Rank the True Reasons Why You are into Wet Shaving (Be Honest)
- Thread starter Chango
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#1. Nostalgia. I like doing things the old fashioned way. I enjoy vintage clothes, vintage tools, antiques of all sorts. I had been thinking about de shaving for quite some time, especially since reading an article about it. After I stumbled upon a couple of my dad's old Gillettes, I knew it was time to start.
#2. Distraction/Hobby. I love learning new things and I tend to go a bit overboard when starting a new hobby. I now own around ten different razors, eight assorted brushes, and enough creams, soaps, and after shaves to last me years. Heck no, I'm not done buying more ;-). Now I enjoy the hunt for vintage items at yard sales, flea markets, and antique stores.
#3. Ritual/Meditation. I'm a bit OCD so I love my rituals. Shaving has turned from a chore into something that I can really think about and enjoy. I like thinking about which razor I'm going to use in the morning and what brush and cream I'll use with it. Sometimes when I get out of the shower in the morning, I've already changed my mind several times.
#4. Skin. Although not a reason I started de shaving, it's one of the main reasons I'll probably stick with it after the new wears off this hobby. I used an electric razor for years and I always had red splotches and bumps on my neck. Since de shaving, the splotches are gone and my skin has become very smooth. My wife compliments it often now.
Rebellion and price were not a factor at all.
#2. Distraction/Hobby. I love learning new things and I tend to go a bit overboard when starting a new hobby. I now own around ten different razors, eight assorted brushes, and enough creams, soaps, and after shaves to last me years. Heck no, I'm not done buying more ;-). Now I enjoy the hunt for vintage items at yard sales, flea markets, and antique stores.
#3. Ritual/Meditation. I'm a bit OCD so I love my rituals. Shaving has turned from a chore into something that I can really think about and enjoy. I like thinking about which razor I'm going to use in the morning and what brush and cream I'll use with it. Sometimes when I get out of the shower in the morning, I've already changed my mind several times.
#4. Skin. Although not a reason I started de shaving, it's one of the main reasons I'll probably stick with it after the new wears off this hobby. I used an electric razor for years and I always had red splotches and bumps on my neck. Since de shaving, the splotches are gone and my skin has become very smooth. My wife compliments it often now.
Rebellion and price were not a factor at all.
I enjoy shaving, always have. Before switching to DE about 5/6 years ago, I love trying every cartridge razor, every canned goo, every tube of new state of the art shave gel. I always got top quality shaves too, some more so than others.
I switched to DE and love that even more - I love the ritualistic aspect of it, the different razors, blades, brushes, creams, soaps and how they work with each other, in pursuit of the perfect shave. I have also acquired a new love and appreciation of aftershaves, real ones, not the latest designer issue, but cheaper and far more effective products. DE shaving is a hobby, a ritual and always a pleasure (even on the rare occasion it goes awry, where I learn more)
I switched to DE and love that even more - I love the ritualistic aspect of it, the different razors, blades, brushes, creams, soaps and how they work with each other, in pursuit of the perfect shave. I have also acquired a new love and appreciation of aftershaves, real ones, not the latest designer issue, but cheaper and far more effective products. DE shaving is a hobby, a ritual and always a pleasure (even on the rare occasion it goes awry, where I learn more)
You remind me of myself in many ways!
#1. Nostalgia. My grandfather passed away a few years ago, and I found myself missing him terribly as I grew toward middle age. I started by watching the old shows he enjoyed (Lawrence Welk, Gunsmoke, M.A.S.H.) and I noticed a perceptible change in my mood when I did so. Then I began to read more about WW2 (he was in Patton's army; 4th division), and I couldn't help but feel pride in his service and trials. Finally one day, I began to think of what reminded me most of him as a child: watching him shave. I recall thinking he was so large and so adept at what he did, and what I remembered him doing clearly was shaving with a DE. So, for me, it's really about creating a mood for myself where I feel closer to him and "grown up" in the way I perceived he was. Strange to have a coming of age story at 48. 
I initially switched to DE shaving because it did save me money. My initial investment was probably in the ballpark of about $100 (razor, a few soaps/creams, and some blades once I dialed in what I liked), but that was in late 2012 and I actually hadn't bought much of anything until this past summer. So that initial $100 lasted me almost 4 years. I know I could have easily gone through more than that much getting new cartridges and what-not for whatever the newest thing on the market was.
