It started as a joke. Really. But now, I am formally beard enabled. For now. This could change at any point.
Details of the experiment -
1.) The first step was trying women's disposable razors. After reading a couple things saying there was basically not much difference in razors these days, I bought some at the store and gave them a go. Normally, I use the top of the line Mach 3 type things, and really, it's a minimal difference between those and the disposable women's ones. OK, the cheap ones don't get quite as much re-use, but still.
2.) Next in line, was trying shaving without shaving cream. I confess, this part was accidental, in that I ran out of shaving cream, and needed to shave. But I remembered reading the most important part was keeping the whiskers wet, so I ran with it. This was in fact significantly less comfortable, but I didn't end up the bloody mess I expected to be, so there you go. It's also a lot easier to get a symmetrical shave using only water, as it turns out.
3.) And finally, this beard thing. Literally my entire life, I avoided it, because growing it in is really itchy, and I thought it would make my already round face seem rounder. Hence my eternal state of three-day stubble. But it seems to be working out, beyond the occasional bout of itching.
The newest pothole on the road-map to beard-dom, however, is trimming. Which requires a beard trimmer, or scissors and more patience than I have ever had. Unless I give up because it's hard. We shall see.
* - For varying values of the word 'great.'