Free Talk Friday - December 26th, 2025 (sub.wetshaving.social)

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[-] DaveWave94@wetshav.ing 4 points 3 days ago

I hope everyone of you fine folks had wonderful Christmas holidays. As for me, I've worked on the 24th and 25th and only have two short late shifts on the 30. and 31. December left. Unfortunately, I had a relapse into cigarette smoking on Christmas Eve after over a full year of completely switching to vaping. The cause was that my vape malfunctioned right after my shift was over, yet I still wanted to visit my parents - and there was a Zigarettenautomat in their street. It honestly surprises people, but there are vending machines for cigarettes in Germany. You just need your bank card or ID to verify your age and beep, here are your cancer sticks! 24 h was enough to smoke a full pack of 22 cigs, but I vowed that I won't get any more. I'm so done with my fingers, clothes and breath stinking of cold smoke and ash and certainly haven't missed it. I really don't want this to happen again next year, so I have to make some strategic plans and purchases to avoid such problems in the future.

As for more uplifting news: I had a notification on my phone about a new letter - my work contract is finally on the way to me! I'm really eager about the new work environment at the hospital and look forward to a huge step up in my career in 2026. Since this is the last FTF for 2025, here's to a great start into the new year with slick shaves and everything going smooth. ✌🏻

[-] lapislazuli@sopuli.xyz 6 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

My year in review

Started face lathering, got kind of good at it. I don't even own a bowl anymore.
Got quicker with my shaves: 30-40 minutes (incl. face washing, making the lather, shaving (2-3 passes), applying the alum, after-shave, putting the gear away, cleaning and disassembling my razor and leaving it to dry). I know I'm not the Usain Bolt of shaving, but I'm happy with the results.
Started posting here

[-] gcgallant@sub.wetshaving.social 5 points 3 days ago

I know I’m not the Usain Bolt of shaving

There are no gold medals for fast shaves :)

[-] lapislazuli@sopuli.xyz 3 points 2 days ago

Maybe we can change that? Have you seen any Donald Youngner (Wet The Face) videos? Fastest shaver in the West, I'd say!

[-] gcgallant@sub.wetshaving.social 2 points 2 days ago

He is quick once the lather is made, but he uses a single edge razor safety razor. Sean Stapelfeld likes to challenge himself to do very quick shaves with a straight razor. A lot more danger there. My normal 3-pass shave with a straight razor from initial lathering through a quick cleanup is 12 to 15 minutes. I find this allows me to enjoy the shave without thinking about the time it takes. If you want to, it is pretty easy to time-optimize your shaving process. Again, it is more about fitting it into your schedule than anything else.

[-] walden@wetshav.ing 4 points 3 days ago

I feel like bowl->face is a natural progression for a lot of people, myself included. Even sgrdddy, who if you've never heard of him has a reputation for ridiculous bowl lathers (if you're reading, I love you sgr), has ventured into face lathers.

I still have 3 bowls that I just can't make myself mail away.

[-] lapislazuli@sopuli.xyz 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I realised that I told a colossal lie. I do own shaving bowls, but I don't use them. My aunt who is into ceramics made me three bowls. Two were too small and did not have a high enough edge, the third one is just about right. And it's a beaut! Even so, I don't use it. I find face lathering saves me some time.I think I'll take a photo of it for my New Year shave. It's literally one of a kind, which makes it feel special. The first shave bowl that I had had high edges, but was rather narrow so when I got my Yaqi 26 mm brush it had little room to work a good lather. I gave it away to a friend, along with some shaving gear (including my R89), but I don't think they're really using any of it. It's a pity, but I'm not going to ask it back. Ok, rant over!

[-] DaveWave94@wetshav.ing 3 points 3 days ago

Sounds like a great year in wetshaving for you! IMHO, face lathering (or head lathering in my case) is vastly superior to using a bowl. I was always bowl lathering because I believed it was more traditional. A Reddit challenge made me try out face lathering and I was an instant convert: being able to adjust things on the fly much quicker, having the most direct feedback of the lather quality on my skin, finally enjoying the process of building the lather with my brush instead of using it just like a paintbrush and last but not least fewer things to store in the bathroom.

