Follow-Up for "Newbies": What Motivated You To Pursue Traditional Wetshaving?

[mantic]

Gents--

This is a follow-up to this thread. So what got you interested in pursuing traditional wetshaving in the first place? I am particularly interested in the answers from "newbies"--those who have been here less than around six months or so. Poll will run for 30 days. Thanks!

--Mark

 

[Pilfer]

My reasons for going to traditional wetshaving were twofold.
Electric shavers don't give a close shave.
The ridiculously high price of shaver cartridges.
Since then I have found I get far better shaves than I've ever had in my life.

 

[Gaelicboy]

I had shaved with a Trak II (2) since 1993, and was sick of the "adequate" shaves. I stumbled upon this, and the SMF websites, and plunged into DE shaves. Remember, I was technically a "wetshaver", but not a DE shaver.

I am now a proud Papa to a Merkur HD, multiple shavecreams, various blades (Merkur, Personna, Feather), and am happy.

That is all that matters.

Good Day.

 

[rschumacher1]

I read Corey's article and I've always liked doing something different, so I bought a bunch of razors of eBay, and then waited like a year to actually start (what was wrong with me!). But, here I am now, actually doing it. So I guess it would be wanting to try something different, that has turned into a passion for me.



-Randy S

 

[NMMB]

I wasn't particularly frustrated with the "blade war" in the sense you describe, as I truly didn't care how many blades were in the cartridge. What I found (and still find) to be particularly irksome is that the price of cartridges has a strong positive correlation with the number of blades contained within it while the quality of the shave appears to exhibit little-to-no (perhaps even negative) correlation to the number of blades in the cartridge. Why then do they continue with this futile battle to see who can pack the highest number of ineffective blades into a single overpriced cartridge?

The above relationship between the so-called "blade wars" and the price of cartridges, combined with my desire for both (i) a better shave and (ii) to experience a little luxury that might transform one of my most hated rituals into something thoroughly enjoyable, has motivated my still-in-progress-transition (I’ll admit that I continue to use my M3 as I wait to get my Merkur HD) from disgruntled foam & cartridge shaver to wetshaving aficionado.

 

[Scootch]

It was the cost of cartridges that got me thinking about alternatives. I spent hundreds of dollars a year on cartridges. One day, lamenting this fact with the inlaws my sister-in-law (a trained barber, though she works in an auto factory) suggested straight razors. After mulling it over for a while (a couple years, really) I decided to give it a go. I'm quite pleased that I made the switch.

 

[Ka-Bar]

I started off shaving in my teenage years with the Bic disposable razors and either a can of Barbasol or the Old Spice shaving mug that my father handed down to me. Not being given much instruction beyond "Lather goes here, and you scrape your face", I usually gave myself a nasty case of razor burn along with an assortment of nicks. Needless to say I soon moved to an electric razor which gave me an inferior shave, but saved my neck from looking like a warzone.

I proceeded to use the electric for 20+ years until my mother recently gave me a bag of stuff from my deceased father's possessions. His Old Spice shaving mug was included there, and it brought back a flood of memories. While I'd never thought much about getting a poor shave from the electrics, I was getting fed up with the cost of replacement blades, and decided to go back to the Gillettes. I bought a Mach 3 and proceeded to get a closer shave, albeit with a a lot of skin irritation.

The final step was my trying to figure out where to buy shaving soap, since the drug stores near me don't stock it anymore... Google led me to classicshaving.com, and from there I found B&B, SMF, and other sites.

I'm now the proud owner of a Vulfix 850 brush, a Merkur HD & Gillette Fatboy adjustable, and several shaving soaps & creams. I still have some skin irritation on the neck, but that's due to my still learning the proper technique. I'm hooked on DEs, and plan on getting my young son set up properly when he comes of age to be shaving himself.

 

[Plantangent]

I remembered shaving with a DE during the early 80's so decided to try again, now I'm hooked on a slant blade and english cream!

 

[vontech]

Yet another OBSESSION to pursue!