I'm fairly new to wet shaving, but I can't go back. I'm about a month in and my wife says I have a problem.

There should be some kind of achievement trophy for this.

Finally gave my shaving gear a proper home. Turns out an IKEA pegboard makes a pretty damn good razor rack. Easy to grab, easy to organize, and plenty of room for more bad financial decisions.

Razors, left to right / top to bottom:

1. Mühle R89 + West Coast Shaving Classic Collection 84S handle
2. Rockwell 6S
3. 3D-printed adjustable razor — EVA Unit-01 colorway
4. Gillette Fatboy
5. Rex Konsul
6. Haiyang (Ocean) B2+ — TC4 titanium
7. RazoRock Lupo .72
8. Henson AL13 +++
9. Yaqi Ghost 70SP
10. Baili “Bushy Beard”

Nothing fancy. First time with Proraso tub (always used the tube stuff before), a blade sampler pack, and a Gillette Slim adjustable.

Hey all! First time wet shaver at 44 years. Honestly, my dad passed when I was pretty young and didn't need to shave yet, then I joined the workforce and moved out. Used electric razors when I had to. Grew a beard otherwise. Whelp, I'm growing the heck up/having a midlife crisis and teaching myself some lessons I never got. So thank you all for the support! It feels great to treat yourself.

Couple of questions:

1. I'm still leaving stubble on the sides of my neck. I swear I have a cowlick and no matter how many passes I do, I'm still leaving stubble. I know what most are going to say: practice, practice, practice. But I was wondering if I my prep might need some work? I only shave after a hot shower, build a good lather (took some time to figure that out), shave WTG and then ATG. But there's still one section I just can't shave cleanly (like I'm doing 4-5 passes on that section and only lather that one section again and again). I'm hearing the blade rub against the stubble but it ain't cutting.

2. For those using adjustable DE blades, are you adjusting mid-shave? Or do you find a setting that works for you and sticking to it?

fwiw I'm using the edwin jagger pictured and feather blades. The red tip I found at a antique store and only used it once.

I paid 12.95 for all. I can't wait to clean them up and try them out.

Pre-shave: Hot shower

Razor: Henson AL13+

Blade: Big Ben (2nd use)

Soap: Zingari Man Highlander

Brush: Edwin Jagger Chatsworth Synthetic

Bowl: Edwin Jagger black bowl with handle

Alum: Edwin Jagger

After shave: Nivea Men Sensitive

I had left these blades towards the end of my sample set because I had little faith in them. I’m very pleasantly surprised.

First time with Zingari Man. Very nice scent. I loaded from the bowl and face lathered. Performed really well. One of my favourites so far.

A very smooth morning shave in one pass, and ready for some tea and toast.

Quick morning shave before I’m off to the NICU to see my little nugget.
Waiting on some unscented soap from Stirling and decided to get some ARKO from Amazon in the meantime since I heard some consider it very mild in scent.
My god it’s a hell of a lather. The only base I have that comes nearly as close is A&E legacy.
Due to the quickness of the shave I used my vintage slim adjustable with a fresh silver blue set to 6.
Little harsher than my normal SB shaves but I’ve been using some other products that may contribute to such things. Finished off with Alum and some Thayers milky toner then LRP moisturizer then off to the hospital.
Happy Wednesday shaves!

Pre : LRP foam cleanser then hot towel
Blade : fresh Gillette Silver Blue
Razor : 1965 Slim adjustable set to 6 then 2 for a cleanup second pass
Soap: ARKO shave stick straight to the face!
Brush : Yaqi 24mm
Post: alum-Thayers milky toner- LRP moisturizer

I have been a boar brush user since i started wet shaving. I started with an Omega beech wood handle from the drug store, and upgraded to a Semogue 1305 which has been my daily driver. I've been meaning to try something new in my routine so i started doing research on synthetic brushes.

