Hey everyone, love the forum and thought I'd stop lurking and start participating.
My foray into wet shaving began in earnest about a year ago, but the seeds were planted much earlier. I remember seeing one of Mantic59's videos 2-3 years ago on a blog that I read daily. I remember thinking "why would anyone go to so much trouble for that?" but I was still fascinated by the care and the ritual he seemed to put into shaving, a chore that, for me, hurt and I hated doing. I was using whatever the latest & greatest new multi blade razor was at the time. I've used a great many different ones over my life, Gillette Sensor, Sensor Excel, Wilkinson Sword Protector (this was one of my favorites at the time), Schick, Gillette Mach3, Schick Quattro, Gillette Fusion. I was starting to get pretty upset at the price these blades were getting, so I started using them for longer (I know, the worst thing you could do, especially for someone with such sensitive skin around their neck).
In April of 2011 I got married at Caesars Palace in Vegas. I had always wanted to try a hot shave, so I thought that for my wedding I'd make an appointment for one at the spa at Caesars. My best man and I had a facial, shave and a manicure from Sal. Man, talk about Vegas! Sal is your typical old school barber. He wore a tuxedo shirt with a bowtie and a cumberbund and had pictures of him with Frank Sinatra on the wall. I had an awesome experience and have never forgotten about Sal. I went home and thought I should try something different for shaving, so I went to Wal-Mart (shudder, I still hadn't done any REAL research online) and bought a Wilkinson Sword brush and soap puck. I had forgotten about Mantic59 by this time so I didn't have any idea how to properly use this and with no technique, and crappy product and tools, I quickly stopped trying to use these and went back to my Gillette routine.
Then in April of 2012 my wife and I went back to Vegas for our anniversary and I made an appointment for hot shave again, this time at the Art of Shaving at the Venetian. I loved my experience there, and as is standard operating procedure at these places, when my shave was done I was turned over to the salesman to try and sell me on the AoS product line. I told him I had tried using a brush and soap and that I didn't really like it, and that it added too much time to my routine in the morning. But he worked his magic, and I let him give me the full demo. I was sold on buying something, but I was completely overwhelmed with WHAT to buy. Brush, soap, cream, vibrating chrome plated handle, vibrating brush, pre-shave oil, post shave balm, stands, straight razors, strops, $50, $100. $200, $400, $600, AAAAAHHHHH!!!! I had to walk away. My wife and I walked around the shops and I kept thinking about it. I talked it over with my wife, and she said if I was still agonizing about it, I should go back and get some. So we went back, and I bought the Sandalwood full size kit, pre-shave oil, shave cream, aftershave balm with a fine badger brush, an alum block and a cheap plastic stand for the brush. I would keep using my Gillette razor at home (after all, that's what they were selling at AoS and that was a high end store, so it must be good right?) to try and keep from spending hundreds of dollars at AoS. I walked out having spent $200, happy that I got something that I was pretty sure I was going to like, but not so sure about spending $200 on shaving supplies and not even getting a razor.
So home I went and proceeded go give this stuff a try. I showered first, then I used the pre-shave oil, then lathered the cream up like the guy showed me in store (wow, this brush seems to do the trick!), shaved (made sure to put a new Gillette Fusion blade on), then used the aftershave balm. Not bad! Maybe there's something too this... I went along like that for the next couple of weeks really kind of liking what was going on. Then one night we were going out for a nice dinner with some friends so this time I shaved a second time against the grain like the guy at AoS told me to do. OUCH!!!!! Red, raised bumps and pain for most of the morning. Hmmm... I must have done something wrong. Maybe I can find some info on technique online somewhere. Once that started, BOOM! Whole new world baby. I re-discovered Matic59 and watched all his videos. I did some research on other creams, lotions, balms, splashes and razors. I did some research on DE razors. Hmmm... I remember my dad and grandpa had some of these, maybe my mom's still got them somewhere. No such luck, so after some research I ordered the Muhle R89 handle (reviews said decently close shave, but rather forgiving for beginners) and a blade sampler pack online.
The Muhle came in the mail about a week later and I was excited to try it out! So many blades to try, Astra Stainless, Astra Platinum, Derby Extra, Feather High Stainless, Feather High Stainless Platinum (I read online that these were really good!), Wilkinson Sword (I read that these were double coated with something and glided really nicely). I thought I'd try the Feather Platinum for my first shave, they seem to be well liked online. WRONG MOVE! My face looked like a cheese pizza after I was done with it. Back online to read up on what I did wrong (didn't know about the angle to hold the blade at, and didn't realize the Feather's were THAT sharp). I gave my face a few days to heal and then tried again with the proper angle (I think) and the Wilkinson Sword blade. Ahhh, much better! A few days like that and I was confident enough to try a second pass. Hmmm, not bad, a couple of cuts, but I think I'm getting the hang of this! This is kind of nice, the razor actually has some weight to it and it doesn't feel like I'm shaving with a Fisher Price toy. I think I could get used to this.
9 months after starting in earnest I've tried some new produts. I've got some Proraso creme and post-shave, some E-Shave cream, oil and aftershave. I'm still working on my first 100 blade sampler pack, although I'm all out of my favorite blades, the Wilkinson Swords (black plastic case with white paper and black print). I haven't bought another razor or brush as I think I did a pretty good job in picking the Muhle and lucking into a decent brush with AoS Fine Badger brush. I have started buying some other stuff from my favorite online store here in Canada (you know the one, rhymes with blenderman), bar soaps from E-Shave and others, shampoo and other grooming products (moustache wax for Movember). I think I'm in for the long haul at this point!
