[Shaving] Old School vs. The World

[Smoove_B]

You can take care of yourself and pay attention to detail and get the same results without scented towels and fruity soaps and creams.

I realize now I've been going about this all wrong. My new mission is to convince your wife what she *could* have if you took the time to carefully manscape your face.

It's on.

[McNutt]

I've never said that this type of shaving if for everybody. It's not. Most guys just want the quickest shave that's passable. I do recommend combining a brush and cream/soap because I find it far superior to Gillette Foamy or whatever aerosal you're using and it takes almost no additional time, which seems to be your main concern.

[Mr. Sparkle]

Women most definitely are attracted to men who take the time to take care of their appearance. Anyone who disagrees is either not getting any, or has been married for far too long to remember what women like

Where's The Matrix when you need him?

Basically what RM9 said... but I will reiterate because I like to watch myself type...

Nobody is saying that (some) girls aren't impressed with a guy who spend time making himself pretty... but you guys are making it sound like women will only sleep with guys who use the right kind of louffa to exfoliate.

[LordMortis]

You can take care of yourself and pay attention to detail and get the same results without scented towels and fruity soaps and creams.

I realize now I've been going about this all wrong. My new mission is to convince your wife what she *could* have if you took the time to carefully manscape your face.

It's on.

Are you going to take her shopping for handbags next so she can properly accessorize? I know you bask in being a woman and all, but now your not just being a woman, you're turning into a cunt.

[Smoove_B]

Are you going to take her shopping for handbags next so she can properly accessorize? I know you bask in being a woman and all, but now your not just being a woman, you're turning into a cunt.

Handbags? No way. Shoes...maybe.

[LordMortis]

Are you going to take her shopping for handbags next so she can properly accessorize? I know you bask in being a woman and all, but now your not just being a woman, you're turning into a cunt.

Handbags? No way. Shoes...maybe.

Remind me never to look in your closet.

[Covenant72]

Nobody is saying that (some) girls aren't impressed with a guy who spend time making himself pretty... but you guys are making it sound like women will only sleep with guys who use the right kind of louffa to exfoliate.

If you have a significant other, then they will be more attracted to the effort than to the results. Show your wife/girlfriend you are "trying" to look good for her and you will get more poontang.

If you're single and are a complete mess, then no, the shave isnt gonna help. Time to start working on that sense of humor or make more money.

If you're single and not a complete mess, then this will enhance your game, which is a good thing.[/b]

[Mr. Sparkle]

If you have a significant other, then they will be more attracted to the effort than to the results. Show your wife/girlfriend you are "trying" to look good for her and you will get more poontang.

No I won't. Some may. Some would get less.

If you're single and not a complete mess, then this will enhance your game, which is a good thing.

No way. No chick you meet is going to be able to tell by looking at you how long you took shaving this morning...

The only possible way it could give you more game is if the procedure increases your own self confidence and makes you feel uber sexy... which is great... but has nothing to do with a 45 minute shave.

[Smoove_B]

The only possible way it could give you more game is if the procedure increases your own self confidence and makes you feel uber sexy... which is great... but has nothing to do with a 45 minute shave.

When you're slow dancing with your best girl to "Time After Time" at the Prom, you'll see just how much that time spent shaving pays off. You all smooth and smelling like lilacs or sandalwood? Fantastic.

You are looking for tips to help you get lucky the night of the Prom, right?

[McNutt]

The only possible way it could give you more game is if the procedure increases your own self confidence and makes you feel uber sexy... which is great... but has nothing to do with a 45 minute shave.

Perhaps it will make you take more care with your overall appearance.

I'm not saying this is love potion #9, but it certainly won't hurt. The best argument I'm hearing from the other side is that real men don't shave that way. Of course this rule doesn't apply to all the men who shaved that way for the greater part of the 20th century.

[LordMortis]

When you're slow dancing with your best girl to "Time After Time" at the Prom, you'll see just how much that time spent shaving pays off.

...When she all of a sudden begins to think of you as gay and wonders exactly why she's dating you in the first place, asks you for tips on housekeeping, and then leaves with bubba on his Harley, you get paid off at 96%, just like from a crappy Vegas slot machine, your hopes and dreams dashed apon the oceanside rocks, worn smooth as your baby's bottom face smelling of the fresh sea air that aided in the erosion, like a ship lost on a foggy night guided by a lighthouse too far from the shore. This lighthouse shall forever be known as Smoove: The Siren's Call, a marvelous mistake in engineering.

