Shaving, Part 1

I thought I would begin and document my transforming world of face shaving. While this might not seem to be the most exciting thing to write or read about, it is certainly an interesting subject and experience to work through. To force myself to write about something, I thought, why not shaving? So, here is the first entry of many that chronicles my foray into what is called (by those who know) "wet shaving."

For those of you who might wonder why it is called "wet shaving," when the other sort of shaving (the regular way) also uses water, I can't really answer that question. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that water is used to create the lather; regular, everyday, contemporary, mainstream shaving uses creams and foams that need only a splash of water to function. Soaps and creams used in so-called "wet shaving" require lots of water and lots of time.

So, at the start, I thought I would show you what my world (and those of my contemporaries) is (was?) like. I used a cartridge razor with three blades on a single "head," and my particular model had a small motor in it that allowed it to "buzz" while I shaved. The "buzz" was apparently to "wake up" the hair (vibrate it into standing on end) in order to achieve a closer shave.

I never complained about the quality of the shave; I was never really concerned with the close, "soft as a baby's bottom" shave, much to the chagrin of my wife. Rather, I was not particularly happy with the cost of cartridges. While I used the same cartridge for a month or so (I was never sure how long one could actually use a cartridge effectively), I was always saddened and dismayed when it came time for me to purchase new cartridges. The cost for four of said cartridges was around $16 to $20, and so I would skimp on the foam required, my go-to favourite, Foamy Lemon-Lime, which only cost a couple of dollars.

Because of my dissatisfaction with buying cartridges, I decided to subscribe to a monthly shave service, that sent blades to my address for a small cost: around $7 a month. I figured that I would have a small stockpile of blades in no time, and that I could cancel the service and live off of the spoils for years.

I decided early on that I wasn't happy with the quality of the blades, and cancelled the service, but continued to live off of those spoils.

Then I got a gift for Father's Day in 2013...