Fads

[ At what time? Aqua Velva came out in 1935 and Brut in 1965. (Tabac was 1959)


We'll see. I don't think you can say that definitively based solely on a whimsical line of copy about a deer.

If every company makes scents that smell the same, then there is no differentiation. Brands thrive on differentiation in their products, especially in a crowded marketplace. There's a reason why Sealy makes different mattresses for each retailer.

I was talking soaps, not aftershave. Never saw an aqua velva soap or brut shaving soap.

Also, there was a Brut shaving soap: http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread....shave-soap

See there could also be arguments made about how wetshaving has remained in regional places right? I mean come on, look at Spain, Italy, and England right? I truly truly hope that American artisans are here to stay, but if they aren't, I can happily wet shave for the rest of my life with the mass market products out there from other countries such as Truefitt and Hill, Tabac, Mitchells Wool Fat, Proraso and so forth. I'd be a very happy man just shaving with Tabac in perpetuity if I had to.

Let me see if I am getting this right.  

Eating is a necessity for man. I guess people were making bread long before they shaved everyday.

Breadmakers, and making bread by hand today, IMO are fads

The fact that you can buy artisan bread just means its convenient, which is exactly what I said. Its too convenient. Its also convenient to buy shaving gel and use a cartridge, hence its mainstream

they are BOTH mainstream, buying bread and using shaving gell and cartridges.

Making bread at home from scratch and wet shaving are both niche.

While we are moving away from the actual shaving issue, understand the artisan bakery is not convenient they bake many more types of bread than you can make in a bread maker. Such sourdough and french bread. Can you make a loaf of french bread in a bread maker? A loaf of french bread is very narrow and about 23" long. Convenience has nothing to do with it. In addition I can shave with a cartridge razor and a can of foamy a lot faster than making lather and doing three passes. Not convenient, takes more time but I like better. Thats why it is not a fad like a bread maker is.

I don't feel synthetic brushes are a fad, they're the future(especially if you want wet shaving to go mainstream)

Possibly just as synthetic oil has replaced real oil for cars. But synthetic oil is much more expensive, last longer, and has better performance characteristics.

But for the collectors, the badgers will not go away. The hobbists will treasure their Plisson HMW and Simpson Manchurians leaving synthetics as a workhorse daily driver.

OTH I think scents are most definitely fads. When consumers get sick of "walking through a spring rain after a hot day, at night, where the deer and antelope play" scents, they will go back to the mainstream (i.e., lavenders, rose, citrus, leather).

Synthetic oil is still made from refined crude oil, some chemists just mess with some molecules and voila, synthetic oil Synthetic brush bristles are made from refined hydrocarbons as well. If it cannot be grown, it must be mined. Animals for natural hair brushes are/can be sustainably raised and won't necessarily cause speices extinction. Unless you want to lather your face with a corn silk brush, you can't get away from animals and oil.

See there could also be arguments made about how wetshaving has remained in regional places right?  I mean come on, look at Spain, Italy, and England right?  I truly truly hope that American artisans are here to stay, but if they aren't, I can happily wet shave for the rest of my life with the mass market products out there from other countries such as  Truefitt and Hill, Tabac, Mitchells Wool Fat, Proraso and so forth. I'd be a very happy man just shaving with Tabac in perpetuity if I had to.

I can happily wet shave for the rest of my life with the products I have stuffed in my shaving closet

While we are moving away from the actual shaving issue, understand the artisan bakery is not convenient they bake many more types of bread than you can make in a bread maker.  Such sourdough and french bread.  Can you make a loaf of french bread in a bread maker?  A loaf of french bread is very narrow and about 23" long.  Convenience has nothing to do with it.

Convenience has everything to do with it. In my OP, I wrote:   A new fad came up, instant bread.

You could now make bread dough ahead of time (lots of books on this), shove it in the Fridge, bake a loaf every day, use whatever ingredients you liked – the ULTIMATE in variety and fresh ingredients. Buy a Baking Stone and rock those home made artisan breads. And MANY people did as cook book sales rocketed. Kickstarter campaigns came up with new baking stones.

