Personally my fiance told me to google better shaving methods. I found this site and now shave every day and look forward to it!!!
What happened to you?!
- Thread starter baba
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It's just more fun the old way.
A lot easier on the skin as well.
A lot easier on the skin as well.
Bumps ,ingrown hairs , lots of micro abrasions ,cost of cartridges . Simply ;Pure hell and complete boredum with the shaving chore.
I found info on wet shaving on Ems Place and other sites before I found the holy grail B&B.
Skin problems are reduced. And boredum is now zen.
I found info on wet shaving on Ems Place and other sites before I found the holy grail B&B.
Skin problems are reduced. And boredum is now zen.
While in the hospital after a minor mining accident which wrecked a knee when I was 18, I grew (the start of) a full beard and except for a couple of misbegotten moments when I shaved to improve my employability (it didn't) I've always worn it that way. Full, but short and neat, and I always used my great-uncle's straight razor to neaten the edges and shave my neck.
About ten years ago I started having some severe arthritis problems especially in my hands, and I got jerky; I was about as safe with a straight razor as is a chimpanzee with a running chainsaw; and, I dropped the "family straight razor" on the sink and chipped it beyond repair. After the years since of frustration with disposables, electrics, and an ill-advised brief return to a wider straight razor, about 3 months ago I happened on a thread in a completely unrelated forum regarding double-edged safety razors. I didn't even know they were still made, although I occasionally saw a package or two of off-brand blades in a store. Well, I bought a Merkur long-handle, and almost immediately thereafter lucked upon an old adjustable Gillette butterfly in excellent condition and modest price.
Just as all this was happening, someone forwarded a picture to my wife of my usually bearded grown son who doesn't get to visit often, and who my wife swears is a carbon-copy of me (bless his soul for living with that gracefully), and he was clean-shaven except for a new handlebar moustache. Of course, she went on for days about how handsome he looked and how he looks just like I did at that age, so ... the moustache grew, and the new razors got some additional exercise on the rest of the whiskers. Unfortunately I did not turn out quite so handsome (were it not for the moustache I'd look like a pink Grinch, especially if I got that head-shaving notion again), but I quickly got addicted to the ritual of shaving again. I dislike a full handlebar as it irritates me by tickling my cheeks, but I did at least start waxing and combing it outward instead of whacking it off at the upper edge of my lip. I've always had "kind" hair ... you know, the kind that grows in little whorls on a dog's rump ... so I suppose the moustache will by necessity be granted quite a bit of self-determination, with the application of some Firehouse wax to round up the strays. Most of them, anyway.
It's a good thing I'm not prosperous enough to become obsessive-compulsive about this. Be right back, gotta check eBay again ...
About ten years ago I started having some severe arthritis problems especially in my hands, and I got jerky; I was about as safe with a straight razor as is a chimpanzee with a running chainsaw; and, I dropped the "family straight razor" on the sink and chipped it beyond repair. After the years since of frustration with disposables, electrics, and an ill-advised brief return to a wider straight razor, about 3 months ago I happened on a thread in a completely unrelated forum regarding double-edged safety razors. I didn't even know they were still made, although I occasionally saw a package or two of off-brand blades in a store. Well, I bought a Merkur long-handle, and almost immediately thereafter lucked upon an old adjustable Gillette butterfly in excellent condition and modest price.
Just as all this was happening, someone forwarded a picture to my wife of my usually bearded grown son who doesn't get to visit often, and who my wife swears is a carbon-copy of me (bless his soul for living with that gracefully), and he was clean-shaven except for a new handlebar moustache. Of course, she went on for days about how handsome he looked and how he looks just like I did at that age, so ... the moustache grew, and the new razors got some additional exercise on the rest of the whiskers. Unfortunately I did not turn out quite so handsome (were it not for the moustache I'd look like a pink Grinch, especially if I got that head-shaving notion again), but I quickly got addicted to the ritual of shaving again. I dislike a full handlebar as it irritates me by tickling my cheeks, but I did at least start waxing and combing it outward instead of whacking it off at the upper edge of my lip. I've always had "kind" hair ... you know, the kind that grows in little whorls on a dog's rump ... so I suppose the moustache will by necessity be granted quite a bit of self-determination, with the application of some Firehouse wax to round up the strays. Most of them, anyway.
It's a good thing I'm not prosperous enough to become obsessive-compulsive about this. Be right back, gotta check eBay again ...