My foray into wet shaving began in earnest about a year ago, but the seeds were planted much earlier. I remember seeing one of Mantic59's videos 2-3 years ago on a blog that I read daily. I remember thinking "why would anyone go to so much trouble for that?" but I was still fascinated by the care and the ritual he seemed to put into shaving, a chore that, for me, hurt and I hated doing. I was using whatever the latest & greatest new multi blade razor was at the time. I've used a great many different ones over my life, Gillette Sensor, Sensor Excel, Wilkinson Sword Protector (this was one of my favorites at the time), Schick, Gillette Mach3, Schick Quattro, Gillette Fusion. I was starting to get pretty upset at the price these blades were getting, so I started using them for longer (I know, the worst thing you could do, especially for someone with such sensitive skin around their neck).
In April of 2011 I got married at Caesars Palace in Vegas. I had always wanted to try a hot shave, so I thought that for my wedding I'd make an appointment for one at the spa at Caesars. My best man and I had a facial, shave and a manicure from Sal. Man, talk about Vegas! Sal is your typical old school barber. He wore a tuxedo shirt with a bowtie and a cumberbund and had pictures of him with Frank Sinatra on the wall. I had an awesome experience and have never forgotten about Sal. I went home and thought I should try something different for shaving, so I went to Wal-Mart (shudder, I still hadn't done any REAL research online) and bought a Wilkinson Sword brush and soap puck. I had forgotten about Mantic59 by this time so I didn't have any idea how to properly use this and with no technique, and crappy product and tools, I quickly stopped trying to use these and went back to my Gillette routine.
Then in April of 2012 my wife and I went back to Vegas for our anniversary and I made an appointment for hot shave again, this time at the Art of Shaving at the Venetian. I loved my experience there, and as is standard operating procedure at these places, when my shave was done I was turned over to the salesman to try and sell me on the AoS product line. I told him I had tried using a brush and soap and that I didn't really like it, and that it added too much time to my routine in the morning. But he worked his magic, and I let him give me the full demo. I was sold on buying something, but I was completely overwhelmed with WHAT to buy. Brush, soap, cream, vibrating chrome plated handle, vibrating brush, pre-shave oil, post shave balm, stands, straight razors, strops, $50, $100. $200, $400, $600, AAAAAHHHHH!!!! I had to walk away. My wife and I walked around the shops and I kept thinking about it. I talked it over with my wife, and she said if I was still agonizing about it, I should go back and get some. So we went back, and I bought the Sandalwood full size kit, pre-shave oil, shave cream, aftershave balm with a fine badger brush, an alum block and a cheap plastic stand for the brush. I would keep using my Gillette razor at home (after all, that's what they were selling at AoS and that was a high end store, so it must be good right?) to try and keep from spending hundreds of dollars at AoS. I walked out having spent $200, happy that I got something that I was pretty sure I was going to like, but not so sure about spending $200 on shaving supplies and not even getting a razor.
So home I went and proceeded go give this stuff a try. I showered first, then I used the pre-shave oil, then lathered the cream up like the guy showed me in store (wow, this brush seems to do the trick!), shaved (made sure to put a new Gillette Fusion blade on), then used the aftershave balm. Not bad! Maybe there's something too this... I went along like that for the next couple of weeks really kind of liking what was going on. Then one night we were going out for a nice dinner with some friends so this time I shaved a second time against the grain like the guy at AoS told me to do. OUCH!!!!! Red, raised bumps and pain for most of the morning. Hmmm... I must have done something wrong. Maybe I can find some info on technique online somewhere. Once that started, BOOM! Whole new world baby. I re-discovered Matic59 and watched all his videos. I did some research on other creams, lotions, balms, splashes and razors. I did some research on DE razors. Hmmm... I remember my dad and grandpa had some of these, maybe my mom's still got them somewhere. No such luck, so after some research I ordered the Muhle R89 handle (reviews said decently close shave, but rather forgiving for beginners) and a blade sampler pack online.
The Muhle came in the mail about a week later and I was excited to try it out! So many blades to try, Astra Stainless, Astra Platinum, Derby Extra, Feather High Stainless, Feather High Stainless Platinum (I read online that these were really good!), Wilkinson Sword (I read that these were double coated with something and glided really nicely). I thought I'd try the Feather Platinum for my first shave, they seem to be well liked online. WRONG MOVE! My face looked like a cheese pizza after I was done with it. Back online to read up on what I did wrong (didn't know about the angle to hold the blade at, and didn't realize the Feather's were THAT sharp). I gave my face a few days to heal and then tried again with the proper angle (I think) and the Wilkinson Sword blade. Ahhh, much better! A few days like that and I was confident enough to try a second pass. Hmmm, not bad, a couple of cuts, but I think I'm getting the hang of this! This is kind of nice, the razor actually has some weight to it and it doesn't feel like I'm shaving with a Fisher Price toy. I think I could get used to this.
9 months after starting in earnest I've tried some new produts. I've got some Proraso creme and post-shave, some E-Shave cream, oil and aftershave. I'm still working on my first 100 blade sampler pack, although I'm all out of my favorite blades, the Wilkinson Swords (black plastic case with white paper and black print). I haven't bought another razor or brush as I think I did a pretty good job in picking the Muhle and lucking into a decent brush with AoS Fine Badger brush. I have started buying some other stuff from my favorite online store here in Canada (you know the one, rhymes with blenderman), bar soaps from E-Shave and others, shampoo and other grooming products (moustache wax for Movember). I think I'm in for the long haul at this point!
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