What was your first wetshave like?

We all had to start somewhere.

Mine was when I was almost 19 years old and I had gotten tired of using the cartridges and canned goo. I popped a fresh injector blade into my grandfather's razor and lathered up. I had accidentally cut my finger something fierce with his razor when I was 11 years old just goofing around with it, so needless to say, I was scared. I used his Ever-Ready rubber set boar bristle brush and lathered up the Williams soap in his Old Spice mug. The lather I generated, at first, was thin and bubbly, so I attempted to toy around with how wet I wanted the brush. After literally a half hour of trying, I produced what I considered a satisfactory lather. Spreading it on my face it felt warm, almost hot compared to Barbasol, Edge gels and what have you. I lifted the razor up to my face very tenuously, knowing that this blade was sharper than anything I had previously used. Slowly stroking downward, I realized that I wasn't cutting anything because my angle only let the safety bar touch my skin. Relathering that part of my face, I tried again slowly and heard the sandpapery sound of my face getting shaved by a really sharp blade. Since I was a bit of an acne sufferer at the time, I took it slow. It was a one pass shave that took me about 10-12 minutes to complete. It didn't necessarily look better, but it took me to a very nostalgic place and I felt as if I had done something very manly instead of just some mundane daily chore. I splashed on some of Grandpa's Aqua Velva aftershave, yelped a bit because of the alcohol sting that I was not used to, and walked out of the bathroom. An hour had passed since the shave and I went to the bathroom to look at my face and noticed the acne that was red and bumpy was fading. I knew from then on that this was the way to shave and seven years later I haven't looked back.

So...what was YOUR first wetshave like?

It was so long ago that there were no cartridges or disposables. I used my Dad's razor, can't recall what model Gillette it was or the type blade. We're talking 1959 here! I do remember that it was with some canned goo and that I cut myself several times. The aftershave was Old Spice and it hurt like $#^%!

Here I am again, doing the same thing all over again and liking it. Go figure

It was only a little over a month ago and it was both horrible and wonderful. Horrible because I had terrible technique and I cut myself three times at the bottom of my neck. Wonderful because despite the cuts I got the closest shave I had ever had up to that point (I've had several BBS shaves since then and my technique has improved greatly as long as I don't get in a hurry).

Well, it was this summer . . . maybe two months ago now?

'52 Gillette SS I bought here, a puck of NanaJune lemongrass soap and boar brush I got on eBay, and a bottle of Pinaud Clubman I bought at Walgreen's.

I remember being more than a little nervous, absolutely sure I was going to cut myself . . . when I couldn't even feel the blade on the first pass, but couldn't feel any stubble left in its wake, either, I relaxed quite a bit!

It was three passes, very enjoyable, and my skin felt terrific afterwards. Sold me on wetshaving in one!

NANP™

proraso, a bad omega travel brush and a parker 96R, it was decent,

Mine was with my dad's old Gillette DE and a can of Barbasol. I did not use a new blade. No wonder I was a bloody mess.

It was better than my typical shave with a Sensor. It has only been up from there.

Mine was a few months ago. It was with a Dovo Silver Steel straight, a C&E BBB, and some T&H Luxury Soap. Although I thought the lather I made was sufficient, it dried out in about twenty minutes and I had snow all over the bathroom. This was a serious problem, because the shave itself took about two and a half hours...At no point during the shave (except maybe for the first couple of minutes) did I have decent lather. By the end I was a beet-red, tenderized mess. And still kind of prickly.

Looking back at it now, I can laugh. But man, was I bummed after that shave! I can hear myself afterwards..."That T&H soap sucks!"

I have a very good memory but that was on the order of forty-six years ago. I do remember that at the time I was using a Tech and the Gillette Thins.

It was when I was a teenager, plagued by zits which were not getting better with an electric razor. That wasn't a clean choice, I think it just spreading germs all over my face. I swtiched to a single blade Bic and found that my face actually cleared up.

It wasn't until about six months ago that I switched form a Mach 3 to a DE, principally because I was p*ssed when I calculated how expensive the cartridges are. That first shave was pretty scary, I didn't have any idea how sharp the blade would be, how using no pressure would ever give me a good shave. After a few strokes, I was very surprised how gentle the shave was. It wasn't a BBS shave but not bad and no cuts. It took a while before I learned some technique, but it's been worth it. Now some great shaves have come along, along with respect for the technology and the tutorials on this site.

Made the switch back in '96 and it was heaven from day 1. No more dry, irritated, chapped face, and that was just using average soaps and brushes. Didn't make the change to DE or upgrade brush and soaps until this summer. I'll be perfectly honest about this, my shaves are only slightly better with a DE than they were using a Mach3 and that's because I'm making more passes. If I were to shave twice or three times with the M3 they might be just as close. I won't do that however because quite simply I thoroughly enjoy the DE experience. It gives me time to think and meditate a bit before the day begins. Really zeroing in on that last pass trying for smoothy, smoothness. Capped off with the zing of a good AS on a virgin face. Feels fantastic and starts me off on the right foot.

When I had my cartirdge razors, sometimes I would lather up anemically on DRY skin and use one of those Schick Quattro blades. I would go "Ow ow ow" as I would tear 3 days of growth off! I used a brush though, but a floppy synthetic Wilkinson's Sword brush!

Anyway the first day i got my DE i, for whatever reason, didn't put it back together right. It's a Merkur classic, the bottom part of it I put in upside down and the blade was barely cutting. So I was so confused as to why the hell it wasn't cutting. So I pressed down, tried insane angles etc.
Then finished with my Fusion and said **** it. My face was on FIRE.
I've come a long way since then!

