Your story about your first steps in wet shaving

[Manumik]

Hey guys,
I'm wondering about your stories about how you first got in touch with wet shaving?
Did the desire came up by yourself or did somebody proposed it to you?
I personally was always fascinated about straight razors because they come in so many different shapes and sized. I just love everything with great design... It was not even the shaving aspect that made me buy my first razor. The love for shaving itself came later when I actually started shaving for the first time.
But in the beginning, I was just drawn to the looks of the razors itself...
That was what made me buy my first razor.
Excited to hear your stories.

 

[Majorrich]

Genetics and youth blessed me through my twenties in that I didn’t have to shave much. I used an electric razor mostly. When I did use blades, I had a couple of twin bladed disposable razors that I would maintain a serviceable shave with canned spoo.
One fateful morning my electric razor clapped out and I had no backup disposables. I remembered finding my late fathers Dopp kit and my first use of his olde gear was a Super Speed with a Wilkinson blade. I used the canned spoo, but got a pretty good shave. I don’t remember Dad ever using anything but electrics, but found an old Henckel straight, a Fatboy that was inoperable and the aforementioned Super Speed. He also had a small barber hone in the kit, but I took his straight to my barber who sharpened it for me. I watched a few videos, got some soaps, and before I knew it, I was enjoying wet shaving!
When the folks at Church found out how much I was enjoying it,razors of all sorts were gifted to me, starting my collection.
Then I found the guys on the other site.
Several years later here I am!

 

[woodpusher]

I remember the day clearly when I had my first shave. It was 8:74am on Wedurday, Septober 34th back in the late-70s, and I was given either a puck of Williams or some Wilkinson Sword soap , and old drugstore brush, and an old superspeed with a blade already in it to use. Over the decades since, I've used carts, electrics, straights, DEs and now injectors.

You CAN save money if you stick with the basics and somehow manage to avoid all the rabbit holes to chase something "better" or new. Most of us don't have that disciple though

 

[MilkCrate]

I started with carts back in the day, then moved to electric. My hair is fine and I could get by easily with the electric for some time. In 2017, my electric started pulling hair instead of cutting, so into the bin it went. Was curious about old school shaving, so started doing a bit of research and then bought my first, cheap DE starter kit. Fell into all the rabbit holes along the way. Now I primarily shave with an SR, but still keep several DEs on hand.

 

[NurseDave]

@dangerousdon could tell us but it involves 2 donkeys and a midget. So not in mixed company.

 

[Dave in KY]

@dangerousdon could tell us but it involves 2 donkeys and a midget. So not in mixed company.

Don't forget the goats and yoga poses.....

 

[Patelliott]

For me I had to start shaving for my job. Prior to that I hated shaving so I grew out my beard and would trim it with an electric razor. I started out using that electric razor, but my first day to work my boss pulled me aside and told me that my shave was not close enough. I then went to the store and bought a Gillette 14 blade razor with the hydro lubrication strip to eradicate ingrown hairs. Shaved and the next morning you would think I had just hit puberty with all the irritation/whiteheads on my face and neck. So I researched how to get rid of irritation from shaving and stumbled on an article talking about wet shaving. Went and bought a VanderHagen DE starter kit and I really enjoyed it, but the more I read up on wet shaving the more I became interested in straights. Bought a Dovo and TOBS sandalwood soap and I really started looking forward to shaving. Then I joined the TSC and fell down every rabbit hole known to the Dave's.

 

[Spider]

Been shaving ever since high school. Never really cared for facial hair, and have only grown out my moustache/beard a couple times in my life and only for a few months at most. I don't like the feel of it at all. And I joined (and retired from) the military, so for the most part I've had to stay clean shaven most of my adult life.

I started with the Gillette Sensor that Gillette sent me, and used that for a while, graduated up to a Mach 3. Tried Electrics here and there but always came back to the carts. Never enjoyed my shaves, and never felt like I got good shaves either.