[jblank]

There is no pleasure in shaving. Its simply mens curse, like womens curse is ragging.

There is for me now. Join us, jblank. Come to the smooth side.

Oh I get a smooth shave, this new Fusion is great.

[McNutt]

I saw a thread on another forum (not an old-school shaving forum) where the guy removed two blades from his Mach 3 and noticed no difference in his shave. Why is that?

[Anonymous Bosch]

There is no pleasure in shaving. Its simply mens curse, like womens curse is ragging.

There is for me now. Join us, jblank. Come to the smooth side.

Oh I get a smooth shave, this new Fusion is great.

So it's wrong when Chevron "bends you over and rams it to you" but it's OK when it comes to "the miracle of fusion"?

Comics no doubt will have a field day with Fusion, mocking the lawnmower effect of five blades. But consider that Fusion, including an $11.99 battery-operated version, will command 30% higher prices than Mach3 products at a time when P&G can't raise prices on Tide or Crest. Morgan Stanley predicts Fusion will grab 15% of U.S. market this year, boosting P&G's earnings by $120 million.

30% higher prices!? Why, those perfidious profiteers!

[RunningMn9]

You can take care of yourself and pay attention to detail and get the same results without scented towels and fruity soaps and creams.

I realize now I've been going about this all wrong. My new mission is to convince your wife what she *could* have if you took the time to carefully manscape your face.

It's on.

If your example is you - you aren't going to make a sale.

[LordMortis]

If your example is you - you aren't going to make a sale.

Naw, his example is (choose the answer that is most offensive)

A) Not you.
The guys she who satisfies her while you are at work.
C) The woman she wishes you were.

[RunningMn9]

When you're slow dancing with your best girl to "Time After Time" at the Prom, you'll see just how much that time spent shaving pays off. You all smooth and smelling like lilacs or sandalwood? Fantastic.

I look at it this way. The day that Clint Eastwood comes out and talks about he loves his smooth face that smells like lilacs or sandalwood - then you can try to tell me that it's manly. Clint Eastwood would eat your DE safety razor.

[Trent Steel]

The guys ...

Way to work the "cool" smiley into a list after all the hub-bub about preventing that from happening.

Dick.

[Trent Steel]

I look at it this way. The day that Clint Eastwood comes out and talks about he loves his smooth face that smells like lilacs or sandalwood - then you can try to tell me that it's manly. Clint Eastwood would eat your DE safety razor.

Yeah, but Clint ain't gonna get his face sat on by Jessica Alba either.

[LordMortis]

I look at it this way. The day that Clint Eastwood comes out and talks about he loves his smooth face that smells like lilacs or sandalwood - then you can try to tell me that it's manly. Clint Eastwood would eat your DE safety razor.

Yeah, but Clint ain't gonna get his face sat on by Jessica Alba either.

The moment Jessica Alba sits on Smoove's face because he's using that razor is the moment I switch razors.

[RunningMn9]

I saw a thread on another forum (not an old-school shaving forum) where the guy removed two blades from his Mach 3 and noticed no difference in his shave. Why is that?

I added two blades to my Mach 3 and noticed a difference, why is that?

To answer your question: Easy. The guy has no idea how to shave with a cartridge razor. People seem to think that you have to learn to shave with a DE safety razor to avoid mucking your face up, but they don't realize that you also have to learn how to shave with a cartridge razor too. Or you'll much your face up.

If your mucking your face up with 3 blades, you'll probably muck it up with one.

Or an easier answer: Because the guy never actually removed two blades and shaved his face with it. You can't always believe what you read on the internet.

[Trent Steel]

I look at it this way. The day that Clint Eastwood comes out and talks about he loves his smooth face that smells like lilacs or sandalwood - then you can try to tell me that it's manly. Clint Eastwood would eat your DE safety razor.

Yeah, but Clint ain't gonna get his face sat on by Jessica Alba either.

The moment Jessica Alba sits on Smoove's face because he's using that razor is the moment I switch razors.

In Clint's case it might be Jessica Alba. In Smoove's case, it's the hermaphrodite stripper he's paying for in AC.

[Smoove_B]

The moment Jessica Alba sits on Smoove's face because he's using that razor is the moment I switch razors.

I'll be in my bunk.

[Smoove_B]

If your example is you - you aren't going to make a sale.

Don't doubt the mystique. I just hope you're within earshot when she says, "You smell wonderful."

