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How did you guys get into wet shaving?

Hello gents. I was thinking, and found myself very curious as to how you guys got hooked on good old traditional wet shaving. A family member perhaps? Maybe just curiosity? Or maybe even the “potential” money you can save? (Yep that didn’t last long for me either :lol:) whatever the case may be, I really do find it amazing how we are all sort of connected in a brotherhood together on our quest for the perfect shave. My personal story is that when I first started working, I grew tired of my face always breaking out (up Until about 19-20 years old). I Had tried just about everything under the sun including charcoal face mask’s that made me look pretty goofy around the house. So, I eventually started to notice it got real bad the next morning after shaving with my Gillette fusion. So after doing research, and actually having a little bit of income I decided I wanted to buy myself a quality shave set to try out. All of my hope was lost at this point. I bought a chrome shaving stand, a $50-$55 Parker silver tip badger brush, some Proraso green soap/aftershave, a box of Astra SP’s, and a Merkur 38C HD. I pretty much never looked back once my teqnique improved, and my breakouts slowly faded away. Now I’m forever in debt to all of you guys (and the bank for that matter) for teaching me the ropes. My dad wasn't really around, and my mom could only teach me so much. It’s been 5 years since I made the switch, and I expect another 50 years to come. I would like to say a huge thank you to all of you guys again, and I look forward to hearing your personal back stories that led you into the art of wet shaving!
 
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Shaving with a DE was normal for a lot of people when I was growing up. The Trac II and other cartridges came out, but I was never a fan. Plus, DE shaving really was cheaper back then. :lol1:

Eventually, I shelved my Schick Krona and Slim Adjustable for electrics purely for convenience. I was not really happy with the closeness of the shave, but kept with it. I would have to shave again in the evening if I was going out.

After my latest expensive Braun shaver bit the dust, I started doing some research and decided to try something else instead. I got a Merkur 23c, a sampler pack of blades, Speick stick, Valobra stick and an inexpensive Omega boar brush. I started getting much better shaves. That was over ten years ago.

I had a beard for quite a few years, then decided to go back to the clean-shaven look because I was getting some grey and hated that. So, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
 
Shaving with a DE was normal for a lot of people when I was growing up. The Trac II and other cartridges came out, but I was never a fan. Plus, DE shaving really was cheaper back then. :lol1:

Eventually, I shelved my Schick Krona and Slim Adjustable for electrics purely for convenience. I was not really happy with the closeness of the shave, but kept with it. I would have to shave again in the evening if I was going out.

After my latest expensive Braun shaver bit the dust, I started doing some research and decided to try something else instead. I got a Merkur 23c, a sampler pack of blades, Speick stick, Valobra stick and an inexpensive Omega boar brush. I started getting much better shaves. That was over ten years ago.

I had a beard for quite a few years, then decided to go back to the clean-shaven look because I was getting some grey and hated that. So, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Excellent story! Seems like a lot of folk tend to start wet shaving with a trusty Merkur. Glad I did though! If I started with a poor DE safety razor I don’t think I’d still be into it like I am today.
 
When I started shaving, I had the following choices:

1. Double Edge.
2. Single Edge.
3. Electric.

This is what the stores carried. I chose SE because I thought it looked more modern than DE. That's how I shaved for a few years before moving to the Atra, then later the Sensor. Then I went back to SE because of the cost of cartridges. Tried DE. Now I prefer SE again, though will shave with DE to use up my stock of blades.
 
I was using cartridges and canned foam or gel since I started shaving as a teenager, "upgrading" (or so I thought) from a Sensor Excel to Mach 3 and eventually the Fusion. I wasn't really bothering shaving daily, every 3 days was the norm. I tried a few times to be clean shaven every day but my face couldn't take it. During my military service, daily shaving was a nightmare... I even tried using shaving cream and an Omega synthetic brush at some point, but I didn't see a lot of improvement. Ingrown hair on the neck area was the norm. Mind you I had my beard mapped early on. In the end I understood that the problem was the use of multiple blades; the more the blades, the more my skin was irritated.

I went back to using my Sensor Excel every 2-3 days, until April 2018, when I stumbled upon an article about shaving if you have sensitive skin. There, a few shaving creams and soaps were proposed, along with the usual DE razors that everyone recommends to beginners. A few days later I bought a Merkur 34c, a SOC boar brush with the cherry handle, a puck of MWF and a blade sampler. Within a week's time I registered here and into the rabbit holes I went... :D

The funny thing is that my skin is not even sensitive. It's just that the cartridge systems I used were very rough for me. Now I do 3-pass (WTG/XTG/ATG) shaves every day without any problem.
 
