Thread: Developing personal taste..

Greetings shavers!

Aside from all the scientific talk and the chase of the 'perfect edge', we're all in this for the thrill of the nostalgic feelings and enjoying the finer things in life. Which also means it all comes down to taste!

Since I started 4 months ago, I started to go through as many soaps, creams, balms whatever as I could and also got the RAD as bad as my tight students budget would allow me.. Again, to many of you this would seem a fairly small collection but I actually am just getting started!

My first razor, one that started the whole ride for me was a full hollow Hermes Solingen 4/8 blade:

I like to shave with it every now and often for the feel, since it was my 'first' haha. Although it is rather unforgiving compared to my other shavers and sometimes even leaves me with a light burn if I have to do 3 strokes.


My second acquisition was a lucky bargain in a local antique store, being a mint shape Solingen Silversteel 6/8 for next to nothing:

This baby has only seen a few whiskers so far, since one of my roommate had a go at trying to strop and shave with it just after I had it out for honing. Ofcourse he screwed the entire thing up including my strop since he had no idea what he was doing.. It's out for honing right now, but the 2 shaves I had with it were very pleasant and easy, looking forward to having it back.


My third blade is a half-hollow Liesé & Co 6/8, my favourite of the herd..

This baby is my main whisker wacker, I really like the size and weight of it, gives me by far the best shaves.


As this week is my birthday I could pick something out from my parents, so I ordered this boy today. It's an oakwood T.F. Bastet 8/8 from Sheffield 1890, the picture is still from the seller because I don't have it yet, but boy am I anxious..



Concluding, during my journey so far I found out that I like heavier, big razors.. This is ofcourse caused by the results obtained by these boys so far and honestly I lack the experience to point out any other major differences. But then again, it's about the feel, the quality time of the shave and that my fellow shavers, is for sure what I have experienced for the past 4 months!

Now the question remains, how did your journey develop and what is your personal taste?

My journey started in the mid 80's at a local auction. Couldn't find anyone to teach me the ways of straights and couldn't find anything written that would help. Barbers told me I shouldn't use straights. Then, a few years ago I found SRP and the journey continued. Picking up ebay razors and a few local finds my collection grew. Jr. started taking to them when I stopped drawing blood and CarrieM played the role of enabler so we started restorations and the collection continued to grow. Today it is several hundred and CarrieM is still 'helping me find more razors but it has slowed down a bit. You will find that as your experience using straights matures your preference in razors may change. Also, as your honing techniques improve you will look at the same razor in a new light. I have many different styles, shapes, sizes and grind razors and I try to use a different one for each shave. Any razor 5/8's or larger is fine by me. 4/8's is a bit small for my large hands but I do have several and some 9/16's that deliver great shaves. In the end it is not the grind or size of the razor that matters but the quality of the edge on it. I enjoy each and every shave with all of the razors I have, even the not so pretty ones. Enjoy your shaves with the razors you have. Improve your technique and honing skills and you will never get tired of this sport. All said and done I still need only one more razor!