Traditional shaving trends over recent years

[RiverMan]

I joined this forum yesterday and mentioned, in my introduction post, how I had perceived quite a few changes in traditional shaving trends since I got into this around 2009 or so.

My experiences might not be the same as anyone else’s but my main recollections from back then are:

• less choice for sure. Nearly everyone shaved with Merkur or Muhle/EJ razors or with vintage Gillette’s. The newer stainless razors weren’t around then (or if they were I don’t recall seeing any!)
• the synthetic brush revolution hadn’t quite happened. It was mainly badger brushes. the more legacy brands such as Simpson, Plisson, Rooney, Kent etc were most folks’ ‘best’ brushes. The EJ Best Badger was the ‘entry level badger’ of choice. Some Shavemacs and Thaters but I don’t remember there being as many as there are now. The only sub-£20 brushes around were omega and semogue boars.
• soaps and creams were very much dominated by the ‘Three Ts’, DR Harris, Cella, Tabac, Mitchell’s Wool Fat and Proraso. Arko shaving sticks were also quite popular. It was quite different then as most people had experience with most of the soaps/creams on the market.

I suppose I am still slightly a product of that time. I shave nearly every day with MWF and a 40s Gillette Superspeed. Although my main brush is now a Muhle STF. I still have my Simpson Chubby 1 Super, which is lovely to revisit, and a couple of Shavemac 2 band silvertips. The only thing I feel like wanting to add at the moment is a stainless razors, most likely a Timeless.

Would be quite interesting to hear anyone else’s perceptions of this. Is my memory skewed at all? Anyone miss any aspects of the old days? It does make me wonder what is in store for the next 10-15 years.

 

[Zwilling]

Nice thread.

From the straight shaving side, I started around 2004 and back then the main information available was the Yahoo Straight Razor Place group. Most people were trying to restore old razors or trying to make a new Dovo shave ready. People were using mostly American synthetic stones and Belgian coticules to hone their razors. The trend for Japanese western-style razors hadn't really happened yet and Japanese natural stones were an oddity. I was able to buy a Japanese natural stone where I lived at the time, and could find hardly any information on it. That knowledge came into the Western world after 2010 when Jim Rion published his translation of Iwasaki's guide to razor sharpening for barbers. I just had one razor, a Henkels Friodur, and one brush, a Shavemac finest badger. Incidentally, I bought this brush for 58 euro in 2005 and it still my only brush. Still holding up, although it has started to lose a hair or two with every shave so we will see how it survives in the next few years. I am hoping it will make it to 20 years. I used Tabac mainly for many of those years, but I recognise the soap 'landscape' you mention @RiverMan.

And as you do, I fell out of the online shaving thing, and just got on with it with my one razor, my brush, my strop and my sharpening stone. The bug bit me again earlier this year and I fell deeply in love with kamisori razors. It's great to see that there are lots of small makers churning out soap, brushes, razors and more. At times it feels like it's a subculture that is chasing the dragon of consumerism, the latest new thing, the rush of a mail call. But it's also about the craft of shaving well, and the pleasure of the senses, of the touch of a sharp blade and the smells of soap and fragrances.

 

[Paper Plane]

“But it's also about the craft of shaving well, and the pleasure of the senses, of the touch of a sharp blade and the smells of soap and fragrances.“

I think you have summed up my feelings about the hobby perfectly. Thanks!

steve

 

[Chris]

I started at about the same time and agree with the OP. There's a lot more choice now but TBH I think a lot of it's getting a bit samey. I've seen quite a few stainless razors coming out where the head is essentially the same design as the WR1. It could be evolution and a simple design being virtually perfected, but I'm less and less excited when new razors come out. I'm on the waiting list for an aluminium Karve, but other than that I can't see me buying anything else. The prices are also getting ridiculous for some, partly I think people jumping on Wolfman's coat-tails. James literally could not make Wolfman razors fast enough, still can't, and that's why his prices went up. I don't blame him, I'd do the same, but it does mean that new razors come to market with vendors thinking they can charge the same.

A lot of the old stuff also doesn't get the praise it deserves, DRH soap for example is top notch stuff but you hardly ever see it mentioned. I've also been favouring my EJ STF v2 recently, despite many excellent new synths coming out the STF is still up there with the best of them and, IMO, much as I enjoy my synths they're not quite up there with badger yet. To an extent I think we've been spoiled by choice, a few years back people would buy a Tech, spend some time with it and get an excellent shave, now they're written off as "too mild" by a lot of folks who probably didn't give it a fair whack. The zeitgeist seems to be for ever more aggressive razors, and unless average male stubble has changed a lot in the last decade I don't think it's really necessary but the market seems to be there.

With that being said there are some excellent artisans out there now, Mike's has been around for a while making excellent soap, and P&B are a particular favourite of mine. I have noticed a trend for ever stronger-scented soap too, admittedly I have an acute sense of smell, but some of the ones coming out now are just too strong and I find them tiring. The soaps I reach for most often tend to be on the lighter end of the scent scale.

