"Shaving Off The Plastic"

Posted: 29 December, 2020

Over the past few years my partner and I have been taking little steps toward more sustainable living. I made the big change, dropping meat and dairy, four years ago, thanks in large part to the rabbit-hole of Netflix documentaries.

I don't call myself "vegan" as I'm not religious about it -- if I get caught short at an airport, I'll have a burger, -- but at home, I'm 100% meat free and making far more conscious choices about what I buy, and how it's made.

My partner (as well as going "vegan") has approached sustainability from another angle; concentrating hard on plastics, chemicals, and single use items around the house. One of the interesting aspects of this is how it's affected the bathroom. We recently dropped shower gel in favour of soap. The soap is free of packaging and we can buy in bulk from a local shop. We had to try a few different bars to find one we liked -- our preference being a soap that lathers well -- but now we have, I much prefer it. I wasn't expecting to.

So for Xmas I asked for a shaving brush and soap. I'd not used either before, so I wasn't sure what to expect.

Using a brush feels a little cack-handed at first. You have to work it a little to get a good application, and unlike a gel, you need to leave the soap on your face a while for it to work. The shave also feels a little different. There's more pull on the blade initially and a much less lubricated feel on the second pass. None of this is a negative, though, it's just a slight change to to the process... Once I got the knack of the brush, and took my time over the whole thing, the end result was a really good, clean shave. And, I kinda enjoyed it more!

The question now, ofc, is do I go the whole-hog and get a cut-throat razor, and remove all the disposable blades from my life?

How many scars will I end up with? :D

Quick aside for regular readers: My lockdown holiday did not go well. I don't recommend taking time off, in a 2 bedroom house, when your partner is still working downstairs. By Xmas I was willing to dig my way through the walls, and certainly had no will to do anything project related... I did manage to get a couple of days away from the house before Tier 4 descended, but I'd be lying if I said I was raring to go into the New Year... Oh well.

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