What was the biggest mistake you ever made when you started wet shaving?

What was the biggest mistake you ever made when you started wet shaving?

And I of course mean with a DE/SE/straight razor, and not brush/bowl with a cart.

For me -- trying to get Williams Mug Shaving Soap to work. The "modern" version, of course. The "good" version pre-dates my wet shaving journey by a long time, I think.

I just had too many bad shaves with that darn puck of whatever it is. The only times I got it to work even half decently was to add something like Noxzema face cleanser to it.

I had so many rough, irritating, bloody shaves with it. I grabbed some Van Der Hagen pucks after that, which were much, much better, but I kept trying to get Williams to work, since so many people swore by it. I watched dozens of vids, which gave me dozens of methods. None of them worked. And, I have a water softener in my house, so hard water was not the problem.

The ironic thing is that on the box it says that it won't dry up on your face -- but that's exactly what it does!
What's worse, when you are starting out with a DE, you naturally go slower, which gives Williams even more time to dry!

I revisited it many times after that -- still never got it to work. I used more water, less water, bloomed it overnight, bloomed it while showering, used hot water, warm water, cold water, face lathered, bowl lathered, etc. Tried 2 different boars, a badger, and a synthetic. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Yes, it's easy to lather -- but the lather dries fast on your face, and even before it dries, it is not a shave-worthy lather.

I was glad when they discontinued it last year -- I sold the 6 pucks I had left for $50. Not bad considering I paid around $1 - $2 each for them.

 

I made too many hardware/software changes. I should have stuck with one razor, one brand of blade, one soap, etc. for at least a month and/or until I developed some technique.

 

too much soap all at once.razors were fine as they were all gillettes and they all shave similarly.my soap will last me years..

 

Looking for a magic razor. Find one you like and learn to use it.

 

That was my issue -- I stuck with the farkakte Williams for far too long!

 

For me it was listening to other shavers' propaganda extolling the virtues of face-lathering. I gave myself a brush burn that put to shame any razor burn I've ever had. My neck was a bright fluorescent pink for two days.


After that, I went back to my happy place - a puck of modern WMS in a Marvy mug with a Semogue 830. One minute of loading/lathering on the puck followed by about five seconds to paint the lather onto my face and I'm good to go.

 

Not finding people who knew how to do it right and would kindly explain it.
I made so many mistakes to nemours to list here.

I found the shave den way to late in life.

tp

 

I thought that pre shave oils/products mattered. Even made my own. Absolutely zero need.

 

1. Utter ignorance of prep and technique.

2. Jumping in the deep end with a 1924.

The second was made far worse by the first.

 

Buying too much, too fast. Also, selling too much too fast.

 

They do matter...to the company that makes them!

"Money makes the world go 'round, the world go 'round
Money makes the world go 'round"

 

Ever-ready 1924? I have one -- and I believe I've tried it. (I get the 1914 and the 1924 mixed up.) I remember it being extremely satisfying to hear that sound of scraping burnt toast as my whiskers disappeared. I have pretty much the whole range of early-20th Century Gem-style razors, but haven't tried them all yet. In fact, I probably have used 1 blade out of the 100 pack of Personna/Gems I bought a few years ago...

 

Too much pressure and/or wrong angle with the SEs and I always wound up with razor burn.
Now, they're a pleasure to use.

 

There are original instruction sheets floating around the internet for a handful of Gems and Ever-readys that illustrate the correct angle. Not all are the same -- in fact, I believe the recommended angle for a 1914 and 1924 are different -- but I'm going by memory.

In my extremely limited experience, I prefered the ones that don't force you to put the cap against the face -- I got too much drag and the "suction cup" effect.

 

started too damn late..i at least started using a brush and wilkinson soap in 2006.

 

I've been able to get good deals by just waiting a few weeks. Considering the volume of razors listed every day on the bay, odds are someone will list one way below trending price, with a BIN. That's how I just got my British one-piece for $10, shipped.

I see there's an homage to the Eclipse Red Ring by PAA. I'm not familiar with that vintage razor. And 90 clams seems a lot to pay for an homage unless it's absolutely mind-blowing.

As an aside, I've wondered who actually makes PAA razors. Since they don't say, even on the packaging they come in (I've bought just one), one would have to assume the U.S. I believe we have a law that says you must indicate the country of manufacture, unless it is here in the U.S.
If it were from China, you could bet your bottom dollar that they would be sold on Ali.

Slims can be had for less than that now. Fatboys keep showing up in new listings every day. Could probably snag one for 30 bananas if you're patient.

Yes, I started using a brush and Trumpers in the mid '90s. Knew nothing about them, but a local store had jars of them, so I tried it. Then I started seeing it pop up in department stores. When I couldn't get it locally anymore , I started getting Art of Shaving cream locally at the mall, and then in the Wall Street area.

For whatever reason, I went back to canned gel for awhile. I started using DEs about 9 years ago, but not exclusively -- mixed it up with carts.

I'm surprised that my late father used carts -- he got me an Atra when I started needing to shave. He was already in his 40s when carts were introduced. I never remember seeing a DE in the bathroom when I was a kid. And there certainly were no DEs in the bathroom closet when I started to shave. In fact, I believe my first shave was with an old electric that was in the closet that my father told me to try.

 

my dad grew up on DE,but used electrics since the early 70s.i got stuck with bic disposables and gillette 2 blade carts around 1981.mach 3 and goo until 2006ish,the brush and wilkinson/williams/mach 3 until 2016.started DE around august of that year and not looked back.my first razor was a fatboy,g-1 if i remember,i bought it for my cool stuff display case at my auto repair shop

 

1. Starting years too late
2. therefore missing out on my grandfather's Injector when he passed away.

 

I don't remember the exact year I started shaving, but pretty close to 1981, give or take a year.

In the 90s, I did buy an electric that I kept in my briefcase to shave if I was going out after working in the office.