What was your trigger point?

[stringtyer]

Maybe this is an old topic but didn't see it in a search so I'll trot it out.

Was there any particular event that triggered you to either begin or return to wet shaving? My story, briefly (as if anyone cares) ...

Like most guys my age (60), I started shaving with a good old Gillette something-or-other razor. For me it was a Fat Boy that my dad gave me. I still own it and still use it on most days. I played with injectors and even had a TechMatic with the continuous blade. Called away by the siren lure of multiple blades, I slipped into the marketing driven cartridge razors. Tried them all; two blades, three, four, and even one that vibrated. What a rush!

I had gotten a bit cheap so I went to the bag-o-razor disposables for about a buck a whack. With those little jewels and some shampoo (hey, I was in the shower anyway), I could get a good week of fine shaves. At least it cut the hair off my face. Sort of. Soooo ... while at Wally World one day to get me another bag of razors, I looked at the premium carts that would fit the handle I had and nearly fainted when I saw them at $16 for four. Right beside them was a pack of 10 double edge Wilkinson blades for less than two bucks. That was the trigger. I went home, dug out my FatBoy and started over.

Now, some 30 double edge razors, 10 Ever Ready brushes (restored), and at least 3 mugs later, all I need to complete my FatBoy collection is a 4th Quarter '58.

 

[Jtokle]

Standing in the shaving aisle at Wal-Mart looking at the $18 package of cartridges when I realized that I was paying that much for four cartridges. I used to pay that much for eight M3 Power cartridges before the Fusion. It infuriated me when I realized that they've kept the price the same by giving you half as many cartridges. I remembered reading about straight razor and DE shaving a few months before, so I went home and looked online. I ordered a Parker SR1 shavette and the rest is history. It was rough at first, but after the fifth shave I had the confidence to return the pack of cartridges that I'd purchased as a backup. I'm not opposed to cartridge shaving. The Fusion ProGlide Power gives an excellent shave, but not for the price. I can get a year supply of Astra SP blades for half the price of a package of four cartridges.

 

[ronwell]

I received a Gillette Sensor Excel in a welcome pack when I started college and used that for years until I left in a hotel. At that time, the newest razor on the market was the vibrating Mach 3. Bought one. Stopped using the battery after 3 shaves because it seemed like a worthless feature. Bought a ton of replacement cartridges on ebay because they were half what you'd pay for them in a B&M store (but still horribly overpriced). When I opened my last pack from the lot, I thought, "I don't want to buy any more of these. There's got to be a better way." Did some research online, and the rest is history.

 

[Vlad]

I saw a segment on a morning show about how to get a better shave. Good tips about learning the direction of beard growth, but that lead to online research which led to Mantics youtube videos which led to b&b.

 

[NexlevMM]

I stopped getting good shaves from Shick and Gillette carts, then I happend to be browsing AOM and read a few articles on it. Was gonna get into straight razor shaving, realized that was too much of a hassle to maintain, and then bought a vintage DE at an antique shop.

 

[Niles]

I have shaved with increasingly older tools. Started with an electric. Quickly moved to a cartridge. Read about DE shaving and curiosity got the best of me. I'm glad it did.

 

[Clovis Man]

As for wet shaving -- well, does that mean a brush and soap? If so, then I've been doing that since I was in my 20's -- I'll be 58 in September.

As for DE and SR -- well, that $16 for 4 carts just totally torqued me off one day, and I started searching for a DE razor. I was shocked that I couldn't buy one at Walgreen's! Found one on eBay, a piece of junk, used it once and ordered a Progress and it took off from there. See the sig line for most of what I have now...

 

[mgoldmann]

Started with disposables as a teenager; switched to a Sensor in my 20's; used an electric in my 30's when cartridges got to be too expensive for me; received a Merkur 34C as a present (from my dog, believe it or not) about 7 years ago; went full time with the Merkur late last year when the quality of the shave from the electric finally pushed me over the edge; haven't looked back

 

[JetsMets#1fan]

The price of the cartridges AND concern for my skin.

Towards the end of my cartridge shaving days (about 4 months ago, lol) I decided to switch from Gillette to Schick because I wanted to see if it was better for my skin, as far as irritation, break outs, etc. and it was awesome, that hydro 5 was so much smoother and felt better on my skin -and especially my neck- that I wanted to see if I could improve my shave even more, so I started looking online and I think I ended up reading about wetshaving at the art of manliness website. From there I pondered and pondered for about 2 months if I wanted to make the switch and 2 months later, I started wetshaving and Im never going back to carts.

 

[the_edski]

Didn't need to shave during high school, and in college my facial hair was so sparse, I got away with one pass with a Mach 3 and canned goo every day. After I graduated college, I got a field engineer job that didn't require me to shave (at all), so I only shaved every 7-10 days with a Fusion and canned goo. Quit that and came home to go back to school and worked retail so I had to for real shave everyday. Got tired real quick of all the irritation, bloody neck and bloody corners of the mouth so I googled about better shaving, ended up here, ordered a Merkur 34c HD, Proraso Cream, Tweezerman brush, blade sampler and E-Shave Alum Block (you never forget your first order!) and the rest is history!

 

[stickjr25]

I had heard of the dollar shave club. Upon doing research I came across some info about DE shaving. I was hooked. It was a true glimpse into times past. I then bought my first razor and before I had one shave under my belt I bought a second. And this is supposed to be cheaper than cartridges right?

 

[akira2a]

I was using a electric razor for about 14 years without too much trouble until I got tired of the ingrown hairs I was getting all the time a year ago. I don't remember how or why but I found Mantics YouTube videos which lead to getting a Merkur Futur 3 piece set and finding B&B. I thought the Futur 3 piece set would be all I needed at the time. Now I have 20+ razors, 6+ Soaps, 9 brushes, 3 stands, 5+ creams, etc, etc. I was a complete fool. Oh well, I get great shaves with clear skin and NO INGROWN HAIRS. YES!!!

