When it all began...

[howea]

Mine is similar to Crankys story.

In the early 80s, I was told (by school) to remove the bum-fluff from under my nose, I either used my dads Slim twist or Injector
(I'm not sure as I used both for that year ... Slim Twist gave me nicer shave but always got nicks ... injector was easier to use but slight harsher shave)
Then some plasticy disposables started appearing (probably Bics) and starting using them.
I think my dad planted them to keep me and my brother out of his gear.
I never used soap/brushes as his brush was always scungy, so been using some form of canned goop from day 1.

About 10 years ago I started using Kappus brushless cream, it was so much nicer/moisturising than the canned stuff.
Then a couple years after my dad passed away, I found some of his old shaving kit at my brothers place
(cheap DEs; wilkie plastic and 1904 clones ... never found the Slim Twist or Schick)

First few DE shaves ripped my face up (so used to using pressure with my cart razor), but it's been better sailing as I have been trying different razor/blades/soap to get winning combinations.

I actually picked up a couple Slim Twists and they gave me the exact same shave as a teenager .... really smooth with a few nicks.
One day I will get an injector to try it out.
I got a stick of Palmolive, but I tried it once and the soap to me was a little meh. Maybe with my badger I can whip a decent lather.

I never have been interested in the modern razors (got a Goodfella, which is pretty nice) so have been buying old ones and cleaning them up.
Latest aquisition is a Slim Adjustable, in my birth year, that's just been rhodium plated
(Sitting in a mates place in Arizona ... he will bring it with him in the next month)

 

[eggbert]

Did you keep the plastic Wilkie? One of them (the Wilkinson sticky) is quite rare now.

 

[howea]

Did you keep the plastic Wilkie? One of them (the Wilkinson sticky) is quite rare now.

Nah its just a Wilkinson classic.
He used to have the Gillette Slim Twist and Schick Injector, when I was a kid (and maybe a Krona ... I bought one of those too and it seems very familiar to me)

 

[Dann]

After a brief stint of head shaving with cartridges, it has been almost two years since I begun my head shaving (and wet shaving) journey

It all began with:

Pre: Occams Original Pre-Shave Soap | Razor: '68-71 Schick Krona | Blade: Personna Red
Soap: Cella | Brush: Vie Long Horsehair
Post: Woolworths Alpha | AS: Brut Original

A few small nicks and some time to familiarise myself with the right cutting angle aside, I was on my way to a solid first shave

From there, my appreciation for the art of shaving grew and my available space in the bathroom cabinet shrunk.
I wasn't a fan of the Cella, the almond essence was a bit too on the nose for me, so I switched to Proraso Green and a Spieck tube which I still use now.
I still use the same Vie Long as my go to-brush, and I still have the Krona, which I had bought as my first DE razor as it was touted as a mild, forgiving starter razor - a reputation it lived up to.
An old beat-up ball-end Tech, however, replaced it some time after as my go-to razor.

 

[Drubbing]

Shit, I missed this thread entirely all year, and surprised by the name checks.

I really wish I could remember what triggered me on this thing, but I can't. I do remember clearly in mid 2009 I bought a 34C, Proraso pre shave and cream, Speick soap stick and the Vulfix brush from Mensbiz, and paid priority postage, as I was heading out to the USA for a weeks work and wanted to take it with me. Which is the last time my workplace has ever sent me anywhere. I got a sampler pack and took Derbys with me.

I look back and those shaves were shit, but I thought I was doing great, and I slathered on the Proraso preshave as aftershave and got all that menthol to calm my crap technique down. But I did realise that I'd found that thing that the bullshit Gillette marketing has tried to sell, but will always fail - the answer, with cool tools that aren't plastic shit.

I still use a (different) 34C got from a mate who died too young. A couple of 20C with different handles. I still use Proraso and Speick, but after spending too much on brushes, use a synth, a Mark1966 TGN reknot, or a Pjotr TGN. I keep things simple and haven't accumulated anything, which makes me a useless hobbyist and collector.

 

[Lifes a Peach]

Shit, I missed this thread entirely all year, and surprised by the name checks.

I really wish I could remember what triggered me on this thing, but I can't. I do remember clearly in mid 2009 I bought a 34C, Proraso pre shave and cream, Speick soap stick and the Vulfix brush from Mensbiz, and paid priority postage, as I was heading out to the USA for a weeks work and wanted to take it with me. Which is the last time my workplace has ever sent me anywhere. I got a sampler pack and took Derbys with me.

I look back and those shaves were shit, but I thought I was doing great, and I slathered on the Proraso preshave as aftershave and got all that menthol to calm my crap technique down. But I did realise that I'd found that thing that the bullshit Gillette marketing has tried to sell, but will always fail - the answer, with cool tools that aren't plastic shit.

I still use a (different) 34C got from a mate who died too young. A couple of 20C with different handles. I still use Proraso and Speick, but after spending too much on brushes, use a synth, a Mark1966 TGN reknot, or a Pjotr TGN. I keep things simple and haven't accumulated anything, which makes me a useless hobbyist and collector.

All credit to you and Mark for the trigger that got me into it. I was dubious at the start but sucked into the vortex after the first shave with my 34C and Proraso. Like you I thought my first shaves were the bees knees but now realise that they were butcher jobs.

 

[Dr Acula]

3 years and a bit ago, I was a very angry man. Totally utterly cheesed off by my shaving experience and why I had to pay $$$$ for Gillette Mach3 Superturbo 2000blades OMGLOOKITVIBRATES cartridges and having such a crappy experience with them all. Totally disillusioned. This rage had been building for a number of years. So p***ed off was I that I considered shaving with a straight razor. Then I remembered seeing my grandfather shaving with the old Gillette DE, badger brush and the whole works, and I started researching online. I was SO HAPPY to see that there's such a vibrant wet shaving community and that I wasn't the only one feeling ripped off by the cartridge system. I bought a Weber stainless steel DE and the rest as they say is history.

First shave:
Razor: Weber Stainless Steel
Blade: Red Persona (from a trial a blade collection)
Soap: TOBS (from a trial a soap collection)
Brush: Vulfix badger (from Massdrop! I've since bought 2 more of these from Massdrop hehe)
Aftershave: Nivea aftershave cream from Woolies.

I was absolutely floored by my first shave, because even as a total beginner my shave was the closest I'd ever achieved. I considered sending an expletive-filled letter to Gillette on why they are a sell out.

2 things I've learned from my wet shaving experience: (1) Sorry you're not going to save money buddy because it's one heck of a hobby, and (2) you're going to need a bigger bathroom/sink for your toys.

I've made it my mission to propagate the wetshaving experience to as many people as possible. Example: during my clinical teaching training in the hospital, I taught doctors (both male AND female) on how to shave using a DE razor and even managed to convert a couple of them!