Is wet shaving becoming too popular?

[Potrzebie]

Perhaps the question should be: Does wet-shaving even need to grow to support the "golden era" of supplies that we are now experiencing?
With each of us buying enough to stock a small village, I think the answer is no!
I also believe that the perceived "growth" in supply is actually very little and largely illusory.
The list you displayed re 2006 was largely made up of companies that had been around for a century or more, and they weren't the only ones available then. All major producers of shaving supplies to-day were around long before 2006, and while that kit was a bit pricey, cheaper alternatives were readily available in 2006.
Synthetic brushes have been around since the 1950's, perhaps earlier.
D.E. blades and shavers never went out of style in the East, Slavic, or third-world countries. It's just that they're recently being more actively imported to the West.
Straights never disappeared from France, Germany, or the Far East (especially Japan), and are now even making a come-back in those markets.
What has changed in that time, has been the explosive growth in world-wide on-line shopping and specialist stockists that have brought the world's existing supplies to our door-steps.
The "growth" that I do concede is that of the small entrepreneurs and businesses, that have exploited the "niche" market that we fanatics have created. Their production numbers are low because our numbers are low, and thus their impact in the wider world of shaving products is minimal.
If traditional wet shaving really was growing in the western world, you would see the major producers re-introducing traditional shaving products for our markets. Brands such as Palmolive, Williams, Barbasol, Gillette, Colgate, Wilkinson...all of whom used to make traditional soaps, creams, brushes, D.E. blades and such...in the West, and are still in business, but making canned foam/gel and carts here, if at all.

You make some good points! If Gillettcetera get back in this aspect of the game, they'll jack the prices way up at the very least.

Yet, I still think each of us has a humanitarian duty to pass on what we've learned (without fanaticism), when appropriate... relieve needless suffering and all.

 

[Tanuki]

Yet, I still think each of us has a humanitarian duty to pass on what we've learned (without fanaticism), when appropriate... relieve needless suffering and all.

Passing it along is working well here. My three sons:
1 - started on a Merkur 36 slant, now also has a Tech and about four brushes and a few soaps. Committed.
2 - just kicked the disposable habit in favor of a Schick L (not a clone). Simplicity + less plastic waste. I wish injector razors and blades would reappear at retail. DE blades (and cheapie razors) never entirely went away around here.
3 - shaves with a Merkur 33 and has my RazoRock German 37 on trial. Maybe traditional shaving will go viral in his household of 5 sophomore guys when fall term gets going.

 

[Potrzebie]

Passing it along is working well here. My three sons:
1 - started on a Merkur 36 slant, now also has a Tech and about four brushes and a few soaps. Committed.
2 - just kicked the disposable habit in favor of a Schick L (not a clone). Simplicity + less plastic waste. I wish injector razors and blades would reappear at retail. DE blades (and cheapie razors) never entirely went away around here.
3 - shaves with a Merkur 33 and has my RazoRock German 37 on trial. Maybe traditional shaving will go viral in his household of 5 sophomore guys when fall term gets going.

Well done!

 

[FarmerTan]

Passing it along is working well here. My three sons:
1 - started on a Merkur 36 slant, now also has a Tech and about four brushes and a few soaps. Committed.
2 - just kicked the disposable habit in favor of a Schick L (not a clone). Simplicity + less plastic waste. I wish injector razors and blades would reappear at retail. DE blades (and cheapie razors) never entirely went away around here.
3 - shaves with a Merkur 33 and has my RazoRock German 37 on trial. Maybe traditional shaving will go viral in his household of 5 sophomore guys when fall term gets going.

Awesome. My son uses an electric and a RR twist to open I gave him. He uses them about equally.

And I can't forget that you "passed along" an old razor to me!

 

[Rhody]

So, did you go in for ice cream, adult diapers...or both?
By the way, it's not millennial to call them "adult diapers." They are now to be referred to as "bladder leakage control products!"

bLCP

 

[FarmerTan]

We called them "briefs" when I worked long term care.

 

[HarryAU570]

Wet shaving is becoming very popular as long as you don’t get yourself caught in a rabbit hole

 

[macduff67]

D.E. blades and shavers never went out of style in the East, Slavic, or third-world countries. It's just that they're recently being more actively imported to the West.
Straights never disappeared from France, Germany, or the Far East (especially Japan), and are now even making a come-back in those markets.

I remember a chain of knife shops in the South that sold straight razors in the 1980s. Sometimes a character on a popular TV show back then used a straight. Also available were shaving stands with matching brushes, bowls, cartridge razor handles. Gillette's DE blades disappeared around 1990, but there were still blades available if you looked hard enough in stores (but some of them were really dull, I recall). As long as barbering uses those hair thinner comb things that take DE blades, they will be around.

