Hear, hear!
My opinion regarding artisan signature soaps
- Thread starter NSmalls
- Start date
Hear, hear!
That's just not for us. We watch ourselves shave every day—I think that's enough for us. I'm sure these videos entertain or help some people - after all these guys have somehow acquired somewhat of a "celebrity status". Hey, I'm still waiting for my 15 minutes of fame. Shaving in front of a camera like it's something only I can do is not how my 15 will come to fruition, I'm afraid...
..."Vote for Pedro"
..."Vote for Pedro"
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For me,I used to watch the shaving vids when I was a newbie. As creepy as it was, I did learn things by watching it on video and I think in that sense it has value. I'm sure there are people that watch them all the time, but I have to think that most just watch them to learn. I haven't watched a shave video in over a year, so I don't know any of the "celebrities" or whatever they are 
I can see the videos in general being a good idea, with caveats:
A person who makes the videos might well shave differently 1 year after making the vid - updates are always good. That way the new folks get the most up-to-date technique.
If you are having specific issues, a video can help.
I don't personally watch them as a matter of course, but if I was looking for something specific then I would happily watch one. Sitting down each evening with a glass of wine and a video of a shaving man, on the other hand.................well, no thanks.
A person who makes the videos might well shave differently 1 year after making the vid - updates are always good. That way the new folks get the most up-to-date technique.
If you are having specific issues, a video can help.
I don't personally watch them as a matter of course, but if I was looking for something specific then I would happily watch one. Sitting down each evening with a glass of wine and a video of a shaving man, on the other hand.................well, no thanks.
These I will watch. I have always found them worthwhile and informative. Gave me a lot of valuable information (just like B&B) even though I've been wet shaving since I was about 15 (with more than 1 blade and canned goop). Never looked back since. Never joined any other forum or social group either. That's just me of course.
"Vote for Pedro"
I've only been DE shaving for 11 weeks. When I first started looking into it, some of the videos were helpful and informative. However, I agree what others have stated about some of these folks come across as shills. EVERY soap is "great" and very rarely is there a critical opinion. Within 1 month I stopped viewing 99% of videos. There are only a few folks that I will watch now and they don't put out a lot of videos at this time, when they do, I feel they are informative and not a commercial.
Views, clicks and likes appears to be what they are after, it's what social media is about. But if you have anything other than glowing responses or don't agree with what they say you are a "hater", "insensitive" or as one video recently put up called folks, "whiny bitches".
All this is fine, I try to give folks the benefit of the doubt, but after this latest uproar, I will not watch and certainly won't purchase what they are pushing. A lot of drama in the industry since I started. As a grown man I do my own research and make my decisions from there, not because of some self proclaimed youTube "celebrity". As for the youTubers referred to in this thread, frankly could not care less.
I find forums more honest, friendly and informative and will stick with them.
Views, clicks and likes appears to be what they are after, it's what social media is about. But if you have anything other than glowing responses or don't agree with what they say you are a "hater", "insensitive" or as one video recently put up called folks, "whiny bitches".
All this is fine, I try to give folks the benefit of the doubt, but after this latest uproar, I will not watch and certainly won't purchase what they are pushing. A lot of drama in the industry since I started. As a grown man I do my own research and make my decisions from there, not because of some self proclaimed youTube "celebrity". As for the youTubers referred to in this thread, frankly could not care less.
I find forums more honest, friendly and informative and will stick with them.
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This entire thread is a waste of bandwidth, in my opinion.
1) Buy a soap if you want to, and don't if you don't.
2) Don't trust somebody's opinion? Don't listen to it.
3) The name of a soap or the picture on the lid change neither the lathering properties nor the scent of the soap. Don't like the lid? Either don't buy the soap, or buy it and put it into a different container when you get it and recycle the container you don't like.
It's pretty simple, really.
1) Buy a soap if you want to, and don't if you don't.
2) Don't trust somebody's opinion? Don't listen to it.
3) The name of a soap or the picture on the lid change neither the lathering properties nor the scent of the soap. Don't like the lid? Either don't buy the soap, or buy it and put it into a different container when you get it and recycle the container you don't like.
It's pretty simple, really.
That's your opinion and you are free to feel that way. Same way I feel about the look at my new custom brush, I just bought soap and a bunch of other threads that pop up every day or two.
