What was the bee's knees when you started wet shaving?

[Paul L]

I bought a Merkur Futur in 2009/2010 after reading an article in a magazine about getting better shaves i- the Futur came top in the poll, so that's what I bought. . . . .Massive learning curve of about 3 months later, I stopped mutilating my face and neck.
Had I known better, I would have bought a DE89.
Back then I used only Trumpers creams (one tub at a time)
I used only a Mason Pearson Pure Badger brush.
I was given a carrier bag full of English made Wilkinson Sword blades at the same time I bought the Futur, and used that set up exclusively for over 7 years.
I still have the Futur, and quite a stash of NOS Wilkinson Sword blades.
The Mason Pearson brush has been retired - poor floppy old thing it is !!

 

[Vacumatic]

Gillette Lime shaving foam, Wilkinson razor that took three spare blades in the handle and Old Spice aftershave or Rive Gauch if I was on a promise.


Happy days.

 

[wintoid]

I started 40 or so years ago, but was never really that interested in it.

What I miss from the "second wave" is the reviews Darkbulb used to do.

 

[chazt]

I started DE shaving in 2014 after some 40+ years of carts. In ‘14 iirc, the new to the fora DE shaver (that would be me) was led to believe that Proraso and MWF were the soaps for discerning wet shavers - I bought them early on. Then, the Merkur HD was considered de rigeur, but I did not buy one, preferring the long handled version. After that I went on a vintage razor run. The bee’s knees brush was a Simpson’s Chubby 2.

 

[Dipesh]

The 3 t’s, ikon, mantic59

 

[Arora]

2015:

Ikon
Catie’s Bubbles
Martin de Candre
Mitchell’s Wool Fat

 

[ajc347]

For me it was the outrageously priced Feather AS-D1 (imagine paying £150 for a razor - it was unthinkable back then), Tabac, Sir Irisch Moos, TOBS and DRH creams and soaps and, I'm almost embarrassed to say, Bruce on Shaving.

 

[Shaver X]

When I started traditional wetshaving in 2007, product availability in the US was quite limited. A few Merkur safety razors, Dovo straight razors, Simpson's, Vulfix, Rooney and Dovo brushes, and around eight or ten different blades. So the bee's knees for hardware would be a Merkur Progress or Futur, a Simpson's or Rooney silvertip brush, and whatever blade one found to work the best.

For soaps, cremes and aftershaves, the very best were D.R. Harris, Truefitt & Hill, Geo. F. Trumper, Taylor of Old Bond Street. All of these were quite expensive at the time, as importers charged a premium commensurate with their quality. Also Art of Shaving, at that time still independently owned, and just as expensive as its British counterparts. There were also several affordable artisan soaps, but none quite as good overall as the others I mentioned.

There were only a few online wetshaving stores in the US at that time, and several more in the UK, so we pretty much had to take what we could get. All of that changed around 2009, when a gentleman named Giovanni Abrate started importing a wide variety of shaving products from various countries. The number of online stores and products skyrocketed after that, a very welcome development.

New Forest brushes can't believe I forgot about these. Another great product and at a sensible price. Also reminds me of the Vulfix 404 great starter brush.

I remember those! Fido had a great reputation for selling quality brushes at a very reasonable price. Is he still around in the wetshaving world these days?

 

[Randomangle]

I started 40 or so years ago, but was never really that interested in it.

What I miss from the "second wave" is the reviews Darkbulb used to do.

I miss Darkbulb's input too. I remember his photos were exceptional whilst most (not all) were not.

 

[RussellR5555]

When I started traditional wetshaving in 2007, product availability in the US was quite limited. A few Merkur safety razors, Dovo straight razors, Simpson's, Vulfix, Rooney and Dovo brushes, and around eight or ten different blades. So the bee's knees for hardware would be a Merkur Progress or Futur, a Simpson's or Rooney silvertip brush, and whatever blade one found to work the best.

For soaps, cremes and aftershaves, the very best were D.R. Harris, Truefitt & Hill, Geo. F. Trumper, Taylor of Old Bond Street. All of these were quite expensive at the time, as importers charged a premium commensurate with their quality. Also Art of Shaving, at that time still independently owned, and just as expensive as its British counterparts. There were also several affordable artisan soaps, but none quite as good overall as the others I mentioned.

There were only a few online wetshaving stores in the US at that time, and several more in the UK, so we pretty much had to take what we could get. All of that changed around 2009, when a gentleman named Giovanni Abrate started importing a wide variety of shaving products from various countries. The number of online stores and products skyrocketed after that, a very welcome development.


I remember those! Fido had a great reputation for selling quality brushes at a very reasonable price. Is he still around in the wetshaving world these days?

He occasionally posts on The Shaving Room Forum. He is retired from making brushes.

 

[Jfett]

Parker variant, and tobs. I thought it couldn't get any better. Many respects. J.

 

[Randomangle]

AS-D2, Duke 3, SOC & Trumper's. I still have all but Trumper's and that will soon be remedied.

 

[Merkurologist]

Mmm good question.....
Too long ego to remember..... must have been a Gillette DE razor that my Dad gave me when I was 17, I don't remember any shaving soap but I remember using alum block and aftershave.

I returned from using electric shavers and cartridges, not sure what year but the bees knees at the time were:

Merkur Future and many others, I started with the 34G
Tabac Shaving Soap
Tobs creams and soaps
DR Harris soaps
Simpson brushes.
Semogue Owners Club brushes
Proraso Products
Floyd
Red Personna, Feather blades.
Above The Tie razors, first SS I ever bought and never bought another non SS razor again, with one exception, the R41 head that turned out to be a keeper.

Later on I learnt about Meggards and got into many other American products

I still enjoy most of those products and some have not seen the light of day in years.

I got a bit nostalgic writing this post so I'll make an exception to my routine for today and my shave for today will be with..... Merkur 34G, red Perssona, Tabac, The Colonel, Proraso AS...,.now, where did I store that soap....and that razor....?

 

[pjgh]

Yeah, New Forest brushes ... Nanny's Silly Soaps. MWF. Ingram's.
R41 got a facelift, so there was a lot of chatter about both the pre and post facelift caps.

 

[karlc]

Started in 2012 and the only forum I remember that I visited was Badger & Blade. I remember iKons were quite sought after at that time.