My reasons are as follows when I think of it:
My reasons are as follows when I think of it:
- Economy (sort of) - if I stopped buying things, the amount of soaps/creams and blades would easily last me at least 3-4 years. Considering what I paid, I do believe it would still come out cheaper than whatever the replacement cost is for cartridges is now.
- Skin Care - when I was shaving with a cartridge razor, I used to have problems with breakouts and also irritation from time to time. In general, using quality products and a DE razor has been infinitely better for my skin.
- Fun - I used to shave 3 times a week when I first started DE shaving. For the past few months, I've been shaving daily. I've really gotten to enjoy the ritual and I love looking in my cabinet to choose a soap and looking forward to changing the blade in my razor. It makes my morning routine definitely a lot more fun.
- Nostalgia - I have a thing for the classics and the hands-on. I love fountain pens. I'm into woodworking because I like making furniture instead of buying it. The act of taking out a soap and lathering it up with a brush and using a single DE bladed razor makes me feel very connected with the history behind it, and that is cool to me.
I've come to realize I control every aspect of the experience in pursuit of a very smooth shave with little or no pulling, tugging, gouging, or surface burn. Working with many different examples of blade, razor, soap, preshave, post shave, aftershave, balsam, and ever wider assortment of soap preparation tools, I discover a multitude of nuance which keep my mind engaged and see the direct results of my efforts on a day to day basis. That said, the results are worth the investments and make the entire experience far less expensive than suffering for one moment any of the insults most of the modern cartridge systems inflicted before I 'discovered' old tech didn't mean bad or obsolete results.
Curiosity and frustration got me started using a DE Razor. I have always been a wet shaver with cartridge blades... I am a Corporate Trainer, I like to be clean shaven for class. I don't have to wear a suit, but I do wear dress shirts and ties. The irritation on my neck was always unbearable from shaving with cartridge blades under the shirt collar... I thought there has to be a better way... right around this time that Microtuch One Razor advert was running on TV. It intrigued me. I mentioned my interest to a colleague of mine, turns out he's a Wet Shaving/DE Enthusiast... After a few conversations, and some internet research I ordered a Merkur 42C, a budget conscious badger brush, and some TOBS Almond Shave Cream. My first few shaves were a little rough, but I persevered through the first weeks... Things got better. I travel for work, and had not figured out how to take my DE shave gear out on the road for me at that point, so I reverted back to my TrackII Cartridge Blade and Canned Goo shave cream... Man did I get a quick appreciation for my DE waiting for me at home. I figured out how to take my DE Shave gear out on the road with me, and now it's the only way I shave.
I have been at it for almost a year now. I will fight tooth and nail to not go back to cartridges...
It's been an interesting year... I seem to have acquired RAD... I have four DE Razors, and I'm waiting on a new one to show up...
Shaving has gone from something I used to dread to one of the most enjoyable parts of my day... I enjoy the time it takes, and how Gentlemanly it makes me feel when I shave.
I have been at it for almost a year now. I will fight tooth and nail to not go back to cartridges...
It's been an interesting year... I seem to have acquired RAD... I have four DE Razors, and I'm waiting on a new one to show up...
Shaving has gone from something I used to dread to one of the most enjoyable parts of my day... I enjoy the time it takes, and how Gentlemanly it makes me feel when I shave.
#1, To save money.
#2, To reduce my environmental foot print.
#3, I like the option of not shaving for a few days and how easily a DE razor can shave said growth without clogging like my now long forgotten cartridge razors used to.
#2, To reduce my environmental foot print.
#3, I like the option of not shaving for a few days and how easily a DE razor can shave said growth without clogging like my now long forgotten cartridge razors used to.
The reason I started wet shaving a couple of years ago was for two reasons
1. Saving Money
2. The Cool factor
I was in my sophomore year of college and had been romanticizing the idea of the "modern gentleman"- old-school, classy, etc. and was/still am struggling with a lot of self-consciousness issues... so the "cool" factor of the Dovo Shavette, my first piece of hardware, really appealed to me. That, along with the ability to buy 100 Astra SP blades for $11 on amazon which effectively allowed me to go without having to make any blade purchases for the next 5 years or so. It wasn't until I started with my Dovo that I developed the reasons why I am still pursuing the art of wet shaving today:
1. Control -- Your shave is one of the only things in a day that you have full control over.
2. Satisfaction -- There is an extra level of satisfaction involved when you go through the process of a wet shave
3. Feeling -- There are very few things that compare to the feeling of a good shave when done right
4. The "Cool" Factor -- The "cool" doesn't just disappear!
5. Meditative -- The feeling of concentrating solely on one task and letting everything else fade out for 10-20 minutes
6. Skill Diversity -- Developing a diverse skill set
7. Social Aspect -- Talking to the lovely gents on B & B and the conversation starting points when someone finds out you wet shave
1. Saving Money
2. The Cool factor
I was in my sophomore year of college and had been romanticizing the idea of the "modern gentleman"- old-school, classy, etc. and was/still am struggling with a lot of self-consciousness issues... so the "cool" factor of the Dovo Shavette, my first piece of hardware, really appealed to me. That, along with the ability to buy 100 Astra SP blades for $11 on amazon which effectively allowed me to go without having to make any blade purchases for the next 5 years or so. It wasn't until I started with my Dovo that I developed the reasons why I am still pursuing the art of wet shaving today:
1. Control -- Your shave is one of the only things in a day that you have full control over.
2. Satisfaction -- There is an extra level of satisfaction involved when you go through the process of a wet shave
3. Feeling -- There are very few things that compare to the feeling of a good shave when done right
4. The "Cool" Factor -- The "cool" doesn't just disappear!
5. Meditative -- The feeling of concentrating solely on one task and letting everything else fade out for 10-20 minutes
6. Skill Diversity -- Developing a diverse skill set
7. Social Aspect -- Talking to the lovely gents on B & B and the conversation starting points when someone finds out you wet shave
I like the idea of shaving like my grandfather did with a brush and some soap.
I like the Old Type razor I have, it must has been 1000's of shaves yet will out live me easy.
A big part of this shaving thing is this community and being able to talk about guy stuff.
I like the Old Type razor I have, it must has been 1000's of shaves yet will out live me easy.
A big part of this shaving thing is this community and being able to talk about guy stuff.
You mentioned being self-conscious. Don't be. I spent over half, easily, of my life on that worthless pursuit. At 54 I just ain't got time for it. My dad used to say that everybody should tell the world to kiss your arse at least once a day. All of this is easier said than done, but ask yourself: is anyone as interested in my shortcomings as I am? Probably not, and if they are, you have just found one of the folks you need to tell to kiss your arse!
As you can see, I'm not one of the examples you noted in your no. 7, "a lovely gent!"
You're whatever you decide to be- but based on your kind words I would categorize you as a lovely gent. Your prior post was much appreciated
Thank you. It is amazing to me that it actually matters to me that people I've never met in person have come to mean so much to me. It's probably because we have lost so much in civility. This place called B&B has become my refuge in the busy storms of life. By my calculations, the 0.1% of the population on this sight that are arse hats are self eliminating themselves. That's why I'm so thrilled that I'm still allowed to post on here. It means I'm either in the vast majority of guys on here that are gentlemen, or I've managed to slip past the moderators! Either way I'm a winner, lol!
+1000 Dave.
And Lane: you are the epitome of the word gentleman. You were the first, or one of the first, person to make me feel at home. Please know that every single time I change a GSB blade I think of you and smile.
#1. Nostalgia. My grandfather passed away a few years ago, and I found myself missing him terribly as I grew toward middle age. I started by watching the old shows he enjoyed (Lawrence Welk, Gunsmoke, M.A.S.H.) and I noticed a perceptible change in my mood when I did so. Then I began to read more about WW2 (he was in Patton's army; 4th division), and I couldn't help but feel pride in his service and trials. Finally one day, I began to think of what reminded me most of him as a child: watching him shave. I recall thinking he was so large and so adept at what he did, and what I remembered him doing clearly was shaving with a DE. So, for me, it's really about creating a mood for myself where I feel closer to him and "grown up" in the way I perceived he was. Strange to have a coming of age story at 48.
Great story! Thank you for sharing.
In all honesty, believe it or not, my main reason for doing it is that it's cheaper. That's why I switched, and that's why I continue to do it. Even if the shave were equal or possibly even worse, I'd still most likely do it. I mean, I paid $8.50 for 100 blades FOUR years ago, and I still have like 80 of them. And even though I only ever bought new cartridges when I had extra money, I was still spending more shaving with a mach 3. I used up less than $2's worth of blades in 4 years' time. A gillette mach 3, if i remember correctly, the cheapest option was honestly almost to just buy a new razor instead of just blades, especially if they gave you extra blades, which I think they did sometimes. Anyway, even that woulda cost me at least $8, and there's no way I'd ever make what I got for that 8 dollars last me even ONE year, let alone 4.