[McNutt]

I look at it this way. The day that Clint Eastwood comes out and talks about he loves his smooth face that smells like lilacs or sandalwood - then you can try to tell me that it's manly. Clint Eastwood would eat your DE safety razor.

Clint Eastwood has probably been using the Fusion his entire life.

I added two blades to my Mach 3 and noticed a difference, why is that?

I would guess there are two possible reasons:
1. More was changed with the Fusion than the addition of two blades.
2. You fell for the hype and convinced yourself that it was a better shave.

Personally I think the answer is number one. I'm still wiating for someone to explain why there would be any hair left for the magical fifth blade to cut. Why in the hell was it not cut by the first four?

[RunningMn9]

Yeah, but Clint ain't gonna get his face sat on by Jessica Alba either.

Is Smoove?

If Clint wants Jessica, he asks. She knows better than to say no.

[LordMortis]

Don't doubt the mystique. I just hope you're not within earshot when she says, "You smell pretty."

Fixed that for ya'.

[RunningMn9]

Clint Eastwood has probably been using the Fusion his entire life.

Clint Eastwood is 85 years old, and hellified tough. He's a straight razor man. But the blade isn't the point. Do you *really* think that Clint is walking around smelling like lilacs or sandalwood?

Kyan (and Smoove) are walking around smelling like lilacs. Not Clint Eastwood.

I would guess there are two possible reasons:
1. More was changed with the Fusion than the addition of two blades.
2. You fell for the hype and convinced yourself that it was a better shave.

Or the secret third option - adding blades and putting them closer together actually does what they are supposed to do.

Of course, I actually know how to shave with a cartridge razor, so perhaps that helps too.

I was a satisfied Mach 3 user. I was all set to ridicule the Fusion as a gimmicky marketing ploy. Then I tried it. It was noticeably more comfortable. What do you want from me? To lie so I can join the cool anti-establishment crowd that is spending HUNDREDS of dollars on razors and soaps and brushes and oils and creams and towels and lotions and butt massages? No thanks.

Personally I think the answer is number one. I'm still wiating for someone to explain why there would be any hair left for the magical fifth blade to cut. Why in the hell was it not cut by the first four?

Did you think that the fifth blade is there because three blades wasn't cutting all of the hairs?

[McNutt]

Clint Eastwood is 85 years old, and hellified tough. He's a straight razor man. But the blade isn't the point. Do you *really* think that Clint is walking around smelling like lilacs or sandalwood?

I think Clint probably didn't give a damn if his shaving soap was scented. But I doubt he turned his nose at somebody who bought bay rum or amber-scented soap. Are you less of a man if you wear cologne?

Or the secret third option - adding blades and putting them closer together actually does what they are supposed to do.

Of course, I actually know how to shave with a cartridge razor, so perhaps that helps too.

We DE users know that it only takes one blade to cut. So maybe you only know how to shave with a cartridge that has x blades.

Did you think that the fifth blade is there because three blades wasn't cutting all of the hairs?

I'm confused by this. Are you trying to prove my point?

[Debris]

So do you pansies turn the lights down low, toss a few rose petals on the counter, light some fragrance candles and put on an eight-track of "Dreamweaver" to really get you into the shaving mood?



For special occasions, I use the Mach3 and a little gel. Otherwise I use an electric and shave in my car on the way to work. Either way it takes me no more than 3 minutes, tops.

I don't even think it takes my wife 15 minutes to shave her legs and underarms and she's the slowest bathroom person I've ever met.

[Smutly]

...lotions and butt massages?

Who told him about the lotions and butt massages?

[Greggy_D]

A point some of you are missing is that DE shaving does NOT have to cost hundreds of dollars to get into.

$30 for a generic badger brush (that is still heads and tails over synthetic and boar).
$10 for a 60's Adjustable Gillette that looks and acts brand new off of Ebay (considered by MANY big time posters at SMF to be the best DE)
$5 for a decent Shave Soap (which will last 2-3 times as long as your can of gel)
$1 for a bowl from Target or Pet Store
$1.36 for 10 DE Personna blades from Wal Mart.

Grand total: 47.36

In other words, less than (2) 8 cartridge packs of Fusion blades. I guarantee you it will blow away any Fusion shave. And from there, it only gets cheaper assuming you don't go apeshit and try 20 different soaps/creams/razors/etc. Imagine your $25 Fusion 8 cartridge pack now only costing $1.36 and you get 2 additional blades compared to the Fusion pack.