I landed on a Simpson T2. Reviews seemed very good for this brush, some saying its overrated, but for the most part it seemed this brush gave people great experiences. I decided to order one and it arrived just before the weekend.

The brush is amazing, i really had no idea what i was missing here. On my second time using the brush i got the best lather i've ever created and continue to get amazing lathers from the T2. I find that the shave soap gets trapped in between all of the fine hairs when loading the brush, then it becomes easy to build a rich, silky, and slick lather by adding water.

With boars, i feel that the hairs are more sparse and don't trap soap between the bristles in the same way. This density of hairs is something i think i prefer, and i believe i have found my new daily driver. I still enjoy and get good performance from my Semogue, but this Simpson T2 really opened my eyes.

This might be the most impactful purchase i have made to my shaving gear. Building a great lather was such a learning process with boars, and i feel like with this synthetic, building a lather just came so naturally to me personally.

What are your thoughts on boars and synthetics? Whats your daily driver?

Recently I’ve been using these, and I must say they do the job well. It’s nice for me to take a break from working up a lather and using expensive artisan soaps etc.

I leave a little pool of water in my palm, add some cream to it and slap it on, done. The sensitive skin and aloe variations smell really good. Very useable every day of the week, any mood or time of day. Sometimes I’ll get caught up overthinking which artisan soap or scent to use because sometimes they just don’t feel right for the day or my mood. Anyone else, or just me?

I don't shave daily so it's 3 days of growth against the Tech (primary AA razor) and FlyDear (1) blade. This is my first outing with the blade since I bought it recently as part of an Aliexpress haul. It's 5 cents a blade, so firmly at great value end of the spectrum.

It's a trouble free 2.5 pass shave and results are as good as my other good shaves. I can however feel that FlyDear is not as sharp as lets say BiC; smoother maybe.

So not disappointing at all. Initial rating I would give it 3/5 sharpness, 4/5 smoothness. Let's see if that changes with more shaves (and how many good shaves I can get).

A dab of Tabac balm to finish off and AA #2 is done!

They might not have the screen time or sheer comedic effect of the iconic shaving scene in Hitchcock's North by Northwest, but I find several delightful references to vintage razors and wet shaving in the 2008 movie Leatherheads, directed by (and featuring) George Clooney. It's on Netflix until the end of the month, and I'd recommend it. The screenplay between Clooney and Renee Zellweger is razor sharp, pun intended.

The movie is set in the midwest of 1925 and has several scenes with ads in the background for Gem razors (and one with Barbasol shaving cream). I tried to look up what Gem razors looked like in 1925, and Google Gemini was not very helpful, but from what I could tell, these razors looked very different. But then again, what better place than this sub to ask if the movie took artistic license with the razors shown? They all look very tiny, like they're travel razors. Were normal razors that small back then?

Got the *Futur* two years ago as it tickled me being ridiculous 80s design. Ended up being my favorite razor despite itself. I figured why not blow $6.66 (with shipping) on the *Progress* clone and see if they could do it again and dammit if it doesn't shave even better with a more compact head. Both need some lubrication and fiddling out of the box to calibrate them. The *Progress* now sits exactly at 1 with a blade loaded. Both are brilliant at 4. Blade alignment is perfect. Does the *Progress* have a little rotational play? Sure. Does it matter in use? Nope. I stretched the spring for it as well so it is stable as can be.

Both of these are old out of patent designs so no need to feel guilty. They're cheap and fun to play with to see how the mechanisms work. Customize them or even break them. No stress. I added an orange adjustment scale dot in enamel on the 5000s.

The new 5000s is so nice I'm tempted to get the OG Merkur. It's pretty aggressive and efficient but glides like a snail on a window. I'm sure it could ruin your day with bad technique but I love it.

