I'm 15 months in to my traditional wet shaving journey. I've succumbed to all the acquisition disorders and the forums have been a great source of knowledge, friendship and hardware/software lust. I feel like I'm in a position now to share what I've learnt along the way. Naturally this is caveated as my own personal experience and we all know how different this can be for each of us:
That's my opinion piece. I'd be interested to hear yours.
- I don't have sensitive skin. I assumed I did from the toll cartridge razors used to take on my skin. Other than a couple of sensitivities to certain ingredients, I'd say my skin is fairly normal.
- I can enjoy the full spectrum of razor types - mild to efficient/aggressive. I learnt early that the most effective way to get the most from a razor is to adapt my technique to suit it rather than trying to use the razor with a set technique.
- I was fuelled in to believing that stainless steel razors are the best by reading forums but I've had some wonderful shaves from aluminium and zamak razors. I'm convinced my zamak razors will see me through to the end of my days (which will hopefully be a ripe old age!). This isn't too say I dislike stainless steel razors, just that we're doing other razors a disservice by discounting them on their material.
- Similarly to my point above, I assumed tallow based soaps were the best. I've actually found the vegan and animal friendly soaps to be among my top personal performers.
- I enjoy boar, badger and synthetic brushes but won't buy another animal brush based on what I now know about their source. I won't bin my current badger brushes as I consider that wasteful. The variation they each bring is part of the fun for me.
- Some really good products are available for very little money. It's easy to discount these early on but I would advise any noob to enjoy the cheap products first.
- You don't save money if you treat wetshaving as a hobby.
- The rate at which new soaps and razors come to the market is phenomenal. I have previously been sucked in to the hype but now know that I already own the things that will give me a great shave. I now only buy something if I want it for my collection, rather than thinking it will be the item that brings me the promise of nirvana. It's great to have so much choice though.
- This is a good corner of the internet. Those that enjoy this as a hobby tend to be good and principled people and I feel very lucky to have 'met' you all.
That's my opinion piece. I'd be interested to hear yours.
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