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How come it is impossible to find a good selection of quality wet-shave supplies at retail. I've been to the Art of Shaving but they carry just a handful of the 1000's of products available. Pain the butt to order something, examine it, and if I do not like it, return via snail mail.
I believe it's due to the fact that all the wonderful products that we use and enjoy are for a niche market. The vast majority of men want to smear a handful of aerosol goo on their face, drag a disposable razor across their beard and have it over with in thirty seconds. If they knew about the products available they'd probably think they're saving money too, using cheap canned foam and cartridges. Sad but true.
I share your pain. The law of supply and demand is an economic reality. Traditional wet-shaving is a niche market that without the internet may not exist at all. Thanks to this forum, and others, more than ever are discovering the benefits of real wet-shaving.
Read more before buying. There are several quality products that consistently rise to the top of this forum. You can spare yourself time and money by listening to those who have real world experience with most of the products you may consider. This will reduce your odds of returning products.
The internet is your best friend for quality wet-shaving products - at least for the foreseeable future.
If you live in a very major city you can get most of what you want. otherwise it's the internet for the rest of us.
Ive ordered a lot of sampler packs as well, it gives you a selection to try out, usually can get 10 for 65ish$ and then place a big order when you find some stuff you like. A sampler soap will get you 5-15 shaves and same with the creams. Grab two packs and your set for 3-4 months.
I also knew what kinda aftershaves i liked so I did reaserch online and by asking about what soaps/creams complemented those smells.
Last but not least as a new shaver the thing I've come to realize is sometimes lime smells like lime, coffee smells like coffee, orange smells like orange ect.
I feel your pain and i think we all suffer through it! At least you have an art of shaving, here in edmonton we don't have a single niche store
I was recently in Victoria BC where they have a few store with some stuff. It was nice to see stuff before I bought it. I think that the canned goo and bad cartridges are a symptom of our society. It seems that the focus from the majority is on faster and cheaper. Not many care about quality. I want it now I want it cheap, I don't want to commit any more time my life is so busy. Straight razor shaving is in part for me a chance to slow down and be in the moment. There are many that don't understand the take a few extra moments and even more that will not even take the time to consider it. That is my thought on why ther are so few brick and mortar shops.
Aside from the few trips to New York that I've taken since I've been wet shaving, I have never see any of the products discussed and used by the men on this board outside of a shipping box. Its just the nature of the marketplace. As far as The Art of Shaving, they are actually a subsidiary of Proctor and Gamble, one of the largest consumer product manufacturers in the world. They saw an opportunity to capture an underrepresented piece of the market share, and good on them for exposing their products to a wider audience.
Barbershops sometimes carry bits and pieces
Someone mentioned NYC as a place to buy some of these items at retail. Pasteur Pharmacy on 34th, just off of Park Avenue carries most of the products discussed here. They have about 28 feet (8 feet high) of all kinds of wonderful soaps and creams. If you are ever in NYC, Pasteur is a must see. Just bring your wallet, it is hard to resist purchasing, when you can hold and smell most of these products.
Heh...
We have no wet shaving shops here (Ukraine).
We are invided by Gilette.
All the stuff for WS (except the razors) I've bought from bay. But a lot of sellers reject to send to the Ukraine. So my possibilities even lesser than the bay
There isn't much out there. Aside from the Art of Shaving store, I also know of the following here in the US:
* In NYC : Pasteur Pharmacy
* Near Boston : Colonial Drug, in Cambridge (Harvard Square area)
* In Palm Springs : The Men's Room