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Untill you get to know all of your soaps and how they perform I would use one for each week and once you know your soaps you can then change every day as I like to do.Morning Gents.
I'm 8 months in to my DE shaving odyssey and I'm absolutely loving the whole experience. Shaving has become a true self indulgent pleasure rather than a chore, and my skin has never looked or felt better.
My technique has steadily improved and I have a pre and post shave routine that works well for me.
My problem is soaps and creams. I can't resist buying them! So, although I don't have a huge number compared to some of you chaps (16 in total), I find myself jumping from one to another based mainly on the weather. But I find that this means that I don't really get to know the soaps. Despite making short notes, I go back to a soap and forget what worked best to get a good lather.
So guys, what do you suggest? Should I stick to one soap until I have used it up? Or maybe use each soap for a week at a time? How did you guys establish your rotations (if you have one)?
I know I can trust you lovely people to offer some sound advice,
Cheers
Barry
Untill you get to know all of your soaps and how they perform I would use one for each week and once you know your soaps you can then change every day as I like to do.If that's what you want to do.
Thanks Benz3ne. Yes thats a good point. Practice lathering without an actual shave. I too am now very clean. But skint!I 'eeney-meeney-miney-mo' it, usually.
Sometimes I have a hankering for a particular fragrance or menthol content and choose accordingly. Sometimes I have an EDT/EDP which I want to wear and match the soap to that (e.g. P&B Citra Royale and Penhaligon's Blenheim Bouquet, or Cyril R Salter Wild Rose and Penhaligon's Vaara).
On those days off from shaving, there's no harm test-lathering in your hand or in a bowl or even on your face to get a feel for some of the soaps you're not using as often. It might seem a waste, but life is short and soaps are relatively inexpensive in the grand scheme of things, especially when you broil it down to cost per lather!
P.s. I can't help but spend, spend, spend either! It's become an unhealthy, yet clean, habit...
Thanks Blademonkey. Yes I was thinking along those lines. Some self discipline is in order!Untill you get to know all of your soaps and how they perform I would use one for each week and once you know your soaps you can then change every day as I like to do.If that's what you want to do.
Ha! Exactly Nalves. As I just said to Blademonkey, some self discipline is required!I share your feeling. I normally keep a record, my own personal Shavopedia, but still I find myself jumping from one soap to another, and then asking me the same questions you do. I've been meaning to use a single soap for a whole week, but always end up selecting a different one every day.
As if this wasn't bad enough, the same applies to ASL and ASB.
Gives an entirely different meaning to 'cleaning out your wallet'!Thanks Benz3ne. Yes thats a good point. Practice lathering without an actual shave. I too am now very clean. But skint!
Haha, just like that, exactly that.It certainly does Ben. And to think I used to ridicule my other half over her "extravagances"!
Thanks Blademonkey. Yes I was thinking along those lines. Some self discipline is in order!
Kids today eh,...porn when I was a teenager was "Health & Efficiency", or Kays Catalogue.I blame everything on the SOTD forum. I spend more time looking at that than I did watching porn as a teenager
...I think I'll wait for the film to come out,...(cough)I agree with @Blademonkey.
For example, this week I took possession of MWF. I've used it every day. It's been good from day 1, but each day I've got a better feel for its nuances.
Once I have it locked in, then I can bring it in and out of rotation on any given day.
How do I decide rotations? I make two decisions. Firstly, the night before a shave, I decide on which soap/razor combination I will use, which I enjoy doing. Then when I get up, half the time I change my mind, and choose again, which I also enjoy.
Some other things re having lots of soaps in my first year of DE:
I have also owned about 12 razors, but am back down to about 6 (similar rationale to the above). That said, having never been interested in SE shaving, I'm waiting on a 1912 to arrive, which could open up the rabbit hole again. I part with a razor after more consideration than I would part with a soap, however. Cost and availability influence this. 3 months ago I cleaned up my 1964 Gillette Slim and parked it as an investment piece, or an item to be handed to my sons in the future. For no reason that I can identify, I have used it for the last two days, enjoying it much more than I recalled and getting an excellent shave from it.
- For a period of time, some soaps and creams came in and out of favour with me. Some I liked initially, then went cold on. Others I left alone for a period, and discovered I liked them more when revisting. Sometimes this is seasonal - menthol soaps are popular in summer for some people, but may lie idle for the cooler months.
- That said, broader themes develop. For example, I have found that I prefer soaps more than creams.
- Notwithstanding the above, I've found it liberating to clear out the den once I know where I stand on something. I had a bunch of creams that I just knew I didn't love and was only using them because I had bought them. Often, but not always, these were cheap creams. I recently decided that it was a waste of a shave to use them. Why not shave every day with something that brings satisfaction, rather than just gets the job done? So, I put them in a bag, brought them into work and gave them to a guy who I had introduced to DE shaving. A win win situation. He was delighted with the freebies and got to try them out, I had a tighter, better quality portfolio at home, and it means if I buy another one, my wife won't notice an ever growing pile of tins and tubs.
It's your den, your face, your shave. So many permutations and options abound - that's the joy of it.
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