On Canned Shave Gel/Foam Vs. Shave Soap

I wrote this comment today in reply to a reader's comment on an old article:

I do want to mention some things about canned foam/gel. Literally thousands of cans of this type of product are sold every day in the USA. 

That means that thousands of empty cans go to landfills every day! 

This is a waste of raw materials (in the can packaging) and, more importantly, adds more unnecessary material to our trash stream. 

Unfortunately, too many of us bring this disposable-product/disposable-packaging mentality to virtually every aspect of our lives, and it means looming disaster for our environment and many living things (especially humans).

I encourage all who read this to become aware of such issues. Drive smaller and more ecologically-friendly vehicles. Encourage development and expansion of effective public transportation. And give more consideration to the fact that our world isn't a trash can! 

Every item that you "throw away" is simply relocated to another place in your living space. Nothing is thrown away, it's merely relocated out of your view. And eventually this will become more obvious as we reap the consequences of our thoughtless habits. 

Reduce, reuse, recycle! Shaving soap is more convenient in my opinion because I don't have to slather it on with my hands. If someone doesn't agree, then they may need some instruction on face lathering rather than bowl lathering. More importantly, shaving soap is much more ecologically responsible!!!

Lord Platinum Class Vs. Feather Blades and P.R.A.

I have been applying my P.R.A. (progressive razor aggressiveness) process with great results. (For more information on PRA, see my article on Sharpologist.com.)

My Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements DOC

I've currently had three shaves with my Lord Platinum Class blade. This blade isn't dangerously
sharp, so my use of my mild Double-Open-Comb (DOC) razor was limited to the blade's maiden shave. Then as is my custom, my razor progression went next to my 1965 Gillette Tech. This razor, too, was only needed for shave number two.

My '65 Tech Head on the PAA handle.

Then this morning I used my Parker Variant (set to one) for the third shave on this Lord Platinum Class blade, and a pleasant shave it was!

Contrast that to my prior blade, which was a Feather brand. Because it's a sharper and more irritating blade, I took several shaves with the DOC before switching to the Tech. Even then, the shave with the Tech was a bit too aggressive for my skin, so I returned to the DOC for a couple more shaves.

Then I returned to the Feather-Tech combination for a couple more shaves before finishing the blade's useful life in my Parker Variant. (By the way, since my PRA article was published on Sharpologist, I've relegated to my closet razor box my Ming Shi 2000S, the Merkur Futur imitator, because though good in its own way, one edge of the razor was slightly more aggressive than the other. The Variant offers as good a shave and is more uniform in the relative aggressiveness of its edges.)

Parker Varian

I should note that I found the Feather to be as durable as any of my other brands, which is counter to the experience of some others, who say that the useful life of the Feather blade is relatively short. I do admit that I recycled the Feather blade after the fourteenth shave -- not because it's useful life was anywhere near done; I could have easily gotten seven or more shaves from the blade. However, the shaves were consistently a bit irritating from the first to the fourteenth, so I figured it wasn't worth stretching the number of shaves.

It was much better to put the Feather blade into the blade-recycle can, and pull out a blade that is much more comfortable for me to use. The Lord blade was a welcome relief.

Happy shaving!