Fast forward to 10 years ago, I was getting really bad irritation/redness on my neck from shaving quickly in the shower and pushing carts as far as they would go. I did a quick internet search to find out what I could do to reduce the irritation. That led me to an article on The Art of Manliness titled "How to Shave like your Grandfather." That told of the wonders of shaving with a DE and using the traditional methods of soap and brush. Well, I've always been a fan of vintage things and that instantly appealed to me. I started watching videos on YT from Mantic, which really muddied up the water for me, because he was talking about all these different products that you had to use differently, and something called "Method Shaving" (anyone remember that?), and I got super confused and didn't know what to buy. I was reading that I needed a really good cream, so I went out and bought Barbasol...... yeah, not what they meant.... see, I was confused.

Then I discovered the Wet Shaving Forums, and the wonderful folks there were very helpful, answered all of my questions, and welcomed me into the community. And after 10 years I'm still here, and loving every minute of it.

 

[global_dev]

I think Spiders intro and mine are very similar, except while he was in the military, i was in other gov service, also similar story about sensors/mach3, mantic, but i went a step farther and actually called Charles Roberts on the phone and ordered some kit from him.Art of manliness iirc reminded me of leisure suit larry for some reason, it was ok

i remember coveting the “special” editions of the gillette sensor, like the red, white and blue handle. I think i stole one from my brother And gave him the grey/black one. That mirror/stand was beyond useless to me.

i had an AOS, C&E, SMN, proraso available to me locally, so it was a crazy hunt. My Target never had any “good” italian stuff though, it was all Shea moisture Brushes at the time

 

[NurseDave]

Per the usual. I was a cart shaver that would shave every other day at the most and would spend weekends and vacations enjoying living without the irritation. And if I didn't shave within a few minutes of getting out of the shower I'd skip it because it would be close to painful.

Then on a wine forum, there was a thread about traditional shaving and I read about L&L soap. Decided I wanted to see what all the hoopla was about, got in the YouTube shaving kick and the rest is history. And several shelves, boxes and drawers worth of purchases. I still haven't used up that first tub of L&L After the Rain.

 

[CBLindsay]

@dangerousdon could tell us but it involves 2 donkeys and a midget. So not in mixed company.

wasn’t there bourbon and ...what was that?

 

[BarberDave]

@dangerousdon could tell us but it involves 2 donkeys and a midget. So not in mixed company.

and a priest... remember

 

[BarberDave]

Until he passed away in 1978, I was 13, I used to watch my dad shave each morning with a Gold TTO and Williams or Brut Shave soap ( puck ) he would also use a straight on the weekend ( he only has the one ) he would let me faux shave with the TTO ( no blade ). After he passed and for a few years I would use the TTO. My mom kept his other shave gear, and eventually I believe she gave it to my uncle, including all of his Royall products and Brut, I did keep a small bottle of Pierre Cardin and Bill Blass, which I still have.. I moved on to carts, goop and Electrics while in the service, but returned to Traditional shaving in the early 90's when I got out of the service, Found B&B became friends with @Spider , @The Monkey , @woodpusher aka rockviper, and many of the folks that now call the TSC home.. Started with straights about 5yrs ago and jumped willingly from rabbit hole to rabbit hole with no end in sight

 

[CBLindsay]

and a priest... remember

I think most of us who’ve entered into the world of the straight razor have engaged in our heavenly negotiations if not had a priest on speed dial for the task. But Now I think about it you are right, there WAS a priest.

 

[BarberDave]

I think most of us who’ve entered into the world of the straight razor have engaged in our heavenly negotiations if not had a priest on speed dial for the task. But Now I think about it you are right, there WAS a priest.

