Comments for Shave Doctor 911

Comment on Shaving Gallery - SHAVE LATHER by admin

admin — Tue, 12 May 2009 17:58:51 +0000

Hmm cruelty free. I feel like this is a great question for the final round of Miss Universe.

While there are some shaving companies out there that claim their badger hair is cultivated by shaving the badger, they are full of the proverbial poo poo. Even if this was true, there would be more humans harmed in the process or you’d have some pretty drugged up badgers.

Like leather, badger hair is a bi-product of a major food source in China. Badgers are protected everywhere else in the world (even from the hands of those who only want to shave them) due to their declining numbers as they lose more of their natural habitat. However, in China they are farm raised for the purpose of feeding over a 1 billion mouths who find this meat source far more sustainable and preferable to beef. While I would always be open to using a sustainable man-made or plant fiber in the event that they actually performed as well, at this time it would be even crueler not to utilize all of the animal until such time they are no longer used for food.

Of course you’re never going to satisfy everyone with this answer, particularly your vegan eating, hemp wearing, patchouli smearing, swamp rat protecting variety [who are often found residing in sub-divisions built on some creature’s natural habitat]; but less fossil fuels are used in the cultivation of natural fibers than the production of synthetic (I made that up, I don’t really know but it sounds about right).

From a “green” standpoint, badger hair brushes outperform and out last any other popular variety such as boars bristle, horse hair or synthetic. When you consider that a good brush can last longer than 10 years and makes a quality, vegetable based shave lather last a month longer than usual, a shaver will only need to purchase a container that has a refill or reusable factor less than 4 times a year; yet a single use propane propelled can of shave gel or foam is purchased a minimum of 12 times a year without going into the efficacy, intrinsic benefits or chemically inappropriate contents part of the equation.

Hope this helps Spatty89 and you enjoy a life long relationship lathering up with a tool that is instrumental in feeding a billion.

Comment on Shaving Gallery - SHAVE LATHER by spatty89

spatty89 — Tue, 12 May 2009 16:59:00 +0000

Question.. What is your position on cruelty free? This was raised because of the badger bristle brushes.

Comment on Razors - Why Cartridge Razors Rock by CLeeB

CLeeB — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 20:41:59 +0000

Mantic, I see that you too have noticed that cartridge razors tend to yank the hair uncomfortably. Before reading these blogs, I would get a decent shave with a cartridge razor the first couple of times I would use it, but after the third or fourth shave the multiple blades would start to pull on my whiskers resulting in severe frustration and eventually a switch to an electric trimmer instead. After discovering this site and reading the blogs, however, I was intrigued by the idea of prepping the skin before a shave - a concept which I hadn’t considered as a solution to my problem. See, I used to just splash some water (cold, hot, whatever) on my face and then apply my shave gel and go at it. After reading the article “Prepare to Shave,” I bought some of Shaving Gallery’s pre-shave gel and got some nice shave lather and followed the intructions in that bog. I don’t usually have the time (or patience) to use microwaved towels to heat my face up like the blog suggests, but if I shave as soon as I get out of a hot shower, and immediately apply some of that pre-shave gel, it keeps my facial hair soft and easy to cut through with a Mach 3, my razor of choice. So by prepping my skin this way, I’m finding that not only is shaving with a cartridge razor no longer uncomfortable, but I’m not switching out the blades after three shaves, which saves me boatloads. So that’s just an idea man, if you haven’t read that article I suggest you have a look at it, because it totally cured my problem!

Comment on Razors - Why Cartridge Razors Rock by mantic59

mantic59 — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 17:55:40 +0000

I gotta say I’m skeptical that a double-edge (DE) razor has fewer “benefits” compared to a multi-bladed razor. Quite the contrary, a DE more cleanly cuts the stubble while the whole idea behind a multi-bladed razor is to yank the hair then hack it off. Also I don’t think the angle of a multi-bladed razor is necessarily “perfect.” I think its more like the best compromise for most men. The advantage of a DE is that you can adjust the angle to suit your needs. I admit though the idea of a pivot is appealing for those times when I’m in a rush and can quickly follow the contours of my face instead of shaving in flat facets like a diamond. Also there are a wide variety of blade brands available to the DE shaver, instead of maybe one or two licensed manufacturers that the multi-blades have. Blades are not created equal and its nice to tailor the blade to not only the agressiveness of the razor but also the shaver’s skin type. The fact that you can get many DE blades for under $0.20 per blade when purchased in bulk is icing on the cake. Check out the traditional shaving sub-culture at forums like shavemyface(dot)com and badgerandblade(dot)com.