Wall St Journal article and vid highlight tradional shaving

lanolite · Post by **lanolite** » Sun Jul 11, 2010 9:17 pm

Not sure how to embed this, but here's the link. A visit to Pasteur's Pharmacy and interview with the owner about SE blades.

http://online.wsj.com/video/investing-i ... F3BDF.html

And, they also have an article called Razor Burn: A Flood of Fancy Shavers Leaves Some Men Feeling Nicked

2clfrwrds · Post by **2clfrwrds** » Sun Jul 11, 2010 9:33 pm

Thanks, that video was really fun. One of those guys rang up my purchase last time I was there, and we had a good conversation: didn't realize he was the owner of the store!

--Glenn

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Sun Jul 11, 2010 11:04 pm

Well, it's nice to have validated that we are part of "a hardy subset of men"....who have opted out of the cartridge madness. Actually, of course, I never joined it in the first place but that Wall Street Journal article suggests that this opting out, one way or another, is growing significent enough for even Gillette and Schick to be at least dimly aware of it. And the fact that Pasteur's says that their shaving goods sales quadrupled as they expanded their selection of traditional shave goods is encouraging. Interesting links.
Regards,
Gordon

notthesharpest · Post by **notthesharpest** » Sun Jul 11, 2010 11:58 pm

With Procter & Gamble owning AOS, I'm sure they're aware more than dimly.

Considering the prices of new Gillette cartridges, some of the better-off American men may soon find it more economical to fly over to London for a shave at Trumper's before work in the morning.

gsgo · Post by **gsgo** » Mon Jul 12, 2010 6:40 am

The WSJ article was a nice read over breakfast this morning spotted first by my wife who got a good kick out of it, can't beat the front page validation.

This is quite an interesting situation in that the old is becoming new again, we are witnessing quite a bit of momentum shifting to older wet shaving techniques. While we are still a small portion of the overall market I am quite curious to see what the future holds.

Wet shavers, stay tuned!

haiti222 · Post by **haiti222** » Mon Jul 12, 2010 8:13 am

The most important thing in the article for me was that drugstore.com is quoted saying that both Schick injector sales and Wilkinson DE sales through their website went up in 2009 from 2008, and that they lobby Schick to keep these items available. Having a retailer selling AND pushing the manufacturer to keep making the product is very important to the future of the injector blade....

Also, in the paper WSJ, I found this incredible item with room for enough of our products while traveling......

http://www.rauantiques.com/item/Blue-En ... -2457.html

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Mon Jul 12, 2010 7:25 pm

Yes, I agree. In terms of the 'bigger picture' that was the most significent and heartening line in the article because drugstore.com is big enough to have at least a little clout.
Regards,
Gordon

Blue As A Jewel · Post by **Blue As A Jewel** » Mon Jul 12, 2010 7:35 pm

Great clip! I can't imagine being surrounded by all that gear and not experimenting!

Pauldog · Post by **Pauldog** » Mon Jul 12, 2010 8:34 pm

"The introduction of Gillette's Fusion razor, kept secret until its debut in 2005..."

2005? Every time I turn around, someone adds another year or two to its age. Soon it will be claimed to predate the fabled 1930'a 5-blade Mvltiplex.

When I checked it on the Gillette website, though, I was surprised to find that it came out in 2006. The pre-release discussions here about the Fusion don't seem like they were nearly that long ago.

gil3591 · Post by **gil3591** » Mon Jul 12, 2010 9:20 pm

if de shaving is on the rise it's very likely we will see higher quality de blades

merkri · Post by **merkri** » Tue Jul 13, 2010 12:13 am

Nice article. Overall, I found it heartening and reassuring--brightened my day.

At the same time, it sort of underlined some of the anxiety surrounding my use--I empathized with the guy who wanted to buy out his favorite blades.

I also am wondering if I should think about ordering from drugstore.com.

fallingwickets · Post by **fallingwickets** » Tue Jul 13, 2010 4:08 am

we are part of "a hardy subset of men"

dont forget to include the dandy ans rakes hahaha

clive

GA Russell · Post by **GA Russell** » Tue Jul 13, 2010 6:10 pm

Thanks lanolite! I posted this comment:

I have been a DE wetshaver since of April of 2008. Shaving was a chore, but now it is one of the highlights of my day. My favorite blades are the Gillette 7 O'Clock Super Platinum from India mentioned in the article and the Lord Platinum from Egypt. My favorite soap is Cella from Italy. As one would expect, the brushes mentioned have been badger (I like silvertip for shaving creams), but I highly recommend the Koh-I-Noor SC68 professional boar brush for soaps. I recommend you take a look at http://www.shavemyface.com. Very knowledgeable and friendly gentlemen there.

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Tue Jul 13, 2010 9:26 pm

Clive, Yes, those too. Thank you.
Regards,
Gordon

lanolite · Post by **lanolite** » Tue Jul 13, 2010 9:56 pm

I hope people read your comment and not the guy who says you don't need to use shaving cream at all if you shower first.

I was also amazed that several commenters advised using a blow dryer or whatever to dry off the blades after shaving "to prevent corrosion." Yep, the curse of the corroded stainless steel blade -- why didn't I think of that....

SiR-ed8 · Post by **SiR-ed8** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 11:52 am

Saw this one in yahoo. You know even with Beverly Hills and other snooty areas in LA, we don't have stuff like that here. We have Rite-Aid and CVS.

You'd think the store owner would take advantage of the quality stuff.

jbc · Post by **jbc** » Thu Jul 15, 2010 4:45 am

By in large I think that we wet shavers are folkes that doubt conventional wisdom and are expecting things around them to make sense. When I first contemplated the Proctor and Gamble Fusion razor a few years ago, I noted the five blades and tried to rationalize why in the world I need five blades to cut one hair on my face. If one blade comes allong and cuts off the hair it seems a bit silly to have four other blades. I surfed the net trying to figure out why is it necesary to have five blades and what advantage did the second blade add and no one was able to look me in the face and give me a streight answer. I got a lot of dumb looks and people telling me "Smart people say its better so I believe them." I wasn't satisfied I wanted to know why is the second blade better. Gilette never explained why the second blade was needed, forget the third through fifth blades I wanted to know why two. Without an explination as to why the second blade the rest seemd like killing and ant with a nuclear bomb.

So I tried it and experience has taught me that multiple bades are not needed one does just fine. Disposables, asked the question and got a streight answer, the quality of the blades is so terrible its not cost effective to buy them. Electrics, why in the world would you want electricity on your face.

Now I use a straight that was made in 1710, hasn't changed an iota in over three hundred years.

Post by **drmoss_ca** » Thu Jul 15, 2010 5:22 am

jbc wrote:Now I use a straight that was made in 1710, hasn't changed an iota in over three hundred years.

1710? This demands a photo, as I have never seen one that old in usable condition!

Chris

GA Russell · Post by **GA Russell** » Thu Jul 15, 2010 8:18 am

jbc wrote:Gilette never explained why the second blade was needed, forget the third through fifth blades I wanted to know why two. Without an explination as to why the second blade the rest seemd like killing and ant with a nuclear bomb.

When the Trac II was introduced in the 70s, Gillette was everywhere on television explaining, showing a cartoon of the first blade pulling the whisker out and the second blade chopping it off.

So we now have a generation of men too young to remember the explanation.

Post by **drmoss_ca** » Thu Jul 15, 2010 12:41 pm

I remember it well, but I think I have read since that it was all fantasy, and the lift and cut business just didn't happen.

Chris
I prefer 'Lifts and separates' if you must know.