cartridges from. ''I don't get any'' I told him, he looked a bit puzzled so I proceeded to explain that I used a Double Edged safety razor, a shaving brush and nice smelling 'no added crap' shaving cream. He seemed quite interested, but did pass a comment about a DE being a meat slicer! and a bit old fashioned. However his ears really pricked up when I told him that I pay around £20 for 100 good quality blades that last on average five shaves, resulting in me needing to shave only every other day and without any resulting irritation or in grown hairs.
My friend went on to ask where I got all my 'DE stuff' from, so I booted up the PC and proceeded to show him the various vendors from whom I purchase from. As my friend showed more and more interest he eventually looked up and stated ''it looks like there may be something in this DE malarkey after all, I think I'm going to have to give it a go at some point''.
As I was feeling unusually generous and thus in a good mood for a change! I offered to kit him out with enough DE gear to get him going, besides it was a good opportunity to clear out some of my old DE stuff from my 'just in case, back up, you never know I might need that one day' shaving cupboard and hopefully get a gold star in my girlfriends good books at the same time.
I then proceeded to donate the following to my mate, for the greater good!
Merkur 33c (kind of regret giving it away, oh well never mind)
A couple of packs of Derby blades that I don't use any more
An old Vulfix boar hair brush (old but in good condition)
A tube of Palmolive Classic shaving cream (relatively cheap here in the UK but decent quality)
A old tube of Arko Cool after shave balm (good stuff, not particularly fond of the smell)

I proceeded to give my friend a brief but concise tutorial on how to DE shave along with a list of web sites and You Tube videos that I thought would be of help, after a bit more discussion about DE shaving and a couple more coffees he went on his way with a smile.
About a fortnight later my friend came to visit again, this time with a bottle of Scotch in thanks for giving him the DE gear and setting him on the path to cheap and painless quality shaves, his shaving rash had completely cleared up and he was more than happy. Apparently he had returned the unopened packet of cartridge blades to the supermarket saying that they were bought by him for his elderly father but were the wrong blades for his razor, with his refund he purchased a nice tub of Almond shaving cream instead and threw all his multi blade paraphernalia in the bin, although he freely admits that he has still got a little way to go before he achieves a perfect BBS shave, he has no intention of going back to cartridge razors, in fact he's already looking into purchasing more DE gear.
And by the way that bottle of Scotch that he gave me is very very nice.
 
Great story!
The stuff I bought I got posted to work (no one at home ) and one guy expressed a mild interest in it, especially when I told him how much the blades were; however, he also shaves his head (going bald) and therefore uses mach3 turbo. Shame. If it wasnt for his head, I think he'd be on his way to being a convert.
 
Re: RE: Helping A Friend In Need Of A New Direction

baggister said:
Great story!
The stuff I bought I got posted to work (no one at home ) and one guy expressed a mild interest in it, especially when I told him how much the blades were; however, he also shaves his head (going bald) and therefore uses mach3 turbo. Shame. If it wasnt for his head, I think he'd be on his way to being a convert.
Click to expand...

I shave my head with DE... Great use for blades too dull to do the fizzer (3 goes on the chin, one over the top and out)
 
I also use a DE to shave my head, for some reason I find a lot of people who don't use a DE are fine with those who shave their face with one, but almost recoil in fright when they find out you shave your head with a DE. Its almost as if they expect to see you with both ears missing and a flip top head. Go figure?
 
It's hard to rush straight into head shaving though, I wouldn't even do a back of the neck shave with a DE until I'd used one for about a year. I used to keep a cartridge just for cleaning up my number 1 grade haircuts around the neck. Mikael's stories of shaving his bonce with a DE (long ago now) used to shock me, now not so much. It just depends on what practice and confidence you have.

