Leisureguy's Guide to Gourmet Shaving: Shaving Made Enjoyable

213 Pages·2012·1.63 MB·English

by  Michael Ham

Copyright © 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 by Michael Ham
All rights reserved.
Edition 6.0 – August 2012
ISBN 978-1477436806
eBook ISBN: 978-1-62345-808-9
To EH, who has found it useful
To GM and CM and BH, who someday will read it
To KV, for the phrase “gourmet shaving”
To K , for taking up wetshaving
And, of course, to The Wife, for listening to all these
discoveries with exemplary forbearance.
Contents

PREFACE TO THE SIXTH EDITION
PREFACE
WHAT THIS IS
WHO I AM AND WHY THIS BOOK
WHY TO DO IT
CARE OF SKIN
QUALITY OF SHAVE
COST OF SHAVE
QUALITY OF LIFE
Environmental benefits
Personal benefits
THE YMMV FACTOR
Straight razors
Electric razors
IF IT’S SO GREAT, WHY ARE CARTRIDGES SO POPULAR?
THE CHANGE BARRIER
THE FEAR BARRIER
BEYOND THE BEARD
WHAT TO EXPECT
WHERE TO BUY & WHEN TO MAKE
FOR THE DO-IT-YOURSELFER
SHAVING STEP BY STEP
GRAIN OF YOUR BEARD
THE WINTER BATHROOM
SKIN SENSITIVITIES
ANIMAL ISSUES
PREP
STEP 1: SHOWER – BUT THIS VARIES BY SHAVER
STEP 2: WASH YOUR BEARD
STEP 3: APPLY A PRE-SHAVE [OPTIONAL]
Pre-shave creams/gels
Trumper Skin Food
100% glycerin
Pre-shave oils
STEP 4: APPLY HOT TOWEL [OPTIONAL UNLESS YOU GET INGROWNS]
PREP STEP 5: APPLY LATHER
LATHERING TOOLS
Shaving brush
Synthetic-bristle brushes
Horsehair brushes
Boar-bristle brushes
Badger-bristle brushes
Soap brush vs. Shaving-cream brush
Travel brushes
My favorite brushes
Care of your brush
Lathering bowl [optional]
Warming scuttle [optional]
WATER
Temperature
Hard v. Soft
Using distilled water
Shower v. Sink
Running v. Still
SOAKING
LATENT LATHER: SHAVING CREAM AND SHAVING SOAP
The reformulation problem
Shaving cream
Shaving cream in a tube
Shaving cream in a tub
Shaving cream lather using a lathering bowl
Shaving cream lather by lathering directly on your beard
Shaving soap
Soap in mug or bowl
Soap in a shave stick
SUPERLATHER
THE BLADE
FINDING THE RIGHT BLADE
WHY EXPLORE?
HOW TO EXPLORE
CARBON-STEEL BLADES
MORE ABOUT BLADES
BLADE DISPOSAL
THE RAZOR
HANDLES
Smooth handles vs. knurled handles
OPEN-COMB VS. SAFETY BAR
EDWIN JAGGER RAZORS
FEATHER RAZORS
GERSON RAZORS
IKON RAZORS
JORIS RAZORS
LORD RAZORS
MERKUR RAZORS
Merkur non-adjustable razors
Classic
Hefty Classic (the “HD”)
Classic
Long-Handle Classic
180
1904
38C
Slant Bar
Merkur adjustable razors
Progress
Futur
Vision
MÜHLE RAZORS
PARKER RAZORS
PILS RAZORS
TRADERE RAZORS
WEBER RAZORS
WEISHI RAZORS
VINTAGE RAZORS
Gillette
Tech
Super Speed
Aristocrat
Fat Boy and Slim Handle
Super Adjustable
Lady Gillette
Wilkinson
Wilkinson Sword Classic
The “Sticky”
Apollo Mikron
Eclipse “Red Ring”
Single-edge razors: Schick & GEM
FAVORITE RAZORS
CLEANING YOUR RAZORS
REPLATING YOUR RAZORS
A MODERN-DAY BARBERSHOP SHAVE
SHAVING THE STUBBLE
PRESSURE
BLADE ANGLE
THE GRIP
THE SOUND
HERE WE GO
First pass: With the grain
Second pass: Across the grain
Third pass: Against the grain
The polishing pass [optional]
The water pass
The oil pass
Commercial shave oils
Oils from the supermarket
Pre-shaves for a polishing pass
A DIFFERENT RAZOR FOR EACH PASS
METHOD SHAVING
THE POST-SHAVE ROUTINE
THE ALUM BLOCK
STYPTICS
AFTERSHAVES
SKIN PROBLEMS
ACNE
RAZOR BUMPS AND INGROWN WHISKERS
Causes
Cures
Prevention
Prep
Tools
Shaving
Products
OTHER SKIN ISSUES
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR A BEGINNER
HAIR CONDITIONER INSTEAD OF LATHER?
SCHICK INJECTOR AS TRANSITIONAL RAZOR
LEISUREGUY BEGINNER SHAVING KIT
Your second razor
Whether to collect
SOURCES OF THE MOST COMMON PROBLEMS
HARD WATER
INSUFFICIENT PREP
WRONG BLADE FOR YOU
INCORRECT BLADE ANGLE
TOO MUCH PRESSURE
IGNORING YOUR BEARD’S GRAIN
BATHROOM TOO LOUD
SETTING AN ADJUSTABLE RAZOR TOO HIGH
WHERE TO GET MORE INFORMATION
APPENDIX
FORUMS
REFERENCE
BLADE SAMPLER PACKS
VENDORS
Preface to the Sixth Edition

I REALIZED recently that this book might have been more accurately titled The
Epicure’s Guide to Shaving, for Epicurus 1 would surely approve making
necessary tasks enjoyable. He thought that chance encounters of atoms falling
through the void, randomly interacting, produced—after much time—us and the
world in which we live. In his view we cease to exist when we die, while the
atoms continue their tumbling journey through time and space.
Because Epicurus believed that life is a one-shot deal, enjoying life has a
high priority. A dissolute lifestyle tends to have highly unpleasant consequences,
so it makes sense to seek enjoyment first in the small things of life, which is
what we mostly encounter day to day. Learning new ideas and mastering new
skills are examples of activities that provide enjoyment without harm.
Take, as a random example, the morning shave: an Epicurean who
shaves will look for a way to derive enjoyment from the task: to spend his
(limited) time doing things he doesn’t enjoy makes no sense when he could
instead do them enjoyably. Moreover, when a task is enjoyable, doing it requires
no willpower: you are drawn to the task rather than having to push yourself.
Indeed, a task can even be restorative and energizing; rather than draining you,
the task approached properly can provide both enjoyment a sense of fulfillment.
The psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi wrote several books on a
mental state he termed “flow”: a focused, absorbing, satisfying involvement in
what is happening in the moment 2. So another way to state the Epicurean
position is that one should arrange his or her life to maximize the opportunities
for flow to occur. Flow is a mental experience, so introspection combined with
an attitude that encourages the enjoyment of small things—to look for joy, and to
think about how to find more occasions of joy—is an obvious step.
This book is my contribution to an Epicurean lifestyle: the book offers a
way to make a necessary chore enjoyable. But don’t stop with just shaving.
I note that traditional wetshaving continues to grow rapidly:
• New on-line vendors of traditional shaving products continue to appear.