The anniversary is coming up. Which anniversary, you ask? The one-year anniversary of getting started in this whole madness that is double-edge safety razor shaving. At least, semi-arbitrarily, it’s one year.
It was sometime early in August 2024 that I picked up the Van Der Hagen and a Clinique sample kit and started shaving with something other than a cartridge razor for the first time in probably 40 years or more. (Check out the story here).
So I’ve been trying to think about ways to celebrate this milestone. One obvious thing is to revisit the ol’ Van Der Hagen and see if, now that about 6 months have passed since I last used it, my increased knowledge and product choices would make a difference and make me want to add it to the rotation. Or find out that it really is just a metallic pile of garbage and I just need to leave it alone.
But I also wanted to somehow pay tribute to the experiences and products that I’ve used and love from the past year. Proraso is guaranteed to be in there, but what blades? What razors? What soaps and pre- and post-shave products?
I never paired the Van Der Hagen with most of my favorite blades, so I’ll do that. A few shaves with the VDH and the Nacet will be in the plans. And probably the Gillette 7’oclock Sharp Edge Yellow as well–that’s a very mild, forgiving blade that may just make for an outstanding shave in that razor.
But I have not paired the Henson or Rockwell with some of the favorite blades of that time: the Perma-Sharp (okay, I did pair it with the Henson and KCG, so I need to try it with the Rockwell), the Astra Platinum (green), and the Accuforge. So I’ll have to find time for those as well.
If you’re keeping track, I have more than a month’s worth of shaves there, so I’ll have to do some editing, but carry those plans over to other times. So stay tuned for those.
But those are the plans as they stand now. I want this to be a successful, but exploratory celebration of my shaving journey, and I’m excited to plan for this. I’m also thrilled that with the exception of the single shave Kai experiment with the Henson back in April, I’ve had shaves with an overall rating over 4.500 going all the way back to the beginning of March, so that’s definitely a sign of how far I’ve come in a year.
And as mentioned in an earlier post, I’ve got plans to bring on another razor, so I’ll have that to work in as well. And I just scored a deal on a pile of soap, cream, and pre- and post-shave products that I’ll have to work through.
Year two starts the first week of August!