On the subject of converting friends I've only managed one. About a year ago, my mate Lee (head shaver) asked about it, and I gave him a Jagger 87 for a week with a tube of cream and a simple brush, no instructions or anything, I just told him he could learn online and he scoffed and said he needed no instructions. A week later he gave it all back and said he'd ordered an identical razor, and he still uses it all over. No idea what other kit he uses, he just gets on with it, good on him.
I tried converting another mate (another head shaver) who seemed impressed with the concept, but will not give it a go because of nervousness. He still finds DE's scary.
 
ive recently converted the bloke i work with to DE shaving, he always moaned about cartridges and always looked interested when id get some of my shaving stuff delivered to work. i never pushed him into trying it just offered to give him some gear if he fancied trying it. he always knocked the offer back, thinking it was a bit dangerous, but i think the interest got the better of him, i gave him a merkur 38, some 7 o'clock yellows, an omega boar brush and some mr taylors shaving cream and now he says his skin feels loads better and he loves the de shaves.
 
I trying to get my brother to get into DE shaving. I bought him some Taylors of Old Bond Street lime shaving cream for Christmas 2011, from T K Maxx. He still has some left, and that is because he shaves once a week with Bic single blade disposables, due to shaving rash. But he took early retirement last year so should have more time to properly shave, but then being retired he doesn't need to shave as often. But at least he has heard about Edwin Jagger, after I told him what I use. It's a bit like the Ringwraith from Lord of the Rings who has heard of 'Baggins' and 'Shire'.
 
bubbathemoose said:
Helping A Friend In Need Of A New Direction



Please remember that these are the personal opinions/findings and experiences of myself, as in all things YMMV and experiences/opinions vary.



Now some of you may laugh at this.......................
About a month or so ago a friend popped in to say hello, he parked his car outside of my house came in and sat down clutching a small plastic carrier bag, I asked him what he had been up to that day, he told me he had been shopping. I asked him what was in the bag, ''razor blade cartridges'' he replied. I asked him why he hadn't of left them in his car with the rest of his shopping after all where I live is quiet and relatively peaceful, his reply went something like this (the censored version)................

''you got to be ******* joking, these things cost me twelve ******* quid for four ******* cartridges, twelve quid for four cartridges that will last a ******* month if I'm lucky and give me damn awful shaving rash in the ******* process, its a total ******* rip off, for that sort of money I'd want them to be gold ******* plated not plastic and **** steel''

At this point I couldn't resist a little chuckle to my self, although I did feel a little sorry for my mate, obviously the subject of razor cartridges was a sore point (quite literally). He asked me where I got my razor blade cartridges from. ''I don't get any'' I told him, he looked a bit puzzled so I proceeded to explain that I used a Double Edged safety razor, a shaving brush and nice smelling 'no added crap' shaving cream. He seemed quite interested, but did pass a comment about a DE being a meat slicer! and a bit old fashioned. However his ears really pricked up when I told him that I pay around £20 for 100 good quality blades that last on average five shaves, resulting in me needing to shave only every other day and without any resulting irritation or in grown hairs.
My friend went on to ask where I got all my 'DE stuff' from, so I booted up the PC and proceeded to show him the various vendors from whom I purchase from. As my friend showed more and more interest he eventually looked up and stated ''it looks like there may be something in this DE malarkey after all, I think I'm going to have to give it a go at some point''.
As I was feeling unusually generous and thus in a good mood for a change! I offered to kit him out with enough DE gear to get him going, besides it was a good opportunity to clear out some of my old DE stuff from my 'just in case, back up, you never know I might need that one day' shaving cupboard and hopefully get a gold star in my girlfriends good books at the same time.
I then proceeded to donate the following to my mate, for the greater good!
Merkur 33c (kind of regret giving it away, oh well never mind)
A couple of packs of Derby blades that I don't use any more
An old Vulfix boar hair brush (old but in good condition)
A tube of Palmolive Classic shaving cream (relatively cheap here in the UK but decent quality)
A old tube of Arko Cool after shave balm (good stuff, not particularly fond of the smell)