Once breadmakers faded away, baking bread from scratch on a stone took over. The size is limited ONLY by the size of your oven. These towns are 2' x 2' https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008IM...bw_c_x_4_w but many people will buy a round stone so they can make pizza as well.

Of course you can make French bread or Italian bread. Of course you can make long breads and what you put into them, is up to you

But do you really think its easier to just stop at the supermarket and buy a loaf, although not necessarily better, or take time to do this at home?

While we are moving away from the actual shaving issue, understand the artisan bakery is not convenient they bake many more types of bread than you can make in a bread maker.  Such sourdough and french bread.  Can you make a loaf of french bread in a bread maker?  A loaf of french bread is very narrow and about 23" long.  Convenience has nothing to do with it.

Convenience has everything to do with it. In my OP, I wrote:   A new fad came up, instant bread.

You could now make bread dough ahead of time (lots of books on this), shove it in the Fridge, bake a loaf every day, use whatever ingredients you liked – the ULTIMATE in variety and fresh ingredients. Buy a Baking Stone and rock those home made artisan breads. And MANY people did as cook book sales rocketed. Kickstarter campaigns came up with new baking stones.

Once breadmakers faded away, baking bread from scratch on a stone took over. The size is limited ONLY by the size of your oven. These towns are 2' x 2' https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008IM...bw_c_x_4_w but many people will buy a round stone so they can make pizza as well.

Of course you can make French bread or Italian bread.  Of course you can make long breads and what you put into them, is up to you

But do you really think its easier to just stop at the supermarket and buy a loaf, although not necessarily better, or take time to do this at home?

Some how this blog turned from shaving issues to baking bread. I am not going to continue with this thread because it makes no sense. I am not interested in talking about bread. Shaving is not a fad period.

A point of contention:

Artisans do not provide ever more complex fragrances because they need to in order to survive.

They do so to appeal to the demand of the consumer.

If the consumers preferred simple, single-note fragrances, the market would be proliferate with these soaps.

Clearly this is not the case.

I have no idea how bread making and wet shaving became even remotely intertwined. One is a daily necessity for a large portion of the population, and the other is a craft and an art practiced by comparatively very few...

Also, "wet shaving" is, by definition, using a blade and water to remove hair. This is done with a cartridge razor and can of gel or foam every bit as much as with a traditional brush, soap, and DE safety razor. To say that "wet shaving" is a fad is clearly not the case in this light. I think blades and water outnumber electric, or "dry shaving"...

And as we already discussed, the traditional hobbyists among us, those that drive the artisanal market and provide the inspiration for hardware ingenuity, are here to stay. As they have always been, so shall they always be, so to speak...

Electric shaving or dry shaving is ~25% of the market. Wet shaving is ~75% which includes disposables, cartridges, and what we do REGARDLESS of using canned shaving cream or gel or traditional soap and brush. "Traditional" wet shaving seems to mean the safety razor, soap, and brush we do. I think the original blog post was talking traditional wet shaving as a fad.

Bread is a perfect analogy to wet shaving and the point of convenience. It doesn't matter if you used a bread maker or bake bread the "old fashioned" way using yeast, letting it rise, and a baking stone.

You have to eat >>>>> you need to shave

Is it more convenient to just buy a loaf of bread? Sure.

Is it more convenient to use an electric razor or cartridge? Sure.

Is it more convenient to use Edge Gel, which dominates the canned shaving cream? Sure

It takes time to home make bread. It takes time to traditional wet shave.

People didn't abandon traditional wet shaving because because its cheaper. They did so because its more convenient.

People didn't abandon making bread the old fashioned way at home because its cheaper. They did so because its more convenient.

You got to eat, you got to shave. The analogy is spot on.

And there will always be a niche of people who bake bread at home or traditional wet shave at home.

Absolutely.