[-] lapislazuli@sopuli.xyz 2 points 2 days ago

Good point about using the brush more. I never understood the purpose of all the swirling on the face, but it makes sense when face lathering: it helps build the lather (makes it possible in the first place, in fact), and in the process, works the lather into the hairs and lifts the hairs up.

[-] DaveWave94@wetshav.ing 2 points 2 days ago

That's right! It makes you appreciate your brush way more.

[-] pi_dash_rho@wetshav.ing 5 points 3 days ago

I'm straight razor curious. Randomly, my wife found a cache of straight razors at a local antique shop and turned them into a Christmas present for me. They're all almost completely black. One of them has some red rust spots. I'm slowly going through them to see what they are and learning how to clean them up.

There are several Shumates, a George Wostenholm & Sons IXL, a Wade & Butcher, and several others. The edges aren't chipped and look okay to my novice eyes.

This makes me wonder about the backstory - someone in this little town collected them and took care of them for some time before they were tarnished in a junk shop.

[-] gcgallant@sub.wetshaving.social 4 points 3 days ago

Rust is not good if there is a lot of it on the edge. Patina on the blade can be OK. Do they lie flat on both sides? And, what does the spine wear look like? Feel free to post pictures. I'm happy to provide an opinion (everybody has one ;-) ).

[-] pi_dash_rho@wetshav.ing 3 points 3 days ago

I'll get some pictures. The red rust I've seen is closer to the spine. Most of the edges are shiny and aren't showing rust or the black tarnish.

[-] gcgallant@sub.wetshaving.social 2 points 3 days ago

That's very good!

[-] walden@wetshav.ing 3 points 3 days ago

I dipped my toe in during this past year, and finally placed an order for more stones yesterday. I happened to check Shave Nation and noticed they had good prices on the synthetic stones there.

Anyway, don't try to hone anything potentially valuable until you've done a couple of lesser razors. Just about anything can be fixed, but it's better the scuff up a Gold Dollar than a Wade & Butcher!

[-] pi_dash_rho@wetshav.ing 3 points 3 days ago

So, I'm having to return some stuff to Italian Barber. It's a small nightmare with the cost of sending 4 oz of stainless steel to Canada.

They're having me ship it to Old World Importers Inc in East York, Ontario. I looked at the address on Google Maps. It looks like a small office building -- not really a metal working type place.

RazoRock -> ItalianBarber -> Old World Importers Inc

That's got me wondering if RazoRock is actually manufactured in Canada or is it a front for Yaqi? Maybe they have them made in another country and assemble/package in Canada?

[-] DaveWave94@wetshav.ing 3 points 3 days ago

Giving them the benefit of doubt, maybe that address is just where they've rented an office and not where the razors are made? And even if it's small, CNC machines don't require as much space as e.g. boiler manufacturing. IBs/RazoRock's brushes are definitely Made in China, though.

[-] pi_dash_rho@wetshav.ing 4 points 3 days ago

That's a good point. I read more about RazoRock and its founders. They have a story about how IB/RR came to be. I'm guessing Old World Importers is the big family business that does a bunch of importing across many lines of business. RR is the house brand. IB is just a storefront/eShop. RR has a long standing relationship with TFS, who has made soaps for them for a while.

Anyway, I thought I'd share my rabbit hole :)

[-] DaveWave94@wetshav.ing 4 points 3 days ago

No worries, I frequently go down different weird rabbit holes 😅

Yes, and their cooperation with TFS as well as their importing business has in turn made a lot of their products available in Europe. Especially valuable: business relations with "Rasoi Goodfellas", a big Italian online store for wetshaving & grooming products who also have their own soaps made by TFS and are the main EU agent/importer of american artisan soap (thanks to them B+M, WK and Noble Otter are available over here). Rasoi Goodfellas also has their own razors that are CNC machined, from aluminium to brass to stainless steel. Could also be that the main razor parts are made for RR in the EU, then shipped to them in Canada and only polished/assembled there to get the "Made in Canada". But I guess that'd be even more expensive thanks to exorbitant shipping costs and therefore less likely.

[-] walden@wetshav.ing 3 points 2 days ago

Interesting. I've always assumed they don't make the razors themselves, but never had reason to doubt their claim of made in Canada.

this post was submitted on 26 Dec 2025

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