I think the discussion has been interesting and has allowed people to express their point of views.
+1
That kind of attitude could be taken up with just about every thread here. We might as well turn out the lights and watch if you like, buy or don't if you don't like, shave before or after you shower, change blades after 1 use if you like, and so on.
"Vote for Summer."
That kind of attitude could be taken up with just about every thread here. We might as well turn out the lights and watch if you like, buy or don't if you don't like, shave before or after you shower, change blades after 1 use if you like, and so on.
"Vote for Summer."
I hear what you're saying, but my contention is that this thread differs in a substantive way from all those other threads.
Somebody saying "I like my new synthetic brush" could potentially be helpful to somebody else in some way. Maybe somebody who had never considered a synthetic brush might read the thread and think to himself, "maybe I should try one of these," and then maybe he buys one and likes it, in which case the thread was helpful.
"I just bought X soap," is another thread that could potentially be helpful, provided the person actually provides some information about the soap eventually. "I tried glycerin and liked it," "Cold water shaving took away my irritation," etc., etc., are also potentially helpful, in that they are threads in which people are posting their experiences with products that others might derive benefit from.
"X new razor is aggressive," or "X old razor is awesome," similarly, are potentially beneficial.
This thread is different, because it offers absolutely no chance of benefit to anybody. This is a whining thread. It boils down to, essentially, "I am bothered by marketing gimmick X," but with no actual information that marketing gimmick X is a general problem or is likely to cause problems for others.
An equivalent thread might be something like, "There are too many Arko threads; they bother me," which is, similarly, a worthless thread and a waste of bandwidth. I would also tell that person that if you don't like Arko, don't buy it, and if you don't like Arko threads, don't read them.
In some ways, this thread is worse than the hypothetical one I just made up. At least in the case of the "too many Arko threads" thread, there may actually have been a bunch of Arko threads and maybe a bunch of people are annoyed by it, and maybe, just maybe, people will slow down the Arko threads for awhile. So there is, at least remotely, a possibility of a beneficial outcome.
What's the potential beneficial outcome of this thread? Does anybody think that because of this thread no soapmaker will ever name another soap after a person?
So I reassert that this thread is a waste of bandwidth, because it has no possible benefit to anyone and is nothing more than whining about a "problem" so small that it probably doesn't even qualify as a "first-world problem."
And yes, I'm fully aware of the irony of this post, seeing that it adds to the length of the very thread it is criticizing, and is, in itself, an example of a protracted whine that stands to benefit pretty much nobody. (I'll justify it by saying that I was trying to defend my position, which was first criticized and then mistakenly generalized.)
Somebody saying "I like my new synthetic brush" could potentially be helpful to somebody else in some way. Maybe somebody who had never considered a synthetic brush might read the thread and think to himself, "maybe I should try one of these," and then maybe he buys one and likes it, in which case the thread was helpful.
"I just bought X soap," is another thread that could potentially be helpful, provided the person actually provides some information about the soap eventually. "I tried glycerin and liked it," "Cold water shaving took away my irritation," etc., etc., are also potentially helpful, in that they are threads in which people are posting their experiences with products that others might derive benefit from.
"X new razor is aggressive," or "X old razor is awesome," similarly, are potentially beneficial.
This thread is different, because it offers absolutely no chance of benefit to anybody. This is a whining thread. It boils down to, essentially, "I am bothered by marketing gimmick X," but with no actual information that marketing gimmick X is a general problem or is likely to cause problems for others.
An equivalent thread might be something like, "There are too many Arko threads; they bother me," which is, similarly, a worthless thread and a waste of bandwidth. I would also tell that person that if you don't like Arko, don't buy it, and if you don't like Arko threads, don't read them.
In some ways, this thread is worse than the hypothetical one I just made up. At least in the case of the "too many Arko threads" thread, there may actually have been a bunch of Arko threads and maybe a bunch of people are annoyed by it, and maybe, just maybe, people will slow down the Arko threads for awhile. So there is, at least remotely, a possibility of a beneficial outcome.
What's the potential beneficial outcome of this thread? Does anybody think that because of this thread no soapmaker will ever name another soap after a person?
So I reassert that this thread is a waste of bandwidth, because it has no possible benefit to anyone and is nothing more than whining about a "problem" so small that it probably doesn't even qualify as a "first-world problem."