Now all that being said, I still do it because it's cheaper, but I also continue to do it because my face has next to no irritation, pretty much EVER anymore. I still get acne, but I've always had that, and I most likely always will... However, it's not anywhere near as bad as it was, and I don't get whole colonies of the things invading my face after I shave. And my face feels amazing after a shave now.
I use a DE because it's astronomically cheaper and because I get a better, more comfortable shave that I don't regret. In other words, it's made me actually ENJOY a chore I just have to do whereas before I absolutely HATED it.
Oh, and also, I'm only 30, but I've always had an affinity for old stuff. Technology can be awesome, but it also makes us lazy, and it's used ridiculously unnecessarily sometimes, and sometimes it just plain complicates things that should just be simple and easy. And of course, they really don't make things like they used to. A lot of things that used to be made of metal and/or wood are now made of plastic. And don't get me wrong, plastic is great, but with all the corner cutting to reduce weight and production costs, sometimes we're left with flimsy pieces of crap when what we need is a good strong tool.
DE shaving has also been my avenue for learning how to shave at all. Before I was introduced to this I never thought much about it at all. It hadn't occurred to me that technique even was a thing with shaving. Nobody ever bothered to teach me how to shave. My dad only ever shaved his beard off once in my life, so I don't even know what he could have taught me anyway.
This is not and will not ever be a "hobby" for me though. It will always be cheaper. When I was younger and still following some of my parents' bad habits, I would have collected razors and things, but not anymore. I'm trying not to follow in my hoarder parents' footsteps, so no collecting for me anymore. If I have something extra, I usually just give it away. Sometimes I sell it if there's any interest in it, but if not, and I can't give it away, it usually goes into the trash.
Now all that being said, I still do it because it's cheaper, but I also continue to do it because my face has next to no irritation, pretty much EVER anymore. I still get acne, but I've always had that, and I most likely always will... However, it's not anywhere near as bad as it was, and I don't get whole colonies of the things invading my face after I shave. And my face feels amazing after a shave now.
I use a DE because it's astronomically cheaper and because I get a better, more comfortable shave that I don't regret. In other words, it's made me actually ENJOY a chore I just have to do whereas before I absolutely HATED it.
Oh, and also, I'm only 30, but I've always had an affinity for old stuff. Technology can be awesome, but it also makes us lazy, and it's used ridiculously unnecessarily sometimes, and sometimes it just plain complicates things that should just be simple and easy. And of course, they really don't make things like they used to. A lot of things that used to be made of metal and/or wood are now made of plastic. And don't get me wrong, plastic is great, but with all the corner cutting to reduce weight and production costs, sometimes we're left with flimsy pieces of crap when what we need is a good strong tool.
DE shaving has also been my avenue for learning how to shave at all. Before I was introduced to this I never thought much about it at all. It hadn't occurred to me that technique even was a thing with shaving. Nobody ever bothered to teach me how to shave. My dad only ever shaved his beard off once in my life, so I don't even know what he could have taught me anyway.
This is not and will not ever be a "hobby" for me though. It will always be cheaper. When I was younger and still following some of my parents' bad habits, I would have collected razors and things, but not anymore. I'm trying not to follow in my hoarder parents' footsteps, so no collecting for me anymore. If I have something extra, I usually just give it away. Sometimes I sell it if there's any interest in it, but if not, and I can't give it away, it usually goes into the trash.
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C. 1996 On the day of my wedding, I took my brother, who was best man to a traditional barbers in the Capital, for what the barbers called the morning treatment. It was a tidy up of your hair and Cut throat razor shave. What an experience. I had always enjoyed shaving, but used cartridges and continued to do so. My twentieth wedding anniversary came this year and I didn't really want anything from my wife as I have everything I need. But I had always wanted to wet shave using either a cut throat or DE. I looked online at Youtube and came across loads of videos of shaving, i.e Nomad barber, Shavebusta, Nick Shaves, Geofatboy etc. And so my Anniversary present was a DE shaver, Preshave cream,Shave cream and DE Razor.
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