My dad used a DE razor, but from the time I started shaving I just bought whatever was the latest and greatest cart system. I never thought the results were very good, but disliked using the few electric shavers I tried out even more, so stuck with carts until those I was using at the time increased in price yet again. This prompted me to do an internet search for "best cheap shaving system" or something like that, and I came across B&B. I went on to buy a DE (an EJ89) and have followed that up with many more, plus various SEs. It's not been cheaper than using carts, but certainly better and more enjoyable.
 
I went back to DE shaving in Feb-2014. My wife's mom passed on in Nov-2013 from old age and CDEF issues in the Cleveland. My wife and I went up there to clean out the house and get it ready for sale. In cleaning out her mom's dresser we found her late dad's Gillette Tech ball razor. That evening I bought some DE blades and a can of goo from a local pharmacy. The next morning, I had my first DE shave in 30+ years. After we got back to Dallas I spent days trying to identify the razor's age, and came across Badger Blades website. And, from that point on, the rest is history.
 
I initially started with an electric razor, never liked it. In college since others were using cartridge razors, I bought one and some canned cream and went at it. Always was searching for the latest and greatest for a better shave. Finally last March at the young age of 66 I searched the web and decided I would try DE shaving. My original thought was I would save money and get a better shave. Well I get a better shave, but haven't really saved money as I stumbled into that rabbit hole (LOL). My first purchase was a EJ DE89, a cheap badger brush, a sample pack of blades and some TOBS Sandalwood cream and a shaving bowl. First couple shave went really well then I got the itch for finding that perfect razor, then the perfect cream, now the perfect soap. I don't regret my journey into DE shaving as I now call it my hobby. Most days I get a BBS shave with little effort.
 

Billski

Here I am, 1st again.
I got into wet shaving due to this forum. For a long time I shaved with an electric shaver. Then I came to this place and gave a DE razor a try. I learned how to get a good shave after about 20 tries. And I stuck to a DE razor. I get a good shave. I also have a SE razor from this place, and I use that sometimes also. Now I see that wet shaving is not difficult at all.
 
Searched the web trying to find a better shaving cream. Found a lot of places recommending TOBS and other old-school brush-lathered creams. Decided to give a brush and cream a try.

Used brush and cream but with a cartridge razor for a few months. Found this forum. Somebody PIF'd me a Superspeed and some Gillette 7 o'clock greens. Tried it and didn't really like it much.

Read on this forum a post by a guy who said I should try using the cartridge razor for the first pass and then doing a second pass with the Superspeed. Tried it and liked it.

At some point thought to myself, why not do the whole shave with the Superspeed? This time around, after a lot of experience using it only for a second pass, I enjoyed it, and the rest is history.

My search for a better shaving cream was 11 years ago this March. Now I've gone through DEs, SEs, injectors, straight razors, then back to DEs and SEs, and now have settled on using a shavette.
 

Ad Astra

The Instigator
Dollar Shave Club led to Dorco direct - then one day Dorco made a horrible mistake. They put their traditional DE shave kit on sale ... one shave and
I was hooked. Never bought another disposable cart from them, though I have bought a thousand-pack of their Dorco Prime blades ...


AA
 
I went back to DE shaving in Feb-2014. My wife's mom passed on in Nov-2013 from old age and CDEF issues in the Cleveland. My wife and I went up there to clean out the house and get it ready for sale. In cleaning out her mom's dresser we found her late dad's Gillette Tech ball razor. That evening I bought some DE blades and a can of goo from a local pharmacy. The next morning, I had my first DE shave in 30+ years. After we got back to Dallas I spent days trying to identify the razor's age, and came across Badger Blades website. And, from that point on, the rest is history.
First of all, I’m sorry to hear about your mother in law. That was actually a pretty good, and unique story. Nothing like a vintage Gillette to bring you back into wet shaving. I’m sure she would be so happy somebody used the razor and takes care of it!
 
Dollar Shave Club led to Dorco direct - then one day Dorco made a horrible mistake. They put their traditional DE shave kit on sale ... one shave and
I was hooked. Never bought another disposable cart from them, though I have bought a thousand-pack of their Dorco Prime blades ...

