Saturday, April 23, 2011

Another find

So a couple of weekends ago, I scored these old school goodies at a flea market. I know it's not much, but I like them.

The brush and pack of blades are not to be used. They're strickly decorative. I'm not sure how old the brush is, but I thought it was cool looking.

The guys over at the B&B helped me date the razors to the 4th quarter of 1943. Yeah...68 years old. How crazy is that?!

The razor is a Gillette Travel Tech from 1966. See how small the handle is? The travel tech usually came in a leather or plastic carry case that held about 1 pack of blades. Obviously, it was just thrown in a junk drawer and didn't have anything else with it. After cleaning and sterilizing, It's been the least aggressive razor I've used. Very mild. And, it's a really cool 3 piece.

It was a bargain. I paid 5 bucks for all three pieces.










Happy Shaving!

Friday, April 22, 2011

Samples

So I ordered some samples from Geo F Trumper from their website, www.trumpers.com. Cost me nearly $10, which I didn't think was all that bad that for an international order.


They all smell really good. This is a little older, so I've used all of them or partially because I don't wanna use them all up! ha-ha. By far, my favorite was the Wild Fern scent. I also love the GFT scent, it was Jennifer's favorite, but that Wild Fern was amazing. Contemplating investing in some of that scent specifically. Just wish they would make it into a shave cream. They may eventually. I'll keep my fingers crossed.


I received 7 cologne samples, 6 shave cream samples (I got about 2 uses out of each), and a shower cream/soap. They all smell wonderful and are a great product to use. I suggest you get a sample pack and try them out.

Happy Shaving!

Spring is over...or has it just begun?

Easter is this Sunday, and I feel like Spring has already left. Yes, the weather is getting warmer, the grass is getting greener, and flowers are just starting to bloom. But spring football for 2011 is officially in the books.

The past 5 years, The Wife and I have gone to Fayetteville for the Spring Red & White Game. This year, we weren't able to go. It was just bad timing, and we were in between checks at the time and couldn't afford the gas there and back, plus meals and possibly a hotel. So we opted to stay home.

However, this year, the game was televised on ESPN. Coach Petrino said he divided the teams pretty evenly, but Tyler Wilson stole the show. Wilson was Mallett's predecessor last year and at times showed that he could take over the leadership role. When Mallett was knocked out of the Auburn game last year, Wilson stepped in and took control and nearly lead the Razorbacks to a miracle come back victory. But we all know the story... Late interceptions ended the game, and Auburn eventually went on to go undefeated and win the National Championship.

Now, Mallett is headed for the NFL to be a superstar. Tyler Wison was a shoe in for the starting quarterback position. Although nothing is set in stone, Petrino always has a game plan in mind. We’ll see what all happens before fall camp and eventually the start of College football in August.

Here is a video of Tyler Wilson’s performance in the Auburn game last year to give you a sneak peak of what is in store for the Razorbacks in 2011.



Woo Pig Sooie!!!

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

King of Shave AlphaGel Shave Gel Sensitive Skin

Being within an hour of the capital, it's always a nice treat to spend the weekend in a big ...er... bigger city than where we live. So while shopping in Little Rock this weekend, we stopped by Target to look around and buy a few things that Wal-Mart doesn't carry.

Since picking up the wet shaving hobby several months ago, I have been more aware and wanting to check out the shaving and men's grooming sections of most every store I go into. Just to look and check it out to see what I can find. Most of the time, you find the usuals; cans and cans of Edge and Barbasol shave cream, and about a billion different cartridges and blades for the disposable razors. Big name brand companies filling up the entire section.

However, low and behold, I came across a brand that I wasn't used to seeing in the isle. King of Shaves!


King of Shaves (KOS) is like the big name company in the UK that is similar to the popularity of Gillette here in the U.S.

The only KOS item they had was one particular tube of their AlphaGel Sensitive Skin Shave gel. I quickly grabbed it up and began to browse the labeling, the content, ingredients, packaging,...

