Art of Shaving, your thoughts?

[Jason smooth]

Going through the forums there does not appear to be a lot of love for their products. Over priced, and rebadging some items under their own name with a higher price.

i have found some positive things though about the store.

1. By being able to go to to the store, you can try out the straight and safety razors. See which ones look and feel comfortable in your hand. Much better than guessing on line if something is good for you.
2. Their Sandlewood cream has a great scent and to me it has the best scent compared to other sandlewood creams I have tried. I also like the texture of the cream and the Italian black jar which looks elegant.
3. I bought a $100 badger and after one or two tries,....not liking it, they accepted it back and allowed me to replace it and just pay the difference to buy their silver tip badger. I have had it for over 6 years and it is still going strong. I know the hairs are glued to the handle and not knotted but I have had no problems with it.
4. Their new ocean scent cream is very nice as well. Again without being able to go to a store in your area, you would never know how it is.

You have to remember they have to pay for store rent which the on line guys don't to pay. I personally don't mind paying a little more for their product to support them. Granted if you can buy the same product on line cheaper, that is the way to go, but I do like their products. Since they don't carry Feather blades which i love, I buy them on line. It is true though that other products are super expensive compared to the same or similar products on line.

 

[chgruver]

I am not sure about some of the arguments, have never been in one of their stores or purchased any of their stuff. I am not a fan of their sandalwood, had a jar that was part of a PIF and did a test lather and that is as far as it will be used by me. I know there is a store relatively close and your advantages about being able to go and check out the razors before buying is an advantage, I wish there were more stores like that (even thought/dream of opening my own but wouldn't know where to start).

 

[Joe_Karp]

We have a local AOS store. While their prices are on the high side, and this does have to do with rents and salaries (if not commissions), I still am happy there's a Brick 'N Mortar store that I can go to in person. Ours has an excellent selection and was where I tried my first Progress which changed the way I shave, (prior to that I was using a Sensor Excel.) I now own a selection of Merkurs and compliment the routine with one of their fine badger brushes. Sandalwood shave cream is great stuff, I tried a small container ($$) but didn't buy another finding soaps and creams online much cheaper. I don't care for their Merkur blades, mine are IP Reds, but again since my wife shops in the same area I like to go over and see what's new...they know me by name and in this Internet world without human contact that Is a draw.

 

[JazzyJ]

I didn't go into an AoS until after I had started with a DE. I had heard horror stories about uninformed salesmen with 3 days growth trying to hock expensive fusion handles, but the guys in the store I went to were both clean shaven, well dressed, and each personally used DE's and straights. Talked with them a bit and it seemed like they knew their stuff.

I want to like the place because you're right, there aren't many other brick and mortar places to check stuff out, but stuff like their custom fusion handles, or the handle with the flashlight built in, or especially the vibrating powered badger brush just turns me off from the place. I used the unscented cream sample they gave me and it was nice, but not nice enough to justify the price IMO.

 

[Jerry-built Hustler]

Going through the forums there does not appear to be a lot of love for their products. Over priced, and rebadging some items under their own name with a higher price.

There are actually quite a few people here who like their products. The sandalwood cream, in particular, and all of the shaving soaps in general are regularly mentioned as favorites. The soaps are in question now, as they are now made by P&G instead of Valobra, and are now veggie based instead of tallow, but early reviews have been positive. They overcharge for their non-branded products, like Merkur razors. I know they have B&M overhead, but until recently, their shops were limited to select locations in the country, so the ability to see the products in person was of no benefit to most of us; and they charge the same inflated price even if you buy online. Now, with more locations opening up, that's changing a bit. If I were new to DE shaving, I could see the benefit of being able to check out some products I otherwise would have to guess at online. Truth be told, though, most of what I'm interested in these days is stuff they don't carry, so AOS isn't on my radar much anymore. I haven't even visited the shop that recently opened in my area.

 

[f86sabjf]

I don't hate them but having used them for about 9yrs straight with my mach3 before going to DE I can say I feel there quality has slipped a bit. They need to up there quality imho because there is a lot of competition at half the price that's just as good .

 

[Lakebound]

You could do much better than AoS in my opinion.

Frank

 

[sarimento1]

as a wet shave community, the AOS presence is a positive, IMO. Their products are overall excellent quality.
certainly, not all the greatest, but certainly, no slouches. their sandalwood eo items are magnificent.
their new ocean kelp line is unique and invigorating.
ok, they ditched valobra, which is a shame.
and they do only half-hearted promotion of their DE line.
and their straight edge razors are pitiful re-brands.
and they try to maintain presence for Fusion cartridges.
but, net, net, who else provides the same level of retail presence in the US?
Nobody.
Just my 2 cents.

