How Did You Start?

[jvan]

I think it was a couple of years ago on one of the now defunct forums that I raised this same question. As we have a whole new population here at SMF I thought it would be interesting to hear how some of us came to be wetshavers.

My epiphany began about three years ago while watching the Travel Chanel, towards the end of the program they featured an eight to ten minute segment that focused on Trumper's, both the retail shop and the barbering end of the business.

I was hooked! Right after the program ended I went immediately to the internet first looking up Trumper's and reading the entire site and then branching off on everything that came up under wetshaving. This eventually led me to all of the familiar vendors including Enchante and Charles Roberts.

In total I have probably logged between fifteen and twenty hours on the phone with Charles and eventually bought the entire kit from him. Now this goes back to when he was still teaching the RMWS on an M3 razor.

That was all a while back and except for a couple times when I was ready to give up on the DE razor and go back to the M3 I have been happily using all of the gear that we all talk about each day. Keeping me from giving up and encouraging me to stick with it and give a fair try was Gordon and I believe Sam if memory serves me right and I am thankful to both of them and anyone else who prodded me on.

OK, so how did you get started?

[Johnnie]

Vince, our founder, had informed me of his new hobby. I thought he was out of his mind because I hated shaving. $100 for a brush, $20 for cream! I hated spending $2 on gel, there was no way I was going to spend that kind of money on shaving crap.I said f that. Then I sort of got curious and Robert from TGS send me some samples of Trumpers and I couldnt believe the difference. That's all she wrote.

johnnie

[murchmb]

I was looking for groom's gifts ths past summer and considered a brush and cream, but saw how much it would cost for a decent setup. I ended up giving some nice knives. Once married, my wife starting bi.... , I mean complaining about the shave I was getting with my electric (now she complains about the time it takes). I ordered a Merkur HD, some Taylor's creams, QED soap, and a Vulfix brush. The rest is history.

[Hugo]

My wife saw an episode of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy featuring eShave products. She knew how much I hated shaving and how many problems I had with it so she went ahead and ordered me the cucumber shave cream, after shave lotion, and an alum block. At the time I didn't even know she had done this.

About 2 or 3 days later I found the WetShavers through a thread on MenEssentials. Wasn't really interested at the time because I didn't fully understand what most were talking about: shave brushes, English creams, a DE razor, and whatnot. Seemed rather eccentric and very expensive.

My eShave items arrived in the mail a day later and I gave them a go (without a brush for the cream). The shave was far better than Edge gel and I was curious to know more. I found the thread on ME again and started to really look at the WetShavers forum. Googled a lot of the items spoken about and when I felt comfortable enough I started to ask questions.

Those of you that were around back then might remember a wet-behind-the-ears newbie asking a lot of redundant questions about irritation and after shaves. Annoying some said, but you fellas helped anyway.

My next purchase was a vintage Gillette DE razor. I noticed an immediate improvement from the M3. Sure there were more nicks and cuts, but somehow less irritation. I was really hooked by this time.

Then was my brush. Another milestone. Shaves got that much better: Closer, smoother, less irritation, and my skin really started to look better. I was a full blown shavegeek!!

Looking back my wife wishes she had never watched Queer Eye, let alone purchased the eShave products, and myself? I'm addicted.

Now, for the most part, I look to help those who are new to this the way those of you helped me. Pay it forward. Pass it along. And keep up the tradition.

So, to those who helped me when I was just a newbie: Thank You!!! And if there is anyone here I've helped out: You're Welcome and Pay It Forward!!!

[rtaylor61]

I was reading a blog that had a link on "How To Get A Perfect Shave". Read the article, found it interesting, and a few days later I took a friend grocery shopping, and ran across a Surrey Brush and Williams Shaving Soap. I figured for less than $8 bucks, I would give it a shot. You can figure out the rest!

Randy

[DavidB]

I think my journey started back in 2002, we were vacationing with friends. My buddy showed me a store where he'd bought some shaving soap in a bowl and an Omega brush, so I did the same, partly because I'd developed some skin issues with canned foam and alcohol-based aftershaves, partly because I was bored with the shaving ritual, and this looked like a fun thing to do.

