Your first time.....

You're heart is beating a little bit faster, the hairs on the back of you neck are standing on end and  you know that it's going to be wonderful and terrifying at the same time......

No people! Get your mind out of the gutter, I'm taking about your first wet shave.

Do you remember the first time that you picked up a brush, attempted to make a lather and pressed a DE to your face to shave?

As I wore a full beard and mustache, and used  mach 3 to shave my neck and cheek, my stockpile of mach 3 carts had lasted me years.  However when it came time to replace them, I couldn't believe how much they cost and my thoughts turned to my youth in the 1970's when I could pick up a tuck of blades for short money, spray some canned Noxzema shave cream and get a pretty good shave.  (I'll confess, the shaves that I took time for always involved preparing for a date - the rest of the time was a quick, one pass to remove hair occasionally).

Fast forward 25 years, to the great recession, the internet and Amazon.com and before you know it I own:

• Parker 91R (the meat slicer)
  
• Tweezerman pure badger brush
  
• Williams Mug Soap
  
• 7 am Platinum blades
  
• A few hours of watching Mantic 59 and reading posts on the Shave Den and B&B.  
  

My first time was a little rough with some weepers, but it was close enough to what I remembered.  I quickly learned that VDH made a better soap and that I could buy C.O. Bigelow eucalyptus, menthol shave cream, that  Israeli Personna Red blades could be bought online and a new Frank Shave badger brush from China was a giant step forward.

What was your first time?

The cart was what drove me back to wet shaving.
I went into the bathroom to shave one day, picked up my Mach 3 and took a good look at it. Cheap plastic(some of it plated over), really cheap cast junk metal handle, and a plastic head with three "blades" so close together that in order to get them clear of hair I had to bang it on the edge of the sink, which usually resulted in the cartridge popping off and going, you guessed it, right down the sink. There are probably still 4 or 5 of them in my sink trap as I type this.
I thought to myself, "I'm paying how much for this piece of junk"? I remembered the razor and blades I started shaving with in the 70s(Black handled Super Speed)." Now THAT was a razor", I thought. "I don't know what THIS thing is in my hand, but it don't hold a candle to that." And then i remembered the shaves I got with that Super Speed. That was when I promised myself I was gonna find me one of those razors again, and toss the Mach 3 where it belongs.
Used a Lady Gillette and a can of Barbasol for about two weeks. But then i found shaving forums, brushes, soaps, real creams. Hog Heaven!
Then I found an old straight in one of my wife's jewelry cabinet drawers(She lets me have a couple of those drawers for watches, etc.), and now.....?
I been bit hard by the wet shaving bug. Don't ever plan to stop.

Truckman introduced me to safety razor shaving when we were hanging out one day. I don't recall why the subject was brought up, but I was complaining about how horrible shaving is for me. He mentioned wet shaving and then ended up giving me some brushes, creams, razors and blades to try.

The only time I use a cartridge today is to line up my sideburns and to do 1 pass under my nose. Every now and then I'll use one if I want something quick.

I started by buying a no name badger brush and a puck of Caswell-Massey almond shaving soap at Marshall Field's in the Loop while on a vacation in Chicago about 10 years ago.  When I got home, I continued to use my Fusion razor but really enjoyed whipping up my own lather, even though the Caswell-Massey soap turned out to be awful.  I decided that I wanted to try a traditional DE razor so went on line and ordered a Weishi razor (remember those? ).  I was blown away by the difference in my shaves and I never looked back.  I don't use that Weishi anymore, though I have it stored somewhere, but will always be thankful for that incredibly inexpensive razor opening up my shaving world.

I started by buying a no name badger brush and a puck of Caswell-Massey almond shaving soap at Marshall Field's in the Loop while on a vacation in Chicago about 10 years ago.  When I got home, I continued to use my Fusion razor but really enjoyed whipping up my own lather, even though the Caswell-Massey soap turned out to be awful.  I decided that I wanted to try a traditional DE razor so went on line and ordered a Weishi razor (remember those? ).  I was blown away by the difference in my shaves and I never looked back.  I don't use that Weishi anymore, though I have it stored somewhere, but will always be thankful for that incredibly inexpensive razor opening up my shaving world.