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I have always struggled with irritation from shaving, and as a result, I didn't like to do it very often. About 8 years ago I was in a position where I had to shave every day, and my face suffered greatly. Around that time, I had a roommate who was from Germany. He used a shaving brush and soap, and would tell me that it was much better. I just thought we was strange, and old fashioned.
About a year later, I thought that I had finally found shaving perfection with Nivea sensitive shaving gel, skin products, and a Mach 3. This worked well for the most part, and became my regular shaving regimen for the next five years.
I really like old movies, and I idolized suave gentlemen such as Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart. In their movies, I began to notice how classy they seemed when they would lather up with a nice brush. In my pursuit of "the finer things" of life, I one day stumbled upon the Van Der Hagen brush and soap available at Walmart. At $8.00 for the pair, I figured it was at least worth a try.
I was immediately impressed with the improvement in the shaving experience simply by switching to a brush! I used this setup until I had very nearly used up the entire cake of VDH!
Finally I upgraded to a nice badger hair brush, and a wooden bowl of Kent soap. Again I was impressed with the improvement in the shaving experience by using quality products. At this time I began actively researching "the perfect shave".
I soon realized that DE shaving was where it was at. After a bit of research I knew that the Merkur HD had to be my first razor. Being a poor college student, I was initially turned off by the price of the razor. Fortunately I have a very generous brother who has followed my interest in shaving. For Christmas he gave me my coveted Merkur, and I finally realized what I had been searching for, for all those years.
About a year later, I thought that I had finally found shaving perfection with Nivea sensitive shaving gel, skin products, and a Mach 3. This worked well for the most part, and became my regular shaving regimen for the next five years.
I really like old movies, and I idolized suave gentlemen such as Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart. In their movies, I began to notice how classy they seemed when they would lather up with a nice brush. In my pursuit of "the finer things" of life, I one day stumbled upon the Van Der Hagen brush and soap available at Walmart. At $8.00 for the pair, I figured it was at least worth a try.
I was immediately impressed with the improvement in the shaving experience simply by switching to a brush! I used this setup until I had very nearly used up the entire cake of VDH!
Finally I upgraded to a nice badger hair brush, and a wooden bowl of Kent soap. Again I was impressed with the improvement in the shaving experience by using quality products. At this time I began actively researching "the perfect shave".
I soon realized that DE shaving was where it was at. After a bit of research I knew that the Merkur HD had to be my first razor. Being a poor college student, I was initially turned off by the price of the razor. Fortunately I have a very generous brother who has followed my interest in shaving. For Christmas he gave me my coveted Merkur, and I finally realized what I had been searching for, for all those years.
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- Thread starter
- #67
Wow. Wonderful heartfelt answers, all of you. I thank you for your candor.
I also thank you for sharing your stories, some very personal, of what brought you here to this point and time. I think it is just amazing, all the stories here are so varied, and our paths so diverse, yet all of us have somehow made our way to this place, at this time. Like it or not, we're in this together.
I myself couldn't be more thankful to Badger and Blade and to all of my fellow members for helping me navigate through the twists and turns, the hills and valleys, the tree lined boulevards, and dead end streets, that make up the maze of roads that run through Shavingtown.
I also thank you for sharing your stories, some very personal, of what brought you here to this point and time. I think it is just amazing, all the stories here are so varied, and our paths so diverse, yet all of us have somehow made our way to this place, at this time. Like it or not, we're in this together.
I myself couldn't be more thankful to Badger and Blade and to all of my fellow members for helping me navigate through the twists and turns, the hills and valleys, the tree lined boulevards, and dead end streets, that make up the maze of roads that run through Shavingtown.
I was not absolutely unhappy with my shaves, but something was definitely off. Being an M3 user for almost all of my shaving "career", I went looking for alternatives and tried different systems (WS Quattro disposables, Sensor3, etc.). Some were better, others were more cost effective which prompted me to keep looking.
One day I picked up a cheap Wilkinson Sword brush to use with canned gel. The improvement was not spectacular, but one day I thought: what about buying a tube of Palmolive Classic shaving cream (which I had used some years ago brushless
)?
I liked the results with the brush so much, that I threw the rest of my gel can in the trash. I then bought a tube of Wilkinson Sword shaving cream which was also very good. I caught a bit of pre-B&B SCAD (Portuguese creams are great!), and while looking for information about shaving creams I found this site.
Then I read here about something called the "safety razor", but I said to myself: I'm not going to try that! But after a few weeks, I bought a Wilkinson Sword Classic. Tried it, and while not being an extremely close shave (the WS blades are safe but not very sharp), I liked the results very much. And the rest is history...
