Shaving re-discovered

[teamsaint]

Gosh Pee, that reads like a very good script for a TV commercial; you're in the wrong job!

Mr Pee has a job?

I rather assumed he was an Aristocrat.

And has a valet.

[johnb]

I had a beard from my early twenties but a few years ago it started to get a bit patchy so I shaved it off. I still haven't got used to the stranger's face that now stares back at me in the mirror (very disconcerting).

I tried using a wet razor but found it almost painful on my upper lip so I eventually settled on a Panasonic wet or dry electric shaver. It was pretty expensive but I found it equalled a traditional razor when used wet, and without the feeling of my upper lip being scalped.

[Petrushka]

I'm up at 6.15 every weekday morning to go to work and the last thing I want is to be faffing around with shaving on the Pee scale. A quick scrape of the face with the electric shaver is going to have to do and, fortunately for me, is sufficient.

Used to work with a chap who had very swarthy skin and after a morning shave would have a full beard by lunchtime. You could almost see his hair grow - astonishing!

[Beef Oven!]

I had a beard from my early twenties but a few years ago it started to get a bit patchy so I shaved it off. I still haven't got used to the stranger's face that now stares back at me in the mirror (very disconcerting).

I tried using a wet razor but found it almost painful on my upper lip so I eventually settled on a Panasonic wet or dry electric shaver. It was pretty expensive but I found it equalled a traditional razor when used wet, and without the feeling of my upper lip being scalped.

Haven't tried my Panasonic wet. Maybe I'll get better results. What do you do, just dip it in hot water?

[Nick Armstrong]

Reader he said, not member of the editorial team!

[johnb]

Haven't tried my Panasonic wet. Maybe I'll get better results. What do you do, just dip it in hot water?

Just dipping it into water will almost certainly give worse results because the drag on the skin will increase.

I usually only use it wet when I want a closer shave - with soap/shaving foam/shaving oil on my face, perhaps in the shower, then briefly washing out the shaver.

[Ferretfancy]

I assume from that comment that you are a Guardian reader.

As Jimmy Edwards once remarked re Guardian readers " All long 'air and beards, and the men are just as bad! "

[Beef Oven!]

Just dipping it into water will almost certainly give worse results because the drag on the skin will increase.

I usually only use it wet when I want a closer shave - with soap/shaving foam/shaving oil on my face, perhaps in the shower, then briefly washing out the shaver.

Thanks, I'll give it a go.

[Beef Oven!]

This one:-

http://www.shaving-shack.com/edwin-j...de-blades.html

I think shaving is a very personal thing and if you get on with the Fusion type cartridges, fine- although I thought I did until I got my DE safety razor; it was initially a purely financial decision, but I am now totally converted. Needed a bit of trial and error with blades, though- the Japanese Feather variety are known as the sharpest, so naturally I thought they were the ones to go for- result:- endless nicks and cuts. Apparetly they work best in Feather razors, which are rather pricey. The Gillette blades I use now hardly ever cut and give a lovely smooth shave. Like the proverbial baby's bum.

As for electric razors- not for me. I never got a decent shave from one, much worse than the Fusion type. I used to keep a portable electric razor for emergencies, but then whenever I needed it the batteries were nearly always flat anyway.

That looks great Pee! Love the faux ivory too.

I think I'm going to spend some money on something I just don't need - the Wilkinson Hydro 5 is amazing, so close and haven't had so much as a nick the whole time (I used to regularly go to work with Rizla papers stuck on me chin!).

[Sir Velo]

What is 'shaving' ? Or having a 'hair-cut', for that matter ?

You prefer to sport this look I take it?

[Sir Velo]

Just dipping it into water will almost certainly give worse results because the drag on the skin will increase.

I usually only use it wet when I want a closer shave - with soap/shaving foam/shaving oil on my face, perhaps in the shower, then briefly washing out the shaver.

We really are getting into a lather on this thread aren't we?

[Wallace]

I am reminded of the 80/20 rule and he suggestion that 80 percent of the world's problems are caused by the 20 percent of the male population who have facial hair.

[Nick Armstrong]

I am reminded of the 80/20 rule and he suggestion that 80 percent of the world's problems are caused by the 20 percent of the male population who have facial hair.

Who came up with that cast-iron theory?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

x
And the clincher is that I got over two years worth of excellent quality Gillette blades from Amazon for 13 quid, which is about the price of a pack of 4 of those ridiculous rip-off cartridges. One blade lasts about a week, and I got 120 for that sum.

I managed to make a pack of 4 Gillette Fusion blades last for a little over a year. The secret is with the Edwin Jagger shaving brush and the Crabtree and Evelyn shaving soap. Normally, I expect each blade to last for a month.
But I have toyed with returning to a double edged razor.

[Richard Tarleton]

Disconcerting to see Paxman on Mondays doing University Challenge clean-shaven then looking like Grizzly Adams 2 hours later on Newsnight. I wonder how much of the competition was filmed before his hols - perhaps all of it?

I last shaved in about 1976. My wife has not seen me without the beard. Nowadays I have a No 1 beard trim once a month.