AA
I find this hilarious. Wasn’t the whole point of cart razors to get everyone to stop buying safety razor blades and essentially spend much more on the “amazing 52 blade razor” carts? You sir, didn’t fall down the rabbit hole. You skydived right into it. :lol:
 
That’s a great story savage, welcome to the party!

It’s super cool to see someone your age doing this thing. It will very likely improve your life for the better too. While a good shave is acceptable, a great one is a small victory. Maybe it’s a good thing you had all those problems otherwise you might’ve just tolerated shave mediocrity for decades like I have, and likely many others.

You have some good products there, you may find yourself exploring and then just coming back home. Don’t feel bad if you do! I’ve spent a year doing this and am mostly done looking for new things.

I got into this hobby after buying a couple disposable razors and canned gel in December of 2018. The razors and gel sucked big time and I said there has to be a better way. I had tolerated the carts and goo for years but after seeing some of the dates on these great posts I said enough was enough. I googled around a bit and ultimately found myself here reading every thread I could. The people on this forum were really helpful too. Not wanting to spend hundreds of dollars on brushes soaps and razors (which I ended up doing anyway) I bought a Van Der Hagen short handled TTO from Target and a Cremo gift set that came with cream and a horsehair brush and was off to the races. Then some Arko, Proraso, and Omega boar brushes and that was it. Too much more gear to mention here.

Have fun and if you can, test one new piece of gear at a time. This way if something goes wrong, you can isolate precisely what it was.
 
Philips electric
Braun electric
Gilette carts
Oneblade genesis se
Qshave futul de

it was an expensive but memorable trip to get rid of lots of irritation.
 
That’s a great story savage, welcome to the party!

It’s super cool to see someone your age doing this thing. It will very likely improve your life for the better too. While a good shave is acceptable, a great one is a small victory. Maybe it’s a good thing you had all those problems otherwise you might’ve just tolerated shave mediocrity for decades like I have, and likely many others.

You have some good products there, you may find yourself exploring and then just coming back home. Don’t feel bad if you do! I’ve spent a year doing this and am mostly done looking for new things.

I got into this hobby after buying a couple disposable razors and canned gel in December of 2018. The razors and gel sucked big time and I said there has to be a better way. I had tolerated the carts and goo for years but after seeing some of the dates on these great posts I said enough was enough. I googled around a bit and ultimately found myself here reading every thread I could. The people on this forum were really helpful too. Not wanting to spend hundreds of dollars on brushes soaps and razors (which I ended up doing anyway) I bought a Van Der Hagen short handled TTO from Target and a Cremo gift set that came with cream and a horsehair brush and was off to the races. Then some Arko, Proraso, and Omega boar brushes and that was it. Too much more gear to mention here.

Have fun and if you can, test one new piece of gear at a time. This way if something goes wrong, you can isolate precisely what it was.
Thank you so much for the feedback! I am so glad and very thankful that I didn’t waste away thousands of amazing shaves, and that I jumped ships at a young age. Of course, if somebody finds that cart’s help them, They have no issues, and enjoy it, that’s always the most important thing. I do find it fascinating you started wet shaving with a horse hair brush. I don’t see many of them. I haven’t even thought to try one, however I remember seeing Vie-Long has a good priced one with a pretty sleek looking handle. Might have to give it a try some time. Also, as far as Cremo, I still really love their beard oil. Especially if I don’t want to mix the scent of Beard Baron with my AS/Cologne.
 
Back when i started wet shaving a man could just walk into any supermarket or drug store and pick up a Gillette Mach 3 and a can of Barbasol and go on his merry way to great shaves. We never gave it a second thought. One day i ran out of carts and went to pick some up at a local Stop and Shop. Hanging next to my usual blades was a newfangled VanDerHagen double edged razor. I bought it on a whim and soon realized shaving isn’t so simple. Now it’s preshaves and balms; aftershaves and brushes; not to mention the “soap wars!” It seems like every day a new artisan tries to add ever more slickness and cushion to their soaps. You used to just choose between Gillette and Barbasol! And back when i started shaving we had dial up internet! Dial up! Amazon? They sold books. Try ordering online with that youngsters! I remember when a man could walk into a real STORE and buy what he needed to shave. Now, forget about it. Most men would laugh at the idea of a cart and a can of foam. Yes, simpler times indeed. Alas i went along with the crowd and now have blades and soaps from all over the world. Maybe one day i’ll go back to the way my father shaved with some good old canned foam and a cart. But for now, i’m running with the crowd.
 
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