Hi everyone, I'm brand new to Serious Wetshaving, and just joined this delightful forum. What a pleasant surprise to find such supportive community, with none of the savage flaming and testosterone-fuelled screamfests so common elsewhere on the 'net. I've been using the mass advertised crap from Gilette and Edge for decades, first razor was one of those 1970's "cassette" continuous band-of-metal jobbies that snapped a cartridge into a handle. The cartridge had a crank (like the minute hand on a clock) that you rotated. This advanced the band, bringing fresh metal with virgin edge into position. Seven shaves later, rotate the crank again, get a new "blade", etc. I think it might have been called "Track Matic". After that, Trac-II, Atra, Sensor, Mach-III, all the standard stuff advertised on TV. When 4- and 5- bladed monsters appeared, and $2.50 per cartridge became the norm, I rebelled. Switched to 30-packs of disposables from Costco and shouted a big "eff wye" to Gilette et al. Then I found y'all -- through LeisureGuy's blog and book. Bought a Merkur HD and several blade sampler packs from different vendors, thanks for that particular tip, Michael! Bought a boar brush, a badger brush, and a synthetic brush. I've decided to start slowly, first concentrating on learning how to get a good lather (and using Bic Sensitive disposables). In a couple weeks I'll take up the DE and try to get the hang of that as well. So far I'm enjoying the journey immensely.
Welcome to The Shave Den! A great community of guys and gals that enjoy wet shaving, I hope you enjoy your stay! Be sure to sign up for the December Newbie Give-Away for a chance to win some great shave gear!
Welcome to The Shave Den. Did you get the Omega synthetic? I find that one to be excellent---as good as most badger brushes, in fact. Thanks for the book mention. You're really going to enjoy yourself once you start using a safety razor with a double-edged blade!
Yes, I bought the Omega synthetic. Enthusiastic reviews and a shockingly low price motivated me to also buy the synthetic brush from Body Shop -- which hasn't arrived yet. For eleven bucks it's an inexpensive experiment; an appealing bet.
