Living the questions

Intro to Wet Shaving

My first and only electric razor finally died on me recently so I decided to start looking into “green” and affordable options for shaving.  It didn’t take long before I ended up going with the old fashioned and traditional method of wet shaving which uses straight and/or safety razors.  It appealed to me because there is no plastic involved, the used razors only contain metal and thusly can be recycled, and the soaps/aftershaves involved can potentially be homemade. Plus, it provides for a more enjoyable shave that you can actually look forward to. For the sake of just starting somewhere, I went with the following supplies to get me going:

• Merkur Model 180 (You have lots of options, pick what suites you)
• Frank Shaving travel badger brush (Pick what suites you)
• Taylor Old Bond Street soap and bowl (Pick what suites you)
• Sample pack of razor blades (Different faces like different blades)
• Bloc Osma alum bar (Closes your pores, helps with small knicks and ingrown hairs)
• Septic Pen (Just in case you have a bad knick)
• Ogallala Bay Rum cologne & aftershave sampler (Simple and natural formula)

One of the great things about wet shaving is how many options are available, if something doesn’t work for your skin something else out there should.  And although there is a steeper cost of entry, the low cost of new blades pays off over time.

Moving forward I plan on trying to find more natural soaps and aftershaves and also look into how to make my own. I also need to learn the best practices for recycling used razor blades.

Lessons learned:

• Don’t expect a close shave at first, just concentrate on form and beard reduction.
• Find the direction of the grain on your facial hair and follow it as closely as possible.
• Prep is key! I always shave after a hot shower and take my time building lather.
• Shaving can be an enjoyable process.

Typographic Gift Wrap

After reading this article on how to make typographic gift wrap I decided to give it a shot, except with more of an emphasis on reclaimed materials.

What I did differently:

• I pulled up the PDF of the font of choice on the screen and zoomed in to the desired sized, then I lightly traced the letters on to the thin paper. I didn’t worry too much about making the lines straight or exact, after tracing I would clean up the lines a little, cut the letters out with scissors, then carefully erase the pencil marks.
• I used an old parts catalog for tech parts instead of an old book. You could use a phone book or any number of things here.
• I traced the letters with sharpie to cover up my inability to cut fluid lines.
• To save time I just cut out the leading letter of the name.
• I used old paper bags and packing paper.

What I learned:

• The thickness of the paper you use to trace can be fairly thick, but you don’t want it too thick.
• It would be easier to reverse the letters prior so that your trace marks end up on the back of the letters and not on the front.
• Thin paper tears really easy when you apply glue via glue sticks.

Austin Creative Reuse

The kerning game