Your story about your first steps in wet shaving

Manumik

Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2020
Location
Switzerland
Hey guys,
I'm wondering about your stories about how you first got in touch with wet shaving?
Did the desire came up by yourself or did somebody proposed it to you?
I personally was always fascinated about straight razors because they come in so many different shapes and sized. I just love everything with great design... It was not even the shaving aspect that made me buy my first razor. The love for shaving itself came later when I actually started shaving for the first time.
But in the beginning, I was just drawn to the looks of the razors itself...
That was what made me buy my first razor.
Excited to hear your stories.
 
I've mentioned it before but I had tried DE shaving as my father had always used them and bought a cheapo badger, TTO and Wilkinson Sword blades that shaved so bad that I gave up. It was only by chance that I saw some YouTube videos and searching the net that I learned how popular traditional wet shaving had become that I gave it another try. Long story short and quickly falling down the Rabbit Hole that is RAD, SAD and later BAD, I stumbled across P&C and the rest is history... First proper setup was the EJ DE89, Proraso, PAA synthetics and some sample blades that made me quickly realise that there's more to this hobby than just using one brand of blade! :giggle:
 
My first razor was a long-handle black Gillette adjustable, which I used with whatever blades I could get from the chemists: Wilkinson Sword or Gillette "whatever". They would be vintage now, I suppose, but I never worried about that then, and never knew how many types of blade there were until we had an internet. I had a cheap pig brush which I loaded up from a puck of what I think might have been TOBS sandalwood refill. That was how it was sold, and it took me a couple of years to realise it was meant to be in a bowl. I just stuck it upside-down on a flat saucer and lathered up on my face. I tried Dad's canned goo a couple of times and hated it. By the time I was 20 I had the razor wound permanently out to "6" for the most comfortable shave.
 
I started using Dad's safety razor (I think it was a Gillette Black Beauty) and then went on to cheap disposable carts until @astinus4 peaked my interest and I bought a cheap no-name adjustable and some sample blades but still using canned goop so it did not impress. Another work mate recommended a starters kit from Stray Whisker including Semogue - 1460 Boar Brush, Merkur 38C and PAA Dapper Doc's soap and aftershave. The rest is history thanks to P&C.
 
I started my journey using my grandfathers pre world war 2 Gillete techs along time ago in land far far away interesting times. Then the dark years of using several junkyard razors and nasty cartridges. About 20 years ago I aquired a Gillette 195 fatboy ( still have it), and started back on the road, with mixed electric, and disposable razor use as I travelled a fair bit.

About 10 years ago I joined badgerandblade. Never posted just watched and kept up to date every few months. 5 years ago I got hit with the bug while in NYC. 3 years ago discovered this site, never joined occasionally would have a read. Last year joined and here I am.
 
My old man had always used a badger shaving brush, but with carts. On my 18th birthday, mum and dad gave me a badger brush (Floris Pure, which I still have). I used it, but intermittently, with supermarket soaps, canned goo and carts. Then When I got my first job I bought a Merkur 38c, which I had for 20+ years. When I moved to Australia in 2008 I remember buying a puck of Williams shave soap. This was a light bulb moment. Next came the typical Proraso set up. Then Beard and Blade came into existence and the rest is history.
 
I've mentioned it before but I had tried DE shaving as my father had always used them and bought a cheapo badger, TTO and Wilkinson Sword blades that shaved so bad that I gave up. It was only by chance that I saw some YouTube videos and searching the net that I learned how popular traditional wet shaving had become that I gave it another try. Long story short and quickly falling down the Rabbit Hole that is RAD, SAD and later BAD, I stumbled across P&C and the rest is history... First proper setup was the EJ DE89, Proraso, PAA synthetics and some sample blades that made me quickly realise that there's more to this hobby than just using one brand of blade! :giggle:

I agree, it's not just getting your face shaved, it's the ritual and relaxation that wet shaving gave me that made me want it more..
 
I might be on the younger side generally speaking of most DE shavers, I'm in my mid 30's.

My dad always used disposables and the canned stuff, so I started with the whole Mach 3 etc.

My Grandpa on the other hand, always DE shaved and always used a brush. I used to watch him shave all the time as he and my grandmother raised me while my parents worked.

He was the old-school type that always wore suit pants and a shirt, was always clean shaved.

He'd let me play with the brush, make the bubbles etc.

As the years went on, I always thought about it, tried a supermarket Wilkinson DE and cut the hell out of myself.

Went back to Mach 3.

One day... One magical day, Gillette decided to get 'woke' in their advertising and I decided to protest with my wallet. I remembered the whole DE shaving experience and decided to actually research it.

Many hundreds of dollars later.. here I am.

(still miss him almost every day)
 
I picked up a one of the micro one touch razors with a pack of Mach 3 cartridges on impulse, one day I needed to shave and was out of cartridges so thought I would give it a go. It was a better shave than I had ever had from my Mach 3 from that day I have not looked back.
 
A couple years short of a decade ago, I was bouncing around a small niche Aussie forum called Whirlpool and came across some weird dudes called @Mark1966 and @Drubbing who were weirdly enthusiastic and verbose about shaving their faces. My old man had introduced me to shaving with a supermarket boar brush and Proraso, but with the dreaded Mach 3 and it was wrecking my face. After an embarrassing number of pages read and buying some weird German thing called a Merkur 34C HD, I was sent over here to learn how to keep my nose and cheeks attached to my face.

I quickly became weirdly enthusiastic and verbose about shaving my face too, and also poor, having not yet adopted the Drubbing method of buying something decent the first time then using self-control to stop buying more. The Merkur was great, the self-control nonexistent. A few years later, I had enough gear for six people and a decade of daily shaving. Life and work intervened, free time became a rarity and I disappeared into the wilderness of the white-collar wage-slave badlands.