And yes, I'm fully aware of the irony of this post, seeing that it adds to the length of the very thread it is criticizing, and is, in itself, an example of a protracted whine that stands to benefit pretty much nobody. (I'll justify it by saying that I was trying to defend my position, which was first criticized and then mistakenly generalized.)
Excuses are like....what was it again?
I still think that most of the threads here provide some benefit or value to someone, experienced or not. I'm glad that Mantic59 posted here letting us know that he is going to be working on some more of what I consider to be very instructive and worthwhile videos. That is just one of the reasons this particular thread is not necessarily a waste of bandwidth and shouldn't be "belittled" as such.
Please let's not start insulting each other. Let's just express our opinions, I think that's mostly what this thread is all about, right?
This is veering off topic, but a moderator could simply merge similar threads. We don't need a new thread every three days about Arko or MdC.
As for the YouTube people...I've watched a lot of videos about products. It's good to see an expensive brush or soap being used before I spend my money on it. There are definitely personalities that rub me the wrong way and there's a lot of shilling. And I don't like watching people actually shave.
As for the YouTube people...I've watched a lot of videos about products. It's good to see an expensive brush or soap being used before I spend my money on it. There are definitely personalities that rub me the wrong way and there's a lot of shilling. And I don't like watching people actually shave.
I love that artisans make signature scents, it's fun, it's also a response to those who have made a big impact in the wet-shavng community.
Not only do I enjoy watching videos by Chris Bailey, The Stallion, Ray Pope, Busta, David Gonzales, etc, but these guys have also been huge in the growth of community but they've also been responsible for a ton of business for those artisans. Plenty of people have bought gear because they've seen those guys talk about it. In fact, I specifically bought Arko to spite Nick Shaves
The signature soap trend also shows the close relationship we have to the artisans and how in-tune they are with our desires. In how many other industries will the owner of a company make so many changes due to customer feedback?
There won't be a signature soap for me anytime soon but I don't care, I just want top-quality soap and a chance to do shots with the Stallion and Chris Bailey, while making fun of Ray Pope and Busta.
Yeah, I'd rather be caught watching this and have to explain. Easier to watch and less embarassing
Sags McDroopy gonnna horse face.
I think any thread that has Kate Upton dancing in a bikini is one of the most worthwhile uses of the infinite amount of bandwidth that exists on this beast called the internet. 
- Thread starter
- #138
Really? No chance to benefit anybody? Then why so many replies? We're already on page 7 and the thread has been up for less than a week. I think putting an opinion out for discussion was, in the very least, beneficial to myself because it was something that was on my mind. It was nice to be able to share it with like-minded individuals. That is the point of a forum, as Bruce mentioned. We come here to talk with each other about wet shaving and other gentlemanly pursuits.
Now for the important question - does it benefit you? I don't know the answer to that. The obvious answer sounds like a "No." But perhaps you can take your own advice, and if you don't like it, don't read it. I normally hate saying that kind of thing to people, because it's not the most gentlemanly way to get your point across, but I really don't know what else to say.
I think you got a lot of replies because the original post was at least somewhat controversial.
I'm glad you got a benefit out of it, and I agree with Bruce that the forum is a place to talk with others about wet shaving, etc.
I am definitely not getting anything out of the thread, but it was probably unfair of me to assume that therefore nobody would get anything out of it, and calling it a "waste of bandwidth" was hyperbolic and unnecessary.
You are correct that I should take my own advice and stay out of the thread if I don't like it.
I apologize to anybody who was offended by my earlier posts in this thread.
I'm glad you got a benefit out of it, and I agree with Bruce that the forum is a place to talk with others about wet shaving, etc.
I am definitely not getting anything out of the thread, but it was probably unfair of me to assume that therefore nobody would get anything out of it, and calling it a "waste of bandwidth" was hyperbolic and unnecessary.
You are correct that I should take my own advice and stay out of the thread if I don't like it.
I apologize to anybody who was offended by my earlier posts in this thread.
I'm finding this to be a pretty interesting read tbh. Naming a soap after someone that does reviews could definitely be an issue worth discussing. I'm not saying anyone has done anything unethical, but the potential is there.
I actually had no idea about this practice before this thread, so there is a benefit right there.
I actually had no idea about this practice before this thread, so there is a benefit right there.
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