I hated shaving! I switched back and forth from the "newest, greatest" cartridges and electric shavers in search of a comfortable shave. I had resigned myself to hating shaving and never getting a BBS. Then I read The Art of Manliness article on shaving. I decided to try it, plus the price of cartridges was killing me. Now I love to shave and my face loves it too
What was the catalyst that let you to classic style shaving?
- Thread starter JonM
- Start date
I was getting terrible irritation on my neck from my Mach 3. So I decided that I'd get a fusion pro glide and searched the net for reviews which lead me to B&B. The rest is history ...
I started to look for an exit from the evil cartridges when my mom told me I should take better care of myself!
I found a Gillette Tech produced between '38-'45 in the basement & the rest is history.
Definitely the price of carts. The last pack of Fusions that I bought were around $25 for 5 about a year ago. I was just outraged! I never really enjoyed shaving and got to the point where I would get angry when I ran out of carts because I knew it would put a hole in my wallet. Started checking out other options, read the Art of Manliness article like many others here, bound B&B and was completely intrigued. Purchased an SS for $8 and a Fatboy for $20 from a local antique shop, bought some blades, brush, mug, cream, soap and converted January of this year. Have not looked back. I felt vindicated the day I threw away my Fusion. Now I enjoy shaving and if you told me this a year ago I would of laughed.
Got real tired of modern technology
pure performance.my first de was a yardsale buy for 25 cents,red tip super speed.i didnt even know you could still buy blades untill i found some at wal-mart by accident.WOW what a difference in shaves.i was hooked.then i found a cheap badger brush and williams soap,and the rest is history.
Reading about your Noodler's exclusive B&B ink over on FPN where I mod, and somebody mentioned how cheap it is to get started. I said yeah right, point me int he right direction.
So here I am...
Basically I hate shaving right now. Anything that could make it better would be a huge deal to me. I avoid shaving until the stuff itches my lip and my wife refuses to kiss me. I hate having a beard but I hate shaving just as much. I use the cheap 2 and 3 blade throw-aways with barbasol cream. I have a razor with some blades on the way, but I still need a brush and soap or cream. I've got some little mugs I made in college ceramics 2 class, so I have that. Ugh... so much gear. I thought fountain pens would be my last crazy expense. I'm nuts.
So here I am...
Basically I hate shaving right now. Anything that could make it better would be a huge deal to me. I avoid shaving until the stuff itches my lip and my wife refuses to kiss me. I hate having a beard but I hate shaving just as much. I use the cheap 2 and 3 blade throw-aways with barbasol cream. I have a razor with some blades on the way, but I still need a brush and soap or cream. I've got some little mugs I made in college ceramics 2 class, so I have that. Ugh... so much gear. I thought fountain pens would be my last crazy expense. I'm nuts.
I've always shaved with Barbasol cream and a cart razor for the past 25 years. Never knew any better. Someone gave me some C.O. Bigelow cream as a gift one time, and I used that to shave in the shower by hand lathering. I liked the results, but didn't change anything else.
About 6 months ago, I decided I needed to slow down and take my time in all things-shaving would be one of them (funny-I googled different ideas on how to slow down and relax, and found Badger and Blade. I purchased an inexpensive Shea Moisture badger brush and decided to quit shaving in the shower--again, slow down and take my time. I kept using Fusion carts, so I guess it was a matter of degrees. I did purchase some old school after shaves though. At the end of the day, a cart was very easy for me because I didn't have to worry about blade angle on my head since I'm also a head shaver. I guess the final straw was after I had invested in everything but the DE razor, and paid $28 bucks for a new set of Fusion cartridges. I swore when paying out that it was the last time I did that.
I researched B&B to find a good DE to be my gateway razor, and opted for the Edwin Jagger de89lbl. It was delivered Friday, and I used a DE for the first time this morning. No issues at all with my face, but I jumped in whole and used it on my head as well. I just got two nicks on little moles that my Fusion would not bother, but that's it. I thought AV Ice Blue was intense prior to a DE shave, but it stepped it up a notch after a DE shave. WOW!!!
That's my story.
Cheers!
About 6 months ago, I decided I needed to slow down and take my time in all things-shaving would be one of them (funny-I googled different ideas on how to slow down and relax, and found Badger and Blade. I purchased an inexpensive Shea Moisture badger brush and decided to quit shaving in the shower--again, slow down and take my time. I kept using Fusion carts, so I guess it was a matter of degrees. I did purchase some old school after shaves though. At the end of the day, a cart was very easy for me because I didn't have to worry about blade angle on my head since I'm also a head shaver. I guess the final straw was after I had invested in everything but the DE razor, and paid $28 bucks for a new set of Fusion cartridges. I swore when paying out that it was the last time I did that.