Besides the fact that it was all your "fault" that I got started using a DE, the funny thing is that it all happened thanks to Wilkinson Sword
. While I have stopped buying carts and disposables on a regular basis, I absolutely recommend WS products for the cost-effective traditional wet shave (mostly the creams and brush), and think it is great that they still invest in this market segment.
One day I picked up a cheap Wilkinson Sword brush to use with canned gel. The improvement was not spectacular, but one day I thought: what about buying a tube of Palmolive Classic shaving cream (which I had used some years ago brushless
)?I liked the results with the brush so much, that I threw the rest of my gel can in the trash. I then bought a tube of Wilkinson Sword shaving cream which was also very good. I caught a bit of pre-B&B SCAD (Portuguese creams are great!), and while looking for information about shaving creams I found this site.
Then I read here about something called the "safety razor", but I said to myself: I'm not going to try that! But after a few weeks, I bought a Wilkinson Sword Classic. Tried it, and while not being an extremely close shave (the WS blades are safe but not very sharp), I liked the results very much. And the rest is history...
Besides the fact that it was all your "fault" that I got started using a DE, the funny thing is that it all happened thanks to Wilkinson Sword
. While I have stopped buying carts and disposables on a regular basis, I absolutely recommend WS products for the cost-effective traditional wet shave (mostly the creams and brush), and think it is great that they still invest in this market segment.
I started on my Dad's DE in the late 70's, then followed the masses over to the "improved" Atra's, Trac II's, etc. After years of ingrowns, razor rash, and just generally uncomfortable shaves, I found this site and swtiched back.
I bought generic Atra's for years, due to the cost of the brand-name cartridges. (Now I spend much more than that on creams, soaps, brushes) I figured if I'm going to have to do this the rest of my life, I may as well enjoy it. Funny thing is, without this site I would never have known that anything other than the canned goo and $$$ cartridges at the corner grocery was available anywhere else!
I bought generic Atra's for years, due to the cost of the brand-name cartridges. (Now I spend much more than that on creams, soaps, brushes
) I figured if I'm going to have to do this the rest of my life, I may as well enjoy it. Funny thing is, without this site I would never have known that anything other than the canned goo and $$$ cartridges at the corner grocery was available anywhere else! 
Thank you gents for a very nice reading on this thread and allow me to add my story. I was shaving with M3 since my 15 or so and ocassionaly with electric shaver and was quite unhappy with results - never smooth, always irritated with nicks and cuts. And I didn't like prices of cartridges too. Last spring I decided to do something with it - I thoought it will be high-end electric or a Fusion. So I found some reviews on both of them and both were not very good. So I searched and found something about DE and finally bought pastic Wilkie. Shaves were nicer, but still with a canned goo. Then in the summer I bought AOS travel pack and then found my fathers Rocket and B&B and the rest is... history. I'm really enjoying time spent with you, guys. Thank you.
I've been wet shaving for about ten years, and always with disposable Gillette blades, usually cheap stuff, $5 6-packs of the aloe-tipped 3 blade crap, and the $9 Sensors, and honestly even after all this time I have no idea why I never just sprang for a real DE razor with an actual razor blade that could cut through face hair like butter. I think it was just a gradual disgust that built up year after year . . . looking at my massacred face after shaving, loaded with ingrown hairs, bumps, red, irritated patches. About a month ago, I was shaving with a brand-new Sensor, right out of the package, and the result was the same, as if the blade were three months old. I'm a very non-aggressive, ginger shaver, and I always soften the follicles and even sterilize new blades with boiling water. So there was no explanation for this, except that the tool I was using was total crap. So I got out of there, man. I found a place that still sells DEs at reasonable prices, and never looked back. I'm not sold on shaving soap, brushes, straight razors, or any of that stuff. still use canned cream and skip the witch hazel treatment. but having used a DE razor for a few weeks now I can say with confidence that my face is thanking me for it.
To be honest, it was the idea of switching to a straight razor that brought me to badger and blade. What I learned here convinced me that starting with DE's was a good and relatively easy foray into wet-shaving. Now I'm so in love with DE's I'm collecting them.
I'm OCD, and was in the market for a new obsession.
Lots of ingrown hairs, irritation and spots were what made me switch to DE and am glad i did these problems are a thing of the past or are less of a problem for me than when i was using cartridges.
I was tired of the constant breakouts along with the irritation on my neck and in my wallet from the disposable multi-blade cartridges. Never again! 
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