Mine was in Dec. '07, I remember it well...... The planets were aligned, hope was high and the shaving gods smiled upon me as I placed my wares upon the counter. Tabac soap, Gillette slim adjustable, Tweezerman badger brush and the evil Gillette 'pop top can' blades. My whiskers must have been scared off because the first shave was almost the best to date. The 2nd shave w/the same set up did NOT yield the same results, but that first time.... smelling Tabac and what it feels like to get a decent, non hair pulling shave was amazing. Feathers are the only blade that doesn't play or fool around with the job at hand, ( on me anyway ), but I like to take more than two passes most days. I shave when I get home from work and it shaves the stress of the day right off. Those bearded guys just do not know what they are missing.

Hm... We'll have to divide this story into two different eras.

Back in the early 90's I was using a single blade injector razor and Barabsol (here after Barbagoo). One day more or less out of the blue I spotted a Burma Shave reissue set (boar brush, Burma Shave mug, soap from the set). My initial foray into wet shaving, repeated many times was a lather that was so thick that it would not rinse off of the blade.

Moving to the modern era, with mostly the same kit same mug, slightly higher quality brush (purchased in Dubai at an international grooming supply chain) and Mantic's information and demonstration of proper lather making technique I started off with a vintage gillette fat boy - and the palm lather technique. Much improved over the old days. I've since moved to the classic bowl method, and boy is shaving fun. I enjoy getting up to prep for the shave, and man does it make a nice start to the day.

About two years ago I forgot to pack my wash kit and found myself staying in a hotel in Malvern without my Mach 3 or Tesco own brand shaving foam. Went out to the local chemists and picked up the cheapest razor I could find - a Boots own brand DE and some Wilkinson Sword blades.

I got just as good a shave as my old Mach 3 from that nasty piece of crap DE with a plastic handle and the blades were a fraction of the price so I stuck with it. Eventually I decided I wanted a nicer looking razor and searching online brought me here and led me to my (beloved) Merkur HD.

I now shave mostly with a Dovo Straight but the HD is always there for when I'm rushed or hung over.

Not one nick. Not one. I couldn't believe it. My face was beet/beat red. You can use any word you want, and you'd still be telling the truth. And I shaved for the first 3 days like that. Well, you guys were. I tell ya, the power of influence.

Setup:

Blade:USA Gillette's*
Razor: Merkur Long Handle Classic (Ret.)
Cream: Huge tup of AOS unscented. It never did a thing for me.
Brush: AOS Pure Badger (Still in use)

* The reason I bought the G's were, the last shave I had was with a Gillette blade. So, it was a cartridge. I was getting good shaves with it. I had absolutely no complaints. I don't really imagine that, that could be part of the story, as I had absolutely no - and I mean no technique back then.

mr00jimbo said:

Anyway the first day i got my DE i, for whatever reason, didn't put it back together right. It's a Merkur classic, the bottom part of it I put in upside down and the blade was barely cutting. So I was so confused as to why the hell it wasn't cutting. So I pressed down, tried insane angles etc.
Then finished with my Fusion and said **** it.

Click to expand...

You don't want to know how long I did this. I bought a DE because I was sick of the hairs clogging the M3. SWMBO eventually bought me a mug, soap and brush, all Col. Conk. But it wasn't until my first post here that someone pointed the error out to me - that very minute I went, lathered up, and did (I think) just one pass I haven't been that happy in a long while. Since then the second best shave was the day I got my HD and Tabac - 2 passes on 3 days of growth. Not quite DFS but very nice in one direction and NO irritation.

I started when I was about 18. I had a slight mustache growing and I didn't like it at all. One day I googled "how to shave" and I came across something that mentioned wetshaving. It might have been that msnbc article. I was then obsessed with the idea of wet shaving. I did a LOT of research and spent the better part of the day thinking about how it would be for my first shave. At one point I was contemplating getting the vision with some $120 brush to make sure I get the best possible experience. I ended up getting the murker HD with the C&E $35 brush. It's been about two years and I've bought a few more creams but I still haven't upgraded my brush/razor.

The first shave was a long process because I tried to get everything right. It took me an hour and half for my first shower + shave. I made the lather too watery so it was splashing everywhere as I swirled around the brush in the bowl. I did end up getting a smooth shave and my upper lip looked weird with no wiskers but a lot better without the little mustache I was growing.

I shaved way too much when I first started. I did 4 passes for like 5 days in a row and got REALLY bad razor burn. I didn't want to admit that I shouldn't shave that often so I blamed it on the blade, thinking I should have switched it out earlier. And now sometimes I'm just too lazy to switch the blade out so I'll shave with it ten times before I throw it away and I never get razor burn.

Believe it or not, my first wetshave was with a straight razor, back when I was around 20. Harder to believe: it was actually pretty good.
My sister and her husband had split, and he left behind a straight razor, soap, strop, etc, etc, and I and I picked the stuff up and went at it. It was possibly the slowest shave in history, but it was actually good.

About 1 month ago started with a boars hair brush and a $2 puck of soap I got at Walgreens. I still remember as stated in a forum here the kind of funky smell the brush gave off for a while. I guess the only good thing was the nice Gillette SS I was using. At this time I am unemployed so my younger brother gifted me with a tweezerman, tube of proraso and a bottle of clubman bay rum of which I am much thankful. At that point it changed the wet shaving experience for me. Now I can not wait to get up and put my badger to work.
Like most people on this site I now have the bug and log on 1st thing most mornings to read the new postings and see what is going on.