I proceeded to give my friend a brief but concise tutorial on how to DE shave along with a list of web sites and You Tube videos that I thought would be of help, after a bit more discussion about DE shaving and a couple more coffees he went on his way with a smile.
About a fortnight later my friend came to visit again, this time with a bottle of Scotch in thanks for giving him the DE gear and setting him on the path to cheap and painless quality shaves, his shaving rash had completely cleared up and he was more than happy. Apparently he had returned the unopened packet of cartridge blades to the supermarket saying that they were bought by him for his elderly father but were the wrong blades for his razor, with his refund he purchased a nice tub of Almond shaving cream instead and threw all his multi blade paraphernalia in the bin, although he freely admits that he has still got a little way to go before he achieves a perfect BBS shave, he has no intention of going back to cartridge razors, in fact he's already looking into purchasing more DE gear.
And by the way that bottle of Scotch that he gave me is very very nice.
Click to expand...

That's a great story. I'm about to do the same thing with my dad (70 years old) - he's getting a decent starter kit from me for his birthday in February. Starting with a Muhle R89 safety razor, a badger brush and some palmolive shaving cream.

I hope I'm as successful as you've been with your mate.
 
I wish you every success in helping your dad into DE shaving.
Iv'e never badgered or forced anyone into DE shaving, but I do know a number of men who moan about their current shaving method, I normally suggest that it could be worth while giving a DE a go, most of them just give me a funny look, say its to much hastle to use a DE or pass some kind of comments referring to DE razors being old fashioned or ending up looking like Freddy Kruger. As far as I'm concerned if they are that unhappy with their current shaving system they have nothing to loose by giving a DE a go. Its their choice or ultimately their loss.
 
That's a great story.

I've managed to convert 3 mates in to DE shaving, mainly because it was so obvious the benefits to my skin - all of them commented on the improvement and the fact I was shaving every day.

All of them seem happy and when I recently told a couple the best place to buy cheap blades and creams such as Palmolive and Ingrams they seem even happier.

I recently bought 110 Gillette 7oclock Sharpedge from the Shaving Shack and yet it costs that much just for 4 carts for the Fusion. A years shaving for the price of about a month. simply can't argue with it.
 
Griffo said:
That's a great story.

I've managed to convert 3 mates in to DE shaving, mainly because it was so obvious the benefits to my skin - all of them commented on the improvement and the fact I was shaving every day.

All of them seem happy and when I recently told a couple the best place to buy cheap blades and creams such as Palmolive and Ingrams they seem even happier.

I recently bought 110 Gillette 7oclock Sharpedge from the Shaving Shack and yet it costs that much just for 4 carts for the Fusion. A years shaving for the price of about a month. simply can't argue with it.
Click to expand...

I totally agree. Personally I also find that using a DE gives me better skin, and shave just as good if not better than any cartridge razor out there. Generally speaking I have found that the DE shaving method is much cheaper than these modern multi blade things, that is until you start buying lots of high end gear, brush after brush, razor after razor, high end soaps and creams one after another. But hey, everyone's got to have a hobby right?
 
About two years ago I suggested my friend try DE shaving. He even had his first go in front of me using my kit. He has stuck with it ever since but soon complained that the razor he had chosen (against my advice) was leaving him too sore. I suggested he swap his Merkur 1904 replica for a Gillette Tech and I gave him a ball end one in very good condition. He loves it and won't use anything else but has gone through a couple of different blades - Derbies initially, then Shark stainless for ages, a few Rapira stainless, and now seems to be loving Wilkinson Swords (but the German-made ones!!?)
He did buy a tub of TOBS Almond but prefers shaving gel and was using Nivea for ages. Then after I spotted a travel can of Noxzema in Savers a few months back I suggested he try it and he hasn't used soaps or creams since, except the Proraso pre/post stuff.

I was never 'preachy' or trying to convert him, just suggesting one of many steps to help with his skin irritation and ingrowns.

I had hoped he might join here and maybe get the vintage or modern razor, blade or brush bug but no. Not yet, anyway!
 
I wish I could convert people into DE shaving, but almost most people they don't want to or they don't have any time. Like I wanted get my younger brother into DE shaving, but well it just doesnt work and pushing people doesnt work either.

So I also converted people online by writing blogs posts about shaving in Dutch.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom