Fidelity or Monogamy.

Looking at all the razors, soaps, etc. and to the extent of items currently in rotation, I once thought about establishing a 4-day limited choice (I shave almost every 36 or 48 hrs so that makes it 4-5 times to shave per week.)
So I took apart 4 items for each activity, i.e. four soaps, four ASs, four balms, four brushes, four EdTs, etc. and promised myself I'd stick to these ( :lol: )
Sadly it proved this was too early in my AD to attempt, so the idea failed. This was because despite having taken out only 4 soaps only (for example), I found myself every time trying to choose from the remaining ones that were supposed to be in 'dormant' competence.

So back to the drawing board.

Then, till now, I did this:

In order to achieve a nice & matching combo of the soap, after shave, EdT I use on each different day, I broke all items down to four (4) main categories:

- Category I: 'masculine' (DRH Marlborough, AoS Sandalwood, Tabac, Opus 1870, Guerlain Habit Rouge, Old Spice, etc. - you get my drift)
- Category II: 'classic/soapy' (Valobra stick, MWF, Floid Blue, DRH Almond, P.160, etc.)
- Category III: 'mentholy' (Proraso, Alt-Innsbruck, Ingrams, etc.)
- Category IV: 'fruity/summery/mediterranean' (AdP, DRH Arlington, La Toja, CF Lavender, CF Lime, etc.)

This so far works for me, at least it saves me time in selecting what I want from the stash every other morning.
Next step in the months and years to come would be to remain with a few from each category. I already know more or less that two to three products for each activity (soaps, ASs, balms, etc.) will be replaced when current stock is consumed. All the rest will not.

As far as razors as concerned, I am getting there. I have begun to realize that a couple (from the ones I now have) do the trick for me.
Once I try what i own for a sufficient period of time, I'll then keep my favorites and start selling and PIFing the rest... :)
 
And, yes, if I also wasn't buying all this crap, I'd be spending it somewhere else as well.

At least with this hobby you 'wear' the stuff every day and it makes you feel sooooo good...
 
Beat me to it Ian,

After receiving my last batch of Bleue blades I was confronted with a blade stash box that was full. The reasoning behind my blade purchasing was what many here probably do as well, find a blade that works well and stock up on it. Well with a stash of just over 2300 blades split mainly between Iridium’s, Thins, Yellow 7’s, Bleue’s and the odd hundred of others here and there I’ve enough to last me until I’m at that age where shaving myself would probably be dangerous.

With regards to soaps and creams I’ve been narrowing these down for a couple of months now, soaps are down to the Speick and Valobra as my main stay, pif’and ditched most of the rest, kept a La Toja stick and there’s still a bowl of Tabac at the back of the draw but these last two won’t be replaced once gone.

My creams are being whittled down to T&H Ultimate Comfort and Almond, again simply because for all the creams I’ve tried these work the best.

The razors are going to be the Futur and EJ Chatsworth, probably the best of both types. Although recently I’ve picked up a FT/SS and a couple of Aristo Jnr’s, this was mainly just to see what these vintage razors shaved like.(still haven’t used them yet) and for what i paid i could have had one of those nice Feather razors, so that alone has stopped my ASD with razors.

The Duke 3 Best is my work horse brush at the moment, the EJ sits on the shelf with the New Forrest 2201, I’ll follow the New Forrest development and acquire the further releases as its been interesting following the development and story behind this venture. But when the Duke falls to pieces it will be replaced like for like.

After shave’s and balms are down to the Speick AS and ASB, again simply because they work bloody well and with the soap it means that’s a complete range which is easy to get hold of. The Cade ASB will stay simply because it works great as a facial moisturizer (soft southern fairy).

This won’t stop me wanting to try things for curiosity’s sake, but my urges to buy everything in every flavour right now and without delay has come to a stop.

Except EDT’s and Colognes, I’m still fairly manic in this area.

Right where’s that MdC group buy thread.... :hungrig
 
I'm faithful to one blade, that being the Feather.

Faithful to my Futur about 90% of the time. Occasional dalliances with other razors usually have me running back to the Futur with my tail between my legs. The Futur will always be there for me, but will give me the occasional bite just so I always know who is boss.

Two brushes in use, one boar and the other badger, that's enough.

I am trying to keep it down to two creams and two soaps. That's the hardest part as there is so much stuff to try and the soap lasts for ages.

After shave balms? I will usually finish one before buying another, but rarely buy the same product twice.
I have and keep in stock the holy trilogy of after shave splashes. That being Tabac, Proraso and Old Spice.



Oh. And I am a complete cologne whore. Therein lies my weakness.

EDIT: Although the Hugo Boss Hugo my be the Richard Gere to my Julia Roberts :oops:
 
Ah me, you're hitting my conscience just where it lives IanM. I'm at the moment working my way round to sorting out the half dozen or so razors I seem to have accumulated with a view to cutting down. Unfortunately of course right in the middle of this rationalisation Valuer just has to go and give me the chance of the ultimate SE, that's right............. The Cobra. However I really do intend this to be my last razor buy.

If I don't use an SE or cartridge my fallback razor seems to have become my Muehly 89 & I can't see me ever being without it. It's still the one I'd grab on my way out the door in a fire.

I just use my Muehle brush & when it finally gives out I'll probs replace it with another the same, or any other decent looking under £20 item.

Feathers & Astra keramics are the only DE blades I have.

I wont even bother going there as everyone is already fairly bored as far as my unvarying choice of shaving soap (or crap, depending on who's giving their opinion). Which is why I've got enough MB stored to see this pensioner through to the stage where I'll be relying on someone else shaving me.

I've been faithful to Brut since Faberge brought out the original in the early / mid sixties, so I guess that's not likely to change anytime soon.

JohnnyO. :shave
 
Smell The Glove said:
I'm faithful to one blade, that being the Feather.

Faithful to my Futur about 90% of the time. Occasional dalliances with other razors usually have me running back to the Futur with my tail between my legs. The Futur will always be there for me, but will give me the occasional bite just so I always know who is boss.

Two brushes in use, one boar and the other badger, that's enough.

I am trying to keep it down to two creams and two soaps. That's the hardest part as there is so much stuff to try and the soap lasts for ages.

After shave balms? I will usually finish one before buying another, but rarely buy the same product twice.
I have and keep in stock the holy trilogy of after shave splashes. That being Tabac, Proraso and Old Spice.



Oh. And I am a complete cologne whore. Therein lies my weakness.

+1 on the trilogy there :D Although mine comes in 4 parts because I could not leave out Speick :D it is just too good for the skin if you ask me.

EDIT: Although the Hugo Boss Hugo my be the Richard Gere to my Julia Roberts :oops:
Click to expand...

+1 on the holy trilogy, albeit mine comes in 4 parts as i cannot see myself not owning Speick too :)
 
With razors I'm a cartridge kinda guy using the sensor but for the past week or so I've been using the wilkinson hydro and am quite impressed, when I started I went crazy buying as many vintage DEs as I could which are all sold now.

I seem to recently developed a thing for brushes and have gone from a best badger (now sold) to a vulfix bodger, 4 Semogue boars and a vie long horse on it's way out of curiosity but I can see the vulfix going.

As for soaps, this is what I look forward too! I could shave everyday for 3 weeks and not use the same twice, but I do only seem to have success with hard soaps.

I did have an incident today trying 3 new products, MWF, pear's soap and aqua velva, I had quite a bad reaction leaving my whole face red swollen and puffy and quite sore, feels like bad sunburn and I reckon it's going to be enough to stop me experimenting for quite a while!

I have kept a merkur HD though, you know, just in case!
 
Nope, i'm a slut in all aspects of shaving! I also quite like to be too! To be honest i can get a fine irritation free shave from a cartridge, but made the jump mainly due to price and wanting to find something different.

Part of what i enjoy in the morning is the variety i now have in brush, blade, razor, soap, cream and AS. So whilst i am a slut, i don't see that ending :lol:
 
This is interesting, because we seem to have a broad church here - some who are veteran wet shavers, who, having discovered what they like through years of experimentation have settled on a limited range of soaps/creams but have extensive collections of razors and/or brushes, through to those, like myself, for whom the Pandora's box of wet shaving has barely been opened.

As far as razors are concerned, I have made a conscious decision not to go down the slippery slope that is Vintage. I have three razors - in order of acquisition they are a Merkur Futur, an Edwin Jagger DE87 and most recently an exquisite Feather AS.