Turned out that the soap was body soap poured into a bowl and packaged as shaving soap. I didn't work well for me, though my friend continues to use it and be satisfied with it. But the wetshaving bug had bit me, so I did some reading online and came across the forum that eventually morphed into "The Wetshavers Group".

A number of forum members and vendors have guided me along the way. There have been plenty of twists and turns. I've spent a lot of money, learned a ton, made a bunch of cyber-friends, and had a lot of fun. Getting great shaves now, too.

Still learning and growing, and enjoying the adventure!

Dave

[wrath186]

I started brush shaving when I was about 16. I hated to use canned foam, it just seemed too messy and expensive. At the time Gillette, I think, made this brush/creme soap combo. It was a cheap brush with a rubber tube in the middle. You could insert one of several soap filled cartridges into the hollowed brush handle and you would twist the bottom of the soap cartridge, similar to a deodrant stick. The creme would come up from the brush and you could work it into a lather to shave with. This worked well, but I have always had very sensitive skin and shaving more than once a week was a bloody and painful ritual. I sported a full beard for a while, but once summer came around it became unbearable.

I discovered Col. Conk in my twenties and had been steadily using that along with a boar bristle brush, Atra razor and bowl until the M3 made it's appearance. I did more reasearch and found out about Trumpers and Shavemac. I purchased a really nice Chatsworth shaving set from The Gentleman's Shop and had been using that along with my Shavemac "White Giant" silvertip brush and Trumper's Violet creme soap until about three months ago when I re-discovered a Merkur Vision razor that I had acquired some time ago. I had abandoned it because it shaved so deplorably I couldn't understand how anyone would want to do that to their face. After finding this forum I was encouraged to try it again. Lo and behold I have found that you can get a decent shave with a single bladed razor.

I'm currently working on my technique and in the process learning all I can about wet shaving and the art of the perfect shave.

Eventually I would like a straight razor, but I feel that will come afte some considerable practice with the DE.

[sal]

A while back, spring of this year, I kept having this recurring memory of my grandfather, god rest his soul, when I was a kid. He has been gone for about 35 years.
The memory was him wetshaving(although I was unaware of it being called that) I was about 6. Anyway he would lather up with a brush and he would put lather on the tip of my nose.

This memory persisted for a ouple of months so I wanted to see if people actually shaved like that any more.

I googled wetshaving and much to my surprise boatloads of info. So I read and read and finally came upon this site. I have been here since.

The recommendations here led me to Charles first and one creditcard later I was set up to start.

Multiple invoices later from vendors recommended on here and I am in so deep I will never get out

Thats my story and I'm sticking to it

[javyn]

A few months ago I was reading a post on another forum (not a shaving forum) asking for peoples' shaving routines . After reading through a few of the more intricate regimens, I thought, "what a bunch of idiots!". Then I started researching these things they were using called 'badger brushes', safety razors, scented soaps, creams, etc. Well, what can I say, now I am one of those idiots!

[Joe Lerch]

I think it was a couple of years ago on one of the now defunct forums that I raised this same question. As we have a whole new population here at SMF I thought it would be interesting to hear how some of us came to be wetshavers.

My first razor was a Gillette DE from my father. That was what you bought when you went to the drugstore. I used it with a canned shave cream (Barbasol or Noxema?). So, I was a wet shaver from the start over 4 decades ago.

I have tried electric many times, but my skin can't take it, so I've been wet shaving continuously with DEs, trying a Schick injector along the way and eventually trying each of the Gillette and Schick systems and gels as they came out. Some of the systems I stuck with for a while, but the ones I liked were invariably discontinued.

I've been using a shaving brush for over 20 years (starting with drugstore variety) with various drugstore soaps and creams. About 15 years ago I bought a small pure badger brush and have been using that since.

