Brush: Dogwood Handcrafts Papa Eld with Declaration Grooming B3 knot
Razor: Eversharp-Schick G1 Twin-Jector
Blade: Personna Injector Blade
Lather: Schmiere Abschaum
Aftershave: Stirling Soap Co Mountain Man
Fragrance: Mäurer & Wirtz Tabac Original Craftsman
Today’s theme invites some of the oily classics like The Stag, VoA, or Gearhead. Or maybe some of those nature-themed scents like Terror, Eigengrau, Petrichor, or Madagascar? A stanky fougère like Fougère Gothique/Classique or Varen? However, when I looked through my den to find the least edible scent, I knew it had to be Abschaum. Not only does it have the least edible name (“Grease Scum”), but the scent is straight up laundry detergent. It’s really pleasant, fresh, and clean, but you’d never want a bite of this.
The last few days with the Wolfie WR4 were interesting: It’s a terrific razor which have me easy, mindless BBS shaves almost from the start, but it didn’t spark joy like an MMOC, a straight, a Rolls or an R41. I’ve speculated with u/VisceralWatch and @gcgallant@sub.wetshaving.social that this might be because it’s too good to be fun? Like, by being such a mindless good shaver, it lets you forget about the act of shaving instead of enjoying it? I realised that I have a few razors like that: This G1 Schick, the Hydro-Magic, the Mühle Rocca, the Blutt BR-1, and various Techs (and probably more which don’t come to mind this early morning) all give me great shaves while making me forget about the razor.
Mountain Man and Craftsman carry the same freshness as Abschaum. Nice shave.
I understand what you and VisceralWatch mean by not fun. I would probably say that the razor provides a great shave on autopilot; where I only need to be minimally mindful of technique. But I think this is a consequence of having focused on technique while using safety razors. None of my straight razors are this way and I very much enjoy the mindfulness that technique with a straight requires. At this point in my shaving journey my use of all safety razors (including the MMOC) is more on autopilot than on mindful attention. To me, they’re still fun, though; where I’m defining fun as receiving enjoyment from them, broadening the definition beyond the attention I need to shave with them.
At this point in my shaving journey my use of all safety razors (including the MMOC) is more on autopilot than on mindful attention.
I totally agree with this sentiment, but it’s not necessarily linked to fun IMO. As an analogy, I have multiple bicycles. One is a 1980 road bike with a fantastic lugged steel frame with just enough flex to let you feel it’s doing something but not enough to be soft. Another one is 60 kg of cargo bike with a Dutch Omafiets seat geometry. When I’m riding them, they are both autopilot bikes for me, because, well, they’re both bikes and riding a bike isn’t hard. The light road bike is a lot more fun, though!
I realise that it’s unfair to compare a cargo bike to the WR4, and the WR4 is definitely more “fun” than a Henson or a cartridge. Maybe I should have used different wording.
defining fun as receiving enjoyment from them,
exactly: I don’t think I get as much enjoyment out if this kind of shaving as I do from other safety razors. And I feel a bit silly because it’s actually a fantastic shaver 😅
Interesting part about razors being not fun due to being too comfortable/mindless/autopilot. I’d disagree to a certain part: all the razors you’ve listed need some amount of skill to use them. Plus the vintage razors like the Schick or Gillette Techs automatically have a bit more mojo/soul/whatever buzzwords you fancy due to being vintage items.
A totally boring and soulless razor would be something like the Henson razor, various Leaf razors and of course gimmick systems like the Headblades to me. Overhyped marketing, lots of fancy language around them, almost too easy to use.
Least Edible Scent
Today’s theme invites some of the oily classics like The Stag, VoA, or Gearhead. Or maybe some of those nature-themed scents like Terror, Eigengrau, Petrichor, or Madagascar? A stanky fougère like Fougère Gothique/Classique or Varen? However, when I looked through my den to find the least edible scent, I knew it had to be Abschaum. Not only does it have the least edible name (“Grease Scum”), but the scent is straight up laundry detergent. It’s really pleasant, fresh, and clean, but you’d never want a bite of this.
The last few days with the Wolfie WR4 were interesting: It’s a terrific razor which have me easy, mindless BBS shaves almost from the start, but it didn’t spark joy like an MMOC, a straight, a Rolls or an R41. I’ve speculated with u/VisceralWatch and @gcgallant@sub.wetshaving.social that this might be because it’s too good to be fun? Like, by being such a mindless good shaver, it lets you forget about the act of shaving instead of enjoying it? I realised that I have a few razors like that: This G1 Schick, the Hydro-Magic, the Mühle Rocca, the Blutt BR-1, and various Techs (and probably more which don’t come to mind this early morning) all give me great shaves while making me forget about the razor.
Mountain Man and Craftsman carry the same freshness as Abschaum. Nice shave.
I understand what you and VisceralWatch mean by not fun. I would probably say that the razor provides a great shave on autopilot; where I only need to be minimally mindful of technique. But I think this is a consequence of having focused on technique while using safety razors. None of my straight razors are this way and I very much enjoy the mindfulness that technique with a straight requires. At this point in my shaving journey my use of all safety razors (including the MMOC) is more on autopilot than on mindful attention. To me, they’re still fun, though; where I’m defining fun as receiving enjoyment from them, broadening the definition beyond the attention I need to shave with them.
I totally agree with this sentiment, but it’s not necessarily linked to fun IMO. As an analogy, I have multiple bicycles. One is a 1980 road bike with a fantastic lugged steel frame with just enough flex to let you feel it’s doing something but not enough to be soft. Another one is 60 kg of cargo bike with a Dutch Omafiets seat geometry. When I’m riding them, they are both autopilot bikes for me, because, well, they’re both bikes and riding a bike isn’t hard. The light road bike is a lot more fun, though!
I realise that it’s unfair to compare a cargo bike to the WR4, and the WR4 is definitely more “fun” than a Henson or a cartridge. Maybe I should have used different wording.
exactly: I don’t think I get as much enjoyment out if this kind of shaving as I do from other safety razors. And I feel a bit silly because it’s actually a fantastic shaver 😅
Your bike analogy is a great one.
Interesting part about razors being not fun due to being too comfortable/mindless/autopilot. I’d disagree to a certain part: all the razors you’ve listed need some amount of skill to use them. Plus the vintage razors like the Schick or Gillette Techs automatically have a bit more mojo/soul/whatever buzzwords you fancy due to being vintage items.
A totally boring and soulless razor would be something like the Henson razor, various Leaf razors and of course gimmick systems like the Headblades to me. Overhyped marketing, lots of fancy language around them, almost too easy to use.
I agree :)
totally! Onion said the same thing over on the sub, BTW