Tell me your shaving journey

wayne_m

Messages
3,170
My own shaving journey is a tale of boom to bust. I first got into the shaving game by looking online because I'd thought I'd seen somewhere that you could buy a twin blade cartridge blade sharpener contraption and for some reason I ended up finding TSR. Intrigued, I joined the forum. I, like many eagerly took in all the posts of all this fantastic new man gear, perfect for a character like mine, I'm either madly into something or not at all interested, take it 1000% or completely leave alone as not for me.
I bought a Muhle R89 as this is often the recommended starter razor to own. I paired it with a Palmolive stick soap ( classic ) a cheap Wilko Boar Brush and an Astra Green blade. First time out and because I used Cartridges with flex heads I pressed too hard and it was a blood bath, I literally looked like I'd been in Sweeny Todds. My face was sore for a few days afterwards.
When I managed a good clean shave a few times later, that was me hooked. From then on the bug really bit, I ploughed thousands into shaving tackle, no lie, I bought the lot, Mongoose, Wolfman, Timeless, Charcoal, every conceivable rare Razor apart from vintage I've owned, along with a massive Soap and Badger Brush collection from all the top guys in the game, I've had 'em, flogged them, bought them again, flogged them again.
Luckily I've never really lost much, cash wise from the hardware but software has cost me more than a few quid and I realised selling soap was a waste of time and effort and I've literally binned £100's worth of Soap in my time, it was even a standing joke at one time that my Bin Man had the smoothest face in Leeds.
These days the boom is over and I've whittled my once massive collection down to a Leaf, a Twig and a newly acquired Tatara Masamune. I have about 8 Synthetic Brushes, all good stuff, but worthless on BST and a big cash loss if I tried to sell them. I soon lost the Badger Bug when I realised even though I'm no eco warrior or Rabid Vegan that killing an Animal so I could build a face lather didn't sit right with me, especially with the way the country of origin treats animals, I couldn't any longer justify that. Not preaching here, if you enjoy Badger, go for it, and a still too big soap collection, these days it's all pretty much out of date stuff from around 3 years ago, so none of the latest and greatest but it all does the same.
I then made the fatal mistake of getting into Fragrance. Now, that was a mistake, that did cost me a pretty penny and to this day I still have over 100 bottles of really expensive smelly stuff. I always smell nice however and have enough to last me and my Son out for our lifetimes. Fragrance is something I regret spending on, big time, as even though I get the occasional compliment to boost the ego, I don't get enough to justify the outlay.
So that's about it, a tale of boom and bust, of wanting to have the best a man can get, then once I had it, I wanted more and more until I came to my senses and stopped, took a deep breath and got out of that damned Rabbit hole of spending. I'm still here, still enjoying having a shave, but I've realised it is just a shave and I'll have to do it again in two days time no matter how smooth my face is and I don't need to have all that stuff I thought was essential to enjoying my shaving.
What's your stories then Lads?
 
That’s one hell of a journey mate.
I enjoyed reading that.
 
I arrived at my destination on day one. My first wet shave was my old man's Gillette OLD type, and even though I now have a ridiculous pile of razors to choose from, the OLD is still the one that does it for me. The early thin head Single Ring is my weapon of choice.
Brushes didn't seem important at first, I got an Omega synthetic and was content with that for a long time. Then I went through horse, badger, and finally boar, and boar is far and away the best performer for me.
Soap, well any soap will do, but a hard puck works best for me, and the brand or scent doesn't matter.
Pinaud Lilac Vegetal has become my aftershave, Skin Bracer original was my first and I still use it.
No pre-shave stuff, no alum blocks, and any good blade will do.
 
Ah so that's what my neighbour meant when she said she had a hairy pussy...
 
My interest in shaving started in earnest with Rosacea, but I had tried every razor that was launched since entering puberty. My first DE a Wilkinson Sword in 91. My Father used a Schick Injector. Every razor that came out I bought, Contour/Atra, Profile, Slim Twin, Mach 3, Quattro, Fusion, and Hydro. I started collecting razors, whether Weck, Durham Duplex, Krona, Injector or Kamisori AC's.

I haven't gone down the stainless DE or Badger brush rabbit hole, but I have collected inexpensive modern DE's and synthetic brushes.
I do have hundreds of soaps and creams, probably 400. I have most important brands of AS. And a very large fragrance collection.
 
