A Meeting with Shane of Blackland

Excellent and you guys look great!

Thanks, celestino!

Shane and I met for lunch. We met in San Francisco in the Mission area, it was great! We talked about a great deal of things, cycling, backgrounds, our passions, and even though I can’t drink beer we talked about Saisons and Sour beers, oh man do I miss them We talked a great deal about fragrances too. I mentioned to Shane that I was heading over to Tiger Lilly Perfumery after lunch, so we went there together. Tiger Lilly is niche & indie fragrance store. I strongly recommend it if you’re visiting the Bay Area. Their selection is out of this world! The selection is small but true artisan products. I learnt a great and got some amazing inspirational ideas which I cant wait to put in soaps.

Shane suggested that we should collaborate on getting a Bay Area / Northern California wetshaving meet-up set up, I think that’s a great idea. I hope we can start setting up an inaugural meeting soon.

That's a great photo. Shane, it looks like you've sold, given away or lost all your razors. I've got a very nice Blackbird OC that will take care of that stubble in a heart beat, if you want to borrow it...

That's a great photo. Shane, it looks like you've sold, given away or lost all your razors. I've got a very nice Blackbird OC that will take care of that stubble in a heart beat, if you want to borrow it...

Today, he only had what looked like a day's growth on his face. Someone else must have lent him a razor already

That's a great photo. Shane, it looks like you've sold, given away or lost all your razors. I've got a very nice Blackbird OC that will take care of that stubble in a heart beat, if you want to borrow it...

I knew I'd get a ribbing for that. To be fair, I had just spent four days driving cross country in a moving van.

That's a great photo. Shane, it looks like you've sold, given away or lost all your razors. I've got a very nice Blackbird OC that will take care of that stubble in a heart beat, if you want to borrow it...

I knew I'd get a ribbing for that. To be fair, I had just spent four days driving cross country in a moving van.

I knew you'd have a good excuse!

Fantastic picture and write up, Matsilainen, and you and Shane Blackland Razors look great (although one of you look like they could use a shave )

Some of the best afternoons in recent memory were spent with Hobbyist and Matsilainen talking about soaps, razors, brushes, and life. This hobby is about shaving and about so much more.

Shane has always been so kind in his customer service and my polished Blackbird is one of my prized razors (along with the Sabre) and I really appreciated his observation about variety.

Reminded me of a line from Suzuki who wrote a wonderful book, "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind', that said

"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities,
but in the expert's there are few."

Michael P, thanks for your kind words. And that quote — food for thought, truly.

Wonderful get together in CA Matt. Followed by a scent tour with Shane and Mohammad!

Great quote from above:

“Sometimes variety can be paralyzing. In other words, when we have too many choices, we may never be able to develop an appreciation for a single product, or the necessary skill to utilize that product’s full potential.”

One of the longest running threads on one of the original great forums (shavemyface) was centered on fidelity from seasoned wet shavers. I have noticed that variety keeps the forums going but never helped my shaves. I’m down to 3 razors but am really only using 2. I don’t switch them up day to day.

When I often head home to Ireland it takes half an hour or so to fully adjust to the new car, manual shift, left side of the road. I grew up with it but it still takes a quick adjustment.

Same with razors. Soaps and brushes not as necessary.

Oh, and one of those razors is the Blackbird. Phenomenal shaver.