My Story
I am a prolific hobbyist. The nature of my job is such that work hours fluctuate pretty dramatically every few months, and roughly every 3 to 4 months, I transition from an 80+ hour work week to a 55-60 hour work week. When the schedule drops off, I frequently find myself both bored out of my mind and driving my wife nuts. To remedy this and occupy myself, every 3 to 4 months I either revisit an old hobby or take on a new one.
When I first started getting interested in wet shaving (which I initially considered a hobby), I was actually in a fairly busy time of the year. I was on a business trip and reading a magazine when I noticed an advertisement for Caswell Massey which included a picture of an ivory handled M3, a shaving brush, and a wooden soap bowl. I had no idea that people actually used the soap and brush and thought that these items were there simply as "dressing", and that the razor was the focal point of the picture.
When I returned home, I got on the computer and began conducting searches to see what kind of razor handles were available. I was pretty convinced that my M3 would shave dramatically better if it simply had a better handle. I then began to stumble across a few shaving related message boards and also found Classic Shaving's site. At this point I began to realize that there was a whole subculture of folks who were daily risking their mortality by shaving with DE's or straits. I read post after post discussing how great these shaves were, the improved skin health that men were enjoying, and how guys were actually shaving 7 days a week by choice.
After viewing literally hundreds of pages of text, I was astonished to find that for 15+ years, I had been using one of the worst shaving systems available. I am a researcher by nature, so over the course of the next two weeks, every spare moment that I had was spent on the internet in one shaving forum or another. I even gave up my lunch hour to lurk the boards, trying desperately to satisfy both my thirst for knowledge and my desire to achieve a quality shave.
After achieving a satisfactory level of shaving related knowledge, I began to formulate a list of must-have products for my newfound hobby. I began with the idea that I would purchase low-cost, quality products, making the smallest investment possible while still only buying quality items.
My initial shave kit included:
Merkur 1904 Classic open comb safety razor @ $25 - an OK razor
Merkur Platinum blades @ $5 - quality blades
Alabu shaving soap @ $5 - a wonderfully appalling product
Tweezerman badger shaving brush @ $10 - a pretty good starter brush
Though not all great decisions/products, this setup provided decent enough shaves to keep the "hobby" alive.
My proposed starter kit for beginners:
Merkur HD or Long Handle (not open comb) - $30
Merkur Platinum Blades - $5 (10-pack)
Taylor's Shaving Cream - $14 (more forgiving than a soap)
Tweezerman badger shaving brush - $10
This is not the cheapest kit that you can put together, but IMHO, this grouping will give the most bang for the buck. Additionally, if you decide wet shaving is not for you, it is not unreasonable to expect half of your investment back when reselling the kit.
I am a prolific hobbyist. The nature of my job is such that work hours fluctuate pretty dramatically every few months, and roughly every 3 to 4 months, I transition from an 80+ hour work week to a 55-60 hour work week. When the schedule drops off, I frequently find myself both bored out of my mind and driving my wife nuts. To remedy this and occupy myself, every 3 to 4 months I either revisit an old hobby or take on a new one.
When I first started getting interested in wet shaving (which I initially considered a hobby), I was actually in a fairly busy time of the year. I was on a business trip and reading a magazine when I noticed an advertisement for Caswell Massey which included a picture of an ivory handled M3, a shaving brush, and a wooden soap bowl. I had no idea that people actually used the soap and brush and thought that these items were there simply as "dressing", and that the razor was the focal point of the picture.
When I returned home, I got on the computer and began conducting searches to see what kind of razor handles were available. I was pretty convinced that my M3 would shave dramatically better if it simply had a better handle. I then began to stumble across a few shaving related message boards and also found Classic Shaving's site. At this point I began to realize that there was a whole subculture of folks who were daily risking their mortality by shaving with DE's or straits. I read post after post discussing how great these shaves were, the improved skin health that men were enjoying, and how guys were actually shaving 7 days a week by choice.
After viewing literally hundreds of pages of text, I was astonished to find that for 15+ years, I had been using one of the worst shaving systems available. I am a researcher by nature, so over the course of the next two weeks, every spare moment that I had was spent on the internet in one shaving forum or another. I even gave up my lunch hour to lurk the boards, trying desperately to satisfy both my thirst for knowledge and my desire to achieve a quality shave.
After achieving a satisfactory level of shaving related knowledge, I began to formulate a list of must-have products for my newfound hobby. I began with the idea that I would purchase low-cost, quality products, making the smallest investment possible while still only buying quality items.
My initial shave kit included:
Merkur 1904 Classic open comb safety razor @ $25 - an OK razor
Merkur Platinum blades @ $5 - quality blades
Alabu shaving soap @ $5 - a wonderfully appalling product
Tweezerman badger shaving brush @ $10 - a pretty good starter brush
Though not all great decisions/products, this setup provided decent enough shaves to keep the "hobby" alive.
My proposed starter kit for beginners:
Merkur HD or Long Handle (not open comb) - $30
Merkur Platinum Blades - $5 (10-pack)
Taylor's Shaving Cream - $14 (more forgiving than a soap)
Tweezerman badger shaving brush - $10
This is not the cheapest kit that you can put together, but IMHO, this grouping will give the most bang for the buck. Additionally, if you decide wet shaving is not for you, it is not unreasonable to expect half of your investment back when reselling the kit.
