Razorblade Zen
For some time now, a year in fact, I’ve been toying with the idea of shaving with an old-school razor. It bothers me to some extent that I am “hooked on” and locked into having to buy expensive Gilette razor cartridges over and over. I remember when I received my first Mach3 in the mail for my 18th birthday: “Free razor, cool!” I thought to myself. In retrospect it was just a great marketing move by the razor company to keep me hooked for life. In case you’re wondering, Gilette (from what I recall) actually “invented” the practice of creating a product that had refillable parts so that you become a life-long customer. SwifferJets, printers, and many other products operate on the same principle: make money on the refills. Kind of disgusting when you stop to think about it.
Well, apparently I’m not the only one who’s thought of going old-school on shaving: “The Zen of Shaving: How a Double-edge Razor Can Change Your Life” is a great post on the advantages of traditional shaving techniques and how to actually go about it. Here’s another one: “I Shave the Old Fashioned Way - Classic Shaving 101.”
Now, as with so many other things, I just have to start being about it, not talking about it. Uh.
Tags: shaving, traditional, zen