Early this year, I discovered the online forums and learned about English soaps and creams. I upgraded to shaving preparations from the UK, Germany, Italy and other countries, which I love. I also bought a Kent BK8 and later an SMF brush. But overall I'm not really into shaving preparations in a big way (I use a variety, but I don't really experiment much) or fancy brushes. As part of this, I also started shaving with str8s, which is what I mostly use now.

[CRR]

A few months ago I ran across the article "How to get that perfect shave" by Corey Greenburg. After reading this article I started doing other searches on the net. I found the SMF website and starting reading and thought it would be fun to try an old DE. After I shaved for a while with it I noticed that the irritation on my neck was a thing of the past.

Since then I have become obsessed with shaving and faceturbation. I suffer from RAD, SCAD and all the other disorders associated with this new found obsession

Somebody help me......please

[stbdtack]

Let's see. . .it was 45 years ago, give or take a month, that my father presented me with my first Gillette adjustable DE, packet of Blue Blades, little shave brush, and Old Spice soap in a cup -- there wasn't much other choice back then -- neither my dad nor either grandfather used a straight razor in my presence. Slash and burn in the beginning (yes, we did have styptic pencils back then) led to better and better shaves. Then for who knows what reason I fell into the trap laid by Gillette -- more and more gadgetry, foam in a can, etc. A few of years ago I went back to the DE on my own and then discovered better shave creams, brushes and soaps at Crabtree & Evelyn -- later I ran across the Enchante' web site and then SRP -- the new adventure began. It didn't take long to get perfect shaves -- especially after mastering the open razor. . . I'd say the biggest revelation to me has been classic English scents and perfect Simpson's shave brushes -- I'm still learning!!!!

[designwise1]

I have shaved with one of my Dad's Gillette DEs since I was about 15 years old. I'm 37 and I have always hated shaving. I would shave every couple of days (when I could get away with it) and always had razor burn and ingrown hairs. I used Colgate creams for years until Edge hit the shelves.
A few months ago I broke down and bought a Mach3 on impulse. The shaves weren't as good as my DE and I was dreading the cost of replacement cartriges (little did I know what was about to happen) so I did some internet research. And found SMF, B&B, MSN, Enchante and Greenturd.
So I made another trip to Wal-Mart and bought a Burma-Shave brush and a cake of Williams.
It was just the beginning. Now I have soaps, creams, Injectors, DEs, straights, brushes and a partridge in a pear tree.
And I love shaving. Can you tell?

[crackstar]

lol, I've been shaving with a brush since about the age of 14, I think of all my friends, I was the only one with a beard. (now it's so heavy, it's terrible) My first shaving cream was Noxzema in the tube, do I ever miss it! After so many years of using it, I switched to Gillette in the tube which I guess was ok, but I think I'd drop even my Taylors creams or my C & E creams to get back my Noxzema lather My first razor was I think an old style DE which I can't remember. I've made changes over the years and now I'm using a Vision DE and occasionally an M3P

Jeff

[AFDavis11]

Around 1975 I got a straight razor and the shave sucked buy it seemed neat to me. I shaved with shaving soap/brush and a Sensor for a few years and later used a DE and gel- never putting the hard soap together with the DE. So my shaves were always nice, but not extrodinary. During Desert Shield/Storm there wasn't any water around for shaving so I went to an electric. Lived with that for a few years. I went back to a straight razor about 2 years ago just for the fun, then later tried the DE with the creams. Now I'm pretty stuck on the straight razor for the artisanship of it even though I get a better shave with a DE but that may just practice. Just recently I have started getting the best shaves ever with help from Joe and Laz. To me the lack of damage to my face is key, not really the closeness of the shave.

[nteeman]

It seems over the thirty some odd years that I've been shaving I have always been trying to get that perfect shave. I've tried many products; wet shave, electric shave, I even wore a beard for a while. But in the end I'd always come back to some form of wet shaving. Then back in the 90's I found something called the 'Total Shaving Solution'. It was a shaving oil. I tried it for a while and then thought, let's see what else I can find about shaving on the internet. Then I found Col. Conk. I loved the name and the products intrigued me. I didn't want to spend a lot of money without trying something first so I found an old Merkur Slant Bar razor on ebay. I used it for a while and loved it. The finish was all worn off so I decided to get a new one. That started my RAD. After I had a new slant I had to try the str8 bar, then the progress, then an open comb, then the Vision. While this was going on I started to try different soaps and creams. First Col. Conk's soap along with one of his brushes. Then I discovered Proraso and Musgo Real. By this time I was getting really great shaves. When AOS opened up around the corner from where I work(they have since closed that store) I would go in and chat about shaving with the staff. I tried some of their products but was not impressed.

