May 27, 2016

I shave everyday - but that wasn't always the case.

Starting in high school, I would take 'shaving vacations' starting maybe in December and lasting until April. Not exactly a winter beard, but pretty close. I used to find that by the time April would roll around, I was pretty tired of having a beard.

I stopped doing that after I noticed that I was getting more grey each year. A little was ok, but I was getting more than a little. So shaving is now a daily ritual.

About a year ago, I started getting more interested in the products available for shaving. I had been quite content for many years using what was basically my grandfather's setup: Palmolive shave cream and a safety razor.  After I couldn't get the Palmolive locally, I switched to using cans of goo with mixed feelings. I missed using a brush, and could never get just the right amount of product. And there I stagnated.

Until last year, when I started searching for tubes of Palmolive shave cream.  Pretty innocent, but I quickly found several online retailers and websites supplying and touting the whole process of wet shaving. While I know, in the back of my mind, that there were more products out there than I was interested in, I was surprised by how many different manufacturers there are of shaving gear.

After a few days (weeks) of  reading, browsing and frowning at some of the comments and how many disciples there are of the church of wet shaving, desire took over.  Was there a best shaving cream? What about razor blades? Look at all the different kinds (and sizes) of brushes! And scents - where to start?

Eventually, I calmed down and started to think about what it was I wanted to change, in what order, and at what cost.  While I don't mind paying the price for better products, I had very little experience in the variety of products available. And variety may be too small a word - on the internet, you can find and have access to products from all over the world.

So, I decided to start small, shaving cream. That was what started this particular adventure, so it should make a good beginning.  The first package that came to the mailbox was Taylor of Old Bond Street Sandalwood shaving cream.

I have to say, I absolutely fell in love with it!  Easy to use, creamy and a very pleasant scent. But... what do the other creams feel like? And what about different interpretations of sandalwood? 

Package number two is Geo F Trumper Sandalwood shave cream.  Different texture, and a lighter scent.  Very easy to use, but overall I think I prefer the Taylor of Old Bond Street.  Fortunately these are consumables, so I can work my way through them without waste and in a leisurely fashion.

There are still more Sandalwood creams to try, I haven't even considered soaps yet, let alone razor blades. This could turn a morning ritual into something more engaging and interesting than just a chore to get through to be presentable for the day.  I think I'm going to have fun!

Oh, and the Palmolive that stated this quest - they were out.