From Method Shaving To A More Traditional Approach

Method Shaving was fun for me. It really helped hone my technique but to be honest I had grown up wet shaving in that I was lucky to have a father who collected Somerset Simpsons. When I first spoke to Charles back in 2002-3 there was a lot he was unaware of. He barely had knowledge of a French company called Plisson and had never heard of Rooney brushes. He became, at one point, the largest retailer of Simpson brushes in the US. He had David Carter (Simpsons owner at the time) label exclusive hair from the colder regions of Manchuria as 'Extra Super.' Later Charles had Carter label the brushes 'Manchurian Badger.' I highly doubt it's the same hair labelled Manchurian coming out of the Isle of Man today. These feel a lot rougher and are extremely overpriced imo, but that's another story.

The problem (or advantage) of today's wet shaving climate are there are some incredible artisan soaps made with natural ingredients (OSP, Phoenix & Beau, Mikes, Mystic) that provide the prep, lather and slickness that for the most part make Method Shaving archaic today.

VT, you just made my day:

The problem (or advantage) of today's wet shaving climate are there are some incredible artisan soaps made with natural ingredients (OSP, Phoenix & Beau, Mikes, Mystic) that provide the prep, lather and slickness that for the most part make Method Shaving archaic today.

Thanks for the heads up on those soap brands. If they come anywhere close to the finished process of mixing slag, balm, primer, paste, etc., etc., I'll be over the moon, and IMO have the best of both worlds! It would indeed render all of that 'making the mix' archaic. Off to shop now, and thank you!!!

Just ordered one of each of the OSP, Phoenix and Beau, and Mikes from Maggards, and Mystic from the Mystic website. Can't wait to try them, thanks for the heads up, VT. Do they really create a lather similar to a MS mix?

Also, can anyone compare the Saponificio Varesino soaps with the OPS, P&B, Mikes, and Mystic in terms of performance? I've been very pleased with the SV soaps in my re-entry into the traditional products world.

Michael, glad to help! The lather is not quite as elastic but these soaps incorporate water so well that the outcome (post shave) gets me that gloss like finish Charles promoted. That's why I love these soaps in that they really bring water to the forefront in creating that mix. Saponificio I find a bit drying compared to the four mentioned. SV has a lot of ingredients in the base. Mystic just needs more work to get there but it does.

Mike's is super slick and can hold a ton of water. I'd also add B&M, Pure20 and Tallow + Steel to the mix.

For me it's all about having a relaxing shave, and for that reason alone I didn't think that method shaving would be my cup of tea. I never tried it.

Welcome to the world of relaxing shaves and shave variety!

Brian, I'm betting you speak for most of us here.

Does for me

Thanks all for the fantastic feedback and support.

One thing I'd like to emphasize.

I'm not 'advocating' Method Shaving. In fact, you can't do 'true' Method Shaving if you wanted to, because it's dependent on proprietary products made by one individual who sadly departed at a very early age.

I appreciate the comments of how Method Shaving is not for you. This is, after all, a traditional wet shaving forum and it was not my intention to be improper by discussing MS. If I've offended anyone by even relating that, I'm sorry. I was just giving a perspective on my wet shaving journey. MS was never widely popular and, given the way it was presented, that's not surprising.

What I"m so excited about is re-entering the world of traditional wet shaving products and relishing the variety. I did my first traditional wet shave in 1971 and was an intermittent wet shaver-in between 70s-style beards, and then solidly from 1977 (when I shaved off my beard) until 2010, so a good 33 years before I ever heard of Method Shaving. And like VT, I learned a lot from it, and like to think that I learned the technique well, but it's time to move on. I'm happy to have found this forum-it's a wealth of great info.

And I'm most appreciative to you all for your kind words!

Thanks all for the fantastic feedback and support.

One thing I'd like to emphasize.

I'm not 'advocating' Method Shaving. In fact, you can't do 'true' Method Shaving if you wanted to, because it's dependent on proprietary products made by one individual who sadly departed at a very early age.

I appreciate the comments of how Method Shaving is not for you. This is, after all, a traditional wet shaving forum and it was not my intention to be improper by discussing MS. If I've offended anyone by even relating that, I'm sorry. I was just giving a perspective on my wet shaving journey.  MS  was never widely popular and, given the way it was presented, that's not surprising.

What I"m so excited about is re-entering the world of traditional wet shaving products and relishing the variety. I did my first traditional wet shave in 1971 and was an intermittent wet shaver-in between 70s-style beards, and then solidly from 1977 (when I shaved off my beard) until 2010, so a good 33 years before I ever heard of Method Shaving. And like VT, I learned a lot from it, and like to think that I learned the technique well, but it's time to move on. I'm happy to have found this forum-it's a wealth of great info.

And I'm most appreciative to you all for your kind words!

Michael,

don't get upset for talking about something that used to work well for you! after all, this is why forums exist!!!

Michael P, I'm just the opposite of offended.  I'm glad you posted this because even though it isn't for me, I learned something new.  You have added to the DFS body of knowledge.

I have just read Charles Roberts' "Method". It is very interesting and I have no doubt it is excellent and I do like his writing style.
But I am retired and the "Method" is labour intensive.
I now work very hard to avoid working hard, labouring that is .
None of my present slap dash preparations for and the actual shave do I consider labourious. They are all gleeful pleasure.
I just can not bring myself to take a backward step into the labour force.

Mickey (The inveterate slouch.)