On Variety and Accumulation
I know, how pretentious, right?! He names his post like an essay!!
On another forum, they have many "clubs and brotherhoods" and I have joined a few over the years. One from around early 2018 was about being minimal in your den. For me, it was more that I was feeling controlled by my shaving stuff. I worried about rotations, even if certain razors or soaps or blades or brushes weren't my favorite, I felt that I still had to use them to justify their being in my hoard. I tried many razors, vintage and moderately priced newer stuff (nothing over $100, that's crazy!) I paid to have razors recoated, to make them mine. And I jumped around so much with my "rotation" so much that it took a long time to get really proficient with a DE. I loved the variety, but felt compelled to use it all, all the time. Then I got a SynBad brush. OMG, what a brush! Many of my others were soon sold or PIF'd. A month later, I gave into the hype regarding the Karve Christopher Bradley razor. Wow, almost 8 months late to the party, but what great shaves! Soon, I sold off all but 2 razors. I was down to 3 razors, 3 soaps, and 6 brushes, 4 of which are SynBads in various sizes. Here I stayed until last December.
I saw a Sharpologist review of a new injector, adjustable to boot. I love adjustable/adaptable razors. Then I read Dave tried one and found it mild. He nicely enabled me (actually, I offered cash and lots of it!! ha ha) But soon I had an injector, my second attempt with one (apologies to the Hydromagic, I didn't give you a fair shake). Wow, what an effortless, comfortable and close feeling shave! I wonder if the Vector is as fantastic as its hype? Dave helped again, lending me his for the Holiday season. I couldn't buy one fast enough! And then why not try some new soaps? Nothing wrong with the Big Three that I have always had in the drawer, why not give them some company?
And why not try the original adjustable Schick? And one from a favorite 40s movie? And the hype around the Yates, sounds like a good companion for the Karve!
It has got to stop. These are things, not people, so I have to stop anthropomorphizing them!
But now the drawer has an addition. Razors have there own little display area. Soaps filled the drawer.
And I am going to try to enjoy the variety, and not get obsessed with rotations. Variety! as Dave said. Enjoy the shave, is what I said. Well, I want to learn to enjoy my new variety and not get hung up on whether I am using the razor enough to justify what I spent. Just relax and enjoy the tools, the lather, the time, and how it makes me feel!
- Eric
Put your message in a modem,
And throw it in the Cyber Sea
--Rush, "Virtuality"
Overloader of brushes, Overlander fanboy, Schickhead, and a GEM in the rough!