What pushed you in this direction?

What nudged you toward classic shaving? I put it that way because I want to include double edge, single edge, old wedge blades (like the Rolls), injectors, straights, heck, even cartridge razors if they have fewer than four blades and if you use soap and brush to lather.

For me, of all things, it was Amazon. Okay, my father did teach me on a DE razor in the early 70s, but I hadn't used one in a long time. I moved on to Trac II, later changed to Atra, and stayed there for twenty odd years. I did experiment with electrics from time to time, but never learned to like them.

It was getting harder to find the cheap generic cartridges for the Atra, though, and I eventually thought to check out Amazon. I found my cartridges, but if you search there, you come up with a lot of stuff. To my surprise, DE razors were still being made. How about that? I started reading customer reviews, and it began to seem more and more like a good idea to try this out.

One guy reviewing a Merkur said that you should always use a soap and brush, and gave a link to a wet shaving web page (no, not this one or B&B). Wow, whole range of new possibilities opening up.

That was not quite a year ago. Since then, I have found many other web resources for information, equipment, and supplies, but it was Amazon that started it all.

 

For me it was this link on lifehacker.com that showed me the light. I had always hated shaving. My face face always felt on fire when I finished shaving with my mach 3. I was to the point where I gave up shaving entirely and tried to grow a beard. Needless to say "tried" was the key word. After I watched mantic's video that was on the page I instantly sought after more information. Soon after I had picked up the VDH starter kit at Walmart and a Merkur 15c. I've been enjoying great shaves ever since.

 

I've always found it awkward to put shaving cream on my lower neck with my hand. In the back of my mind I always thought there should be a better way, and that a brush would be it. I may have been pushed a bit more by posts on The Fedora Lounge, but whatever the case I bought a VMD brush and soap at Wally World and never looked back.

Now I'm using a Gillette Tech and a variety of blades, a badger brush and good shave creams. I've even gotten my wife to start using a brush and shave creme. :happy102

Cheers,
Tom

 

It was one of the price hikes on Mach 3 cartridges that sent me over the edge. It was shortly after the fusion came out and they were trying to push us into buying one. I was considering trying it anyway after reading the article on Art of Manliness about shaving like your Grandpa. So, I called my grandfather who now likes fusion blades. He had an old Super Speed and Knack that belonged to his father-in-law and sent them to me. I've picked up blades at Wal-Mart (I had been using a VDH brush and soap for a couple weeks already) and I was off. A far cry from shaving with just a Mach3 and water. Yes, I didn't use any cream, foam, goo, etc. before moving to wet shaving. Everything I've ever tried from a can irritated my face severely. The bad shave I had from the Mach3 and water was better than the terrible shave I had from most combinations.

 

what pushed me to pick up DE/ SE shaving?

Cost. I grew a beard post-Katrina and the time came for me to shave it off. I used electrics pre-Katrina and did not want to go back to them. I used Gillette Sensor carts before the electrics so I decided to try going back to that.

But the local walmart didn't have any sensor handles. I ended up picking up the generic version of a three blade cart. I think its brand name was Matrix.

The cost on these things was through the roof. I thought Sensor carts were expensive and these were an order above that. I saw that walmart still carried DE blades for $1.50 a ten pack. An unheard of deal.

So I did an internet search and found a webzine article about DE shaving, then found classicshaving. Ordered a Feather Popular, some store brand soap and a boar brush and the rest is history.

 

The Dean of Discipline at my High School.

 

What pushed me to DE Shaving

What pushed me to DE Shaving......the cost of Fusion blades at Costco, which was considerably less than anywhere else. The shave with the Merkur Vision is the best I have ever had. I am also glad I ordered a blade sampler pack for $15. Gillette 7-O'clock yellows provide a smooth shave compared to the Merkur blades. No drag!

 

My sons, plain and simple.

I used started shaving with a D/E in the mid 70's too, and shortly thereafter switched to the never ending march of cartridges. Once my two sons needed to start to shave, I felt that going with the Fusion cartridges was just too expensive, especially since my oldest son was using them at a faster rate than I did and shaved far fewer times. :mad:

The rest as they say, is History!

 

I started shaving with a DE (it's what was available then) and an Old Spice brush and soap. I've used different razors over the years, but brush and soap have been a constant. And, to be honest, to me the razor is still secondary.

Like most folks, I picked up a DE because of the crazy cost of cartridges. I do get a much better shave with a DE if only because I can shave ATG. I never could do that with a multi-blade without pulling and irritation.

