Random blog post on Shaving...

It's been getting more and more difficult for a man to get a good shave in the last year. 

While watching an ASMR video where the video creator is pretending to give me a shave and a haircut, I suddenly remembered that I needed to get some new shave cream/gel/soap/whatever. The cheap generic Edge knockoff that I get from Dollar Tree is no longer acceptable. Why? Because I saw the words 'Made In China' on the can's label a few days ago. I am making it a point NOT to buy anything made in China, if it can possibly be helped. I don't want to put money into the pockets of evil Communist slave drivers with a penchant for genocide. Also, it's not doing a good job with helping the razor glide across my face anymore, which means that it has that typical 'Made in China' quality. UNACCEPTABLE!!!

Anyway...

First, there was Gillette insulting all of their male customers in January of 2020 with that stupid ad accusing us all of 'toxic masculinity'. That caused millions of men (myself included) to switch brands and make them lose 8 BILLION DOLLARS in a single month. (I'm pretty sure this is also when most folks first heard the phrase 'Get Woke, Go Broke'.) And now, there's this shit with my shave gel... Whisky Tango Foxtrot?

I tried several different options while continuing to use up all the Gillette Fusion razors that I had in stock. (Those things are freakin' expensive!) I was going to try Dollar Shave Club, but then I found out they supported that terror group Black Lives Matter. So, fuck them. They don't deserve my business, either. If you plan to sell me something, keep your shit opinions on social issues to yourself.

So, I decided to take a chance on a brand called Harry's, which had been getting a lot of good reviews and press coverage online. (Not to mention sponsoring numerous YouTube personalities...) 

Damned good razor system.
Haven't tried the shave gel, though.

I discovered that they worked just as well as the Gillette Fusion razors that I'd been using since 2009, if not better. They also cost half as much. And they're made in Germany instead of some Communist shithole. Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a winner.

As for the recent need to get a new brand of shaving cream/gel/soap/whatever, I had to do a quick web search to confirm a vague memory. I remember seeing cans of the classic Barbasol brand of shaving cream in the local Dollar Tree. I'm also pretty sure I remembered seeing 'Made in the USA' on the can. Well, according to their website, it looks like that was correct. 

The American Classic

Looks like Barbasol also has their own razor blade system, but I don't need that stuff. I like the Harry's blades and the lower costs associated with that brand of razor. It's been a long time since I used shaving cream instead of gel. However, I do like the idea of an American classic still made here in America that I can get for a single dollar from Dollar Tree. I'll give them a shot. Also, why have I not tried them before? They need to hire new people for their marketing department... 

While out running errands on January 17th, I stopped by the Dollar Tree to pick up some supplies, including the can of Barbasol. I saw the same brand of knockoff Edge gel. This time though, the can said 'Made In Turkey' on the label. I guess this brand got a LOT of negative feedback about their product being made in a Commie shithole. Not particularly interested in doing business with a country led by a snake-in-the-grass bastard like Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, though. 

Also saw that the cheap brand of Aftershave that I once tried from this store is now blue instead of green and using a different bottle. However, it's still made in Communist China. Therefore, I still need to get myself a new brand. Barbasol does have an Aftershave of their own. I wonder if it's any good...

Anyway, I bought several more shaving products to test. All are American-made, considered classics now and inexpensive compared to their competition. There's 2 forms of after shave, Aqua Velva and Skin Bracer. Also picked up some Lectric Shave to help make things easier for my electric razor. Using that in conjunction with the manual razor helps keep my blades lasting longer.

Will these products make the grade?

RESULTS

I tried the Barbasol when shaving in the shower on the morning of January 20th. The razor glide was incredibly smooth. My face was as smooth as a baby's bottom with very little need to go back over various areas. My face stayed smooth all day and well into the night. We have a winner.

Why have I not tried this amazing product before?

The second time that I used Barbasol for my shave, my face was dry. So, the skin was not as relaxed/moisturized as when I'm in the shower. The blade didn't glide quite as easily as it did the first time. However, it was still a LOT easier than any other shave product that I can remember using at any time in my life. I also used a lot less of the product than I typically would with the gel. It also takes a lot more time for the whiskers to grow back too. Looks like I can now go for more than 3 days without having to shave, just to get rid of a lot of itchy stubble. So, Barbasol is saving me money by both being cheaper and by needing a lot less of it to get the job done. Why did I not try this product 20+ years ago when I first started shaving my face? I can only imagine how much money I could have saved myself...

Anyway, I was so happy with the product that I picked up a 2nd, larger can that day, along with the previously mentioned pre-shave and after-shave stuff.

As for the after shave and Lectric Shave...

Shaving with the Lectric Shave actually did make the electric razor glide over my face a LOT easier. The closeness of the shave was slightly better too. It also prevented the redness and irritation that often happens to my poor neck after using that electric razor, even with the brand new blades that I just installed a few days ago.

The two different brands of aftershave both worked well with regard to tightening the pores of my skin. Both of them smelled nice to me. The smell of the Skin Bracer was not quite as strong as I remembered from childhood when my grandfather used that product. I've also heard that the formula has been altered and that it's not as potent now. I don't know if that's true, but I do know that the stuff serves its purpose and at a low price. 

The smell of the Aqua Velva was slightly stronger and I think I like that one better. It's also more noticeable to me after putting it on my face. I think I'll save the Aqua Velva for special occasions and when stepping out on the town. And since virtually EVERYTHING is still shut down because of the Commie Cough, that means that I might not be using much of that product in the foreseeable future. Not sure how I feel about that one.

All of them turned out to be good.

It's amazing... Products that have been around for over a century, are made in America and all dirt cheap... And only now am I coming around to using them. How did that happen? I know why I started using the Edge gel when I was a teenager. That's what my father used. It worked well for years. Then, I started using a generic equivalent because I like being cheap. And now, continuing to be cheap, I am using products that are now marginalized as 'old man's aftershave' or something similar. That doesn't bother me in the slightest. My grandfather's generation survived the Great Depression and World War Two. They made America the Super Power it is now. Clearly, they did a lot of things right. We shouldn't be so quick to dismiss things that are associated with them and their time.

Furthermore, when I picked up the aftershave products from a local Wal-Mart on the 20th, there was a 7 oz. can of the shaving gel that Harry's (the company that makes my razors) wants to sell. That can sold for six bucks. A 5 oz. can of Barbasol sells for ONE Dollar in any store across America. And the 10 oz. can of Barbasol on that same Wal-Mart shelf was $1.47. Not hard to guess why I'm going cheap on this product, huh? The fact that this product is American made and FAR more effective than everything else tried is a really nice bonus.

Barbasol, Skin Bracer, Aqua Velva & Lectric Shave really should advertise more. Preferably with a more effective kind of ad that the current generation of young men might actually see, like sponsoring Youtubers. That's how I first heard about Harry's razors. It would also be a welcome change from constantly seeing these Youtubers being sponsored almost exclusively by that cell phone game RAID: Shadow Legends.

- Lord Publius