What was your biggest Wet Shaving surprise bonus?

[redrako]

What unanticipated bonus have you picked up since you began wet shaving?

It doesn't matter if we've been wet shaving for just a few months or for many years, we all at one time went through a similar learning curve. Careful, respectful attention the the sharp piece of metal that we are dragging across our faces. Wondering exactly what a good lather should look like and wondering if we'd ever be able to build lather like I see in photos here on B&B. Realizing that all that extra buffing and J-Hooking really amounts to a 5th and 6th pass and that perhaps that has something to do with the razor burn that you're left with.

But we know that over time, we learn to map our beards, adjust our razor/face angle, back off on pressure and find that our shaves regularly become pretty good, and occasionally are exceptional.

One unanticipated bonus for me is the quite time in the morning when I can focus on prepping my face, building a good lather and quietly, almost meditatively shave. I get to enjoy the feel of the soft brush against my face, breath in the luxurious scents of the lather and still am amazed at how good a quality, warm lather feels on my face.

Another bonus for me was that as I went into my first winter after having started wet shaving was that my face was a lot softer and lacked the dried out feeling that the cold winter air usually brought to my face. As much as I like the traditional Barbershop aftershave splashes, it was the application of balms as a final step that really made for a significant change in my skin for the better.

So what have you experienced wet shaving that you wouldn't have imagined when you began?

 

[Jess]

As silly as it sounds.....I was surprised at how much I would grow to love the aftershaves. Clubman, bay rums, etc......i hate to admit...I used to think they stunk. I would come home from the barber shop and take a shower to get rid of that smell. but, now that I've gotten used to them all.....it's something I really look forward to and often times have a hard time deciding which I want to use

 

[greenie]

So what have you experienced wet shaving that you wouldn't have imagined when you began?

That I can enjoy shaving. Shaving has never been a painful experience for me, but it used to fall off to the same category with ironing - I just didn't care to do it and hated doing it if in a hurry. I still despise ironing, but have grown to enjoy shaving.

 

[jzuzphreek]

For me the bonus is the superior distinguished feeling I have when I see the ill/unshaven fellows around me.

But also the evening, relaxing, "me" time when I choose to shave in the evening after everyone else has gone to bed. Much more reflective than sitting in front of the television.

 

[maich]

When I joined the military I had to shave twice a day during boot. I hated it, tons of irritation and ingrown hairs. It's been 8 years since I first joined and up until two months ago when I started wet shaving I've more or less hated waking up everyday and having to shave. I was jealous of civ friends just being able to go in w/ a little stubble at work. Now I actually enjoy shaving and the "ritual" of it so much that I started shaving on the weekends. Now to just get everyone on the ship hooked on it...

 

[Evbo]

The biggest bonus for me has been my completely unanticipated evolution into a full-blown fragrance hound. Pre-B&B, everything I used was unscented. But now? Crazy.

 

[Graybeard57]

How much I look forward to each shave. Never would have imagined it.

 

[dpittman70]

I actually like to wake up early in the morning when all is quiet. My wife and 2 small children are still sleeping. I grab a cup of coffee. I get my shaving set-up ready and take a nice warm shower. Then commence to my shaving zen.

 

[volleymh9]

a great surprise for me was my new-found hobby of collecting shaving paraphernalia. I always loved collecting as a kid (coins, baseball cards, etc) but to paraphrase Sonny from 'A Bronx Tale' "Mickey Mantle isn't going to pay my rent." I grew older and stopped, but now that void is filled with soaps, aftershave, blades, etc and I am happy to have the hobby back in my life.

 

[riFph]

I'm with dpittman70, I wake up 45 min earlier excited to get out of bed and shave, and I keep thinking "if I don't get get up now I can't shower, and then can't shave." It also gets me ready earlier so I can get the kid ready earlier and the whole day just starts off better, with me more awake!

 

[SteveWY]

Ditto to looking forward to the shave, looking for new things to try, discovering the finer points (mechanics of the shave, lather quality), and overall enjoying the experience. I don't know if it is a bonus or what, but I was surprised that sometimes I lay in bed thinking about what the next morning's shave routine will be. What the heck?

The true overreaching bonus is walking out the door in the morning feeling invigorated and with a sense of style.

 

[Gary H]

My bonus is the rush I get while racing home to shave after work. Before I shaved because I had to for work. Now I take pride in and enjoy my daily shave.

 

[KingLobo]

The smoothing out of rough places on my face around the cheek/chin area that I thought were just due to old age or something.

SWMBO seems to be jealous of my shaving time - "you listen to music while you shave?!...geez."

I DO look forward to my shave time and trying out different soaps, blades, aftershaves, preps, etc.

 

[Lockedin]

One of the biggest and most pleasant surprises has been the improvement in my complexion and skin tone - I've literally shaved years off my appearance.

Also, even though I anticipated a better shave, I grossly underestimated just how much I would enjoy the experience of shaving with a tool instead of a toy, lathering with all of these wonderfully scented soaps instead of canned goo, using aftershaves instead of just walking out the door with a red face and the satisfaction of shaving at 5am and still having a smooth face and head at 5pm.

 

[Beerhunter]

"They stunk" holy cow that's why I went to a barber shop was the smell. And the fact I wasn't at a great clips.

 

[Beerhunter]

Another surprise was the look of horror. When I saw my swimbo use my brush to lather up her pits. I knew I never should have
taught her how to de shave. Gerrrrrr glad it was a VDH brush. Good one though.
PS Anybody got good brush for sale cheap

 

[Lockedin]

Another surprise was the look of horror. When I saw my swimbo use my brush to lather up her pits. I knew I never should have
taught her how to de shave. Gerrrrrr glad it was a VDH brush. Good one though.
PS Anybody got good brush for sale cheap

 

[Kilroy6644]

1. The joy of shaving. I used to shave every other day, except on weekends. Now I shave at least once every day, and wonder if there's some way I can shave more.
2. Rediscovering aftershave. Several years ago I started using Aqua Velva, but I never got into it. I've never really cared for dumping stuff in my hand and smearing it on my face (until recently, of course). So when the bottle was empty, I threw it away (glass bottle, too ), and didn't buy anymore. But since I got that old Gillette for Christmas, I started using aftershave again, and it's so nice.

 

[sterno]

That I would enjoy shaving so much, would look forward to it every morning, and that I had such a huge capacity to buy stuff other than books or technology gadgets. Good thing that a lot of this stuff is pretty cheap compared to other obsessions. It's almost becoming like a phone bill - every month, I know I'm spending $X on shaving-related stuff, and I don't worry about the cost.

 

[Ducati Scotty]

I love the old school barbershop scent of the soaps and aftershaves. It's more mild than a cologne but distinctly 'manly'. Even though most of the products I have fade away by the time I get dressed it makes for a nice start or end of the day, depending on when I shave that day.

Scott