[cheeba]

[Greggy_D]

Do you like my red shirt? I tried to tell McNutt that blue pales him.

[McNutt]

It's no use, Greggy_D. These guys just aren't fabulous like us.

[Greggy_D]

McNutt, please suicide us both. Why did we just order $115 brushes?

[McNutt]

In a span of two weeks I became high maintenance.

Still, it is theoretically possible to DE shave stupidly cheap. Theoretically.

[Greggy_D]

I'm thinking this new brush could replace my wife.

[RunningMn9]

I think Clint probably didn't give a damn if his shaving soap was scented. But I doubt he turned his nose at somebody who bought bay rum or amber-scented soap. Are you less of a man if you wear cologne?

Depending on the cologne, yes.

We DE users know that it only takes one blade to cut. So maybe you only know how to shave with a cartridge that has x blades.

Fair enough. My shaving skills are limited to knowing how to shave with an electric, a single bladed disposable, and multi-bladed floating head cartridge razors.

It can take only one blade to cut. It can also take five blades to cut. The five-bladed experience is different than the single-bladed experience. I cannot shave nearly as quickly and comfortably with a single-bladed disposable as I can with a multi-bladed cartridge. They are different skills.

The only thing that rivals the speed is the electric, but that has it's own issues (for my skin anyway).

I'm confused by this. Are you trying to prove my point?

No, just trying to point out that you don't seem to understand shaving technology (or basic physics). The point of the fifth blade wasn't to cut additional hairs that the third (and subsequently fourth) blade was missing. The point was to increase the area of the cutting surface, making sure to distribute the pressure you apply across a wider area (reducing the specific pressure of any one blade on your dainty face).

Apparently people that are using cartridge razors are applying copious amounts of pressure to the blades (why, I have no idea). So the Fusion redistributes that to make it more comfortable (in addition to the fact that the rubber strip in front of the blades is wider, which effectively lowers the pivot point of the floating head, thus ensuring that regardless of how piss-poor you are and how much pressure you apply, the bulk of the pressure is put on the rubber strip, and not the razor blades that are in contact with your skin).

The fourth and fifth blades are there to increase the comfort of the shave, and help reduce post-shave irritation. They aren't there because the third blade was leaving 40% of the hair on your face.

Gilette is doing everything in their power to make it so that not knowing how to shave correctly won't be a painful experience. That doesn't mean that you can't get a fantastic shave from their products if you know how to use them. That's what makes me laugh when Smoove_B talks about how he had to unlearn all sorts of bad habits from using his Sensor Excel. He shouldn't have had the bad habits on the Sensor Excel, and stopping the bad habits while using that razor would have been almost as effective as this fruity nonsense.

Rather than try to tell people what razor they need to be using to be just like him to validate his own choices - he should just be realizing that most men have no idea how to shave (independently of what kind of razor they are using). Some men don't care to know how to shave. That's cool. Some men don't need to know how to shave. Also cool. Some men are perfectly content with shaving cream compressed into a can. Cool. Some men are butchering their faces and are being told that the only way to correct that is to switch to a DE razor to learn how to shave. That's horseshit.

They also could just learn how to shave with what they have.

[RunningMn9]

A point some of you are missing is that DE shaving does NOT have to cost hundreds of dollars to get into.

And multi-cartridge systems don't always cost you $550 a month in cartridges. We are simply commenting on the OP, who started out cheap, but is now scouring the globe for fancy soaps and has escalated his costs up over $100 already (that's nearly 4 *years* of cartridges for me).

An 8-pack of Fusion blades would last me 8 months at a minimum. That's $0.10 per day. It's hard for me to care about cost when the most expensive cartridge razor system ever produced by mankind is only costing me a dime per day.

People are different. Some people will spend $50 on DE shaving gear and enjoy pampering 30% of their face for 10-15 minutes per day. Some people will spend $200 or $500 on DE shaving gear and enjoy pampering 30% of their face for 10-15 minutes per day. Some people have better things to be doing for 12-14 of those minutes. Others can get just as close a shave with a blade+1 system (I will challenge anyone on that, as a test on SB sunday I spent 5-7 minutes with the Fusion and the resulting shave was close enough that my face was perfectly smooth with and against the grain from the time I was done until I went to sleep - knowing how to shave with what you use is so much more important than what you are using, and you guys are losing sight of that).