+1. A lot of guys got their start on that razor. Thank goodness for a cheap but decent DE that even WallyWorld carries every now and then.

I started out using a Hair Shaper with a Personna long blade that came with my fiancé's Cosmetology School kit. She had it in her bag for a while and then pulled it out and showed me after having a shaving class at school. I was pretty intrigued as a buddy from work had been talking to me about Wet Shaving that same week. So I gave it a shot just using some Barbasol. Although I'm pretty sure that those blades and shapers are not meant to be Shavettes it was actually really nice, only nicked myself once. After that first shave I began searching through Amazon for what I wanted to pick up for myself and my lady ordered it for me as an anniversary gift.

So my initial setup from that order was as follows:

• Parker SR1 Shavette
  
• Tweezerman Brush
  
• Proraso Green tube
  
• Shark Blades
  

My fiancé gives me grief now since I talk about shaving so much and have started growing my collection but she's really the one who got me started so its her own fault!

I got interested in DE shaving after watching some Shavenation videos.  I had been shaving with electric shavers for the past 10 years.  So I put together a little starter kit and had my first shave one weekend morning with the following:

Gillette black handle Superspeed
VDH boar brush and deluxe soap
Derby blade

It was a harsh experience.  First of all, I ignored some basic prep and shaved before showering.  I thought holding a warm washcloth to my face for a minute was good enough.  Then my lather wasn't that great (no practice lathers).  Undeterred I went ahead with a 2 pass shave (only WTG on my neck).  When I finished I had a couple patches of nicks on my neck, a nick by my Adam's apple that dripped a bit and some razor burn.  I learned that a much lighter touch was needed and to move the skin near my Adam's apple before shaving it.

It did get better with time.  Improving my lather, trying different blades and showering before shaving helped a lot.  My technique improved and two months later I got my first nick free shave.

I got interested in DE shaving after watching some Shavenation videos.  I had been shaving with electric shavers for the past 10 years.  So I put together a little starter kit and had my first shave one weekend morning with the following:

Gillette black handle Superspeed
VDH boar brush and deluxe soap
Derby blade

It was a harsh experience.  First of all, I ignored some basic prep and shaved before showering.  I thought holding a warm washcloth to my face for a minute was good enough.  Then my lather wasn't that great (no practice lathers).  Undeterred I went ahead with a 2 pass shave (only WTG on my neck).  When I finished I had a couple patches of nicks on my neck, a nick by my Adam's apple that dripped a bit and some razor burn.  I learned that a much lighter touch was needed and to move the skin near my Adam's apple before shaving it.

It did get better with time.  Improving my lather, trying different blades and showering before shaving helped a lot.  My technique improved and two months later I got my first nick free shave.

I'm glad you stuck with it! some people would of quit and went back to what they were used to.

Totally agree most people give up, but stick with it in the long run your shaves will be one of the best parts of your day, not like cartridge razors where u cant wait for your shave to be over

I started DE shaving 2 years ago in an attempt to "save money".  After much research I settled on a Edwin Jagger DE89 and a sampler pack of blades and that's it.  I didn't bother with fancy shave soaps or a brush and bowl because who knew if I would like shaving this way.  After that first 2 pass shave it felt like someone had lit my face on fire!  I had never had razor burn that bad in life.  But I knew I was on to something.  Even though the razor burn was terrible I still managed to get the closest shave I ever had.  

2 years later I now have 5 razors (34c is my favorite), 3 brushes (Plisson knot on a Wolf Whiskers custom handle is my favorite), 2 bowls, 6 soaps, 6 aftershaves, an alum bar, and no more razor burn.  I've vowed to never shave with a cartridge again, and I'm at peace with fact that I will probably never save money shaving this way.