Do you feel guilty not liking popular products?

YMMV is king in wetshaving.
The good thing about this forum is that virtually 100% of the time, you won't be trolled, blasted, flamed or otherwise harassed over your OPINION. We all have one, some of our opinions agree with others, some don't.
Other forums have a "hive-mind" mentality where you will be attacked if you don't praise the flavor of the day on bent knee, or dare to question a sacred cow. God forbid you try to defend a forum-unapproved product.

Your opinion on a product, good or bad, is just as valid as anyone else's. Post your experiences and read about others.
Guilt? There are several products I do not enjoy, so I won't use them again. No guilt here. Ford vs Chevy, Coke vs Pepsi, we all have our likes and dislikes.

Jinx18 said:

I am fairly new to wetshaving and have been trying lots of products. Obviously I have started with the most recommended and some I absolutely love while others I can't stand. For instance I bought shulton old spice cream and aftershave. I really dislike the scent. The thing is old spice is like a staple for wetshaving and has tons of history. I feel guilty not liking it. Am I the only one? There are too many great products to worry but I do. Any highly regarded products you just can't get along with?

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You don't like Shulton Old Spice? BE GONE SATAN! Just kidding. You should never feel bad about what you like or don't like.

You are actually better off. I have over 80 aftershaves and like them all with no end in sight...

No guilt, here... Don't care for old spice or brut... Nothing "wrong" with them, but the scent isn't for me...

I'm comfortable liking what I like. Its OK to even be in the minority, LOL. You've got to live with these scents/products every day, so you better like them, LOL.

Dean

No guilt.

I am not a fan of Feather DE blades, too little feedback.

I like Derby blades in many of my razors.

Next time you have a few hours to spare do a search for Arko and Lilac Vegetal.

Jinx18 said:

I am fairly new to wetshaving and have been trying lots of products. Obviously I have started with the most recommended and some I absolutely love while others I can't stand. For instance I bought shulton old spice cream and aftershave. I really dislike the scent. The thing is old spice is like a staple for wetshaving and has tons of history. I feel guilty not liking it. Am I the only one? There are too many great products to worry but I do. Any highly regarded products you just can't get along with?

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Not me. I have a very well trained nose and palette from being in the food industry for so long (ages ago now but I still feel my sense of smell and taste are pretty good)

I notice the difference in scent for different products but so far I have found none that are "offensive" I did dislike one soap that I thought smelled like an overflowing astray at a bus depot but even that one I adjusted to after using it for a while. Now I enjoy bringing it out every so often as a "switch hitter" as the later is so good with it (it's a discontinued custom soap so you won't come across any)

My advise is if you find something that just does not "click" for you, either in performance or scent, put it aside for a month of more then re-visit it later once you have more time and experience. Many times I have found that a product that gave me a bad first impression turned out to be just fine once I went back to it after a break from it.

As far as blades and razors go, I manage to get a perfect shave no matter what combination I use

It's so personal that there's no reason to feel guilty. If you look at every single product out there, you'll find someone who loves it and someone who hates it. It's just human nature. We all have different likes and dislikes. Personally, I don't like the smell of Lavender. Others go crazy for it.

Doesn't matter to me.

As long as you have good technique, your shaving stuff really comes down to scent. Don't worry about not wanting to smell like a grandpa lol. I will try old spice in about 30 years!

If I was the type to feel guilty about not liking popular products I would not use DE razors that are used by a very small percentage of the population.

I went through this when I bought MWF. I dissapointedly shaved with it over and over because I thought "I must be doing something wrong, EVERYONE loves this stuff". Once I had a good number of other soaps/creams and a few months more experience, I sold the MWF on the BST forum here. There are too many options out there, no reason you should feel guilty about not bieng 110% satisfied, every time. Look at it this way, now you get to go out and find one (or two, or three) that you do like!

Not guilty, just perplexed. Tried a puck of Trumper's Eucris soap and I really couldn't see what everyone sees in Trumper soaps, it was really poor. The ultimate YMMV, I guess.

Beezerpuppy said:

Not guilty, just perplexed. Tried a puck of Trumper's Eucris soap and I really couldn't see what everyone sees in Trumper soaps, it was really poor. The ultimate YMMV, I guess.

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There are legitimate reasons why certain soaps disappoint such as in this case the manufacturer closing and the plant being moved to another location. However, you would think they would conduct QA rather than releasing something less than satisfactory.

And as to the OP's question. I don't feel guilty disliking Arko, and having been very disappointed with my first artisanal soap.
I avoid them like the plague and ignore the latest trend setter...

YMMV and YSOMMV (Your Significant Other's Mileage May Vary)!

No guilt here.
I do wish I liked shaving with the Fatboy as much as most folk here, because it's a cool looking razor.

Beezerpuppy said:

Not guilty, just perplexed.

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This is what I find most fascinating. There simply is not one "right" product. And what's great about B&B is there is no one on here that's ever going to tell you what is definitively "right" or "wrong." In other words, there is no room for guilt for not liking something because: (1) there are probably plenty of folks on here that also don't like it; and (2) no one is judging you anyway.

I don't feel any guilt on these forums, but I have to admit I have felt some guilt in person. I've been wet-shaving for 31 of 42 years. When the time came, my Father gave me a TracII, a brush, a mug, and a puck of Williams Shaving Soap. Whenever he bought Williams, he bought two more for my brother and myself figuring we'd be needing it soon, also. Early on, that's the only soap I used because I never thought to question he who taught me. ...Then I went overseas in the military, and had to purchase what was locally available, wherever my ship had pulled in, and came to the realization that Williams is absolutely terrible for shaving my own beard. The guilt came the first time I went home on leave after deploying and having been seen with several sticks/tubes/pucks from the Med/Gulf/IO, and having been offered a puck of Williams, and politely declining.

No guilt...

No guilt here, but whats funny to me is when I poo poo the readily available and affordable products but then find out they work great!

Cremo cream, pinauds clubman, Skin Bracer and Kiss my face products are good examples.

Don't overlook the popular products in other words, more than likely they work great and you dont have to hunt down the mailman to get them.

Not a bit. For example I really don't like Wool Fat and it just sits there as I use other soaps. The deal is it's my face I'm working on so I use what works for me. However, the great and well thought out advice here has really helped me in my selections. Heck, most folks here are individuals with a group love for wet shaving and the independence that goes along with it.

Pinaud Clubman Special Reserve I just can't stand the smell of it, and the worst part is this AS has a super longevity. I used it only ONCE and I will never use it again. I couldn't even believe there are people on this planet who like this AS.