When was your exact moment of conversion?

I was at the sink with a Mach 3 clone in my hand, sick of it and wishing for the DE I started with back in the '70s. Finished that shave and went looking for a DE. Told my wife what I wanted after a week or so with no luck finding one, and she said, "Dad had one of those. It's in the drawer over there." Doh!

I had always had a passing interest in wet shaving but was completely clueless on where to start. I also held, and still hold, an anger at how expensive cartridge shaving is and the wanton corporate greed on Gillette's part that goes along with their stupid-ridiculous prices. As a result, I rarely shaved, instead opting to carry a well manicured beard or five o'clock shadow.

One day, whilst at the mall, my friend and I strolled into an Art of Shaving store. Our sales guy was knowledgeable and friendly and took the time to show us a few brushes and razors, and also a demonstration on how to change the blade. However, the prices seemed pretty high.

The following Monday while at work I did a search for safety razor on Amazon and was delighted on how much cheaper everything cost. I was torn between buying the Merkur 34C or the Edwin Jagger DE89L. Upon much research I decided to pull the trigger on the Edwin Jagger, a cheapo Badger hair brush, and a tube of Proraso Green.

The two days waiting for my stuff to arrive seemed to take an eternity.

Upon receiving the package I can fondly recall sitting at my desk at work smelling the Proraso and holding the Razor in my hand, admiring it's beauty. Once five o'clock hit I ran home, pulled up a Geo Fatboy instructional video, and went at it.

The rest is history.

I've always preferred wet shaving over a dry electric. I switched from cartridges to electrics for "speed" although my shaves were mediocre (and awful on my neck). I tired of having terrible, uncomfortable shaves and bought a wet/dry electric.

After browsing on the Art of Manliness website, I first read about DE shaving. I bought a tub of Body Shoppe cream and a Body Shoppe brush (the brush was terrible, compared to my SOC Semogue I currently use), and after enjoying wet shaving again I thought about going back to cartridges but was put off by the price.

I remembered an article about "vintage shaving" and found this board. After lurking for a few months, I bought a Muhle R89. Had I not "discovered" vintage wet shaving, I'd have gone back to Gillette Sensors (with the fins!).

The rest, as they say, is history. It did take me several months and lots of experimentation to find a setup that worked well for me.

I'm still playing with blades from time to time, but I'm pretty darn happy with Super Iridiums. I also liked the Sputniks from Russia (for some reason, they were better than the ones I ordered in the US), so I ordered another Russian pack.

I also have my first badger brush on order (Whipped Dog).

Rick Harrison's commercial was on during most breaks during an episode of "How it's Made". One item they documented was Gillette blades made in Russia. I was absolutely fascinated by both. A search led me to B&B, where I stayed for about seven hours that night. I'm still here every night.

I've always been a wet shaver but never new the tricks. I just muttled along for years and finally decided to go into straight razors because of ban razor burn.

Have learned and having fun along the way. Now I'm feeding a couple of RADS.

Good times...

No conversion; no epiphany, no retail therapy. I got a Burma Shave boar and a puck of Williams from the local Rx when I had to start shaving and just never had any reason to change. 1980 or 1981 I think. My first razor was a black handled Super Speed that my dad had but didn't use. That lasted a few years until I found an Old Type Gillette in a thrift shop and then that was my only razor for the next 20-odd years. I still have it and I still get great shaves with it.

For some reason I tried a Bic Sensitive single blade, fixed head disposable and I found that it gave me a much much more comfortable shave than multi-blade carts. I wondered why and then it dawned on me that all the tugging & discomfort was due to the excess blades.

So I immediately got online and researched DEs. I found a few of geofatboy's videos and the rest is history.

At some point during my first pass with my first straight. Put such a smile on my face I knew it was for me.

I was standing in Walmart looking at the prices of Fusion cartridges. Whereas I expected that a refill pack of cartridges would set me back about $10-$15, I instead stood there with my jaw on the floor looking at a $35 price tag for 5 cartridges. That's what got the ball rolling for me. I figured for that price, I could get a straight razor and be done with cartridges once and for all. I laid down $100 for my first razor, strop, brush and cream/soap and haven't looked back since.

When the Art of Shaving store at my local upscale mall opened, I was sure that it wouldn't last a year - I couldn't imagine why anyone would shop there.

I mentioned my prediction to a friend who manages a men's clothing store across the mall from AoS. He said that the store was doing a very healthy business on weekends. I couldn't figure out what the attraction was, so I did a bit of research on line and discovered one of the shaving forums. I was intrigued enough at that point to buy a Jagger 89L razor, a Parker pure (ouch!) brush and a jar of shaving cream (I forget which brand).

After my first shave, I was hooked. My skin was irritated and I had a few weepers, but it felt so smooth and clean and invigorated that I couldn't stand the fact that I'd have to wait a full day to shave again.

