Normally, I do things "for the ladies." This post though, is for any manly men reading my livejournal.
Is shaving something you see as a necessary evil? Something you just deal with because a beard would be more annoying? It doesn't have to be! Shaving can be satisfying and relaxing without taking forever.
I'm not going to go into the same amount of detail as some other places; Instead I'll relate my version and include some links that DO go into more detail.
This started when Jess got me that awesome
safety razor. There are a lot of good reasons to pick one of these up.
1. Saving money! You can get 10 packs of razors for $6 each. That's roughly $0.50 per blade. You get just as many shaves out of each blade as you do one of those 90-razor things, except wait! These have two sides! omgomgomg double value. And the razor you buy - these things are sturdy as hell - and you can get one for barely double what a typical plastic razor costs.
2. It's relaxing. You get out of the shower and shave, and it makes you stop for five or ten minutes. It's sort of zen.
3. It's badass! You're shaving with a real razor, not some of that panzy "this will never cut you, just rip out all your hair" bullshit..
4. You get a cleaner, closer shave. The new fangled razors don't WORK better - they're just more convenient (debatable) and cost more. These safety razors give you a nice consistent shave. If you do it right, you also will notice a serious reduction in razor burn. You're not ripping out hair and you're not pressing down on the skin.
5. If you use fancy shaving cream - not the tin can shit, but some real shaving cream, which doesn't cost really anymore than the stuff at the store - you smell good. You like smelling nice, right? I'm sure the ladies like it when you smell nice. If you're into ladies, anyway.
6. It's not as difficult as you think. Learning to shave with these is pretty intuitive and you get the hang of it really quite fast. It's not like a straight razor where your neck is constantly in danger of being sliced open or something.
So that's about it. Shaving can be less like flossing and more like meditation. That's what it's become for me. Now if someone can show me how to turn flossing into meditation...
A Guide to Gourmet Shaving -
http://leisureguy.wordpress.com/2006/07/10/a-guide-to-the-gourmet-shaving-experience/Shave Blog -
http://shaveblog.com/