For anyone still with my ramblings, there is a lot more choice but for me personally the market's getting crowded.

 

[Deleted member 1881]

I started with Proraso Blue & Maca Root as the only shave products and a Merkur 42c.

The balm was the Nivea White & Proraso Blue.

I had a pack of Astra SP & Astor Blades.

(I remember telling myself that I have another balm in case the first was ended up). Damn.

 

[R181]

When I started wet shaving the was no internet, that came decades later, and TVs had rabbit ears. Your choice in shaving gear was limited to what available in the local brick and mortar stores and you simply made that limited choice work. Shaving wasn't a hobby back then either.

Now many a decade later shavers are drowning in choices and shaving has become a hobby. I fell into that hobby a few years ago when I wanted to learn how to shave with and maintain a straight razor. It has been fun but it also underlined for me that more gear does not necessarily make for a better shave but rather technique does. As mentioned before, a lot of people do not take the time to try and learn how to make a piece of gear work if the initial results were poor. In the dark old days you simply persevered to make limited choices work or grew a beard. A Gillette Fat Boy, some Palmolive shave cream and a boar brush still does an excellent job for me now as it did back when.

Enjoy the over abundance of choices, in my estimate, that we have today but don't kid yourself that it is necessary. If the market stops growing or even shrinks the choices will also shrink.

Bob

 

[RiverMan]

A lot of the old stuff also doesn't get the praise it deserves, DRH soap for example is top notch stuff but you hardly ever see it mentioned. I've also been favouring my EJ STF v2 recently, despite many excellent new synths coming out the STF is still up there with the best of them and, IMO, much as I enjoy my synths they're not quite up there with badger yet. To an extent I think we've been spoiled by choice

This is probably my general thought as well, without wanting to deride anyone who simply enjoys the variety of newer/wider options. As much as I would like to get a new razor, I don't expect that it will give a better or more comfortable shave than my superspeed. There are times when I feel slightly out of fashion for that, but some products simply work and there's no harm in that.

That said, I must say that the better choice of modern razors seems like a good thing to me. When I started it was a choice between vintage Gillette or new zamak, so it's nice to be able to get a quality razor made today and built to last. Similarly, the newer synthetic brushes are great because you can get an excellent product for a relatively modest price.

But I do slightly miss the days when everyone used the same 15 or so different soaps, as they were (and still are!) all still good, everyone had their core favorites and we weren't quite as overcome with choice. And yes, DRH Marlborough and Arlington have been favorites of mine. I think I might actually get some Marlborough for the winter when my current MWF runs out.

To answer my own question, " It does make me wonder what is in store for the next 10-15 years." I'm not sure that I see a substantial increase in product offerings, simply because it does feel like we are saturated at the moment. The trend from badger to synth will probably continue to grow I would have thought.

 

[Sabre]

Good Fella and possibly Weber razors were around, there were and are a lot more international commercial soaps and creams that you have highlighted. There were artisan soap makers then too. Synthetics are a more modern addition, not too sure when Muhle launched black fibre synthetics.

 

[RiverMan]

Good Fella and possibly Weber razors were around, there were and are a lot more international commercial soaps and creams that you have highlighted. There were artisan soap makers then too. Synthetics are a more modern addition, not too sure when Muhle launched black fibre synthetics.

oh I agree for sure, but from what I recall a relatively small proportion of people used those razors from what I recall, compared to the amount of stainless steel/bronze/aluminium razors that I see today

and on soaps, yes of course I’m aware that there were/are more soap brands than I’ve listed. My intention wasn’t to list every single brand of soap, just the ones that I recall being talked about the most at the time. Pretty much every second ‘SOTD’ post would feature one of the ‘Three Ts’ or DR Harris (or at least that’s my rough memory)

 

[Dr Watson]

Yes it was much as you describe when I started back in 2016. I remember very well what it was like dipping a toe into the world of traditional shaving back then as a newbie. I recall the main razor options were Merkur or Muehle with the Progress considered by many a premium razor at the time... How things change

Brushes, it was all about the badger even then. L'Occitane and Muehle had recently released their new synthetics but many did not believe they could compete with natural hair, being a newbie with no preconceptions I went synthetic almost immediately which didn't stand me in very good stead as when I eventually bought a Simpsons Duke 3 down the line I had to relearn how to lather from scratch as I'd only ever done it with a synth lol. Choice was hugely limited... Just Simpsons, Kent, Omega & Semogue for the most part.

I think creams were more fashionable than they are now? Probably as they work so well with all those floppy silvertips which were sold at the time. Palmolive, Ingrams, Tabac, Proraso and the TOBS were all staples.

No doubt there were some artisan soaps and brushes about but I wouldn't of had the first clue where to find them, it's all at your fingertips now. We have so much choice today but personally I find it a drag, I always freeze with indecision when choosing a chocolate bar at the fuel station... There's too much damn choice!

This was my average SOTD that first year, I have fond memories of those simpler times