More on Ditching the Gillette Razors & Mindful Shaving...

I have blogged about the above topic here and here.  I am continually re-amazed at how, at the age of 53, only now, am I truly shaving and appreciating it - it is a mindful forming of how you appear to other people.   The only "problem" still is that it takes a bit more time - still about 15 minutes for me.   But I feel as though I have decoded the Rosetta stone or something.

I am also a bit peeved, though, that double edge razors are not commonly available in stores - only via the internet.  It's simply amazing - basically 3 companies control all the shelf space for shaving in my locale, and they have evidently decreed that no double edge razors - which can provide the best, most comfortable shave - are not to be sold. 

Still,  there's something about this business I never appreciated - the raw power of a tiny piece of metal being so sharp.  It might be something in my genes (the above character is for "blacksmith," which is kind of my heritage).  But whatever, this stainless steel stuff is an amazing material.  So much so that I decided to spend way too much money for my Christmas gift from my wife to myself  on what is in essence an heirloom, the Feather All Stainless Razor.  (Oddly enough, though it's about 1/2 the price of what you can pick one up for in Japan.  It is a celebration of stainless steel.  And it will, with minimal care, last for, uh, centuries.  You can sterilize the damn thing in an autoclave - try doing that with any non-stainless steel razor.