Analyzing The Wet Shaving Market In 2019

Theres no doubt that assembly line, mass production, growth strategies are important but there will always be room for independent artisanal produced products and services.  Do you want all of your meals served by McDonalds?  While it might kill you in the long run its much more efficient and profitable than independent restaurants or even home made in some cases.  I'm just using them as an example - you know that when they're planning their menu offerings they aren't trying to give you the best possible casual burger dining experience but rather seeking that point where they can drive down costs to maximize profitability right to the point where if they made it any cheaper/lower quality people wouldn't eat it.  They're not evil, if excellence could be delivered as cheaply as mediocrity I'm pretty sure they'd give the customers excellence.  Profit is important to remain in business and there is competition that is always driving to lower costs and drive up profits.  Thats why its so hard to find really good pizza these days - 2 for 1?  How do you compete with that?  Apparently customers want more crappy pizza rather than less quality pizza.  

So in wet shaving you have people like us who are willing to pay a little extra (yes, we all used the lure of cheaper shaving at the start) for a superior shaving experience.  Does that mean that the rest of the world is happy with the mainstream carts/cans experience ?  Maybe, but of that vast number there are probably a significant number that don't know about the alternatives or for some reason or other haven't considered it but would try it in the right circumstances.  Stuff showing up on Amazon, how to videos on Youtube and even articles in GQ or Mens' Grooming can all reach potential wet shavers.  High end, budget conscious or somewhere in between there is something for everyone if first they learn about it and second, they're willing to try it.  

I think the biggest challenge is the razor - all this YMMV stuff and blade samplers to find the Zen of razor and blade and your face can be seen as a big hassle.  Then there's the fact that a DE safety razor can draw blood more easily than a multi cart.  The cart might cause more irritation but the irritation is generally experienced later while a nick or a weeper is right there bleeding on your face.  Its therefore important that a guy gets off on the right foot with a really good novice razor like (in my case) the EJ DE-89 type of razor head.  Yes there are guys who started out with the most aggressive razor on the planet but if you're looking to win over new wet shavers you have to accept that for most guys the prospect of dragging a fully exposed razor blade over their face is a little daunting and they won't do it.  You wouldn't put a learning driver in a F1 car so for the same reason I wouldn't give a beginner shaver an iKon Tech to start out with.  Honestly, I wouldn't give anybody an iKon tech unless I wanted them to become confirmed beard wearers.

Thats why I think that software is the gateway drug of wet shaving.  A guy can experiment with some nice soaps/creams and post shave with a relatively low investment in a brush and lather bowl/mug and can do that for a while before getting a razor which he can then use once or twice a week alternating with the cart - or even stick to the cart while going all in on soaps and brushes.  Maybe they evolve to safety razors or maybe not.

That's why we strive to create a great product without crazy high cost exotic ingredients. Also, we HIGHLY encourage new users of our soaps to use their current cartridge razor. Many times, once they do that, they start to think, "Gee, this soap/brush thing is really good and they have those old timey razors that must be good too, I'll try it!"

...on top of which,  the long-term safety issue is always in the back of my mind.

You're not supposed to eat it.  

If restaurants were as unregulated as the artisan soap market, I might well eat all my meals at McDonalds.  (Not for long however; just until my arteries got clogged. )  Seriously, though, I do wonder what waits for us after 20 or 30 years of shaving with artisan goods.  Our current situation vis-à-vis soap artisans reminds me of someone on the Titanic saying "Nah.  This ship can never sink."

Also, I am not convinced that artisan products are better quality than mass produced items, or that mass producers gravitate to lowest costs regardless of quality.  Trademarks are protected by law to create market environments in which quality, reliability, and in-stock availability - all things of value - can be rewarded by commanding higher prices.  (Patents too are protected to reward innovators who create value, all though patents related to current shaving products are, at best, less in obviously in evidence.)

Mass producers not only innovate, they deliver what people want, including quality when that is what people want.  For example, MWF works fine for me, and I just had an outstanding shave with Proraso Red.  But getting back to the food metaphor, in our town of roughly 100,000, we have - besides McDs - a range of restaurant chains offering a variety of dining experiences at various price points.  In fact as I write this, Omaha Steaks is running (or I should say "RErunning for the umpteenth time") their commercial for 20 main course servings including four filet mignons, and blah, blah, blah.  

