So where is all this headed?

[Ron Scott]

Looking down the road 15 years...

Many more DE/straight shavers?
Lotsa cart shavers using a brush and soap?
PG grabbing even more share than today?
Wetshaving fad come to a peaceful close?

 

[Ducati Scotty]

Same as now I would guess: majority buying/using what P&G markets or electrics, some people using older 1 & 2 blade carts and/or a brush and soap, and a few of us enthusiastically keeping the old school alive. I don't see the masses moving over to old school wet shaving in large numbers. We may grow a bit but not much.

Scott

 

[NingYupOwaDat]

I think that when people first get into it they assume it's this huge new movement when really it's not. The numbers are possibly even reducing for all we really know. Just because the numbers on this site grow all the time isn't necessarily a reflection of what is going on in the real world.

I think people are gonna start using cheaper cartridges than what Gillette has to offer and that everything else will stay relatively the same as it is now.

 

[Mike H]

Beards are trending, at least, based on what I see the young kids doing. Went out to eat last weekend, every male server in the place had a 5 day growth.

 

[WVUfanMG]

It's hard to say. Today's generation wants "now now now" speed for everything from technology to information to shaving. Most of the people I know won't even consider DE shaving because "my electric/fusion/mach 3 works and I'm done in 2 minutes." Yeah, but do you enjoy it? You can't. I know I didn't. You have that end of the spectrum and the people who think "You know, that's neat and something I should look into." Some will call us old school. I call us visionaries. We demand the better shave and finer things not only in shaving, but in life. Live gentlemanly.

 

[ysbg]

Don't you guys think that if there was better knowledge and information out there about DE shaving more people would pick it up? If I had been presented with the argument "get better shaves for less money and with less irritations" I would have jumped on board immediately.

 

[Jerry-built Hustler]

Don't you guys think that if there was better knowledge and information out there about DE shaving more people would pick it up?

No. Corey Greenberg, who writes Shaveblog, actually did a wetshaving presentation on the Weekend Today show back in 2005. For a brief time, sales of English shaving creams, badger brushes, and DE razors spiked, such that it caused a temporary shortage. That was probably the biggest single shockwave in this little hobby of ours, and it only lasted a short period. Within a year, things went back to normal, Gillette introduced the Fusion, and we remain a fringe community. Ning is right: newbies to this hobby think a big change is coming. So far, it's not.

 

[The Dean]

Looking down the road 15 years...

Death.


At least that's the odds-on favorite at the moment.

 

[Haggises]

I thought this thread was going to be an answer to "how come I've been asking all these questions?"

 

[u2u]

P&g moves into laser hair removal... No more shaving.

 

[ysbg]

No. Corey Greenberg, who writes Shaveblog, actually did a wetshaving presentation on the Weekend Today show back in 2005. For a brief time, sales of English shaving creams, badger brushes, and DE razors spiked, such that it caused a temporary shortage. That was probably the biggest single shockwave in this little hobby of ours, and it only lasted a short period. Within a year, things went back to normal, Gillette introduced the Fusion, and we remain a fringe community. Ning is right: newbies to this hobby think a big change is coming. So far, it's not.

That's quite interesting. But I would not say it's necessary that those people stopped DE shaving however. Once the razor and the brush are bought, people might have just continued with some palmolive stick or cream for example. Also it seems most of us tend to accumulate enough gear to shave for more than a year within a month of starting DE shaving. But I suppose I'm just playing devil's advocate here more than anything. Is it that even after having enjoyed the joys of DE shaving, people still prefer to return to cartridges for the speed of the shave?

 

[Dalejr]

P&g moves into laser hair removal... No more shaving.

Or better yet, scientists find out which gene or chomosone is responsible for facial hair growth and alters it.

 

[JazzyJ]

Or better yet, scientists find out which gene or chomosone is responsible for facial hair growth and alters it.

That's what the 8th blade is for.

And it may not be growing as quick as it seems to new people, but I do think it's growing. When I see the prices razors went for on eBay and the B/S/T just five years ago, I can't help but think there is more demand for them now.

 

[Jerry-built Hustler]

That's quite interesting. But I would not say it's necessary that those people stopped DE shaving however.

No, but it's a pretty good example of how knowledge of DE shaving is not going to start a counterrevolution in shaving that banishes cartridges to the dustbin of history and has everybody using single blades and brushes.

