So if you could go back to the future, or back in time, not sure which matters because there are clearly conflicting time travel rules between Marvel and MJ Fox... If you could go back in time, when you started wet shaving, what would you tell your "old Self" to prepare for the future? For me it would probably be, "Dude, just buy a SOC Mistura . Yeah, I know it's 60 bucks and that sounds like alot, but you will avoid spending a thousand or more trying Simpsons, Vulfix, Plisson, Rooney, and any of the others. Like, seriously, 15 years into the game, and dispensing with any and all pretense, the one thing I could confidently tell someone is to buy a Semogue with a Mistura knot, and don't look back. Blades, soaps, razors those can all be toyed with . The Mistura is actually a one and done purchase. Oh, and so is a fat handled tech with the triangle slots.
Back to the Future
- Thread starter Kendoll
- Start date
Ditch the creams, you’re going to like hard soaps, really like hard soaps. Oh, and lay off the candy bars…pretty please.
I'd tell my old self that the Super Speed I started using in the mid-60's and a can of Barbasol did a fine job and don't become an idiot collector of razors, brushes, soaps, creams, etc.
rbscebu
Girls call me Makaluod
Back in time when I started wet shaving? That would have been when I was in my teens. Knowing what I know now, I would have told myself to forget about how your father shaved and just start shaving with a straight razor like your grandfather did all his life.
I would tell my younger self, ‘Don’t bother with those carts, stick with that nice old Slim!’
Unfortunately, I doubt that I would have listened.
Unfortunately, I doubt that I would have listened.
Start earlier with a straight.
Mid 80's : "be very insistent about a straight. You've got all the stones, find out who's selling strops and razors. It's going to be a few years before you find a brush, soap and DE in a store. Get rid of the smokes, don't get into welding..."
Buy Berkshire Hathaway stock.
Seriously, I wouldn’t change anything. It would be easy to say that I should just buy my Ti and SS Blackbirds and not look back. But that wouldn’t be fair. I credit my New SC with allowing me to learn a light touch. Perhaps the Blackbirds without the learned light touch would have been unacceptable and not my favorite razors.
Seriously, I wouldn’t change anything. It would be easy to say that I should just buy my Ti and SS Blackbirds and not look back. But that wouldn’t be fair. I credit my New SC with allowing me to learn a light touch. Perhaps the Blackbirds without the learned light touch would have been unacceptable and not my favorite razors.
Realistically, I couldn't have afforded straight razor shaving back then 
My advice to my middle aged self would be: google "wet shaving". I used the same brush, razor and DE blades for nearly two decades because I had no idea there were other choices. In some ways, ignorance may not have been bliss, but it was a lot cheaper!
My advice to my middle aged self would be: google "wet shaving". I used the same brush, razor and DE blades for nearly two decades because I had no idea there were other choices. In some ways, ignorance may not have been bliss, but it was a lot cheaper!
- Thread starter
- #10
I would tell myself to not buy cheap...
Save your money buying cheap brushes and cheap soaps. Instead buy really nice stuff. It's just more worth it in the long run. The day to day experience is better and much more enjoyable.
When it comes to razors, brushes and soaps, get something really good to begin with. Don't waste time on weak stuff. If you have to save up for something experience, just do it! Buying cheap is just taking funds away from the really nice version.
This is the advice I'd give.
Save your money buying cheap brushes and cheap soaps. Instead buy really nice stuff. It's just more worth it in the long run. The day to day experience is better and much more enjoyable.
When it comes to razors, brushes and soaps, get something really good to begin with. Don't waste time on weak stuff. If you have to save up for something experience, just do it! Buying cheap is just taking funds away from the really nice version.
This is the advice I'd give.
When I started shaving (mid-90s), DE razors were nowhere to be found. I'm not even sure if soaps and brushes could be found in my local stores at that time. As such, I don't think I'd be able to tell myself to try wet shaving with a DE.
Instead, I'd tell myself not to be a complete moron who ends up breaking up with his girlfriend for stupid reasons. But knowing me, 90s me would probably just tell time-traveling me to pound sand. No one could tell me anything back then.
But if I set the time machine to when I started wet shaving, I'm not sure I'd really advise myself to do anything differently. Maybe I'd recommend against buying that case of Arko or I'd recommend using the Fatip Grande earlier, but that's about it. Overall, I've enjoyed my wet shaving journey. To paraphrase Emerson, it's the journey, not the destination.
Instead, I'd tell myself not to be a complete moron who ends up breaking up with his girlfriend for stupid reasons. But knowing me, 90s me would probably just tell time-traveling me to pound sand. No one could tell me anything back then.
But if I set the time machine to when I started wet shaving, I'm not sure I'd really advise myself to do anything differently. Maybe I'd recommend against buying that case of Arko or I'd recommend using the Fatip Grande earlier, but that's about it. Overall, I've enjoyed my wet shaving journey. To paraphrase Emerson, it's the journey, not the destination.
EclipseRedRing
I smell like a Christmas pudding
I would advise myself to ask my Father to teach me how to shave while I still have the chance, and then to keep his razor, brush, soap, and aftershave when that chance had gone for ever. I would say - put that drink down, stop drinking, and never look back. My life would be very different if I had done that; I try not to think about it because it does me no good at all 
Several years ago, I mentioned that to my father that he never taught me how to shave. His response was that no one had ever taught him how to shave.
I could not have asked for a better father and miss him greatly, but things were different. As little boys we just watched our father’s shave and then “borrowed “ a razor when it was time to shave. That was also from a time when men would have little pieces of toilet paper stuck to their face to stop the bleeding from the nicks. Maybe he just never really knew good technique and that is why carts and electrics became so popular.
As to fathers teaching sons how to shave, my boys saw me shaving with both a blade and an electric as I was afar busier then than now. They were with my regarding brushing on lather but panicked at the idea of putting a razor blade to their faces. They'd shave off their lather with an empty razor but when they both started shaving and suggested now was the time to get their own razor, brush, and the rest of the gear, both wanted electrics like Dad's Norelco. Been almost 10 years since they started shaving and both still exclusively shave with electrics. They were both raised in the country but are very much city (albeit small city) boys. I suspect when I'm gone some fellas are going to have a pretty good day at the thrift store!
I would tell my 1971 self to buy 200 Gillette Super Adjustable Razors for around $300 to $350. I would tell him that when he retires, those razors in NOS pristine condition will be worth around $30000. An easy drug store products investment that is easy money, since the inflation calculator values them at around $2050 in 2022. Of course, the same $300 would be worth around $15000 today, if invested in the S&P. Gillette Super Adjustable Razors beats both inflation and the stock market! My 1971 self would be so excited, I would start shaving with a Gillette DE Razor and dreaming about all of my future profits.
