Thread: Throw those crutches away

I had a lesson in stark reality with this mornings shave. I did no prep, used cold tap water and for soap Williams shave stick which is a soap quite a few would call marginal. The razor was a Tuckmar wedge and the brush a Semogue 1350 boar. The result was a BBS shave.

The lesson I took away was that technique trumps almost everything else. You don't need hot water or a scuttle. You don't need an expensive brush or expensive soap. You don't need an expensive razor. What you do need is a sharp well stropped razor that you get from good technique. You need good technique with a brush to be able to get a decent lather from a soap. You need good technique with the blade when shaving. Don't get too side tracked by all the nice to have extras. They do make it easier and more enjoyable to shave but may also let you get away with a less good technique.

Yea, it was an eye opener and no my technique is certainly not perfect. I just wanted to underscore how much more important developing good technique is than those nice to have crutches. As a beginner I think I needed that reality check.

Bob

When I first tried Williams... and yes it was not my first soap, I found that my technique with the razor drastically increased out of necessity. I did not have a lot of cushion anymore and I had to correct some things but the outcome was better technique and better shaves.

No scuttle,no fancy brush,use cheap palmolive tallow shaving soap.
But these old bones draw the line at using cold water,not me man

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

No scuttle,no fancy brush,use cheap palmolive tallow shaving soap.
But these old bones draw the line at using cold water,not me man

Once you go cold it will never get old !

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

No scuttle,no fancy brush,use cheap palmolive tallow shaving soap.
But these old bones draw the line at using cold water,not me man

That's cheating, I hear Palmolive stick is a pretty good soap. Yea, cold water will wake you up for sure.

Bob

Originally Posted by BobH

That's cheating, I hear Palmolive stick is a pretty good soap. Yea, cold water will wake you up for sure.

Bob

Euro palmolive Gut is one of the greatest shaving soaps around IMO,and it is real cheap

I agree that technique trumps toys but all of the extras (scuttle, good soap/cream, etc) do a lot to make the experience a pleasurable one, at least for me.

I will have to agree that technique is far more important than fancy shaving gear in getting a good shave.
For a really nice shave it is important to have straight, cheap or costly, that is sharp and a smooth cutter.
I like to think about the clean faced old timers and what they had to work with. Technique was about the only thing that many of them could afford to perfect.

Originally Posted by Weaselsrippedmyflesh

I agree that technique trumps toys but all of the extras (scuttle, good soap/cream, etc) do a lot to make the experience a pleasurable one, at least for me.

Yea, wouldn't argue that one bit and didn't. I would say though if you want to check your progress in shaving just take those luxuries away once and awhile. Don't get carried away with the toys initially, plenty of time for that later when you have a grip on technique.

Bob

Good point, I apply the same method to shaving that I do to golf, it's not the clubs that make the golfer. I started purposefully with a cheap, but good, tweezerman brush, VDH cheap soap, I read if you can make a great lather on it you can lather anything, and a SR I restored. I set out to make shaving great with the basics so if I ever went up it was the technique not the technology(not that there is much tech in shaving but you get the point)