What pushed you in this direction?

My story is the same as many of yours.

I started to shave with a Mach 3 but it would get on my nerves having to unclog the hair from between the multiple blades. And the canned goo didn't help either. I hated touching my face while shaving cuz of the weird slimy feeling. I ended up just shaving dry with no cream but it would irritate my face to no end.
After highschool I used hair trimmers on my face and kept it a really short stubble but that got real annoying real fast. I didn't want to go back to the disposible stuff so I sucked it up for a few years.

Needless to say I was in the mall one day and saw a brush for sale and picked it up. I kept using it with the canned goo stuff and decided to switch to a shavette. I've been shaving with the shavette for a few years now and just recently got my first real straight razor as an engagement gift.

I just got the razor yesterday the 12th so I still haven't shaved yet but I will soon I promise!!

 

For me it was the quest for a better shave. I have not experienced my first DE wet shave yet. Still waiting on my orders to arrive. The cost of using cartridge blade replacemnts have become totally outrageous. I thought there has to be a better and cheaper way to shave No matter how many blades they put in a cartridge the shave is marginal at best, does not last the day. I began my quest by asking questions here and reading the helpful reviews. I decided to vintage to start out and then move on up to a brand new one. I sometimes think we over tech stuff when the old worked better, the new is poor sub.

 

the push...

I had pretty much the same reasons for switching as everyone else. Here's my best story though...

I was in the bathroom at my grandfather's place when I was about 23. I have a habit of looking through his drawers sometimes because he used to keep the coolest stuff in there. Anyway, I was looking and behold! an old 3 piece DE that I know nothing about and a pack of blades. So, I decided to shave with them after my shower. I used Ivory soap and no brush because I didn't have one anyway. The shave was pretty good for a first attempt, but the soap left my face dry and tight. Like a few others I was surprised that I could get a closer shave with those old blades than I got with the Sensor or M3 blades I was using at the time.

Shortly after that I saw a VDH starter kit at Wal-Mart and began using it with my M3. Sometime after that I began doing internet research and came upon classicshaving.com...the rest is my epic journey and continuing adventure.

BTW, I think the ADs are kicking in! razors and AS.

 

I think I'm a bit of a tinkerer at heart. I enjoy odd hobbies, and using old equipment or skills in a modern world. I've tried my hand at building and using slings ( think David versus Goliath ), archery ( though with modern bows ), brewing beer/mead ( niiiiiiiiiiiice hobbie ), playing the harmonica, etc. Mostly these have been hobbies I can do alone and research on the internet. Shaving became the newest.

What has kept me in it is the simple fact that wetshaving produces a superior end product to the methods I've used before, and it's been coupled with a daily experience of 'me time' that has been sorely lacking in my busy life. Add in the enjoyment of sharing information and research in a forum such of this and you have a can't miss opportunity for enjoyment.

 

I started shaving in the mid 80's with the atra,my dad used the trac 2. I was getting horrible shaves with it and being a punk kid flatly refused to try the old man trac 2. Was wandering the aisles at my local eckerd drug store in '89 and there was the Parker and colgate puck and tried it, gotta say I hadn't the foggiest clue what i was doing so the soap didn't work out to good but the edge gel was better. Why I went with a more classic style then the trac I can't figure but it looked cool. Hindsight being crystal I now kick myself for never buying an injector just wasn't a shick man.

 

mslovacek and my discouragement with hard-to-find and expensive throwaway cartridges that seemed to dull too quickly

 

I started shaving in 1969 with an electric Remington razor that was given to me after my grandfather died.

Electric razor tore up my face so I started using the new fad at the time, 1970 which was a disposable Gilette razor with a single blade. On the top was a knob that when you turned when turn the blade just like the ribbon in a typewriter.

I soon went to usual double edge, then 3, etc.

In 1986, my wife and I were visiting an antique mall in Old Town Spring, TX and in one of the stores they had a display of Woods of Windsor shaving soap and mug. I fell in love with it! After using up the Woods of Windsor I had a difficult time finding soap. Occasionally I would find a Williams puck. Brushes were hard to find too.

All of this changed about 7 years ago when we obtained high speed internet and I started looking for Woods of Windsor. I found classic shaving site where I bought my first double edge razor and I've never looked back!

I feel satisfied too in knowing that I have introduced DE shaving to my 2 sons who love it!

 

Been shaving this way since shave one...tried a cartridge once but just didn't like it.

 

Leisureguy's blog, and book.

 

I tried DE back in the early 80s but I ended up shredding.

But I like older things so I decided that I should give it another go a few months ago. Found this place and learned a little technique.

 

My wet shaving start came from watching my grandfather shave on some mornings. I remember how 'cool' it looked when we'd swirl up the lather in a cup, and how detailed he was as he stroked his razor across his face. I remember the sound of the brush handle as it occasionally clinked against the ceramic mug, and the sound of the water swishing when he'd rinse his razor between strokes. There was always an honorable stillness throughout the house whenever my grandpa went into the bathroom to begin his day. When I was a little older, he gave me a toy razor to play shave with, and now it became 'our' ritual on some mornings.

Those times in front of the mirror with my grandfather taught me more about facing the day, than any self-help book ever could. It was a time when he decided to be his best. Thanks Grandpa!

 

Good story! Its great that you have those comfortable memories.

 

Yeah Man...I love how you nail things...thats most of it...Your G-Grand Dad sounds very cool, must be where you get it from...I didn't know my G'Dads, but my Dad sure instilled in me the importance of taking that time for yourself in the morning, with a brush and some great soaps, and the whole scene..He was very much into it, and we shared that for a few years...Later I got away from it as so many of us did with the cartridges for too many years, but since coming back to it I have rebonded with so many memories of my Pop, its kind of like a time-machine...Just another bonus aside from all the obvious ones...

PS; 1OldGI, whats with the menthol witch hazel. Witch-hazel is another time machine for me, one whiff and I'm back in the bathroom after Dad shaved..He used to add a little alum powder to the bottle...I love that stuff, but menthol witch-hazel sounds too hip...Whats your recipe ?

 

Google. I don't recall what the search was but it coughed up a Today article from 2005 How to get that perfect shave. That led to Amazon and other sites selling shaving kit and to forums. Ta-da!

 

I have a goal of increasing my mindfulness. I think that one way of doing that is to make mundane tasks more purposeful and deliberate. I can't rightly remember how that lead me here however.

 

A friend of mine started using a DE. I had already been using a brush and Lo'ocitane shaving cream, but he said the DE was great so I tried it. I never looked back.

 

Like many here, the cost of cartridges just ticked me off. As a newbie here, this is a return to DE shaving from 40 years ago for me. Glad to be free of cartridge slavery!

 

I have a favorite saying haning on a wall at The Groom Room. It quotes, "The Life You Are Living Now is the Result of Your Efforts." So, how much effort are we putting into our lives. Shaving well, for me takes more than just raking a cheap razor across my face... I want great results in all my endeavors, shaving being amongst them. Putting forth mental effort demonstrates that we're not accepting status quo or mediocracy. Another quote is, "The more sweat in practice, the less blood in battle." I want to face each day as prepared as I could possibly be... grooming and all.

Just a little food for thought.