Shaving evangelism

Since rediscovering joy in a daily shave I've found that those around me have become interested too. Usually not interested enough to get their own gear as old school razors seem scary but interested enough to ask questions and wonder. Thank goodness for vendors that sell useable razors, soaps, and brushes for great prices or I'd be broke. Thus far I have my wife, 3 sons and a daughter, 3 daughters-in-law and a son-in-law, 2 brothers, 3 coworkers, and a neighbor hooked up. It's been fun listening to their experiences and having them report discoveries with different blades, soaps, and brushes. My son-in-law used to only shave once a week due to pain and ingrowns and now shaves daily. They all treat my den as a wet shaving library where soaps disappear and then reappear and others leave. Although single blade shaving is growing we are still not a dent in The Gillette/Shick machinery but Dollar Shave and Harry's certainly show there are many more out there that are not enjoying their current routine. I'm very interested in bringing more people into DFS to assure steady supplies of the products that make my mornings fun. I'm very glad that I currently have choices. So how have you fellows gone about bringing friends and family into the fold and what success stories would you share?

I could never convert my brother-in-law to a DE or SE razor but once he saw my brush and soap routine, he has certainly enjoyed that aspect, even if it is only unscented soaps.

Really nice post.

Some years back I tried with family and friends. The problem I encountered is if they were actually enjoying their shaves and could afford the cartridges there wasn't much convincing I could accomplish. The ones I did it always started with a great scented soap and brush, then they were hooked, but to be honest many of them used those with carts.

Recently, my oldest son just started shaving and I basically hijacked him. I gave him some Somerset Simpsons and he has fallen in love with the Mergress dialed down low. So there's hope yet!

I've proposed classic shaving to quite a few folks and don't know if any really bought into it.

I've converted one of my brothers (the other has a big beard), but none of my friends or co-workers know about my addiction hobby.

VTmax. ThT son of yours will soon be snitching your favorite soaps. (And that is pretty fun).

I've introduced a couple colleagues to the joys of shaving with a safety razor. The one has really taken to it. I support his interest by sending all my extra soaps his way. The other, after showing considerable promise at first, has relapsed in a serious way: he's decided to grow a scraggly beard and now he looks like Charon, waiting to ferry the dead across the river Styx.

VTmax. ThT son of yours will soon be snitching your favorite soaps. (And that is pretty fun).

Already happened! I found the Phoenix & Beau Citra Royale in his bathroom. He loves it. I'll be mailing all future soaps to the Sandwich Islands to be safeguarded by Bouki.

Never convert anyone... until you find out of they have any vintage stuff lying around they might want to sell.

No converts so far. The Shave of the Day type pictures I post on my Instagram and Facebook feeds always seem to get the least likes of any of my photos. As if the people I know somehow find the whole thing odd, or perhaps even uncomfortable… (“There he goes again, posting a picture of his strange, private shaving paraphernalia.”)

When I told my mother that I’m a moderator on an international wet shaving forum, I think I was met by complete silence.

Clearly I need to find a way to up the game, when it comes to spreading “The Word”.