-BRANDON!!!
... Huh? What?
-Are you done?
Oh, yeah, lets go. And I dropped the tube in the cart to purchase.

So off we went and strolled around some more and spent the rest of the day in LR and shopping (gotta love Whole Foods).

One noticeable quality of KOS is that their product is not in an aerosol can. Instead, it’s it a plastic squeeze tube, much better for your skin. No propellants or preservatives. So when the tube is empty, rinse and throw in the recycle bucket.

This product was a low foaming gel, so I didn’t use my brush (which felt weird now that I was so used to it). I smeared it on with my fingers and massaged it into my beard. The smell was the most notable thing. It wasn’t as fragrant and luxurious as some of my other shaving products. I could definitely smell the tea tree/aloe (I think). It reminded me very much of my sun burn aloe “goop”. Not that it was a bad thing, but it did have that menthol cooling smell and sensation. Hm, not bad.

It was very weird to use this product and it not foam on me. I wasn’t used to that either, so it was different. It went on smooth and slippery. The gel stayed clear which was nice because I could see where I was cutting, especially nice around the sideburns. I noticed that the gel was very slick and protective.

I used my regular DE razor and blade so I could compare with a brush and cream. I could tell that it had a little more drag than usual (I wonder if it was my blade because it was about the 5th use). Usually, when using a brush and cream, the whiskers are thoroughly massaged and coated in cream from the brush. My facial hair has softened and is completely slick and hydrated quite a bit because of this and I usually don’t experience much drag from the razor. It wasn’t really “pulling” but wasn’t cutting as smoothly as usual.

After completing my first pass, I give my face a little rinse and was pleasantly surprise and how slick my face still felt. I don’t usually rinse my face well after the first pass just to keep most of the slickness on my face. However, the second application was even more protective. I was very impressed with this.

After the second application, the second pass was way better than the first. Very moisturizing and protective with the slick gel. I was most impressed with this aspect since most of razor burn, knicks and cuts come after the initial pass of a DE shave.

After finishing up, I took a minute to wash all the gel completely off my skin. I was impressed at how moisturizing my face was. It wasn’t “hot” or red and wasn’t dry at all, but wasn’t oily in the least. I finished up with my regular AS routine and was pleased with the days shave.

--

My overall impression was a good one. I enjoyed the eco/non-aresol quality of the gel and the slickness it produced. I don’t think it’ll replace my traditional creams and soaps and my badger brush, but for a quick shave or for travel, it was a great product. I enjoyed it much better than some of the more popular brands of shave cream.

If you’re interested in King of shaves products, they do have a website at www.shave.com

And you can follow one of my twitter friends Diane Wood who's a spokesperson for KOS on twitter @Queenofshaves (She was nice enough to send samples of their lady's shave cream to my wife)

Happy Shaving!

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Just more reasons why...

Words of the Day

Shaving = to remove a growth of beard with a razor.

Electric shaving = to remove a growth of beard with a razor powered by a source of electricity or battery power.

Wet Shaving = To remove a growth of beard with a razor when the area to be shaved is kept wet with hot water, shaving soap or shaving cream.

Tradition = The body of customs, thought, practices, etc, belonging to a particular country, people, family, or institution over a relatively long period

Traditional Wet Shaving = The same method as wet shaving, but with the use of a shaving brush, shaving soaps/creams, and a double edge razor (DE) or straight razor (cutthroat).

I know in my earlier blog post, I said it’s hard to define or pin down what traditional wet shaving (TWS) is. However, I have tried to simplify it above. The idea for this post came from the Badger and Blade forum. One of the guys posted a topic about a conversation with his 86 year old uncle about shaving using a double edge safety razor. The post basically explained how his uncle thought he was crazy for shaving with a DE razor today. The article got me to thinking a little more about this new hobby of mine and I had to write my thoughts down for the blog. A lot of it will just be my version of the forum post and in my own words. I’ll give credit for most of the ideas to that post, but these are my own personal thoughts about it.