It used to be quite the thing for young men to get "adulthood" gifts: watch, fountain pen, cuff links, necktie, cloth handkerchiefs, or a gold-plated safety razor. About the only thing left is getting (horrible) electric shavers.

 

[Whilliam]

Wet shaving is only mainstream among members of shaving forums.

+1

 

[karacha]

As far as I know, most men and women are wet shaving.

 

[RayClem]

As far as I know, most men and women are wet shaving.

If you include multi-blade cartridges as wet shaving then your are probably correct.

However, in the USA, the market for electric shavers is currently somewhere around $5-6 billion. The market is growing nearly 5% a year and is projected to reach $8 Billion by 2025. That is a lot of electric shavers. According to market research, electric shavers are becoming especially popular among women.

 

[Potrzebie]

If you include multi-blade cartridges as wet shaving then your are probably correct.

However, in the USA, the market for electric shavers is currently somewhere around $5-6 billion. The market is growing nearly 5% a year and is projected to reach $8 Billion by 2025. That is a lot of electric shavers. According to market research, electric shavers are becoming especially popular among women.

SMH

 

[Luecke2326]

In a word, no.
Wet shaving too popular? Not with all the beards I see these days. Not popular enough.

Yep! The beard trend is crazy! I work in a professional environment and I'd say that maybe 2/10 men shave their faces on a daily basis. Most professionals I work with have the short stubble beards or full beards.

I agree that it has gotten more popular over the 6 years I've been doing it, but I wouldn't say its mainstream at all. Yes, you couldn't find a safety razor in a store before. Now you can, but I still don't think most people try using them and then stick to them. I know most people don't know anything about the high end brush or shaving soap market. Custom Straight razors are made by more and more vendors, but I doubt the demand for them is raising more than 10% a year.

I agree, No. It may be easier to find thing now days, but I don't think it is anywhere near a household practice.

 

[pdieten]

You make some good points! If Gillettcetera get back in this aspect of the game, they'll jack the prices way up at the very least.

Gillette offered DE blades in stores in the US two or three years ago. They listed at $8.95 for a 9-pack (three wrapped 3-packs.) If you accept the theory that name brand Gillette blades should be higher quality than store brand blades, and remember what Walgreens charges for a 10-pack dispenser of Israeli made store brand blades, then the pricing makes logical sense.

If you want a safety razor from P&G and you are in the US they'll send you to The Art of Shaving, where they will sell you Merkur or Muehle products. I think they've found that the safety razor market isn't big enough in the US to develop a product under their own name in their own facilities.

 

[weekly]

Maybe somebody needs to twist Cory Greenberg's arm, get him back on the Today Show.

How to get that perfect shave

That is a very enjoyable article
To read, thanks for posting the link.
Everyone who is reading this thread
Should enjoy the article.

 

[FarmerTan]

That is a very enjoyable article
To read, thanks for posting the link.
Everyone who is reading this thread
Should enjoy the article.

Ditto.

 

[pdieten]

Maybe somebody needs to twist Cory Greenberg's arm, get him back on the Today Show.

How to get that perfect shave

That is a good article. I think I have questions about a couple of the recommendations (Merkur blades? Storing a wet brush standing up on its handle?) but then it was written in 2005, we have a few more options since then.

 

[Sabre]

Doesn't look like Straight Razor shaving has arrived in Scotland, yet. I literally know one other person that owns one, he only use it occasionally for trimming around his beard, so I wouldn't count that. I thought it will be difficult to learn, without someone that has the experience to refer to, but these days you can find everything you need to know online. Would have been nice to share the learning experience with someone with similar interests.

Fergie Billy is in Scotland enjoying his straights.

 

[Sabre]

I don’t want to pull this thread off topic but I have questions for those of you mentioning that carts are wet shaving too.

* Wasn’t it clear what the OP was referring to in his first post?
* Have you ever heard a cart shaver describe what their doing as “wet shaving”? I’ve been shaving for 30 years and watching manufactures commercials and I never heard the term before getting involved with the DE/SE community.
* If not “wet shaving” then what term do you use to differentiate between carts & spray cream vs. DE/SE & lathered cream?

It’s just seems like there’s an obvious distinction here, beyond the semantics.

Classified, on the side. [emoji106]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

In Europe cart shaving is called wet shaving, electrics were dry shaving. Now we have wet shaving electrics. Only a few people on one or two forums believe that only using a DE is wet shaving...

Have you considered method shaving?

 

[Billy T.]

I started wet shaving because it was different and retro and kind of cool. I was among a few brave souls doing it the old way. Now it seems wet shaving has gone mainstream and I am finding the cool factor is wearing off.

This really leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Guess it's time for you to find a less "mainstream" hobby.