You've read the reviews. You've looked at the pics.

You decide it's a "must have". You place your order and wait by the mailbox. It finally arrives. Depending on what it is, you assemble it, smell it, spray it, admire it.

You use it for your next shave........................and..................and, it's a huge disappointment! You exclaim, "Is it me? Am I the only one who doesn't get it? All that hype, could they all be wrong?"

Has it ever happened to you?

For me it is Feather blades.

I had been using Wal-Mart sourced Wilkinson Sword blades for years in an EJ DE87 razor. Perfectly satisfied with DFS to BBS shaves every day. Then Wal-Mart stopped carrying the WS blades. Went online and found a zillion sites related to traditional wet shaving. Who knew? Anyway, Feathers kept bubbling to the surface as the sharpest, best blades man had ever made.

Bought a few tucks along with some other stuff (see above about online shaving supplies!).

Slapped a Feather in my EJ and WHAT? This blade tugged from the git-go. Rough, unpleasant shave. Tried it again next day and it was worse. Put in a new Feather next day and same result. Even tried stropping one on my jeans prior to shaving. A tad smoother, but seemed to dull rapidly. Gave up on them. Been using Astra SP & Personna Reds for several years, no issues.

So, I ask you........what have you tried based on reviews, hype, word of mouth that fell short of your expectations? Could be hardware or software.

To me reviews are generally a waste of time. However, let me qualify that statement. Everybody's body chemistry as well as their face composition is different. I never read reviews on blades. It appears that people either love or hate a particular blade. I have been lucky as I have only purchased one blade that I stopped using. That blade is Kai Stainless Steel. Worse blade I ever used I thought I was removing my skin and yet I read some positive reviews. I use six other blades which I am happy with and at least one received a so so review. Next are razors. Generally, reviews only discuss the beauty of style, craftsmanship and material used. Price can generally determine what one buys. Today there are many adjustable razors (whether you turn the handle or change the base plate) so everyone can find a comfortable shaving razor. Next brushes. Once again I believe price determines what brush you buy. I have a couple dozen brushes all badger, fan shape and 2 band silvertip. Whether it is synthetic, boar or badger it is based on availability and price. Some knots though are stiffer than others. But once again, style and price rule. And the last is soap (hard soaps, soft soaps or creams) which gives many people headaches. The most expensive product based on the fact that it does not last forever. I have read reviews where one person loves ABC soap whiles others think it is trash. And this is where body chemistry plays a big role. I currently have 72 products. There are some that I would never purchase again for various reasons. And two that are just plain junk and one of them is an expensive British soap. It is always a crap shoot when picking out a new soap unless it is a soap you have used before in a different fragrance. I don't care if you read a dozen positive reviews on one soap. It could be the one you hate. Try the following when choosing your next soap. Go to as many mail order websites as you have time for and see how many of them stock a particular soap. Demand may indicate a popular soap. See what soaps they are discounting. Why are they discounting them? Could be no one wants it. I generally pass on discounted soaps; however some soap are fades. But that does not mean the next one you choose you will like. Keep in mind, it is just like choosing a bottle of wine, it is either an elixir or swill you never know until you pop the cork.

Reviews are incredibly useful to 'kick the tires' but should never be an end all for buying. MWF is my 'first among equals' and either I am a shaving idiot savant or failed to read those posts about how difficult it is to load. Sometimes you just need to put a product aside and try it later. Again, I somehow never tried Pre de Provence until relatively late. It was the standard and I had used the bath soaps. I had an immediate reaction to the essential oils and put it aside, without even courtesy of securing the lid. Well, a few weeks of airing out tamed the oils and I tried it again. All the positive reviews of this often overlooked soaps came true.
If anything, we are almost cursed with this magic cornucopia of never ending new offerings. If we look at sales of vintage Wilkinson Sword blades, Yardley soaps and Gillette razors
the wheel has not been reinvented. We may have it mounted on a chrome rim with neon lights instead of a split rim and better balancing. When it goes flat we still use scissor jacks found on horsedrawn vehicles.
I figure between the percentile of great personal discoveries, generous PIFs and a ready aftermarket the few failure to launch explosions are part of the fun.

Wolfman.

Standard blade gap. Perfectly built but I don't really get on with the shave and don't use it much. Just not a very smooth shaver. Not bad just not great. Overhyped imo.

Lots and lots of stuff.

These shaving forums are hype-machines, with everyone piling on to attest to the greatness of the latest SS razor, designer brush maker, or funny-named soap.

Shaving product is a lot like those upper Midwest Lutheran Church Bazaar casseroles or Christmas fruitcakes. There must be 999 basic variations on each with untold numbers stockpiled somewhere like right wing militia ammo and MRE dumps. I put my money on the Lutheran ladies auxiliary in a face off. I don't see hustle so much as enthusiasm and
a possibility of income in something we care about in a dysfunctional economy that doesn't care about us. The survival/prepper community has enough hand braided paracord bracelets on EBAY to reach the moon, circle it 3 times and winch it closer. None of these people ( shaving, not survivalists) have put a gun to my head or offered up their daughters. I did once make a tonque in cheek ( don't do this while shaving) suggestion soapmakers put a coin or small toy in like CrackerJacks. And damn if one of Gareth's @ handlebar products isn't including small pieces of eight.
I refuse to let forum wars or the random product fail take away my fun. "Sometimes you get the bear. Sometimes the bear gets you."

That has happened to me as well - its like restaurant or movie reviews - unless you know the tastes of the reviewer then the review is pretty much useless. So much of it is marketing fluff and then there's those reviews I've seen where the reviewer says how great the product is and closes with saying that they haven't actually used it yet. What?

Feather blades. When I was starting out I was using a EJ DE-89 and following the advice to get a blade sampler pack and try different blades so I did that and I kept brief notes so I'd remember. My notes on the Feather blade consisted of "ouch". Thats it. As time passed I acquired additional razors and I found I had to go through the trial and error process again because the new razors were different. I found that the Feather blade and the Feather AS-D2 razor had an affinity for each other (go figure) and that the feather blade worked very well in that razor. I've since found that the Feather blade works well in the Ikon 102 and the Rockwell 6s. Conversely, some blades that are wonderful in the DE-89 aren't so great in other razors.

My equivalent experience to your Feather blade is synthetic brushes. I can't stand them, I don't think they perform as well as badger, boar or horse and they have no soul - they're unnatural and I can't understand what all the fuss is about. I chalk it up to mass hysteria, madness or some form of conspiracy. Furthermore, if you lose any synthetic bristles down the drain sufficient that your drain slows down, drain opener won't dissolve synthetic fibres.

"These shaving forums are hype-machines."


Any vendor owned forum where that 'hype' is focused on that merchants wares is unseemly at best.

Most other forums are pretty well balanced imo.

I think we all agree you never know what your are in for until you try it. And I am fine with that. I must admit that I have had many more likes than dislikes and only a couple that were just bad when it comes to soaps. And, sometimes it is part of the game which I do not mind playing. It is however, like trying to throw hard eights on the crap table in Vegas.

feathers are harsh on my skin in every razor I've tried them in EXCEPT for my feather as-d2.