Thread: Brother angry and unhappy with DE shaves! :(

Originally Posted by tekbow

On the subject of volatile teenagers. The alternative is to wind him up and sit back and watch the fireworks? May be entertaining at least?

From his point of view his big sister shouldn't be better at shaving than he is. This has tons of milage in it for giving you something to do when you're bored.

tekbow, are you certain you're not my older brother?

Originally Posted by LinacMan

tekbow, are you certain you're not my older brother?

Don't think so... But lets face it, everyone older than a teenager knows how to set that fuse and step back

I can't wait to have kids, I'm never going to be bored. Uni is more or less free in the UK so i'm putting money away for a therapist for them

Originally Posted by tekbow

i'm putting money away for a therapist for them

By the time you put in 20 -30 yrs in raising kids it wont be them needing the therapist.

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

By the time you put in 20 -30 yrs in raising kids it wont be them needing the therapist.

I have four. The eldest one was near the death of me, but then he consciously chose to behave like that (and his "friends" egged him on).

For the original poster: like it's been said, there is considerable mileage there for you to play with if you choose, but if he's a full blown "entitled" instant gratification type then don't hold your breath over him learning anything that takes more than five minutes. Kids that age, and boys in particular, don't generally have fully functional brains. My psychologist friend tells me that they lose the ability for consequential thinking and patience around 12 and get it back aroiund 25. In between you can expect to see some absolutly mind bending and frustrating things. Not every kid is the same and some don't go through it at all, but most do.

Sit him down in a chair, and have one of your good looking mates sit on his lap and show him how to shave his face properly by doing it for him. You can chaperone the event by standing there with the skuttle and brush. I know I would never have argued the matter with a few of my sisters mates that's for sure.


Mick

Both DE and straight razor shaving take work. Those that put in the work make it. Those who don't, well, don't.

Give him a Mach 3 for a couple years, and eventually he'll beg your forgiveness......

Could always just hand him a cup of cement and tell him to ... I'll leave the rest of the phase for you to work out on your own.

(I mean this in all humour, btw. Shaving without training wheels isn't for everybody.)

How does he keep cutting himself? Is he using his DE like a lot of people use a cartridge razor? In movies, etc I see people hacking away at their face like a bad amateur cook trying to cut up carrots: repeatedly taking the blade away from the face, carelessly slapping it back on, pull it down the face, pull away, then slap it on again. Sloppy and rushed. You can sometimes get away with that when you use a cartridge razor but not with a DE. Especially if you don't stretch the skin flat, or let the corners dig in, or use a decent cream with sufficient wetness. Is he using a DE that leaves corners of the blade exposed past the side of the razor head?
I have a Merkur model thirty something and it has never cut or even scratched me, no matter what brand of blade I use, and I have a tough beard.
He really should watch some youtube videos about DE's.

Originally Posted by Obie

Hello, Melissa. I must agree with my friend thebigspendur about your brother's attitude toward the double edge razor. From your description, your brother is used to instant gratification. That is incongruous with the world of wet shaving with the double edge razor. Like the straight razor shave, the double edge does present a learning curve. It also requires time spent on the art and the skill of proper shaving.

Were I faced with the same circumstance as you, I would drop the double edge idea and let him choose whatever means that fit his personality. Obviously he is not suited for this form of shaving — for now. He might be later. Let him, therefore, make his own discoveries. He might come around, and he might not. It should be his decision. Either way, until he changes his attitude toward time and effort that this form of shaving requires, he will continue to suffer the nicks and the rashes — and complain. Stay well.

Melissa,

I agree totally with my good friend Obie. Your brother may not be in the frame of mind to go the wet shaving route with a de just yet. My son, who is a lot older than your brother was the same way. He resisted for quite awhile before making the decision that wet shaving with a de razor was for him. Now he loves it.

Let your brother take his own path. One day he will take that lovely Merkur out of the drawer and fall in love with it and the ritual of traditional wet shaving. Who knows? Perhaps one day he will surprise you by showing you his straight razor that he decided to begin using.