I'm quite happy to be a part of this group. Dipping into the threads over the last couple of weeks I'm overwhelmed by the wealth of expertise and knowledge that is evident.
I just jumped into the wet shaving pool about a month ago after a 50 year or so absence. When I started shaving in the late 1950s I followed the example of my father with a butterfly and canned shaving cream (probably Old Spice). I may have been using a DE when I joined the Air Force in 1967; I do remember having to display an open razor with blade for inspections during basic training. Sometime in the early 1970s I migrated to an injector since my military career demanded early morning rising and office arrival by 7:30 so a hurried bout with the razor was the required. Quickly shaving became a necessity and a chore. After I retired in 1988 I continued the routine, even after I grew a beard. While I had less to shave I still endlessly bought the latest multi-bladed innovations.
I never gave DE shaving a second thought until several years ago when my son caught the wet shaving bug. He described the pleasure he got from shaving the old fashioned way. At the time I thought the idea was quaint, a bit interesting, but way too expensive (LOL; little did I know) and time consuming. Recently I found myself looking for the cheapest way to buy Fusion cartridges and realized I had been really stretching the life of the blades to the detriment of my face. About the time I purchased a Harry's multi-bladed razor with several months worth of blades and shaving gel I stumbled onto several youtube videos of wet shaving. I watched, became interested in the technique, enjoyed the enthusiasm of the shavers and remembered "hey, I used to do that." And I wondered, "Is it like riding a bicycle -- you never really forget?". Then I began to use My Friend Google: websites, blogs, merchant pages, Amazon..... At 72 I was confronted with the old techniques that were suddenly new and exciting.
Even though I don't remember much about the razors I used as a youth, I found that I was familiar with various types of vintage razors: super speeds, flare tips, adjustables, Kronas. I started to look at new razors, at brushes, at pre-shave oil, shaving creams, shaving soap, shaving cups/mugs. And as I've seen mentioned by several members of this community, the rabbit hole sudden opened.
I'm very much still getting my feet wet but man, it's a great adventure. I started with nothing and now I'm almost overwhelmed. I have 13 modern DEs (4 Merkurs, an EJ, 2 Parkers, a cheap Feather, a Weishi, 4 Maggards and an Above the Tie), 7 vintage Gillettes (Red Tip, Blue Tip, Black Beauty Super Adjustable, Super Speed, Adjustable Slim, a New Open Comb and a Gold Tech), and 6 more vintage on the way (Fat Boy, Aristocrat Gold, a Milord, a Knack, a Schick Krona and a Wilkinson Sticky). It's a good thing they make test tube racks! Five brushes (so far) and a complement of creams and soaps and the end isn't in sight.
As I said, I'm very happy to be in these surroundings and I plan to absorb like a sponge. And I plan to report on my progress and I continue to get that BBS shave. I'll try not to think about this morning's first shave with the Parker open comb and Merkur razor; at least my first used of a silvertip and Taylor of Old Bond Street cream was memorable.
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Newbie from Northern Virginia
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