After I watched Sweeney Todd I got interested into straight razors. After research I found brushes and soap which I bought then I just recently received a double edge razor set this valentines day. That would probably be the turning point.

I was getting frustrated with the cost of the Mach 3 blades and the irritation on my neck. The electric razor that I used for most of the week to get away from the mach 3 gave horrible shaves and still irritated my neck. I came across a "Shave like your Grandpa" from Art of Manliness and that led me to B&B. I knew I would enjoy it, and as soon as I hit "Confirm Order" and paid for the initial set, I had no choice but to be hooked.

I got fed up with the prices on cartridges. It made me mad to pay that much for something that didn't even work that well. lurked on here for awhile then pulled the trigger on a startup kit. been a month, haven't looked back.

I couldn't get a good shave on my neck...horrible razor burn and ingrown hairs occasionally. One evening I started to google how to get a better shave. After a couple days of research, some of it right here on B&B, i hopped over WCS and picked up a DE razor, brush, blade sampler, and proraso. In the 4-5 days it took to arrive i looked up how to use it fully with the help of mantic. Now i couldn't go back to the cart & can. I'm headed the other way...2 straight razor shaves in and i'm hooked on that too!

My moment was long and drawn out. A buddy of mine said something about straight razors. I thought he was nuts.... Nobody uses straight razors but barbers in cowboy movies. I mentioned wanting a new brush because I did (a couple times a week) use the mug & brush with a mach3. Then he went into a dialog about badger hair, and I'm thinking yeah, I know you don't expect me to rub a rodent pelt all over my face!
Couple days later I'm googling straight razors to see if he was pulling my leg. Then I just kept clicking and browsing and reading and round and round that went for a few days. I was intrigued. But at the same time I was thinking the DE seems to be a gateway shave to the straight, and then I'd be slicing my face off. But I'm just starting a new career and reinventing myself, so I decided shaving doesn't have to be an unpleasant chore. I'm turning it around. So here I am. Posting on B&B as I wait for the blood to clot.
But this is fun now.

I started out with a DE razor...that is all there was when I started shaving. Went on to the various carts. Probably 4 years ago I found my old shave gear ( no name badger brush and Hoffritz slant). I started out using the brush with Proraso with the Mach 3. Took about a year to finish off my old carts. Once carts were used up, I bought a pack of blades, dusted off the old DE and have never looked back. Buddy of mine turned me on to this site a few months back and that was when I started learning about Feather blades, knot size and that my old razor was a desirable item rather just the 45 year old razor I thought it was.

Hawes said:

I was getting frustrated with the cost of the Mach 3 blades and the irritation on my neck. The electric razor that I used for most of the week to get away from the mach 3 gave horrible shaves and still irritated my neck. I came across a "Shave like your Grandpa" from Art of Manliness and that led me to B&B. I knew I would enjoy it, and as soon as I hit "Confirm Order" and paid for the initial set, I had no choice but to be hooked.

Click to expand...

I've posted here before about always using a wet shave but admittedly poorly, and your story is almost exactly like mine. What is it with the mac3 that makes it so bad? It gives the worst razor burn.

I started with a straight razor and have only recently added to my RAD with DE's. In a month I've aquired 3. SWMBO is not going to be pleased.

When I was younger my dad always shaved with a DE razor, and also a comb razor (I don't know what those are exactly), and he shaved that way until his vision started going bad. I had always shaved with cartridge razors (sensor, mach 3, hydro 5). I did like using the shave soaps and creams though. Unfortunately my dad passed away last October, and not long after I thought maybe I should pick up a DE and keep the tradition alive. I didn't dive right into it, but I took my time and did some research -most of it on here and watching videos by mantic59 and geofatboy on youtube. So about a month ago I finally ordered my first DE razor and blades, and have been shaving this way for about 3 weeks now. Have since picked up Proraso green and TOBS Eton College shave cream, and I am never going back.

Was gifted an AOS set for Christmas. Immediately got an EJ89 and never looked back. I'm up to 5 DE razors, 3 straights, 3 brushes and many soaps, creams and AS. Yeah, I'm in deep.

Last September I was sitting on my couch watching some TV program when Rick Harrison's commercial came on. I thought to myself that if DE shaving was truly a cost-effective way to shave, then I must dig in and see if there really is room to save money. Just like all of the earlier posts about Rick's razor I had to assume that it was some cheap Chinese spinoff. I bought my first merker 180 off of Amazon and my first official shave was October 2, 2013. Since then I have acquired over five razors and five soaps among other shaving items, so I have yet to find where I will be saving money. This is truly become a new hobby for me something I will never look back on. And for the record I tossed out all cartridge related shaving tools I am purely a DE shaver now.