i have, and many of you have probably noticed that DE shaving is becoming very popular again with all generations young and old... many people my age that i have met at uni seem to be all doing it, shops seem to be stocking more and more traditional creams, fragrances, shaving stuff etc... for people my age it seems to be becoming a fashion statement... whats your opinion on the rise of DE and traditional shaving? for me, i think people are just getting fed up with a lot of stuff in the modern world and are looking to the past as a form of escapism maybe. i for one, wish i was born in my grandparents era; better morals, family values and an innocent way of life, not all this smartphone, facetube, tweeter, IPac, 3D, 5 blade vibrating lubrastrip bollocks...
do you think to growing popularity of DE shaving is a bad thing?
- Thread starter KMan
- Start date
If it brings some of the better shaving items into the main stream stores then it is a great thing indeed
I have had many conversations with genetleman about wet shaving...DE/SE/Straight razors etc...what their "grandfathers" used...they all shrug their shoulders in confusion..older gentleman to be more specific which suprised me the most
A resurgence of traditional wet shaving can only ensure that it will stick around. I'm not sure about the extent of the comeback. I'd wager that we barely register a blip in the US market. I'm happy to see solid online vendors and a international market to shop in but a won't consider our niche a true renaissance until respectable wet shaving supplies hit the mainstream stores. Sure VDH sells a kit here and there, but I am not exactly seeing people in line at a register with a puck of soap. I'm speaking only for my area in the US of course. IMO, if it wasn't for a congregation of wierdos that talk about shaving stuff online, we'd have a fraction of what is currently available in the brick and mortar stores.
KMan, I agree with you, I feel like I’m an old soul stumbling through a modern world sometimes. Back when Men were Men, kids listened to all adults and manners were had by all.
I agree that some folks are yearning for the stability of the old ways. I fear that some are doing it for the fake nostalgia. To Turtles credit however it brings our way of being men and women back into fashion and allows for better access to more and better shaving gear so be it.
I agree that some folks are yearning for the stability of the old ways. I fear that some are doing it for the fake nostalgia. To Turtles credit however it brings our way of being men and women back into fashion and allows for better access to more and better shaving gear so be it.
i say whatever works for you, for me is has turned a rather dull thing into something fun- i truly dont buy the saving money thing, because there is no way one is saving money unless they were using those expensive 3 and four bladed rip offs and quit, then when you get into the wet shaving world one experiments and samples thing, and ends up with more than they ever needed-i have sold most of the excess i bought , but still remain with plenty of soap and razor blades for years to come----18 years ago i started using a boar brush and C&E soap and schick 3 disposables was the norm for many years------i did not save on anything
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Its good in terms of if it gets popular enough then hopefully more products will be available in stores. The bad things I can see are 1, might end up harder to find decent items in the wild and 2, if they ever bring it fully back I bet they market it for the 20 year olds (me included 
) and it will just become the next hip thing and we will be seen as followers even though weve been at it for a while.
) and it will just become the next hip thing and we will be seen as followers even though weve been at it for a while.
You can rest easy knowing the big box chain stores and drug stores will never carry the better line up of wet shaving goods, as the makers of these fine products wouldn't be able to produce the numbers these mega marts require to do business with them. I don't see Mom and Pop brick and mortar stores popping up either as start up costs and over head costs would be too great. It'll continue to be an internet niche with more and more people joining the party.
I think it's great because:
1. In the last five years since I started, I have noticed a much faster pace of innovation in the field of soaps, creams and aftershaves. They just keep getting better and better. New artisans, each one better than the last (Mikes, Panna Crema, Razorock), and new lines of products available from venerable old brands (TOBS coconut, grapefruit, Dr. Harris Windsor, etc.).
2. The value of your "antique" DE collection will only appreciate that much faster. Prices on Ebay are already beginning to shoot up.
3. If you want to start an antique DE collection, better jump on it while the getting is good!
1. In the last five years since I started, I have noticed a much faster pace of innovation in the field of soaps, creams and aftershaves. They just keep getting better and better. New artisans, each one better than the last (Mikes, Panna Crema, Razorock), and new lines of products available from venerable old brands (TOBS coconut, grapefruit, Dr. Harris Windsor, etc.).
2. The value of your "antique" DE collection will only appreciate that much faster. Prices on Ebay are already beginning to shoot up.
3. If you want to start an antique DE collection, better jump on it while the getting is good!
It's good because of the renewed demand for and variety of great products and for the camaraderie in the forums.
