How I got into wet shaving

We all have similar stories when it comes to the how and why and when we got into the absolutely fascinating hobby of wet shaving.


For most, it's about that 15 minute rush in the morning to prepare for a long and hard day at work. And if that shave is just not clicking, I kind of feel like it's a sign of things to come in the day. A good shave, whether it be in the morning, or in the evening after a hard day at work, essentially for me, sets the day up for me, or sums it up greatly.

For most, we legit have around 10 to 15 minutes max to essentially have a shave, shower, chuck the clothes on, grab lunch and head out the door. To top that off, we have an over-priced cartridge razor (we will touch base on this later) that has some patented slick aloe strips built within, that does quick work of it all. It carves up your face, leaves a heap of razor burn, and later on that day, those in-growns start sprouting all over the pace.

I'm not going to say that I have never got a BBS shave from a cartridge razor; that would be a lie. But it's the overall experience of all the points above that, for me personally, attributed to the overall nightmare that was shaving. I chose to buy a beard trimmer and maintain my facial hair to a number 0.2mm length.

Yes, we do live in hipster times, and mad respect to those who love growing full length beards, all power to you. But there are times where you just want to feel clean shaven and confident, but that confidence wained when I had in-grown hairs all over the place, or neck beard hairs grow down to my chest. I felt embarrassed, and my day job called for having a clean shaved face.

So what did I do? I browsed YouTube. "How do you shave without getting in-grown hairs". Funny enough, GeoFatBoy popped up and I then watched a tonne of his videos, shaving with a tool called a safety razor with these inexpensive razor blades that cost 10 cents or so each. Wow I thought, that's appealing... Right?

Surely enough, a few of his early videos had him shaving with a Gillette Fatboy. Of course my first thought was, "that's a cool looking razor". But the thing was, I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a safety razor first off. Just enough to get me started. So I went to beardandblade.com.au and purchased a Parker 90r butterfly razor.

This thing looked sweet, chrome plated, weighty. Paired it up with an Astra green blade, and followed a few of GeoFatBoy's tutorials. I had a pretty good shave experience first off, a few little cuts, some razor burn (pressed a bit too hard), but ultimately ended with 2 in-grown hairs.

I thought naively, "hey, aren't these razors supposed to stop razor burn?". Yes I know, noob! But seriously, I was about to give up and go back to the trimmer, when all of a sudden, mum said to me, "what would you like for your birthday?". I found an eBay ad selling a 1956 Gillette Fatboy adjustable, and pointed to it. Ultimately, it is what GeoFatBoy had in the videos, he had no problem with it, so I showed mum and she bought it for me.

I'm telling you, the anticipation for the delivery of this razor, coming all the way from the US, was unbelievable. I was tracking that thing like nobody's business, constantly refreshing the parcel tracking screen on my phone browser. When it finally got delivered, I was at work. I rushed home, opened the box, and this thing was unlike anything else I've held. Thinking about it, it was already nearly 70 years old, and still in great knick. It was polished, sanitized, and ready for usage. The adjuster clicked when you turned the knob, it was already an experience, and I haven't even shaved with it yet.

Just a side note, every razor I have ever recieved via delivery, I instantly try and shave with it, within the day. This razor was no exception.

Upon first shave, I lathered my face according to GeoFatBoy's rule of using the Figure 8 movement (involves moving the brush in a number 8 movement on the face) to whip up a nice creamy lather. This also helps with exfoliating the face as well, removing all dead skin cells. I do believe up until today, that it is extremely important to lather up on the face for a food couple of minutes as this does help with this process, overall. You want a nice sheen to the lather on the face, which indicates that there is enough water in the lather (so it won't dry up during the shave).

I then followed the rule of 1 pass WTG (With the Grain), 1 pass XTG (Across the Grain) and finally, 1 pass ATG (Against the Grain) ; evidently with the re-lathering of shave cream between passes. After applying alum, then subsequent aftershave lotion and balms afterwards, I must admit, I felt as if the shave was definitely a lot smoother. All of this was completed with the same blade, as my first shave beforehand, with a number 3 setting.

All of this, my friends, was the beginning of my obsession into wet shaving, and subsequently, collecting up to, what is now, my 40th safety razor, and probably what is now my 60th shaving puck. Granted, there are a lot more people in this hobby that have a lot more than me.

Remember earlier on, when I mentioned that this was supposed to be a cheaper alternative? This is true (to an extent). If you stick to 1 or 2 good safety Razors, maybe a Shavette, the blades are extremely cheap. I'd probably spend $25 bucks a year on 100 safety razor DE blades (my Gillette Nacets), but that's because I like buying in bulk. But ultimately, each blade will fetch an average daily shaver around 3-5 shaves depending on growth. You would be spending less than this on blades, but why not buy bulk at the end?

If you were to fall deep into the rabbit hole like me, and find this to be a great hobby, with all the historical significance of collecting 100 plus year old razors, (and some modern masterpieces) with creams, blades, after shave lotions, balms, latest release models ; its the same as any other cheap hobby. Granted, there are hobbies out there that cost tens of thousands, but if you can afford it, and money permits you without intruding into your daily lives, then all power to you!!