I chose wet shaving - Because it works
For millions of men, the daily act of shaving… sucks. We tear our faces up with overpriced razors with blades that go dull quickly and foams that numb the face, deal with ingrown hairs and irritation, and more often than not have stubble within a few hours. That’s the reality that so many of us wake up to every day. It doesn’t have to work like that, though. Shaving doesn’t have to suck.
There are communities on the web that pride themselves on shaving the old-fashioned way, with a safety razor (or straightedge!), a brush, a high-quality cream or soap, and a combination of aftershaves selected with meticulous planning. The group eschews the multi-bladed monsters with their overpriced refills and the cans of foam and gels that mostly numb the face and don’t really help shaving that much… but…
The dirty secret in the “wet shaving community” is that the multi-blade systems work, and for many people work reasonably well. They can produce a clean and irritation-free shave. For many people, a quick shave and shower IS a part of life, and they’re good with that.
The problem is that it doesn’t work for everyone. The multi-bladed razors leave me irritated and with horrible ingrown hair issues due to my fairly sensitive skin and a very thick beard. That combination is disaster when combined with the drugstore razors. For me, wetshaving isn’t something I do because I enjoy it (I do enjoy it, but that’s secondary). Wetshaving is something I do because I HAVE to do it. I use a brush and a cream or soap because the exfoliation and beard softening effects help to prevent ingrown hairs. I use a good aftershave balm and witch hazel because they help to repair the damage done by scraping a sharp blade across my skin. I use a safety razor because it efficiently slices the hair in my beard off closely to the skin without going too far.
For many, that morning chore of shaving and just dealing with the pain of irritation and ingrowns is something they just don’t know how to avoid. For me, it was an accidental click on a blog that led me in the direction of wetshaving. One thing led to another, and over the couple of years I’ve been doing it I’ve now acquired creams, soaps, aftershaves, razors, blades, brushes… and it’s all been a good experience. Shaving went from something I dreaded to a way to kickstart my day in the right way. Rainy and cold outside? Sandalwood soap and aftershave. Hot and humid? It’s a Proraso shave, baby! Face irritated from a bad shave recently? Speick cures all.
The kicker, for me, has been that it doesn’t add that much time to my morning rituals around my shower. Instead of a 3 minute shave I might take up to 7 or 8 minutes. And it’s WORTH IT. I save money by not blowing through the 15 dollar cartridge refill packs every week or two, I save my face with good products, and I feel pretty good starting the day. If you haven’t tried wetshaving yet, there’s no time like the present.
Jeremy is a wet shaving expert and blogger. He runs popular wet shaving blog Punkrockshaving.blogspot.com.
More articles by Jeremy Mahler
Review of The Bluebeards Revenge shaving cream
After using this cream for a number of months, I thought the time was right to add my two cents to the mass of reviews and discussion already surrounding this new entrant into the world of shaving creams.
To date, the creams I’ve shaved with have included ones by Proraso, Speick, Taylor of old Bond St, Cyril Salter and the Body Shop. Now I’ve enjoyed all of those creams, they all have their own unique qualities, but amongst that list it would probably be agreed that the Taylor and Salter creams were the high-end products. The ones that rise slightly above the others: in terms of scent, performance and that little extra luxury factor. They’re the creams you might choose for your weekend shaves when you have more time to pamper yourself, or the ones to splash out on as gifts or presents.
Well, I can now confidently say that the Bluebeards Revenge cream competes easily with those two ‘high-end’ creams and is fast becoming a favourite. It’s a very thick, dense cream which lathers easily and like the Taylor and Salter creams has a very wide margin in terms of how much water you can add to it. Some creams you add just a little too much water to and they become watery and ineffective, which can prove frustrating for the beginner looking to learn his or her lathering technique. With Bluebeards though you really have to go overboard with the water before you start to see a runny lather, making it perfect for those just starting out in the world of wet-shaving. Its density also means that it’ll last you a very long time.
I used this cream with my Muhle best-badger brush and my Omega boar, both times achieving a thick, lubricating layer of lather that stayed good for the entire shave and left my skin feeling smooth and clean. In terms of moisturising I find that with my dry skin I always have to use some sort of aftershave balm, with whatever soap or cream I’m using. I certainly didn’t feel any tautness or dryness when using this cream though, so I could see others having no need for any additional balm.
Overall then this is a very high-quality cream, which catches the eye and the curiosity with the boldness of its statements and presentation, then wins you over with its alluring scent and top-notch performance. An excellent cream I’d highly recommend. Richard Wall
The scent of the cream is very nice: warm and spicy yet quite mellow at the same time. I can certainly see what Bluebeards mean when they describe it as ‘barbershop with a modern twist’. The strength of the scent is I’d say about average: you get a good whiff of it whilst shaving and it lingers a little in the bathroom after you’re finished, but it doesn’t dominate a room like Tabac or a strong sandalwood scent does.
In terms of its claims to reduce beard growth using the ingredient decelerine I’d have to study and use the cream over a concerted period of time before coming to any conclusions. So far I’ve just added the Bluebeards to my rotation of soaps and creams, so can’t say with any certainty whether it does reduce the stubble. But there are plenty of reports singing decelerine’s praises, so I guess it’s working for some folk out there.
The packaging of Bluebeards is certainly eye-catching. With the skull and crossbones and bright blue background this is definitely the first one your eye would be drawn to in a line-up of creams, particularly when pitted against the more traditional products with their conservative and classic designs. Personally I prefer the more classic, traditional approach to packaging, but that’s just me. The tub does though have an advantage over its rivals in terms of being smaller, and therefore easier to include in your travel bag. Plus being all plastic it’s easy to recycle when you eventually do manage to empty it.
Overall then this is a very high-quality cream, which catches the eye and the curiosity with the boldness of its statements and presentation, then wins you over with its alluring scent and top-notch performance. An excellent cream I’d highly recommend.
More articles by Richard Wall
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