I personally asked both of my grandfathers if they had used or still use a double edge safety razor. Interestingly enough, they both did when they were younger. However, they both are now using electric shavers. This really threw me for a loop. In the B&B post, the author said, “It seems that some of us (me included) seem to think that all the old guys secretly long for the days of yore, when all they had was a bowl, a puck of soap, a brush, and a DE....yet, this doesn't seem to be the case. Apparently, a lot of them love the fact that carts and shaving gel save them a heck of a lot of time, effort, and nicks/weepers”.

I guess most men are like this. I know I was until I converted to TWS. My dad and brother both use cartridge/disposable razors and the gel/foam aerosol cans. I know from my bringing up the hobby to my father, his response was, “well I just use a mach 3 and edge shaving cream”. He kind of has this, whatever floats your boat, mentality about TWS. I know he could probably care less about really thinking about his shave. I’m cool with that and that’s fine and dandy… It’s just what I’ve observed.

Probably a lot of people wonder what my reason is for using traditional shaving methods. I would assume that most would say what a waste of time. Why spend all morning using a little brush and soap when you can just squirt goo on your face and be done with it? Why would you want to cut yourself up and slice and dice your face like Edward scissorhands with one of them thar safety razors (btw, I have yet to “cut myself or slice and dice my face)? I guess because I find it enjoyable. I enjoy the nostalgia of using older traditional means of shaving than the new age products. I guess I really want to wish myself to simpler times. I love my iPod and iPhone because of the capability of listening to lots of music at the touch of a button. Faster, more convenient, and portable, but I still have vinyl records. I LOVE listening to vinyl records because of the sound quality and nostalgia of it. There’s just something about it. The same thing could be said about guys who want to build and remodel that classic muscle car. Why spend the time and money on something so old, when you can easily go to a car dealership to buy a new vehicle that would run better? It’s the nostalgia of it. It’s fun and it makes rebuilding cars more of a fun hobby other than a “chore” like cleaning the car or drive from A to B. Just enjoy the ride.

I guess this hobby is similar to any other hobby. If you enjoy doing it, you’ll want to spend more time in your hobby. Maybe research it a little, practice a little, and spend time, energy, and your finances a little right? (Note – Isn’t it funny/ironic how the use of modern technology and computers has helped those who wish to go back and learn and use techniques that were so popular back in the 1900’s?) The forum post author said something similar to this. He said, “To an outsider (the typical guy who views shaving in the same light as brushing his teeth or clipping his toe nails..something, which must be done, but which is hardly "fun" or enjoyable) we are insane for making shaving more complicated and time consuming than it NEEDS to be.”

This cool little way of shaving started off so innocently; a cheapo $5 “natural” brush from Wal-Mart and a little $0.99 puck of Williams soap. Now…well… just ask my wife how far it’s gone. Ha-ha. She’ll tell ya I’m a little obsessed. But ya know, she honestly hasn’t made fun of me or complained one single time about me shaving this way, or saving my money up to splurge on certain shaving products and things. This wasn’t always the case. She used to always complain when I had facial hair. She hated it (and still does). Before I started TWS, I, maybe, shaved once or twice a week because of irritation and laziness. It was a chore and it wasn’t enjoyable. But NOW…yeah, she doesn’t complain anymore J

The feeling I get from my morning shave is a great way to start off the day. Remember that feeling when you were a kid and you yearned to go shopping for school supplies before school starts? Or how about that feeling you get when you buy a new pair of shoes and wear them for the first time? How about when you walk out of the barbershop/salon with a new due? Combine all those feelings and you understand why I love my hobby of traditional wet shaving. It’s that personal feeling of accomplishment. That feeling that makes me hold my head up high. That feeling that makes you start the day off right.

This is why I practice Traditional wet shaving.

Happy Shaving!

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Shave Den

Only been into the traditional wet shaving for about 5-6 months now. This is my current "Shave Den". It's not much, but it's a start!

Happy shaving!