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I guess i’m probably different from the rest.
I hated shaving all my life.
Hated it with a passion.
i shaved once a week sometimes once a fortnight and sometimes once every three weeks i just hated it,
I guess i done it because i pretty much had to although i was lucky i had a job where i didn’t have to shave daily.
No matter on the money if i did i wouldn’t take the job i hated shaving that much.
As the years went on my wife was buying me all sorts to try.
Eventually i was on kent & loccitane and other semi decent soaps i can’t remember but still cartridge.
And out of the blue i was browsing youtube and a shaving video came up,
To this day i have no idea why the video was there i hadn’t searched for it but i watched it with interest & i was very intrigued.
I just knew this new shaving thing was for me.
I showed my wife the video & unknown to me she went and bought me a Benny’s Of London Set.
It wasn’t what i wanted but persevered with it for around 6 months.
To be fair the cream & balm were ok,
The brush was crap and the Razor was probably a DE89. After the 6 months or so i drove to Glasgow & got everything i needed from Executive Shaving.
I was shaving for about a year before finding this forum.
Now i just can’t get enough of it
 
I did the usual (sadly), cartridge razors and electric (sacrilege) razors. Before finding the forums and following the right path.

My initial TTP’s were probably like a lot of others, pressed too hard, not using the right equipment for me or using it in the wrong way.

As time went on and thanks to members on here sharing their thoughts on things and the helpful advice on You Tube. I got better.

Unfortunately for my bank balance my interest has also got a little out of hand. I now have quite a lot of stuff. Despite trying to be good I have had a little lapse here and there.

But am very happy with my shaving now, very pleased with the results and it’s therapeutic for me. A joy to shave and not just a chore or functional. I always go a 3 grain pass because, why not, I’m not in a rush.

I tend to alternate DE razors and blades less frequently than soaps / creams / splashes. And usually do a minimum of 2 shaves per blade before discarding it. Unless I don’t like the blade which is rare these days.

My thanks to you all for all the help and advice over the years it is appreciated.

I only wish I’d discovered proper shaving years ago.

Best wishes to you and yours.

Ben
 
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I got fed up with the price of Mach 3 cartridges (when this was the latest thing) and used to drag them out longer than I should, resulting in ingrowns and rashes. I think this was 2009/10.
Next tried the Gillette Blue II disposables and they were pretty good but I wanted something less cheap and plasticky, and wasteful.
Saw some DE blades in the supermarket and didn't know what razors would fit them so had a little look online.
Shaving Shack led to my first DE purchase and gradually, after joining this forum, a habit/obsession grew.
 
When I was a young man I hated shaving as I have quite sensitive skin. Like a lot of people, I ended up with cartridges after trying out electric shaving (awful!). My shaving journey really started when I was walking through an arcade in Birmingham and saw a shop with straight razors in the window. I thought about buying one but decided to check things out on line. I never did buy one but my browsing led me to try real shaving with proper shaving soap, different DE blades, and an Edwin Jagger DE87. I still had issues with sensitive skin, partly no doubt to my technique. The big change for me was when I read on this forum that someone recommended cold water shaves. That was a real game changer.
I tend to stick to particular types of shaves, e.g. citrus, woody, bay rum etc. but occasionally mix them up. I try not to buy too many razors and keep to one of each type, so apart from the Edwin Jagger DE87, I have an adjustable DE (Parker Variant), an open comb (Fatip Piccolo), a slant head (Merkur 37c), an SE (Razorock Blackhawk v2), a shavette (Razorine), a double open comb SLOC (Yaqi), an adjustable injector (Parker), an open comb slant head (Fatip Lostorto), and a butterfly opening (Giesen and Forsthoff).
At the moment I am resisting the challenge to expand this. I must admit to being the type that throws everything at the shave, preshave, soap/cream, alum block, aftershave lotion, and aftershave balm. Oh and I don't chase the BBS shave. It works for me!
 
I had a beard from the 70’s. Then designer stubble (I was a big Miami Vice fan). Then a beard again. Tidying up done with an electric.
I didn’t get into proper shaving until I joined this forum… first time round, about 15 years ago. I bought some vintage razors… Fatboy, Slim and a Tech… and some fancy modern SS razors… Feather, Weber, ATT. I also had some lovely brushes, badger and boar… Simpson and two of New Forest’s finest and some Omegas.