I'm still working my way through blades, although I have decided that Derby blades suit the EJ, and the Feather was developed to use their own blade, but I'm not sure about the Merkur.

I'm more inclined towards using creams for now, and currently rotate between three - Truefitt and Hill Ultimate Comfort and West Indian Limes, and Acca Kappa's delicious 1869.

My eyes, or more correctly my nose has also been opened to after shaves and colognes previously unknown. I had a stash of some of the more "high street" varieties, and was previously happy with the products of Messrs Gucci, Armani, Calvin Klein and Hugo Boss, but then I discovered Pecksniffs Citrus, Truefitt and Hill's West Indian Limes and my current favourite, Acca Kappa 1869. I had promised myself that I wouldn't buy any more until I had used up at least some of my existing stash, but it's very hard to resist. And it's the same with creams and soaps. I must be strong.........

But wet shaving is an indulgence, and it can either be a quick "out of necessity" shave or a full-on pampering experience. Either way, it's more pleasurable than driving a buzzing electric shaver around one's face or using an expensive cartridge. I've just sold off my two cartridge razors and supply of cartridges.
Which means that I can justify buying some more Feather blades and possibly a cream or two........??


Regards

Ian
 
I'm still a relative newcomer to DE shaving and as such have approached it with similar gusto to a teenage boy after his first bit of action. My shaving oats have been sown wide. I've spread myself around quite a bit and have barely spent more than a couple of nights with the same floozy.

I've aquired a stupid amount of vintage razors and haven't even tried half of them yet. The one saving grace with this folly is I think if I decide to get get rid of them I could easily get back what I've paid (hopefully).

Creams and soaps. I've got a fair few, trying to work out what works best for me. At the moment I'm really liking the La Toja stick, which typically is more expensive to get here than it should be.

Aftershaves is a similar story. Tried many but find one of the best that works for me is Aqua Velva.

Colognes is what I've found the biggest surprise. I was used to paying high street prices for the designer fragrances but now find you can get much better fragrances for less money.

I didn't particularly get bad shaves with cartridge razors and shaving gel before I started this, I just only used to shave probably twice a week due to the price of cartridges which I resented paying and I found the whole process a chore. Now I realise I'm probably (definitely) spending more but I enjoy shaving and wouldn't go back to how it was. I think my ADs will settle down and they already have pretty much and in the long run I know I'll save money over cartridges. Whether I'll be monogamous or not? We'll just have to wait and see.
 
if it had to be one of everything thats what'll do:

Razor: merkur 34C
Blade: Feather
Brush: My vulfix badger brush
Cream: Bluebeard revenge
Soap: mama Bear
Aftershave: Proraso balm
 
Looking back over the past couple of years, I really have enjoyed finding my preferences.

My shaving brush blog really was an excuse to try many different brushes. I sold off quite a few that I knew I was rarely likely to use. I got well into the teens with razors and sold off all but four, each of which I use regularly with just three or four different blades. As to soaps and creams - if they don't delight they quickly go, sometimes into the bin.
I rarely use the same combination two days running. Selecting my team for the day is one of my most pleasurable daily rituals. And to think that for over 40 years my wife chose my razor, my blade and my goo! Better late than never.
 
But Fido, as far as shaving brushes and monogamy are concerned, you are Russell Brand! :mrgreen:

The problem with choosing your "first team" is that there's always the possibility (and anticipation) that just around the corner, you'll happen across another razor/brush/soap that changes everything. And that is probably why we're all here.


Regards

Ian
 
IanM said:
andyjreid said:
However I'm one of these people that feels that anything they haven't tried may just be the one! :roll:
Click to expand...

THAT, is my failing.

Ian
Click to expand...

Me too! I hate the fact that I still may not have tried the perfect soap/cream/brush for me.

I have definitely settled on my Merkur HD loaded with Feathers. A sweet combo that I hit on fairly early on, and everything since hasn't performed as well. The Fido 2201 sees a lot of action as does my SR3122. Soaps and creams? Well, I have a shortlist of absolute favourites (MdC, Cella, Valobra stick) but that will get tweaked as I try new stuff.

I hate clutter and am a bit of a minimalist so I reckon I'll end up with no more than three brushes (say one scrubby, one luxurious, and one travel), one razor, a small (say 5) collection of excellent soaps and a 50 year supply of Feathers!

John
 
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