Is it that even after having enjoyed the joys of DE shaving, people still prefer to return to cartridges for the speed of the shave?

Hard to say, and absent some solid market research, all we can do is speculate. I suspect there are multiple reasons. Perhaps there is some "recidivism," where people go back to cartridges after using DEs. (Actually, I still use Sensors and Trac IIs, which, when compared to the Mach III and Fusion, seem positively vintage.) Cost could also be an issue: for all our griping about the cost of cartridges, the traditional shaving hobby is not inexpensive; one could easily end up spending more on high-end razors, brushes and creams than on a pack of Fusion heads and a can of Edge gel. Then there is the nature of the pursuit: we make traditional shaving a hobby, and it takes a certain kind of person to get into it. Willingness to research products and acquire relatively hard-to-find items might put a lot of people off, especially those who would rather just grab something off the shelves at Target or Walgreens and be on their way. I think for most men, shaving is a necessity, not a pastime.

 

[Ron Scott]

Death.


At least that's the odds-on favorite at the moment.

Son, you're much too young for such foolish talk.

 

[Kevan]

First of all, it's not a fad. No matter how many members are on the various shaving boards, we are dwarfed by hundreds of millions. No matter how many media mentions there are, it always revolves around the "saving money" angle, which is a load of tosh. This is a bunch of eccentrics doing something the old fashioned way. We might say that it's a better shave and it's more comfortable and it's relaxing and whatever, but the vast majority will just snigger and roll their eyes.

The average guy sees a tweet or a re-blog to an article on the Art of Manliness or some online publication, and says "Yeah I'm tired of the red bumps from the carts," and gets a simple kit. Out of 100 guys that do this, I'd be willing to predict that 85-90 of them will just not bother with finding the right blade or trying razors or fiddling with lather. Then they get tired of taking 15 minutes to do something that used to take 2 minutes, and they go back to the carts or they just use an electric.

Hell, I'm even using carts once a week now (I shave 3x a week). It's faster and more convenient and I have the admit the Gillette Guard does a fantastic job and lasts for 8-10 shaves, probably much more if I pushed it.

The future? Wetshaving becomes more niche and a "lux" hobby. We will not take any bite out of the cartridge market share. DE blades in countries like India will begin to disappear.

 

[Jerry-built Hustler]

DE blades in countries like India will begin to disappear.

I agree with nearly everything you said, except for this. It's not that I disagree with it; I'm just wondering what your basis is for thinking so. Everything I've read indicates that Gillette is having tremendous trouble penetrating the DE strongholds in India and elsewhere with cartridge sales, simply because they are too expensive. Gillette doesn't even bother pushing the Fusion there, instead trying to get men to adopt the Mach III or lesser models. Have you seen something to indicate Gillette is actually having success in this regard, and that DEs are on the wane in those parts of the world?

 

[Heron]

I think wetshaving is too time consuming to catch on with the masses, not to mention messy. Why spend all that time making and applying lather, then shaving your face three or four times when you can just rub an electric appliance across your face and be done?

 

[Myosin]

Cartridges are not going anywhere. There is a big outcry against the rising prices of them though. Things like the dollar shave club and the recent increased popularity of twin blade razors show that there is only so much that even the uninformed population will put up with.

Cartridges are not catching on as rapidly in developing countries because Gillette pushed too fast. The reason DEs and straights died out is due to the generational shift of what was considered "in" at the time. The US was also going through a massive economic boom and it could afford to push things like that. India is still a developing country and selling the cartridge image isn't as easy.

I believe we're going to start seeing Gillette making generic

 

[JazzyJ]

I agree with nearly everything you said, except for this. It's not that I disagree with it; I'm just wondering what your basis is for thinking so. Everything I've read indicates that Gillette is having tremendous trouble penetrating the DE strongholds in India and elsewhere with cartridge sales, simply because they are too expensive. Gillette doesn't even bother pushing the Fusion there, instead trying to get men to adopt the Mach III or lesser models. Have you seen something to indicate Gillette is actually having success in this regard, and that DEs are on the wane in those parts of the world?

Enter the "Gillette Guard." A "breakthrough" and "affordable" single blade cartridge razor targeted towards the "more than one billion men in emerging markets who today use double edge razors."

http://www.pg.com/en_US/downloads/innovation/factsheet_final_Gillette_Guard.pdf