For those who started wet shaving from teenager, what did you use to begin with?

[Toddy]

When I started wet shaving (age 15), it was because Grandma commented my whiskers needed taking off, rummaged around in a cupboard and presented me with my late Grandad's shaving kit - Yardley soap in bowl (wish I kept the bowl - it was a kind of wooden pot made from thin pieces of beech which were formed and wrapped around each other, like the Neals Yard one of today), Rocket DE, a handful of Gillette blades and a Simpson badger brush. The brush had lost a lot of bristles and eventually I gave up on it and threw it out (didn't know you could get them restored then) and was given a large badger brush for Christmas when I was about 20. I still have it -it is unbranded but I'm pretty sure it is a Cyril Salter as the handle looks the same. I still use the Rocket almost daily and have had it replated recently.

Grandad (mum's dad) originally started with a straight razor and mum has it somewhere along with the strop. Will have to search for it one day. He was a straight talking Yorkshireman, slimly built, had fair fine blond hair so never suffered from 6 o'clock shadow, and they say he is the family member I most closely resemble.

After the Yardley ran out, for the next few years I used Cussons Imperial Leather, then Cussons Graphite sticks, Erasmic sticks and Culmak bowls. Culmak changed the formulation and the new version made my face dry. I received a Trumper soap and bowl from a relative as a present when I was about 18 and pretty much stuck to Trumper since then. Tried Taylor soap and decided I didn't like it. Through my 20s I didn't use much other than Trumper, with the occasional erasmic stick

 

[eizan70]

My first wet shave wasn't quite as elegant or dramatic. My father bought a pack of disposable bic razors and a styptic pencil. I asked if I could get some shaving cream (he was using an electric at the time), the answer was no, there was nothing wrong with the bar of ivory at the sink. No brush, just lathered up the soap on my face with my hands, and went to work. There were no instructions other than "shave downward (N>S)". Of course I had no idea that my neck was growing south to north. Thank God he bought me a styptic. I hated shaving for 20+ years until I discovered there was a right way to do this that is quite enjoyable.

 

[Gam]

I started in 1963 with my father's Fatboy (195) I think they called it then.He didn't really like the Fatboy much, which was how I ended up with it.He used what I think now was either a Superspeed or a Tech that he got in the army air force while stationed in England.He did like the Slim adjustable and started using that.I wish I still had these razors,I know there had to be a se because I remember the packs of Gem Blades in the medicine cabinet,but I guess I was too young at the time to remember the razor.

Anyways I was 12 years old at the time,I didn't need everyday shaves,I think every 3 or 4 days.We were using canned goop at the time,I seem to remember using Gillette Blue Blades,and English Leather,lime and regular,Old Spice too.

 

[Toddy]

Tried canned foam when I was about 16 and it brought my face out in a rash so never used anything other than soap for many years.

The blades I used were the then ubiquitous Gillette Super Silver and Wilkinson Sword, which were originally very good blades. The Wilkinsons changed and weren't as good but a visit to a French Cash & Carry in Paris and I ended up with a pack of 10 boxes of 100 Gillette Bleues, of which I still have 3 boxes unused.

Dad used an electric but again when I tried it, it brought me out in spots. As dad used electric and grandad was deceased, I was largely self taught.

 

[BallisticBurrito]

Mach 3 was how I shaved.
I tried electric shaving for a short period of time..didn't work out well. Happily went back to the Mach 3 after that.

I was also self taught on how to shave. It helped that the Mach 3 was nigh idiotproof.

 

[Toddy]

Being typical Yorkshire folk, it would have seemed frivolous to go out and buy more shaving gear when there was perfectly serviceable stuff my grandma had saved for me. We had just come out of the hard times of the late 1970s, strikes and fuel shortages. Those were the days. We never used to waste anything. Grandma and grandad would be turning in their graves if they saw what people discarded these days. If people took more of a leaf out of their books we would all be a lot better off today, and so would the environment.

 

[bald1]

Schick injector. "drugstore" brush and Old Spice puck.... this back in the late '50s.

 

[The Kiwi]

Bar soap, whatever was on the wash basin, and a Gem SE, mostly, although I had my choice of three heirloom DE razors. I was not quite 14 yet, and it was only a mustache and straggly sideburns, both pale blond peach fuzz at first. I could get by with once a week to start with, the color being so light, and the fuzz being so soft . .

 

[nemo]

A Schick Krona I bought in 1970, Schick blades, some brushless cream or canned foam. I never changed blades soon enough, lots of tugging and nicks. I hated shaving then. If I was out of blades I'd use my dad's injector.

 

[The Nid Hog]

I think I started with my dad's extra Superspeed and a can of Barbisol. We switched to Atra razors when my dad picked a couple up somewhere. When I got to college, I got a free can of Edge in one of those welcome kits and I stuck with that or Gillette cream for a many years. To be honest, I don't have any complaints about multi-blade razors and shaving cream (apart from the price of blades). Just like DEs, brushes, and soap/cream more.

 

[Absolute Mustard]

Mach 3 with Edge Sensitive Gel

 

[ackvil]

My first shave was with equipment my father had. The razor was a Gillette - a tech I believe. The brush was a no name brush. It had a plain wooden handle and I have no idea whether is was boar, badger, or a combination of the two. The mug was similar to a coffee mug today. It was on the small side. The razor was Gillette blue blades. And the soap consisted of soap crystals that came from a special container. I poured about a table spoon size of the crystals into the mug and I mixed it with with hot water. It produced great lather and when my father's mass supply ran out (which my grandfather supplied), I could not find the equivalent in any store. Eventually, I started using Noxema shaving cream in a tube and another brand whose name I don't recall (the tube was black and gold).

I was 15 years old and my father told me how to load the razor and how I should make lather. To say I was nervous would be an understatement. I poured in some of the soap crystals, added hot water, and rotated the brush for what seemed like a half hour. The soap rose and looked like whipped cream. I had washed my face before making the lather. I wet my face, applied the lather, and shaved. The hair on my face was soft - not like the wire I have today. In one pass the shave was complete. Not a nick, cut, or bruise. I washed the remainder lather off my face, applied WH, and was initiated into the shaving society.

In a few months the soft hair on my face turned to bristle and my battle with the DE really began. For some time I would join my father for breakfast with toilet paper on our faces where we nicked ourselves while shaving.

 

[kosby]

Schick Kronas, Gillettes, Old Spice mug and whatever soap was sold in the shaving aisle. Barbasol was the preferred canned shaving cream.

 

[Omp]

Mine was a Bic disposable and some Palmolive shave cream. I just smeared the Palmolive on my face as I had no idea about lathering.

 

[brianw]

Straight, Boar brush, Old Spice or Williams soap.

 

[Unkas]

Being a younger generation of shaver I started out with a Mach 3 and canned gillette stuff. Made the switch to DE when I got incredibly tired of all the razor rash I was getting and never looked back! Got an electric shaver for my birthday a few years ago but I never liked it that much as it left me stubbly after the shave no matter how thorough I was!

 

[dieselfuel79]

A Wilkinson Sword protector in fire engine red.

 

[StubbleShaver]

Gillette Mach III
Gillette Fusion
Gillette Fusion Power
Gillette Blue (2 Bladed Disposable)
Wilkinson Sword Classic Plastic DE
Cheap Shavette
Merkur 34C HD
Merkur 38C HD
Merkur 34G HD
Merkur 34C HD (Again)
Merkur 39C (Now)

 

[Gissy]

From what I remember I started with different disposables. Just the cheapest stuff I could get hold of really, and some cheap canned goo.

 

[HoosierTrooper]

A hand me down Schick injector in 1971.