Canned foams were plentiful when I was a teen, but I thought the brush and soap was sufficiently different to be cool. Turned out I liked it a lot.

 

The amount of money they ask for cartridges and the perfomance they provide are absolutely out of order!

That's the main reason I converted to DE shaving.

As a bonus I found out that the shave is far more close with a single blade than all the multiple blades hope to ever can achive....

 

I have an addictive personality, it was either this or drugs, sex and rock n roll - well maybe gambling :ashamed001.

 

My brother-in-law bought me a bowl and puck of shave soap from l'Occitane for Christmas a couple of years back, and it sat in my closet. I occasionally thought about it, but never much. It seemed like a really cool gift, but I just. never. got. around to using it.

I have long suffered through crappy shaves, and became more and more annoyed at the process. Then, a few weeks back, I started to notice that I was running out of shave gel in a can, and was getting pretty tired of it. So, I decided to buy a badger hair brush, and got into the wet-shave internet resources like here, mantic's blog, and badger and blade, and the rest is history.

I could not be happier with the fact that I spent less than two cartridge-packs' worth on a brush, razor, and blades that will probably last me most of 2010.

 

I was on a fountain pen forum and somebody mentioned shaving with a brush and soap. They gave me a link to one of the other shaving forums and I was hooked.

 

I thought it would be cool to go retro.

 

the price

for me it was the price of the cartridges. I hated paying so much for them. then every time I shaved I got burn on my cheeks. then I remembered seeing and trying out an old cheap safety razor that my grandpa had a long time ago, googled them and bamb! here I am.

 

I don't like modernity. I like steam. I just like the old ways. Not all the old ways. I don't have a rose tinted view of the past but I do feel we have thrown the baby out with the bath water sometimes.

 

My job made me do it! I was informed that I had to start wearing a hair net at work but if you had a clean shaven head you didn't. I had kept it BBS in the past but had got into the habit of just clipping it down with no guard on. So I decided that if I was going to go cue ball that I was going to enjoy it. I am a brush convert for sure and I'm getting good at not hacking up my face with my Slim. Now if I can just figure out how to keep from making my neck look like hamburger. I do like the fact that the blades are more economical too.

 

Due to cost I was using whatever was on sale. My face started feeling like it was falling off, and I had a nasty ingrown hair area on my neck that was almost impossible to shave. A friend of mine at work brought up straight razor shaving and I started reading about that and DE shaving on the web. I really never even thought about it prior to that. I would have never believed an old fashioned one blade heavy metal razor could shave better and be better for your skin than a modern, technologically superior, multi-bladed vibrating, flexing, pivoting, lubed shaving device. I picked up a couple of eBay razors, a VDH brush and some soap and haven't touched a multi-blade thing since. Now the money I used to waste on expensive blades I spend on whatever AD I happen to be going through. Currently it's soaps and creams.

So bottom line as to what "brung" me is cost, but I stay for the shave.

 

I was visiting my daughter and son-in-law. Ran out of canned goo and asked to bum some from my son-in-law only to find that he had gone the route of using a brush and soap with his Fusion.

So for 3 days I used his brush and soap. Got me wishing for my younger days when I used brush soap and DE razor. Got home and googled and found a couple shave forums. Read like nuts and quickly decided to get back to real shaving.

I have been hooked since. About 45 razors, DE, SE and Injectors. About 25 creams and soaps and 20 balms, milks, and edts. And 7 brushes with both boar and badger hair.

Have so much money tied up in them that I could never justify going back to the current stuff again. If course even with the original investment in equipment I am still ahead as I will never need to buy more or even replace a razor or brush.

 

My push...

Mine was the fact that I was getting tired of the Mach 3 tearing my face off. I don't know if I happened to buy some bad blades or what. I was throwing a small fit about it at work....the friend that offices with me in the same office - said "shave like a man with a straight".

I told him I would...but they just don't make them anymore. Then he unleashed the furry on the newbie. Started telling me all the stuff he has, how he has done it for years, where to buy, what he recommends, etc.

Then, talking about it with my father-in-law, who collects antiques and what not...he said "well if you can restore them...then I have several old ones. One of my great grand fathers.". I ended up with a Wade & Butcher in nice shape, and several others I can't recall all the brands.

Anyway, I was also tired of all the cost in the Mach 3 route. Blades, cream, batteries, ...man those blades are ridiculous.

So here I am...a newbie, and on the road to being a oldie.