I have always been a wet shaver, Electrics do nothing for me. In the past I used Canned Foam and Cartidges and got nothing but lousy and painful shaves. I came to real wetshaving because of sites like this.
Except for a brief flirtation with a cartridge razor and Edge in college during the late '70's, I'd used an electric all my shaving life (30+ years). Then my wife took me to AOS in 'Vegas for a shave as an anniversary present, and that's all she wrote....
This might sound like a rather depressing story but trust me it ends up nice! I had used an electric all my shaving life and the results were never super but I figured it was fine. My fiancé and I ended our relationship in April and for obvious reasons I sort of lost interest in most things. I sort of let myself go in terms of appearance and weight (I went all the way up to 234, check the Diet thread for my progress now!). It took me until August to start to recover and basically it clicked in my head it was time to change my habits and become the person I used to be/wanted to be most. An article randomly appeared about men's grooming and that led me directly here and the rest is history! Funnily enough, my foray into Wet Shaving has resulted also in my new found attempts to get my weight back under control too. So there we go! :ashamed001
Like the others, I have always wet shaved. From the time I started shaving I've looked for ways to improve the experiance. I remembered barbers used hot towels so I used a hot damp wash cloth from shave 2 or 3 on. I tried every shave cream/gel in the store until I found the one I thought was best for me, and was pretty happy with my shaves for awhile. Then I was reading a tech blog I frequent and they posted a link to the MSNBC article. That led me to search google for more information which led me to the shave forums. I didn't find this one until I decided to try the DE again in August and The Shave Den was showing up in search results. I still don't know about changing to DE completely but every now and then I can get a great shave from one. However, the badger brush, creams, and soaps are there to stay.
Too much hair on my face when I was 13. I used DE razors from about 1956 to 1996 except for a full beard for a couple of years in the 70s. I used a Super Speed most of that time and a Slim Twist the last few years. I used various Norelco shavers 1996-2007. I never abandoned DE shaving completely using the Slim Twist for some special occasions when appearance was important. There were a few other shaving tools I used briefly such as a Remington I received as a gift in 1956. I hated it and quit using it after a week or so but I kept it until I graduated from college. In the 60s I tried two Gillette adjustables that I threw away after a few months. I bought an expensive Braun electric last year and sold it after a few weeks. Until September of this year I used only aerosol foam with a DE. Brush lather from soap is a vast improvement. I haven't tried any creams or gels. I've never tried a multi-blade or cartridge razor but I have used a few BIC disposables away from home. I found them extremely poor. I returned to wet shaving after reading several of the shaving forums and wondered what all the fuss was about. I'm still not sure. I look at the Norelco Arcitec every time I go in a store that sells them. I have a feeling it's not impossible that I may return to an electric soon. An electric is quicker with no mess. While absolutely not as close as a DE the difference isn't visible for 6-8 hours. An electric always feels closer apparently due to creating split ends on the hair. Even paying $200 for an electric and buying a new head every couple of years, electrics were cheaper for me than this wet shaving hobby. When DE shaving wasn't a hobby with $100 plus brushes it cost me about a dollar a year for foam and $10 a year for blades. An electric cost a bit more averaging about $15 a year for new heads. Richard
I think I've always wet shaved. Got my first DE just before I turned 13, my Mon had occasionally run Dad's razor over my face when I was a bit younger because I was a very fuzzy kid...:rofl My folks gave me a brush with my first DE also.... I still own it. It's an Eveready, and it looks like a badminton shuttlecock after all these years. This was what got me started on this site. After surfin around to find a new brush, I ran into a few shaving sites that stoked my interest in obtaining a new DE and throwing my m3 in the garbage. I picked up a Merkur, it was very nice.... I had almost forgotten just how good a DE shaved. I was hooked!!!:1respect But then.......... came the Straights!!! I will use them forever, but I will keep my DE's around... just in case. I now laugh when I see the shave sections in stores and see men buying cartridges that give me sticker shock.
The same here. I started at 266 and proceeded to drop 35 pounds. The better I felt I wanted to do more about my appearance. So I bagged the canned goo and multiblade. Now a year later I have 15+ razors, 5 brushes, 12 creams, and 8 soaps!!! I found the shaving sites and Ask Andy for clothes.
I shaved with an electric until graduating from college, then got into the cartridge-razor phase. While still using the cartridge-razor, I stumbled upon Merz Apothecary in Chicago and found a shaving cream in a tub (a Caswell-Massey product): Used that whole tub as a "brushless" cream :rofl I then began "googling" for other shave cream varieties and eventually came across Merkur razors, brushes, etc.
I've been doing this forever, albeit with a cartridge razor for most of that time. I have no idea how long I've had this brush - probably since the 70's. An occasional lapse into Norelco-land, but mostly, this. Then, I happened on Corey Greenberg's blog in my local newspaper and discovered how to actually enjoy (and PAY for) a shave! Awesome brush, huh? I think it's a Plisson!
I am not particularly crazy about Williams shave soap, are you pleased with it? How well does it do on you?
Now here is the reason I ask. I used Williams for a while before I converted to Crabtree and Evelyn Sandlewood soap. I was never particularly nuts about the Williams. I was looking for a second opinion on the Williams shave soap product. Since you said that you are on to the good stuff now I take it that you do not include Williams as one of the "good stuff" notice your choice in terms. I take it Williams does not measure up to what the other soaps can do.
Price brought me to wet shaving. I could not see paying $3.50 for a blade. Now I do not pay anywhere near that. Straight razors will bring that number to $0 per blade.
Really? How much have you paid for your seven super speeds? less than $3.50? How much have you paid for the blades that go in your SS's? Still believe in the "it is cheaper" argument? Raf
