Survey: Razors

[MTGuru]

the Rick Harrison endorsed razor

I bought one of those! For $20 in the "As Seen on TV" section of CVS. Much easier than dealing with the actual TV offer that can nearly double the price with shipping costs and have you waiting for weeks to receive your order. Mine came with a stand instead of a presention box.

This Micro Touch One is a rebranded Chinese-made Weishi razor, a Gillette copy. And I'd give it pretty high marks. The fit and finish and weight are excellent, and it's not too aggressive for a beginner. If you don't mind the short handle style (80 mm), it does the job very nicely. And the supplied Dorco blades are good,too.

The Van der Hagen razor looks like the exact same Weishi model, so I wouldn't be surprised to see it turning up in the same mainstream stores (CVS, Target, etc.) that carry the VdH soaps and brushes.

[MTGuru]

I use the "medicinal" formulation from T.N. Dickinson, available at CVS.

That one's a hydrosol, then? Do you have to refrigerate it?

Damn, you made me look up hydrosol.

Yes, I imagine the distillate is mostly water. And no, refrigeration is not specified. But I do still have an old bottle around, probably from the 1980s. The contents have turned an amber yellow and it smells pretty darn funky. So maybe on that time scale refrigeration would be a good idea. If you don't mind splashing yourself with ice cold liquid. Pah, Minnesotans.

[Nanohedron]

If you don't mind splashing yourself with ice cold liquid. Pah, Minnesotans.

It would be bracing, that's for sure. Being as I don't even use aftershave, it's an experiment I'm unwilling to try. But just to reassure you, I do like the luxury of hot water when I shave. We even have electricity!

[I.D.10-t]

If you don't mind splashing yourself with ice cold liquid. Pah, Minnesotans.

Are you talking about the ice made from pure water or when saturated salt water freezes? Ice cold to me does not mean that it can be splashed. That sentence hurts my brain. Are there such places that ice is a foreign thing? Can they not just go to the rooftops of their science buildings on a -30F day (or night) to do the rare liquid ammonia experiments for chemistry free and in the open? What do they think is "ice " cold? In florida it seemed to be 68F. Whole beach to my wife and I.

[Nanohedron]

What do they think is "ice " cold? In florida it seemed to be 68F. Whole beach to my wife and I.

And that, folks, is a Minnesotan.

[MTGuru]

And that, folks, is a Minnesotan.

He like totally took the bait. "Ooooh ... ice!! Now there's an interesting topic!!" Pah, Minnesotans.

In habitable parts of the world (like here), thermometers have three ranges:

1. Ugh, sweaty.
2. 70s
3. Holy crap it's f-f-f-freezing!

[chas]

Now there's someone who knows how to shave! Welcome to CT, nutmeg, witch hazel, we got it all.

Yes, the Dickinson companies, now combined, are the original producer and, I believe, still the sole supplier of witch hazel to the world.

Yep, I had leaf from a witch hazel tree in my leaf collection for high school biology class. My (second) orthodontist was in Centerbrook right near a Dickinson location.

[I.D.10-t]

And that, folks, is a Minnesotan.

He like totally took the bait. "Ooooh ... ice!! Now there's an interesting topic!!" Pah, Minnesotans.

In habitable parts of the world (like here), thermometers have three ranges:

1. Ugh, sweaty.
2. 70s
3. Holy crap it's f-f-f-freezing!

Remind me again what your high is in the summer.

[Nanohedron]

And that, folks, is a Minnesotan.

He like totally took the bait. "Ooooh ... ice!! Now there's an interesting topic!!" Pah, Minnesotans.

In habitable parts of the world (like here), thermometers have three ranges:

1. Ugh, sweaty.
2. 70s
3. Holy crap it's f-f-f-freezing!

Remind me again what your high is in the summer.

IIRC, MTGuru pretty much sticks to alcohol whatever the season.

[MTGuru]

Remind me again what your high is in the summer.

It's Ugh, Sweaty. Don't you know how to read a thermometer?

IIRC, MTGuru pretty much sticks to alcohol whatever the season.

So now I'm a weather wimp and a lush? Pah, Minnesotans.

[Tunborough]

He like totally took the bait. "Ooooh ... ice!! Now there's an interesting topic!!" Pah, Minnesotans.

Beginning around this time of year, I consider any talk of shaving to be entirely academic. Facial hair becomes a matter of self-preservation, not a fashion statement.

[MTGuru]

Well, this has been interesting and surprising. Even with the small sample size, I really would have expected the order of winners so far - safety, electric, cartridge - to be exactly reversed.

As in so many things nowadays, the mainstream seems out of touch with what many thoughtful people really want. Cui bono?

[Nanohedron]

Well, this has been interesting and surprising. Even with the small sample size, I really would have expected the order of winners so far - safety, electric, cartridge - to be exactly reversed.

As in so many things nowadays, the mainstream seems out of touch with what many thoughtful people really want. Cui bono?

OTOH it would be well to consider that the people who would be most likely to quickly chime in on the topic would be those like us who have gone against the current so. I still suspect that the usual run use disposables, or electric; they just find the topic too mundane to spend keystrokes on.

[MTGuru]

OTOH it would be well to consider that the people who would be most likely to quickly chime in on the topic would be those like us who have gone against the current so. I still suspect that the usual run use disposables, or electric; they just find the topic too mundane to spend keystrokes on.

Yes, sure. In any survey where participation is initiated by the participants, the sample tends to be self-selecting.

But it does suggest that of those who do think about shaving as an interest, there's a strong tilt toward a particular thing that is definitely not the thing you're presented with when you walk into your mainstream retailer. Dozens and dozens of multi-blade options, and nary (or scarcely) a DE safety option in sight.

Thing is, Gillette (P&G) et alia are not blind to this. A few years ago they bought out a retailer called "The Art of Shaving", a boutique shop that pops up in upscale malls around the country. There you can find at least a small selection of DE razors and wet shaving supplies, but positioned as premium goods with very premium prices.

It's an arrangement that perfectly preserves the retail model: gouging on cartridges and disposables for the mass market, and gouging on DE for the rebellious or conspicuously consuming few. Cui bono ...

[s1m0n]

Thing is, Gillette (P&G) et alia are not blind to this.

When it comes to shaving, P&G are as close to a monopoly as makes no difference, at least in North America. It really should be et alias*, not et alia.

*Yes, I know they're two forms of the same word, but the current english sense of alias ("a.k.a") is much closer to the truth than the usual latin translation of alia ("others"). Anyway, it's my best latin pun in ages.