Thread: Fellow beginners research before you buy

I've wanted to learn how to wet shave for years, but was always leary of putting a razor blade to my throat by watching videos. So an AOS recently opened near me, and I ventured in. Now I will say ahead of time I'm a compulsive personality, when I do something, I DO IT. The salesperson was very helpful, and showed me step by step how to wet shave. This was invaluable to me to see it done in person, and gave me the comfort to try it. I bought everything pre-shave lotion, cream, after shave, razor, strop, brush, etc. By the time I was done I spent over $400, with the cheapest razor. The salesperson gave me some info to look up on the web including this site, I can not emphasize enough how helpful the salesperson was. I ran home in excitement, and proceeded to nick myself up. Ok, lesson learned I signed onto this site, and proceeded to read as much as I could. I found out my razor was not "shave ready", and someone was even kind enough from this site to hone it for me. I decided to buy another razor from SRD that was shave ready, and proceeded to nick myself up again. Somewhat discouraged I called SRD, and discussed the sharpness of the blade, and that lead into how I was stropping. After that discussion I decided to buy a 3" strop, because I would not have to make an X pattern. I received, and used it, the blade was NOTICEABLY sharper, and I had a much better shave. My point to all this is please learn from my mistakes. Do your research, I spent twice as much money as I should have by not researching, and was almost discouraged enough to stop trying because of the uncomfortable shaves. Everyone on this site are extremely helpful, heed their advice. Now, I'm very happy I went into AOS because that gave me the push to try wet shaving, but had I researched on this site, and spoke with SRD initially I would have saved a lot of money. I am not saying that anything I bought would not have eventually worked because it would have. But, why make something more difficult than it should be, by not having easier tools for the same or less money. Let my waste be your gain!

Welcome to the world of wet.

AOS like any sales outlet depends on the quality of the
sales critter and the product line. I have been impressed
with AOS products despite the higher than I like prices.

It sounds like you have a quality kit and your experience
will only improve with practice.

Your purchase sounds a lot like mine 40+ years ago.
I still have and use that razor, my hone is still one
of my better hones. After 40 years my brush and
strop have been replaced. The brush finally gave up
and the strop was lost in a move.

have fun...

I am very pleased with the kit, and will probably continue to use some of their products, but still wish I came here first.

I am a big fan of the AOS sandalwood I use the full line, I know your pain their razors are expensive for not being actually shave ready, Think about it this way you have more than a few years worth of supplies and getting the AOS razor sharpened it will be a nice razor. I am not familiar with their strops but I know SRD's are real nice, you should be good to go just give it some patience and anyway you will more than likely have way more than $400 invested in this hobby before long.

I purchased the lavender, because of sensitive skin. The sandalwood smelled really good, and I would definitely like to try it in the future. Their strop is a smaller dovo that most of our sponsors sell at half as much, and as a paste strop. I am sure with capable hands it is adequate, but the one I received from SRD is phenomenal. I found the SRD strop to be far easier to use, and drastically made my razor shave easier.

Hi M..You can look at it another way also..What if AOS had not been there when you were peaking..Your fire goes out, enthusiasm wanes, and you return to your old way of shaving for the rest of your days..Admittedly, it was an impulse buy..Most of us have done that..Amortize the extra money spent over a lifetime of shaving bliss and it feels more like a brilliant decision and less like colossal blunder..Welcome to wet shaving!! We're thrilled to have you with us....

Best regards,
Julian

I absolutely agree with you jss, but hopefully someone can learn from my mistake. No regrets just be informed before you buy.

For the sake of newbs reading this: an initial outlay of 400+ USD is not required to get into straight razor shaving. SRP vendors can get you a good quality shave ready razor and strop for less than 100 USD.

Glad to hear it worked out for you!

Originally Posted by Kees

For the sake of newbs reading this: an initial outlay of 400+ USD is not required to get into straight razor shaving. SRP vendors can get you a good quality shave ready razor and strop for less than 100 USD.

+1, you can get a full setup from some of our vendors for +/- $70 USD that will last you all your life (not counting soaps/brushes that can be had for less than $10) There have been a few posts I've come across recently where guys dropped $400, $500, or $700. You're welcome to spend that and more, especially if your budget can handle it, but you do not NEED to spend that much. If I'd seen figures like that when I was first getting into straight shaving I would have abandoned the idea.