It's not so good for how the hardware prices are driven by the same demand. I'm glad I got in when I did and have about all the vintage razors I was looking for.
It's not so good for how the hardware prices are driven by the same demand. I'm glad I got in when I did and have about all the vintage razors I was looking for.
Bad for new collectors, good for old collectors, good for availability of products, great for new razors coming out.
I think it's great. I personally don't give a hoot about the "big" store.I buy from the artisans that make product with passion and care.Maybe even some new shavers at a marketable price that reflect the quality that makes vintage so sought after will come of it. The impact is great. Just look at the plethora of affordable brushes, soaps, edts', etc. Not from big box joints but from places we know the vendors here and the artisans that lit my fire about shaving.No P&G has shown what happens when the bean counters move in. I welcome all that come over to wet shaving because it has made it a better experience for us all. Anyway , enjoy your shaving!
I think it is a good thing for small business and artisans. Gillette and Schick won't allow the big retailers to stock much wet shaving supplies and the stores will listen as they get paid the big bucks (contracts)by these companies. It won't ever be back to the way it was when wet shaving was the way unfortunately.
I use various metaphors to describe the return to traditional wet shaving. One of my favorites is reclaiming the means of shaving production. Liberating ourselves from someone else's corporate shaving machine/industry/marketplace, from shaving blade slavery, by re-learning our bodies, our beards, and how we ourselves can manage them. For me it's about realizing I can learn old, even ancient techniques of caring for myself, my body, my skin. These skills enable me to choose from a large and growing variety of products, or even no products. I am now learning to shave with the absolute minimum of products. The products I now user are far healthier for me and the environment and probably the economy than those produced by mammoth corporations, whose interests are to addict more of us to their products, who rely on a ever more synthetic chemistry experiment of chemicals which are never fully tested enough to fully understand their impact until illness forces us to wake up, unfortunately often when it's too late. I can shave with natural oils, soaps and creams made so simply and naturally I could eat their ingredients (one of my growing mottos: don't put it on you if you wouldn't put it in you). DE blades have a far smaller carbon and environmental impact than industrial cartridge shaving, and, while I now can choose from a variety of DE shaving blades from smaller companies, I look forward to learning straight edge shaving, and will depend on even fewer external sources for my shaves. Not that I won't support my favorite vendors, but I won't be dependent on them, nor anyone for my shaving. I increasingly have the skills to manage my skin, my beard, my shave more healthily, more economically, with more awareness, to suit my needs, circumstances, and interests. I can now explore and share a more human shaving culture, community, and economy of like minded people. I can help liberate others from similar forms of ignorance and shaving slavery.
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I think that it is great. I wish it was more popular sooner so I could have not wasted so much time shaving with the crap out there in most stores now. The more popular it gets the more products will be available whether it be through artisans, small businesses or online. Either way wet shavers will benefit.
The upside of the growing popularity is that the companies currently manufacturing and supplying quality products and service will stay strong and funded to keep those products and services available. The downside is that you'll get more companies and suppliers of questionable motive and integrity trying to make a quick buck and turning off new wet shavers with inferior products and poor service. Not to mention that supply and demand often drives up the prices as most of us have seen with vintage razor prices on eBay.
+1, there would probably still be a ton of razors sitting it drawers, attics, landfills if not for us.
Do any of you think it will grow to a point for Gillette to release a line of DE razors? Or would that be like admitting that the world doesn't really need 5 blade contraptions.
My personal opinion is that the Gillette brand name won't revert to DE razor, especially in the U.S. market. But if the market grows enough I could see their parent company P&G doing something under a different name, perhaps the Art Of Shaving brand. I think that's still a long way off though.
It'd be quite a contradiction for Gillette to release DE razors while they've promoted so much their 5-blade "marvel"!
Am I the only one selfish in here, that wants to keep wet shaving to myself? It's my guilty and secret pleasure, and I do not talk to people around me about it. I only talk shaving with one of my close friends who got me into wet shaving, and also here on B&B.
It's like niche fragrances : it's not "niche" anymore if it goes mainstream!
Am I the only one selfish in here, that wants to keep wet shaving to myself? It's my guilty and secret pleasure, and I do not talk to people around me about it. I only talk shaving with one of my close friends who got me into wet shaving, and also here on B&B.
It's like niche fragrances : it's not "niche" anymore if it goes mainstream!
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