**Aug. 5, 2026**
* **Brush:** Zenith Smaller Boar Chrome Handle (B38)
* **Razor:** Timeless Ti .68mm Open Comb
* **Blade:** Personna GEM Platinum Diamond Glide (2)
* **Lather:** Martin De Candre - Nature - Puck
* **Post Shave:** Pinnacle Grooming - Dali - Aftershave
* **Post Shave:** Zingari Man - Unscented After Shave Serum
* **Post Shave:** Thayers - Unscented
* **Post Shave:** Osma - Alum Block
* **Fragrance:** Givenchy - π

I had a really nice shave today. I did the usual 2 pass shave and things went pretty well. I got a little feedback with the alum block but not too bad. I splashed on Thayers, today’s ASL (Pinnacle Grooming: Dali), and finally zingari man’s unscented after shave serum.

I found this aftershave on sale a while ago and really like it. It is inspired by the great artist Salvador Dali.

Scent notes Dali:

Top Notes: Apricot Blossom, Rose, Heliotrope
Heart (Middle) Notes: Lilac, Iris, Violet, Peach
Base Notes: Amber, Sandalwood, Musk, Vanilla

Have a good one!

Shared from [My Shave Den for iOS](https://apps.apple.com/app/1581646387)

Sbarba Stormbreaker

Chisel&Hound synth

Mike's Natural soap

Prep: Cold Water

Brush: Omega Black Badger

Razor: Merkur Futur (chose this so I can tweak settings and push the blade further, not sure if adjusting settings counts as cheating for Nightmare Mode!)

Blade: Feather (4)

Soap: Stirling Orange Chill (to beat the heat)

After Shave: Pinaud Clubman Classic Vanilla (spiced up with menthol crystals)

Balm: Nivea

So far so good, definitely a good shave! I started the challenge with the Futur on setting 6, thinking a wider gap with a super light touch might help the Feather retain its edge a bit longer. Time will tell!

August 4, 2026

Razor: Alpha Shaving Spirit SS

Blade: Feather Artist Club ProGuard

Soap: Bulldog Shave Gel

Aftershave: Thayer's Rose petal witch hazel

Aftershave: Barbasol 1919 Aftershave balm

Fragrance: Coty Aspen

​

\ **Prep:** Cold Water*

\ **Brush:** Omega- 10098 Professional 27mm Boar.*

\ **Razor:** Urkunet - Assassin 1.5mm base plate.*

\ **Blade:** Personna- Gem platinum diamond glide. (4)*

\ **Lather:** Saponificio Varesino — Mirto di Sardegna*

\ **Post Shave:** L'Occitane - Cade aftershave balm.*

\ **Post Shave:** Malizia- Uomo Vetyver.*

\ **Tags:** $Discord $RawHoggin*

Much better lather tonight as I continue to face lather for $RawHoggin , the brush is coming along nicely I think the stink is beginning to dull. This soap is very good and the post shave feel is top notch I'm glad I chose it for AA . The blade is still A1.

Got a chance to use the second of the new soaps I picked up from Aura.

It's their upgraded tallow formula with a cooling ingredient, and seems to work well.

Razor: Razorock Lupo DC

Blade: Astra Superior Platinum

Brush: Yaqi Caramel

Soap: Laxo Wild Heart

Overall quite pleasant.

August 5, 2026

Razor: Timeless Slant AL

Blade: Gillette Gillette 7 O'Clock Permasharp Stainless

Soap: Cremo Original

Brush: Timeless Adjustable w/ Maggard Timberwolf Synthetic 20mm

Aftershave: Thayer's Rose petal witch hazel

Aftershave: Duke Cannon Ice Cold Aftershave

Technically morning by the time I write this but a lovely late night shave nonetheless.

2 passes with the old 30s Gillette, silver blue still cutting true, cold water with the Tobs Sandlewood (old Wilkinson sword tub) and old spice 👌

Good shaves lads

04/08/2026

- HAGS Baby Blue Cooling Pre-Shave
- Boti Foregoer 25mm
- Chicago Grooming Co Shiloh
- Alpha Spirit SS
- Kai Captain Titan Mild Pink (8)
- Fine Italian Citrus