5 Things I Wish I Knew Before Starting Wet Shaving

I’m Matt Pisarcik, founder of Razor Emporium, welcome to our channel!

At Razor Emporium, we believe in empowering men and women to practice traditional grooming using quality new and vintage shaving supplies. Our business is made up of three core areas, Service, Retail, and Education.

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[butch]

I've been straight and DE shaving since I was 15. Dad was a trained barber from the old country so we spent a lot of time together as he taught me what I needed to know at the time. As time went on, more and more info was shared by him. The best information that he shared with me is "ENJOY YOURSELF" as it will be a task that will last you the rest of your life. That's when things started to change for me. It drew my Dad and I even closer. My pals over the years mess with cartridges and electrics and inferior results as compared to DE and straight razors yet stuck to their way while laughing ours. A while back, I thought that I would check out for a new DE on line and a world of straight and DE on line info and sharing opened up to me (thanks to algorithms) and been enjoying it. I realized that your co. refreshes and tunes old razors. I have Dad's old Gillette and will be sending it your way in the very near future. So happy that there are others out there that are DE and straight razor fans.
Shine on!
butch

[magnoliamike]

I don’t even remember the last time I touch the forbidden cartridge

[rsolsjo]

Thanks for the great advice! Only been at it a few years, but here's 5 more tips from me:

1. A shavette can be much easier than starting with a straight razor. Odd thing to say? Yes, they're actually sharper so it'll be more daunting at first, but if you cork the blade and be careful, you will learn to ride a stallion before riding a pony so to speak. A straight also needs maintenance, you can't swap blades and can easily feel "off" for several reasons. May seem backwards, but I fell in love with shavettes that way. They can also be much cheaper starting out, and even "dirt" cheap ones can give great shaves.

2. Buy sample packs. Want to try blades? Don't buy a pack of 25, 50 or (please god don't) 100. Now you're stuck with it for years. Buy sample packs (with like 10-20 different blades but only 1-5 of each). Same thing with soaps! Want to try a soap but not sure you'll like the scent? Sample packs. God's gift to wetshavers.

3. You don't need a fancy pre-shave, and certainly not starting out. Bloom your soap in hot water, clean/scrub your face as you normally would, have a nice shower, when you come out, pour that water into your hands and rub it into your face. Boom, great cheap "preshave". Now use the soap normally and shave. When you feel more acquainted, maybe it's time to try a preshave. Still think it's the single least necessary item in wetshaving though, unless you have extremely sensitive skin or you're taking down a really thick beard.

4. You are going to cut yourself. Accept that now. I'm not saying "go nuts and shave like a madman", not at all. Take precautions, go slow and easy, be very careful. But getting nicks and cuts is part of wetshaving, the same way accidents are part of sports - the good news is you probably won't get HUGE cuts, they're usually fairly minor or at least "thin" and quite painless. Be careful and prepared (alum can be good to have around but I honestly prefer just a good mild aftershave balm, can work wonders as well).

5. My biggest advice to minimize the amount of those inevitable cuts and nicks: prepare your face like Matt said (a shower, a face scrub, bloom your water for a preshave, a hot towel, whatever floats your boat), but I would also advice to only shave when you have time to do it, preferably alone. It's your zen moment, your time of day or evening to yourself, a little "spa treatment" of sorts. Don't throw a razor to your face if you have kids screaming, you're in a hurry to be somewhere or you're really sick/exhausted. That's when accidents happen, or on really nonchalant second/third passes.

[greathoundAZ]

Thank you for the first tip. It really helps to put the quality of a shave back into reality.

[melteds]

Great video Matt, I enjoyed it immensely.

[LuisFNovelo]

I was falling into analysis paralysis, but I snapped out of it. Low on budget, I bought a King C. Gillette for $15, a 6 dollar after shave balm and continued to use the same shaving creams I used with my cartridge razor. No regrets! I keep on learning and refining my technique. The alum block came later.
Later on, father's day came by, so I got a brush and a shaving cream. With a better prep I am getting closer shaves with less irritation as I learn, I even got a couple BBS under my belt now!
Matt is right, guys, there will never be a better time to jump in than right now!

[edwardwalter]

As a fellow guitar player that owned 6 Epiphones before I bought my first Gibson, your point is well taken. Jumped into the DE pool with a Henson AL13 because I like the design and heard good things about the ease of use. Recently grabbed up a Rockwell 6c and loving it as well.

[hartmutpeter]

You are right, no talking about it, get starting. You are the only master in your face. Long live wet shaving.❤

[runthenumbers]

I get a BBS every time with the exception of a couple trouble very small spots... and of course, I spend like 10 minutes trying to mow those down.

[benjaminbishop]

Thank you for this awesome video! Coming from 40 years of electric shaving and getting ready to start wet shaving (my razor comes in tomorrow), I was concerned about cutting different areas of my face (such as two moles I have that protrude). To hear that it's ok to pick that electric shaver up to get those areas as I learn to wet shave makes me feel much better! As a wet shaving newbie I greatly appreciate your videos!!!

[bradleycred]

Howdy Matt and Co!
Have a blessed day y’all.

[sergeylazarev]

Shaved with Atra I keep for two reasons-it's vintage and i use when I have no time for a proper shave.

[jasongilbert]

I would say my number 6 would be: Relax. Don’t be overly serious about it. Don’t be that guy.

[monogonvisualcommunication]

excellent life advices disguised as wet shaving advices. Excellent video sir.

[SerkleK]

Great tips! I feel like the only "need to know" to get started faster is not applying pressure. I found that advice in one little razor review and before I even bought my SEs I started practicing not applying pressure with the cartridge razor I was still using at the time.

[seanharkins]

#1 is so true. I took years to get started. Granted I was in college when I found this page so lack of funds was a big issue but still it took me forever.

[basvanderwal]

It’s all in practicing and repeating.
I’m a white guy with curly hair, on my head and my beard. Started losing my head hair around 21-22 years. Shaved it couple of times with cartridges 3/5/6 blades and I was a painful experience with a ton of razor bumps.

Then it hit me: I started googling the problem and found out that a lot black men do have this problem, learned a lot from afro websites and message boards.
Bought a safety razor, soap a cup and a brush and the rest is history.

Only shave with the grain, not baby butt smooth, but it looks good, and no more irritation and pain!

Decided after 5 years to shave my beard to the same style as this guy in the video has. And I’m just finding out a good way now to shave my neck to prevent razor bumps.

It’s a learning curve, but one of the best techniques to invest time in for a good and painless process

[techguydilan]

I had a single razor for the first 7-8 years of wetshaving. A Merkur 34c. Just recently bought a Henson AL13 from you guys and I like that too.

[TheSpicey]

Thanks mate. Just bought a starter kit with a bunch of assorted blades, a merkur 34c and a brush. Figure I can upgrade.ect as I got along.

[prinskipperskipple]

Great video. I have a couple of “boutique” razors, yet the fairly affordable Merkur slant is my daily driver. Like guitars, boutique is a nice luxury but not essential.