 

[santamariasteve]

Where are they located?

 

[Jerry-built Hustler]

Where are they located?

http://retail.theartofshaving.com/retail/locations

 

[santamariasteve]

http://retail.theartofshaving.com/retail/locations

Wow! I had no idea. I need to check them out. We need to spend some money and patronize such stores, unless . . . unless we want them to become extinct.

 

[Jerry-built Hustler]

I was just reading a description of their Royal Shave on their website, and noticed this: "Our skilled Master Barbers use a traditional Straight Razor with precision and mastery...." [Emphasis added.] Really? I was under the impression most barbers use disposable straights now.

 

[Jerry-built Hustler]

Wow! I had no idea. I need to check them out. We need to spend some money and patronize such stores, unless . . . unless we want them to become extinct.

I don't want them to become extinct, but if they aren't selling stuff I'm interested in buying, why would I shop there?

 

[mhdena]

Going through the forums there does not appear to be a lot of love for their products.[/QUOTE}

Not true at all, a lot of love for the soaps. Creams too.

All of the moaning and complaining was about the MSRP, but on the sales of 30% to 40% they run, savvy smart shoppers shopped.

The complainers always seemed to miss the (sale) boat.

You know now that I think about it the complainers in life seem to be professional "Boat Missers" as they're pretty good at it.

And then they complain some more

 

[Shutterbug57]

I purchased a kit from AoS when I started back into traditional shaving - coming from carts & goo. I got:

1. Sandalwood ASB - this stuff is great and lasts a very long time. At $40 for the bottle, if purchased alone, it is a decent value which I may or may not buy again.

2. Sandalwood Cream - I got 60 shaves from the tub. If I had measured more carefully, I could have probably gotten 75 shaves. I found it to be an OK cream that gave OK shaves, but I prefer soaps and find that Mike's, in particular, gives a much better shave than the AoS cream. I feel that at $25 per tub you can do better on the value scale.

3. AoS Fine Badger Brush - Great for creams, but way too floppy for a soap user. I have replaced this brush with a 2 band badger brush that has far more backbone and the same nice face feel. For the $110 price you can do way, way better. You can do much better for less money. Value - not so much.

4. AoS Sandalwood Oil - this oil had the consistency of slightly warm tar. It was not a joy to use and I got rid of it to a B&B member who likes it. This is clearly a YMMV thing, but I would not give you $0.01 for a bottle of this stuff. I have found Taconic pre shave oil much more to my liking.

The staff in the store the time I was in there was professional and friendly. She was pretty knowledgeable and did not push me toward the Fusion stuff once I told her I was interested in DEs. I did not buy my DE from her as she was both out of stock on the one I wanted and fairly overpriced on it had it been in stock.

Overall, my impression of the AoS experience was that it was overpriced for what you get. The quality of the product is OK and, while I may not like some of it, that did not mean it was a bad product. If they reduce the prices, I am not sure they could afford the rent in the malls they choose to rent from. My take on it is that with small businesses like Mike's, QCS and others that are making superior products at a fraction of the price, I really don't care how long P&G pumps money into the AoS brand. Their stores are fun to look at if the wife has managed to drag me to the mall, but, with the possible exception of the ASB, there is nothing there I want so badly as to pay their price. If their ASB fell off the edge of the world, I could easily deal with it.

 

[Nadir M]

I don't want them to become extinct, but if they aren't selling stuff I'm interested in buying, why would I shop there?

+1

 

[Macbreezy]

I am a fan of their sandalwood scent but the thing that bothers me is their brushes are over priced for what they are. It also doesn't sit well with me that I can get a Merkur 34C at WCS for $43 and some change while AOS sells the very same razor for $60. Their razor stands and sets are also priced pretty high and $30 for their cream is a little high as well when there are so many other great creams available at a much lower price . I do like their store front and the "feel" of the store. I understand the over head they have so they need to make up for it somewhere. Also I would never have known what a DE razor was if not for wandering into an AOS store one day at the mall. It's got some positive and negative to it but I can appreciate them turning people away from the dark side of canned goo and carts.

 

[oldtrout]

I like their creams and their "tallow-first" soap that was made by Valobra is my favorite.

Their prices are higher than most.