 

[joshuastar]

I like old things. I saw a sign for a store called "Art of Shaving" while out of town and got excited by the prospect of getting a proper old-school shave in an upscale barber shop. (turns out, my expectations were a bit wrong.)

then a few months later I stumbled onto the Art of Manliness site and saw articles that resonated with me. some of em were about shaving, not as a task but as a skill that requires quality tools and precision. how could that not be appealing?

then, a few weeks later, I saw an open comb double-edge razor from my great-grandfather's time in an antique shop.

i found this forum that night, after I bought the razor.

no one particular event but a culmination of thoughts and wants.

 

[Docd]

After getting ripped off on cartridges on EBay, I searched online and found mantic's videos. It took a while to get my setup, because I was stationed in Okinawa. I got a SS, I think it was a pendergrass sandalwood soap set with a bowl and brush, and bought some OS from the exchange. It was so horrible for the first few months for me. My lathering method was loading the brush and painting it on. I had no idea that there was more to lathering. Needless to say I went back to carts for a while to let my face heal. Still had problems upon returning, but found a revelation upon changing to an old type. Now I'm all in the game and getting great shaves since '10. Thank you to everyone who helped directly and indirectly to my success!

 

[onsight512]

I've been using a Mach III for as long as I can remember. My wife came home with a 10 pack of cartridges the other day, and like a lot of others, the first thing I thought of was how much they cost. I'd seen a thread about 'the art of shaving' of a bicycle forum a few days ago and it talked about DE razors. I called my Dad and asked if he'd send me one of his old ones. It arrived yesterday morning and I've used it twice so far. It's a Gilette DE and I believe it's a Fatboy from 1960.

 

[heddleston]

never really cared about shaving, was more of a chore and a pain in the rear than anything. to save time i would just go in dry with whatever i had at the time, be it a M3 or a Quattro. never got a good shave, just scraped of any long hairs. usually was done in 30 seconds, and i'd use a blade for upwards of 2 months, so those puppies were dull as all get out by the time i

this past winter i got married and started grad school, and i decided it was time to start shaving like an adult, which precipitated a visit to the store to get some new carts. i went to Sam's Club to see what carts were priced in bulk, and they were still ridiculous. i'd heard of DE shaving and of badger&blade, so i came over, did some research, and dove in.

 

[bcraig.waciii]

Well, pretty much I had tried everything in my whole four years of shaving. I started when I was 14 with a giant Costco sized box of the Gillette green and blue disposables. I used those for about a year and a half and realized they were causing my acne breakouts. Then I went to electric shavers and ended up with all kinds of razor burn and ingrown hairs. (These problems caused me to write somewhat of a research paper about the topic.)

Previously I had read on AOM, in a couple of books, and some other websites that DE shaving was the way to go. Skin is clear and healthy looking and good to go for about four months now!

 

[Triad]

Im 31 always used a cartridge was messing around on youtube one day reading comments on a head shaving video saw the words merkur sledgehammer i thought what the hell is that did a search up popped geofatboy the rest is history. I had heard of straights but never even heard of a de razor before. Thank you whoever made the comment and Geo!!

 

[rebos]

I used to dislike shaving quite a bit. I used to use a gillette mach3 and never felt good about my shaves. Probably the biggest issue was with my use of canned goo. I would get irritated red skin after shaving; nothing super serious, but enough to dread shaving.

On my birthday a few years ago my wife surprised me with a superspeed, a synthetic brush, and a tub of proraso sensitive. I was skeptical at first but then I had much better shaves. I used this setup for a year without ever thinking that it would be fun to buy lots of DE razors, soaps, creams, brushes and spend tons of money (but still feel good about it, and enjoy it). I had no idea that a group such as B&B existed, nor did I know how fascinating the history of shaving was, nor the history of the production of DE razors and each one's particular idiosyncrasies.

Fast forward another year: I had a terrible shave complete with lame razor burn on the neck. I decided to look online for help and find tips. I immediately found B&B, made my first thread, and now thoroughly enjoy it here and have posted some 700+ times. My shaves are way better and I now have a strong interest in what I've been calling "shave culture" and some of the finer things. My wife thinks it's all a bit laughable and maybe it is, but B&B's general ambiance has added immensely to my fondness for "things shave related", discussion thereof, and just general gentlemanly cordiality and helpfulness.

Thanks B&B.

 

[Stevew443]

My trigger point is kind of a round about way to wet shaving. I had used both straight razors and DEs in the past, but had stopped several years ago. Up until January of this year I had close to shoulder length hair and a full beard. In January I was stricken with a bout of severe acute pancreatitis and was rushed to the hospital and was in ICU for almost 3 weeks. I was in a very confused condition, so the hospital just tied my hair into a bun and nobody bothered to comb it for 3 weeks. I ended up with massive knots in my hair, and my beard was ratty looking so on my release I got a good haircut and shaved. I noticed that some of the meds I was on were causing my hair to fall out, so I figured that I would keep the hair short and start shaving daily. Those disposables did nothing for my face, so I pulled out the old DE and started using that and I was hooked. I figured that if I was going to start looking my age (60) I would start dressing better, so I got into bow ties, dress slacks, dress shirts, well groomed hair and as perfect a shave as I can get soooooo, I ended up with a good Edwin Jagger DE, a decent badger brush, and some fairly good soaps. Since I am trying to look well groomed, I might as well smell nice, so I began using the classic scents for my after shaves (mostly Bay Rum).
So, since January 2012, I have gone from an over weight hippie looking mess to a rather slim almost natty looking human being, and my wife approves of the change 100%.