Now, I return from the wild to complete my set of Simmo's and hunt unobtanium Polish blades. The strange journey continues...
 
Many moons ago, I was having a chat with a work colleague and mentor, and he mentioned that he was a traditional wet shaver, and that he had just ordered a new shaving brush; his current brush having lasted >20 years. He mentioned that he bought the brush whilst in London many years previously. This got me interested, so I asked him from whom did he purchase the brush. He said that he would check and let me know in the morning. It turned out to be DR Harris.

Being completely ignorant of availability of good wet shaving gear in Australia, I contacted DR Harris direct in London and ordered an equivalent brush, which turned out to be a DR Harris H3 (28mm knot) in Best Badger. I also ordered a bowl of Arlington soap. Again, being totally ignorant of how to lather, I trundled along for a few years underloading chronically and making pathetic watery lather, and shaved using my go-to disposable - the green schick fixed angle twin-blade.

I'm not sure how it happened, but I stumbled across P&C on the web one day, and the rest is history. My first DE razor was a Feather AS-D2, which I still own, as well as the DR Harris H3 brush. I remember thinking - "OK, I've now got a good razor and a good brush - I'm all set and do not require further gear." :LOL::LOL::LOL:
 
So for me I used a DE years ago as I have a heavy beard and found the shave better than cartridges. I just used shaving cream back then.

My wife one day bought some Mach 3 cartridges and I had been using them for close on 12 years only because it was quick. Recently though I have been really conscious of cost and environment.

My wife cleaned out her father's house after his passing and bought home about 12. Packs of Elka Blades and asked me whether I would use them.

She thought they would only be good for cutting stuff not actually shaving.

I said sure I will use them and they will fit in a DE razor.

So I bought a cheap razor Wahl kit came with a bowl and Boar brush to make sure they fitted and they worked extremely well. Got some Proraso soap as well. Did 2 passes and the wife said gee you look fresh. I felt great as well.

So now hooked on wet shaving and it just forms part of my routine.

Father's Day is coming up so kids said they would buy me a Mekur Futur so that will be a next level I am thinking.
 
Way, way back in the 1990's I had a couple of DE razors floating around and I bought some razor blades from Coles or Woollies and gave them a go. The shaves weren't all that great and then I discovered that the shave gel in a can is much better than the foam in a can and used it thereafter. I remember that the threads in the handle (where it screws onto the base) wore out and it got thrown out - can't even remember what brand it was now and went back to the Mach 3. I had a full beard for a few years up until last year when I broke my arm in a sailing accident in July. My skin dried out just after and had bad flaking in the beard, so it had to go. The beard went and I got out my box of shaving stuff and there was my old Gillette Rocket TTO. The swaging where the handle joins the base had let go and the TTO didn't work but it still shaved OK. I consulted Dr Google to find out more about the razor and discovered the world of wet shaving. Consequently, I bought some blades on-line and then about a weekend later we were up at Nundle looking around the trading store and they had some Taylors of Old Bond Street soaps for sale so I picked up a couple. By this time I was well and truly in the rabbit hole.

Meanwhile back in that old box of shaving bits and pieces there was Dad's old 7 o'clock travel DE from his navy days, one of those auto strop razor things plus Grandad's old Bengal Imperial. It has since been honed and have fallen into the much deeper rabbit hole of straight razor shaving. Up to shave number 17 so still have a long way to go!

cheers
Andrew
 
Always shaved electric at first (yeah, I know...burn the heretic).
Joined the NZ Army at 19 and had to shave each day. Suddenly the electric was a right pain to use.
Bought a Gillette Super Speed (brand new) from the local shop plus a stick of Palmolive. No brush...what are they for I wondered?
Just wet my face, rubbed the stick over and used fingers to lather it (sort of).
Suddenly I was really shaving!
Out in the boonies in Vietnam (still didn't have a brush) and now no soap either.
Just used a scrap of cold water out of the alloy mug, but after I had brushed my teeth in it.
Yum, toothpaste flavoured shave cream.
Never stopped after that. Gone on to better razors and blades and discovered you lot and fancy soaps too.
Wouldn't mind being that young guy shaving with old toothpaste water again (sigh)...but time goes by, we get old, save some money and buy more shave 'stuff' with it.
Hey, I was running around with your 6 RAR guys from memory (1968-1969). I was in the Kiwi part (just 4 of us) of the Forward Observation lot (161 Battery) attached to one of the Aussie Companies...any old 'digs' in here?
 
I sort of dropped into it backwards..

Since the age of 15 I used the disposable/cartridge plus a can of goo from the supermarket.. I only upped my game in my mid-late 40s when I started trying some other shave soaps from the barbers - Colonel Conk Bay Rum from memory... I started getting a better result with that, and my mother gave me my grandads old razor. I started looking online at badger and blade, and then here 😁. Talk about a rabbit hole! A few razors later (Merkur 33c, a futur clone, a Lord no name, the Rockwell 6S and a Gillette Black Beauty for special occasions), here I am!

I still reckon the software is at least 30-50% of the equation - don't get me started on blades. We really are spoiled for choice here in Oz- between "old faithfuls" like MWF and Arko 😁, we have some tremendous local artisans like APR, Washpool, and Squadron, delivering fantastic shaves.

I can't say I ever dreaded shaving; but I do look forward to it (most days) now. At the risk of sounding too new age, I enjoy the mindfulness of it - namely having a really close shave, and not slicing half my face off!!
 
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