OH and a Rabbi, a mule, and some crawfish I think

 

[BarberDave]

....and a HUGE block of cheese

@dangerousdon

 

[fhalden]

I shaved with whatever Gillette cart was in Vogue starting in 1981. I hated shaving. Then, around 2013 I found out about Dollar Shave Club. I was shaving once or twice a week because the irritation was so bad. Dollar Shave Club was a great deal, but I went on YouTube and searched for shaving videos. It was then I found the series of videos by Mantic59. I also found the other forum, and did a lot of reading. I read and researched and settled on getting an Edwin Jagger DE89lbl, a tub of TOBS Grapefruit, an Omega Pro 48 boar brush, and a sample pack of blades. The blade pack experiment resulted in the purchase of 100 Gillette 7 O'Clock Green blades. That was my lineup for years. Then, around a year ago, I returned to the forums and discovered all the modern razors and artisan soaps and oh! The aftershaves, and I dove in hard. I found TSC in February, and I spend a lot of time checking out the topics for new posts. My next two purchases will be a Vector and blades, and a Simpson Milk Churn Best Badger brush.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

[dangerousdon]

@dangerousdon could tell us but it involves 2 donkeys and a midget. So not in mixed company.

Don't forget the goats and yoga poses.....

wasn’t there bourbon and ...what was that?

and a priest... remember

OH and a Rabbi, a mule, and some crawfish I think

....and a HUGE block of cheese

@dangerousdon

Somehow I think the list got larger than it was originally. But I will have you all know...in order to get a good shave, you don't need all of that stuff...except for the block of cheese...the cheese is an absolute must!

 

[dangerousdon]

My story begins at the dawn of time. The earth was young and the creatures, the likes that man has never seen, roam the world preying upon weaker animals and being preyed upon themselves. It is here that the kind Doctor and his time travel devise pop in and discover a world that he could never believe. At that same moment, a Saurophaganax noticed the kind Doctor. The Doctor, not knowing how to respond froze in terror. It was then that the Saurophaganax devoured the Doctor in one bite.

Fast forward 150 million years.

I had started shaving in high school around the age of 16. My face was full of furriness and I looked a lot like the high school version of the Bumble from Rudolph. My dad had been out of the picture for a while and my step-dad was pretty much a douche nozzle. So I really just kind of started shaving on my own. Started with a good old can of goo and a crappy old cart razor. Can't remember what they were exactly...but I don't think it really matters. I remember at one point using this shave brush that had a twist up foam or gel in it. I think it was made by Gillette...but don't quote me on that.

At 19, I went into the Marine Corps and it was all I could do to tame my facial hair. It grew in very thick and very dark. Even at 19 I looked like I had a 5 O'clock Shadow by noon. Because of this my Drill Instructors required me to shave twice a day. Just imagine all the irritation I had to endure.

Cart shaving and canned goo were all that I knew. I would occasionally grow a beard but quickly tired of it. In 2004-2005, I grew a real beard while I was in Afghanistan...it was a glorious beard! But alas, that too ended.

For Christmas in 2004, my wife surprised me with an Escali Pure Badger Shaving Brush (I don't hold it against her because she just didn't know), a Merkur Long Handle DE razor, some blades (I don't remember which), and tub of Taylor of Old Bond Street - Mr. Taylor's shaving cream. The rest? Well I have been traditional wet shaving since. Found that other place...made some great online friends...moved my online shaving home to TSC...and now I converse with the best shaving bunch on the internet!

 

[mrdoug]

I began Shaving, similar to @dangerousdon on my own, with a cart and canned goo (my stepfather was a jerk, as well). I didn't know what I was doing (and if my shaving journal is any indicator, I still don't). Sensitive skin and no clue about shaving meant I was avoiding it as best I could. I shaved once a week. That lasted decades, because I only started traditional shaving in my early 40s (2.5 years ago?). I found it because Amazon had a daily deal on some cheap TTO and as my wife will tell you, I'm a cheap bast... You get the point. At first I used barbasol with it. Not too long after I picked up a set from my local grocery store (Van der Hagen). This actually had me give up on it for a little while.

I gave it another shot when I found Cremo at my local Target and this time it stuck. Ordered some Derby (?) Blades from Amazon and gave it a real go. Shortly thereafter, found DFS, followed by B&B. Late last year, there was a PIF for some test pucks of CBL Tonsorial. Intrigued by this, I reached out to @Dave in KY for some info on one of the scents he posted as using: Sir Fougere. He kindly sent me a beta puck to try, along with an invite to join you folks over here. There rest of the story, and my life savings, are history.