Granted, I like the occasional unique "mom-and-pop" restaurant experience, but that is something where I can physically walk into the building, smell the smells, inspect the bathroom, and probably know neighbors who have eaten there.  It is also something that may not be a "quality" or higher priced meal versus a fun meal.  As for soap artisans, they create something different for us, in some cases, amounting to the "soap of the month".  It's great if you like the current month's soap and too bad if you don't but either way, it won't be back anytime soon, if ever.  Some enjoy that business model; I do not, on top of which, the long-term safety issue is always in the back of my mind.

Curious. How so on the safety issue?


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...on top of which,  the long-term safety issue is always in the back of my mind.

You're not supposed to eat it.  

Duh!  You're supposed to snort it, right? 

If restaurants were as unregulated as the artisan soap market, I might well eat all my meals at McDonalds.  (Not for long however; just until my arteries got clogged. )  Seriously, though, I do wonder what waits for us after 20 or 30 years of shaving with artisan goods.  Our current situation vis-à-vis soap artisans reminds me of someone on the Titanic saying "Nah.  This ship can never sink."

...

  the long-term safety issue is always in the back of my mind.

Curious. How so on the safety issue?

That is a very fair question.  TBH the better part of my concern stems from my ignorance.  I am not a dermatologist or a chemist, I don't want to be one, and things just seem like the wild-west in the software market these days.  For example, back in the day, most aftershaves probably had four or five ingredients - maybe the same ingredients in most of them.  They may not have been as skin friendly as today's products, but they have a track record.  At least some soaps were simpler than many current products.  Today, we put a concoctions of chemicals including all sorts of scent ingredients on our face.  They come from all over the world overnight.  It is not unthinkable to me that unknown interactions in some products could have long term carcinogenic effects, or that a virus from somewhere in the world could slip through the cracks.  And it is not unthinkable to me that some interacting ingredients could be more readily absorbed than we know, either through the skin or via inhalation. 

I don't stay up at night worrying about it, but I don't dismiss it either.  It is one reason why I am edging gently away from some artisan products towards either 1) things that have been around for awhile - MWF for example - or 2) massed produced options, like Cerave SA Cream (for post), which I perceive to have been better vetted.

I hate to spoil it for you. But, have you looked at the CV ingredient list?


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I hate to spoil it for you. But, have you looked at the CV ingredient list?


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Yes, I have, and FWIW I do realize that there can be risks with more widely known products.  

Beyond that, I will certainly listen to clear and specific reasons why CeraVe SA Cream is dangerous - perhaps more dangerous - than some artisan product, why I should expect that a product that is widely sold and well-liked on Amazon has attracted less scrutiny - including less informed scrutiny - than artisan products typically do, and why I should expect a well capitalized product would be less safe, less carefully manufactured, and no more knowledgeably vetted than a product produced in a small operation.  I hear stories on forums about how scent is the next new thing because the markup on soap is low.  If that is true, then how much care can be taken when creating truly "new" soaps in those circumstances?

At any rate, I am open to discussing which products are safer and why - especially if I can understand what is being said.  I am not open to discussing these things interminably, and I may not be able to follow everyone's train of thought.  But within limits, I can follow along - certainly with what has been said so far in this thread, which for the most part has been what I would call views from 30,000 feet.  I also expect a lot of reaction from artisans and their customers after expressing concerns about how safe their products are.  Keep in mind that I still use artisan products, and as I said before, I'm not losing sleep over this.  I just hope you can understand that simply asking me if I have read the CeraVe SA Cream ingredient list is not something I regard as illuminating or helpful.  It provides no new information and does nothing to help me understand why I should revise my current outlook.

I don’t plan on living forever but I will be well shaved and smelling great when I go. At least for a while 

I’m no expert but I’m pretty sure most artisan soap makers and pre /post stuff too aren’t adding eye of newt and tongue of frog to their concoctions. I’m assuming they’re sourcing cosmetic grade ingredients from suppliers that make that stuff in compliance with health and safety standards as well as sanitation and hygiene.  While sensitivities can happen with some stuff, I’m guessing that most artisans will avoid the ingredients most commonly known to cause sensitivities among significant numbers of people. They’re trying to run a business not sicken or kill their customers. We’ve all seen the caution on mainstream cosmetics, if this stuff hurts you stop using it. The same goes for artisan products.