Some time passed and I was happily shaving with my razors and creams and hadn't searched the www for shaving for a while. Then one day I decided to see if anything new popped up and I found ClassicShaving.com. Some how from there I found Wetshavers then this group and here I am.

[EcoRick]

I started wet shaving because I read somewhere that it was healthy to vary your routine in the morning. It's suppose to stimulate your brain as you get older. I've had the exact same routine from shower to breakfast for years. Went off of auto pilot and started various wet shaving products. The one problem is that I enjoy method shaving which puts me back in another rut.

[mark the shoeshine boy]

Well before I could shave I was shining shoes....really...I shined shoes...so I got the best instructions from some of the best trained barbers around...Right from the St louis Barber School whick is right around the Koken Barber Supply in St louis.....(little sentiment there)...

I started shaving using all the correct techniques both both of my facial hairs....around 1978 or so I got a 2 blade gillette and a can of foam...thus my downward spiral began....cussing in grown hairs and redness of the neck This January on the Sunday version of the Today Show and C.G.'s How to get a perfect shave....

This brought me back to those great barbers who showed me the correct way. I procrastinate about 2 weeks and then placed an order with QED and Classicshaving.....

My first shave was a little bloody, but I never looked back..and now I never looked better...(for what I have to work with)

Now I have a new obsession....razors...brushes....soaps and colognes....and never been happier....

That's it....

Mark The Shoeshine boy

[bernards66]

Evening, John. I remember the original thread, sure enough. For members who weren't around then, I'll re-do it.

Like Pat and Joe, I started shaving over forty years ago, with a Gillette DE ( long handled Adjustable, in my case ). Unlike them, I bought it myself, as my father was always an electric user. That, and a can of lemon/lime foam, and in a bit, Yardley Black Label foam. I've shaved with this, or similiar razors ever since, with only the briefest of interludes, to try and then reject various cartridges etc. So, I too, have always been a 'wetshaver' in the more general sense.

Then twenty years ago, my girlfriend ( now wife ), for Xmas, bought me a wooded shave soap bowl, a boar bristle brush, and some cologne from the C&E shop which had just opened here. Now this was clearly 'classy' stuff, and I fell for it immediately. So, now I had a brush, good quality shave soap, and my old DE razor. I liked it so much, that I started looking for even spiffer stuff. This was long before the current internet, or any of that. I poked through the back section of odd magazines like, 'Victorian Living', looking for possibilities. This is how I originally found Penhaligon's. It must have taken me 5 months to finally receive my catalogue, but when I did, "wow!..look at THIS stuff!...". I found Floris and Trumpers through a small catalogue that I'd gotten in my seach for good teas. Went to NYC, and found the Floris shop and through them, Cambridge Chemists, and the full Trumper line at Barneys.....and on it went. When I finally started to use the internet, I quickly hunted down sites, including Enchante. Called them up, talked, ordered stuff, and eventually checked in on his original Wetshaver forum ( on which I lurked, but didn't join, only joining after that one closed and the two arose from it ). And here I am.
Regards,
Gordon

[KillerPancake]

After years of severe hamburgerification of my skin using a cartridge razor and canned gloop, I decided there must be a better way. It seemed logical that working a brush and cream would make for a softer beard and better surface preparation, so I obtained a cheap boar brush and some KMF shaving cream. Sure enough, things improved a great deal, and remained that way for a couple of years. Then a while back I discovered SMF and the SCAD took hold in a big hurry. Badger brushes, DE razors, shaving creams and soaps... Great shaves, and a plenty of product choices for performing said shaves have been the result.