Thread: Traveling light

Today is my wedding anniversary, and over the weekend, my wife and I went to Laughlin, NV for an overnighter. I thought about taking a DE or disposable, but decided to try a minimalist approach.

I stropped one of my straights, and rolled it up in a ziploc bag. While we were there, I just used the face soap supplied by the hotel, and got a good shave.

No strop, no hones, no after-shave, no brush. Just a razor.

It would likely not be nice for a multi-day trip, but for a quick overnighter, a razor is all you really need!

Although I strop before and between shaves I normally use only bar soap; Ivory, mostly, which seems to work well enough as long as the razor is sharp. One of these days I'll throw money into actual shaving soaps and see what difference it makes.

Originally Posted by Agamemnon

Although I strop before and between shaves I normally use only bar soap; Ivory, mostly, which seems to work well enough as long as the razor is sharp. One of these days I'll throw money into actual shaving soaps and see what difference it makes.

Wow! You're missing out, definitely. I've tried shaving with a couple types of "regular" soap, and it just didn't hold a candle to even cheap shaving soap.
You don't have to spend a lot to get quality soap. I love the Glycerin soap by Surrey (May be Van Der Hagen, I've heard the company uses both names for different regions), and it usually retails for 2 or 3 dollars. Their "Deluxe" soap is nice too.
If you want even cheaper soap, Williams soap is nice, and only costs a buck or two.
My current favorite is Palmolive cream, in the red tube. It lathers very easily, and gives a really slick result. I get an amazing lather even with my cheapo brush (And if you're not using a brush, you can get a Van Der Hagen boar brush for about 6 bucks. It's what I use, and it serves me nicely!).

I can't imagine DE or Straight shaving without shaving soap and a brush. Not only are there real benefits (Exfoliation from the brush, and extra moisturizers in the soap), but it just adds so much to the experience.

All of the stuff I mentioned in my post can be bought at just about any Walgreens, CVS, Sav-On and sometimes Target (Target also often has Proraso products. I've never tried them myself, but I've heard good things about them.)

I've trolled a couple of the local Target stores but couldn't find any Proraso products and I went up and down just about every aisle too. Yes, I do use a brush and have tried Burma Shave soap as well as some vanilla scented soap from Classic Shaving. They worked fairly well and I liked both scents but noticed the lather quality declined as the soap was used up. Although I plan on upgrading my soap and brush arsenal I've always had a thing for the minimalist approach. Could I get a decent shave with whatever is available at the nearest convenience store. No, I haven't tried the water shaving method (Yet?). I was on another thread concerning aftershaves and so will look for some Pinaud Clubman at the local Long's or Walgreens and see what I come up with...

Evan Better, I found glycerin shave soap at Wal-Mart this weekend. Shocked the H**l out of me, I always cruse the shaving stuff isle while I'm there, but it makes me wonder if they know how many of us are out there.

Phil

Originally Posted by Agamemnon

I've trolled a couple of the local Target stores but couldn't find any Proraso products and I went up and down just about every aisle too. ...

Target keeps their Proraso goods in the "boutique" area near the women's colognes, hair supplies, etc. Not in the ordinary shaving supplies area. Did you look there?

- Dale

I believe so. I saw all manner of tableware and kitchen appliances and deodorants, excercise equipment, toys, DVD's, electronics, undergarments, overgarments, munchies, paperbacks, bathroom accessories and even a couple of cute cashiers . But I didn't see any Proraso. Maybe I should've asked one of them thar cashiers? (For Proraso, not a date!)