I researched B&B to find a good DE to be my gateway razor, and opted for the Edwin Jagger de89lbl. It was delivered Friday, and I used a DE for the first time this morning. No issues at all with my face, but I jumped in whole and used it on my head as well. I just got two nicks on little moles that my Fusion would not bother, but that's it. I thought AV Ice Blue was intense prior to a DE shave, but it stepped it up a notch after a DE shave. WOW!!!
That's my story.
Cheers!
I got tired of chewing up my face, and feeling obliged to hang in there on dud blades due to cost.
Since the switch, I've also found how much I enjoy the process of the wet shave, even on deployment, those extra 15 minutes in the morning were well worth it.
Since the switch, I've also found how much I enjoy the process of the wet shave, even on deployment, those extra 15 minutes in the morning were well worth it.
I have always been irked at the cost of cartridges, but that was not why I switched.
I've never been satisfied with the shaves I was getting, it was just a necessary evil. Tried them all electrics, cartridges, disposables, nothing worked well. And, like so many things in life, when you are dissatisfied with something you keep trying new things.
Eventually, I stole a Bic Soliel disposable ladies razor from my wife, I got a better shave from that than all the other stuff. So I started buying those. Still not good, though.
I would see the DE blades at the store and remarked many times that I wish I could find a razor for those. My wife bought a Merkur set for my anniversary, off the net.
I never looked back.
I've never been satisfied with the shaves I was getting, it was just a necessary evil. Tried them all electrics, cartridges, disposables, nothing worked well. And, like so many things in life, when you are dissatisfied with something you keep trying new things.
Eventually, I stole a Bic Soliel disposable ladies razor from my wife, I got a better shave from that than all the other stuff. So I started buying those. Still not good, though.
I would see the DE blades at the store and remarked many times that I wish I could find a razor for those. My wife bought a Merkur set for my anniversary, off the net.
I never looked back.
Boredom with carts. Sheer boredom.
I got interested in this hobby when I noticed double edged blades at the store were so much cheaper than cartridges. That and I was tired of crappy shaves every time.
It's deja vu all over again.
I learned on a gillette DE. Tried adjustables, injectors and bands.
Jumped on the electric (never a good shave), Atra, disposables and Mach 3 bandwagons (ok, I put my foot down with the Mach 3...carts were outragious). I had been using the original Atra handle with store band carts for years and years.
Noticed it was harder and harder to find Atra carts in stores and they were getting pricey. Had read on other forums about DE shaving. Somebody posted a link to Mantic's videos and here. Joined here in April.
I find it amazing the amount of money that could be spent pursuing this activity. My RAD consists of 2 Lord 1822Ls, a birth-year Gillette black tip and a fat handle tech. My two goto razors are one of the Lords and the Tech, but the greatest find was shaving soap, bowl and brush. I'm a (cheap) soap guy and can't wait to get my hands on some Arko!
That's my story.
I learned on a gillette DE. Tried adjustables, injectors and bands.
Jumped on the electric (never a good shave), Atra, disposables and Mach 3 bandwagons (ok, I put my foot down with the Mach 3...carts were outragious). I had been using the original Atra handle with store band carts for years and years.
Noticed it was harder and harder to find Atra carts in stores and they were getting pricey. Had read on other forums about DE shaving. Somebody posted a link to Mantic's videos and here. Joined here in April.
I find it amazing the amount of money that could be spent pursuing this activity. My RAD consists of 2 Lord 1822Ls, a birth-year Gillette black tip and a fat handle tech. My two goto razors are one of the Lords and the Tech, but the greatest find was shaving soap, bowl and brush. I'm a (cheap) soap guy and can't wait to get my hands on some Arko!
That's my story.
My friend micah1_8 who no longer frequents here introduced me to it. At first, I was skeptical, but after failures with both electric and gillette 17 bladed monsters and goo, I was willing to try anything. The rest is history.
Using an electric razors gives me irritation on my neck. After reading some articles on the Net I found B&B, asked my Dad if he had any old DEs around and so far (about a month in) I am having fun shaving and thinking about what soap, creams etc I should try. To top it off the irritation around the neck seems to be getting better.
Got tired of the obscene cost of Mach 3 cartridges and remembered once upon a time that I used cheap DE blades and one of my dad's old Gillette's 20 years ago...
Went into a local antique shop two years ago and bought a '64 slim adjustable and then hit the 'net doing research about it and found B&B.
God help me!
Went into a local antique shop two years ago and bought a '64 slim adjustable and then hit the 'net doing research about it and found B&B.
God help me!
Wet shaving with a can and cart have always worked fine for me. Electrics are horrible for me, so I'll never even try that again. One day while on vacation I walked into an AoS store and was smitten by all the fancy products. I still didn't buy anything because I thought it was expensive. A couple of weeks later I was bored at the house and started surfing the web about wet shaving....and then my credit card fell out of my wallet.
Similar threads