I went a bit mad really and had a terrible time. I thought I had sensitive skin but it was just bad technique. I settled down when I tried out a Merkur Progress and also bought a Digress. These worked really well paired with a Rapira Swedish Supersteel.

Then I took early retirement and started going on lots of holidays… it seemed easier to grow a beard again.

Post-Covid I’m picking up on the holidays again and I decided to go for a cartridge system… naturally this led, with indecent haste, back down to DE shaving and here I am. I still use the cartridge on holiday… mainly because I tend to shave in the afternoon and I may be a bit fuzzy after lunchtime vino rosado.
 
I started out with an electric Phillips shaver, which was bought for me as a birthday present for my 12th or 13th birthday. I started wet shaving regularly with a Gillette Mach 3 Power when they first came out but rarely bothered with the “power” feature. which I thought was a load of rubbish from the start.I remember arguing with a friend who was convinced the thing vibrating made a difference.

I became increasingly jaded with the rising costs of Mach 3 cartridges and ended up switching to Wilkinson Sword Quattro for a while when I was about 22/23 because they worked out slightly cheaper. I’d used disposable 2 blade razors a few times too because they were cheaper.

Then one day 11 years ago - about 14 years into my shaving journey - I woke up with a swollen lip and it looked evil. I went to the GP who asked, “do you use those silly razors with umpteen blades?” “Yes.” My GP then proceeded to say she saw so many patients with similar issues. “Try a one bladed razor” was the advice.

I’d had one of those dog tag necklaces with a twist when I was 17/18 - the dog tag was in the shape of a DE razor blade. I knew of their existence but nobody I knew shaved with them. Even my grandfather was using cartridges.
I did some research and found a Geofatboy video on YouTube about how to shave with a DE razor. At the time Boots sold the Wilkinson Sword Classic (black plastic) DE razor for about £4.99 so I thought let’s give this a whirl. I’d bought a Wilkinson Sword shaving brush and a great shaving cream, which was exclusive to Asda at the time and was in their “The Groomed” range (Real Shaving Company produced ir for them I believe). Was impressed from the first shave with the result and much preferred the whole lathering with a brush experience.

I’ve never looked back. I bought an Edwin Jagger DE89 within 3 months and started trying out other blades. Never got on with Derby Extra blades but most others have been fine. Bought a Merkur Futur after 6 months of DE shaving and was impressed by how efficient it is. Have bought a few more razors since but to be fair I’ve resisted going mad on hardware purchases. Software however… yikes!

Brush wise I made do with a Taylor of Old Bond St pure badger, which came in a set with a tub of their Jermyn St cream, for ages until I bought a Semogue 830. I found lathering harder soaps much easier with the boar brush. I bought a Razorock Snowman a few years ago because I liked the look of it. It’s my favourite brush.

Creams and soaps are my vice. I’m a fragrance head and have bought too many I’ve thrown a few out - threw a quarter of a tub of Cyril Salter mint cream last week, which I know for a fact I bought in 2014. It had dried out and the sxent had faded. In 2014 I wasn’t buying creams as frequently so used to get my way through a tub. These days I know I’ll never finish some. Mentholated soaps/creams are a particular vice.

I also own too many fragrances and last year gifted a lot of the cheaper ones I’d bought to a friend. I share a regret for buying so many. If I’d only tried Chanel Pour Monsieur, Égoïste and probably Sycomore years ago I’d have probably settled. I’ve calmed down on the fragrance buying though!
 
c.2013 and after a succession of horrible shaves with what was my only razor, the Gillette Mach 3, I turned to the internet for help as something was seriously wrong.

I'd used Wilkinson Sword Retractor disposables since starting to shave and when I felt flush enough for a Gillette, I bought into the Gillette Sensor which became the Sensor Excel. I think I skipped the Sensor Excel 3 and got the Mach 3 upon release. Things were fine back then with softer hair and younger skin, but years on that format was not helping me at all. Like @wayne_m I was shaving less and less and that might well became weekly ... and routine turned to annoyance turned to dread!

I found this forum literally in tears with a face full of ingrowers and horrendous irritation to boot, cursing the very name Gillette.

... and that was that! I got into traditional shaving and very rapidly enjoyed running through all manner of double edge razors on the market, found vintage, found the Tech, found the 1912, found happiness. Years passed. In the last couple of months I revisited the Gillette Sensor format and found it to be really very excellent! It's not the tools, it's the technique.
 
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