Thread: what are your thoughts on method shaving?

the above video is a classic.. the video description also claims he is shaving before he goes to work as a city bus driver... the guy just has a good sense of humour.. why is he no longer a member here?

Originally Posted by vthomlinson

here is a comment left on a video about the shave cloth


"I think Method Shaving is the biggest load of crap ever. Charles Roberts is a genius. A man who created a concept that takes a pretty simple (or complicated if you wet shave) routine and has made it into one that uses products ONLY HE RECOMMENDS USING OR SELLS. It complicates things and he invents complex terminology that literally makes no sense

He laughs all the way to the bank when people method shave

he is also probably slightly autistic"

My thoughts, essentially. It may produce a better shave, but probably not by much.

I'm reminded of telescopes and binoculars. If you want something decent, you can get it for a decent price. A little better than decent and all of a sudden the price starts rising exponentially.

Effort and result is the same. You can spend 10 minutes doing a good job, or you can spend an hour doing a better job with only slight noticeable difference. Is it worth that effort? For some people, yes. For most, no.

So some people may love putting all that energy into their shave and get a better result than if they shaved normally, but the result won't be a huge difference from the average Joe's shave.

Having (finally) just watched Mr. Robert's video I thought I'd voice some of the more appropriate thoughts I had regarding his "method" shaving:

1. This demonstration is like a 3:00 am infomercial at its finest. If I wanted to see a spastic shaving I'd just call up Vince the "slap chop" guy.....

2. For a system called "method shaving" there sure seems to be little method going on, at least as far as I can discern.

3. I can't believe how many times he passes that DE over his face. And he advocates it as well. If I did that my face would look like mince meat.

4. The touch up pass(es); with all those previous passes why would this be necessary? I'm sorry, but if he wasn't smooth before there's something wrong.

5. I thought we (as in SRP members) had a way of over complicating things every now and then, but this is one wagon that has gone over the cliff. As other members have already pointed out, it's a needlessly over complicated process utilizing shady designer products sold with a zeal that would make a snake oil salesman blush.

6. If it wasn't for the fact that Mr. Roberts has serious followers and is fleecing people out of their hard earned cash this whole thing would actually be quite amusing....

I think I'll stick with my current "system"... hey, if it ain't broke

In all fairness, I don't think Roberts is a scammer-that he's intentionally selling bad or unnecessary products for his system. If I remember right, he came up with it for people that had problems even with normal DE shaving, and I think those were the most vehement adherents to his system. So it works, for some people.

I'd never recommend it to anyone, though.

I'd never seen Roberts before that video, and I have to say, that dude is crazy as hell.

Originally Posted by Ryan82

Having (finally) just watched Mr. Robert's video I thought I'd voice some of the more appropriate thoughts I had regarding his "method" shaving:

1. This demonstration is like a 3:00 am infomercial at its finest. If I wanted to see a spastic shaving I'd just call up Vince the "slap chop" guy.....

2. For a system called "method shaving" there sure seems to be little method going on, at least as far as I can discern.

3. I can't believe how many times he passes that DE over his face. And he advocates it as well. If I did that my face would look like mince meat.

4. The touch up pass(es); with all those previous passes why would this be necessary? I'm sorry, but if he wasn't smooth before there's something wrong.

5. I thought we (as in SRP members) had a way of over complicating things every now and then, but this is one wagon that has gone over the cliff. As other members have already pointed out, it's a needlessly over complicated process utilizing shady designer products sold with a zeal that would make a snake oil salesman blush.

6. If it wasn't for the fact that Mr. Roberts has serious followers and is fleecing people out of their hard earned cash this whole thing would actually be quite amusing....

I think I'll stick with my current "system"... hey, if it ain't broke

The number of passes and the number of touch up passes
tell me that he is simply OCD.

He is right that water is a critical component of the shave but
splashing warm to cool water on the face multiple times in the
couple minutes that it takes to build a deluxe lather does the same thing, IMO.

It is interesting that many "advances" get driven by the OCD folk.
To that point any method that lets you subject the face to that many passes
does provide a lot of lubrication and cushion.

I do like the "relathering" hand trick with a DE. It lets you feel spots
that need a touch up and at the same time lathers them for the
razor. I call it the "braille method" for touch ups I do much the same
thing with an open blade razor.

update.. i just realized that charles roberts was also the inventor of the j-hook..

Originally Posted by vthomlinson

update.. i just realized that charles roberts was also the inventor of the j-hook..

j-hook? whats that?