What is your biggest SURPRISE since switching to traditional shaving?

Like many, I found traditional shaving to save money. But it's not been the money that kept me around. Things were just "better" with my shaves and I wonder what other surprises you have found that keep you visiting DFS?

My Take-away:
1) Traditional soap/brush was much better for skin than I could have imagined.
2) Prep means more than gear.
3) Experimentation to find the right blade is worth the effort.

Canned foam sure was easy and I knew some treated me better than others but all of them left my skin tight like unto a trampoline. I'm to pretty to put up with that. Even drying trad soaps are better than that.

I knew my whiskers cut better after a shower but I had little understanding that with just a bit more attention to prep my daily task could be enjoyed rather than endured.

Pre-DE I was aware that Gillette blades treated me much better than Schick but since DE I found that I really get along best with the sharper blades vs smoother blades and blade samplers made that pretty easy.

So gents. What epiphanies have you run across?

I think I started wet shaving when I was 20 or so. I am 41 now. I was a Williams/Colgate, boar brush, cartridge guy until age 22 or 23. Then I became a Williams/Col. Conk, Pinaud, Crabtree & Evelyn, Feather AC shavette, Vulfix badger guy (except for splurging on AdP balms now and then). That lasted until last winter, when my old Vulfix super badger brush lost its knot and I replaced it with a TGN finest knot. I got input from a friend who was very active in the wet shaving online community several years ago, but has since dropped out. He was always trying to push the artisan stuff on me, but I was too stubborn to listen. In researching how to knot a brush handle, I came across the forums, of which I was a member of some for years, but never really read anything. I very reluctantly gave some of the artisan products a try. First brushes, then soaps. I still hadn't tried a DE razor until a few months ago, being content with my Feather shavettes.

A big surprise was switching over to the Feather AC non-folding razors. Since I got my first, I haven't used my old folding RG once. It's kind of sad. My wife got it for me for Christmas long before we were married. I never use it, but I don't want to get rid of it just yet.

Back to the "slippery slope"...Three Wolfmans, several Paladins, Simpsons, Declarations, and many tubs of artisan soaps and aftershaves later, my biggest surprise is how much money I've spent in recent months! I originally picked up the shavette to make shaving less mundane. After a while, it became mundane. With all these new goodies coming out, it's no longer mundane, at least not for the time being.

I hope my next big surprise is the feeling of being content with what I have and not buying anything else for a while. You guys don't make it easy!

How many things I would end up purchasing which I don't feel the need to do anymore. I'll still buy an occasional item here and there, but man do I have a lot of things to use/get rid of.

1. I don't have very sensitive skin - I had bad technique and weird beard pattern
2. I don't have an extremely coarse board that is too much for carts - I had bad technique, weird beard pattern and bad prep
3. My face isn't prone to more razor burn and cuts than average people - I have a weird beard pattern in my neck and I didn't know how to shave.

So basically, I had no idea what I was doing before so I thought I had sensitive skin, extremely coarse beard etc. etc. Now with practice, reading (thanks DFS) and patience I know that I have average skin (which tends to be dry), coarse beard (but no beard is coarse with good prep - the whiskers aren't metal, they change with hydration).

My biggest surprise came early.  I tested the waters of wet shaving with a no name badger brush, Caswell-Massey shaving soap, and a Gillette Mach 3 razor.  The brush was fine and the soap, well, let's just say I was in my innocent phase and didn't know there was better out there.  The shaves were good but nothing to write home about.  Then I decided to brave a DE razor so bought myself a Weishi and some blades.  I was nervous but took my time.  When I got done I was amazed that I hadn't done a hatchet job on my face and didn't bleed out.  In fact, there were no nicks or cuts.  However, the biggest surprise was when I felt my face.  I absolutely did not believe a shave could leave my face that smooth and feeling so good.  I have since moved on from that brush and Weishi razor and have tried many blades types.  I have enjoyed DE, SE, and Injector razors, any number of blades, and too numerous to mention artisan hardware and software and have loved the journey.  However, the biggest ah-ha moment remains that first BBS shave.

The biggest surprise for me was how much I could actually enjoy my morning shave. Its become a pleasurable ritual rather than a chore.

Second biggest surprise is how much money I could spend. Those small expenditures add up. If I were to advise newcomers, I'd say budget and ruthlessly stick to it. Do an annual budget and not a monthly "soft target". Unless of coarse, money is no object then knock yourself out.

biggest surprise: how smooth my cheeks are because with a DE razor, I can shave against the grain.

I'll share another one. My son-in-law was shaving once a week because that was the longest he could go and still be work compliant. He suffered from extreme razor burn and wicked ingrowns and it would take him a week to heal and get ready to do it again. I convinced him to try DE and his razor burn and ingrowns disappeared. He loves me now.

I'll share another one.  My son-in-law was shaving once a week because that was the longest he could go and still be work compliant.  He suffered from extreme razor burn and wicked ingrowns and it would take him a week to heal and get ready to do it again.  I convinced him to try DE and his razor burn and ingrowns disappeared.  He loves me now.

The biggest surprise for me was how much I could actually enjoy my morning shave. Its become a pleasurable ritual rather than a chore.

Second biggest surprise is how much money I could spend. Those small expenditures add up. If I were to advise newcomers, I'd say budget and ruthlessly stick to it. Do an annual budget and not a monthly "soft target". Unless of coarse, money is no object then knock yourself out.

This +++++++. I cannot believe how much I enjoy shaving due to wet shaving soap/brush/razor. Its gone from something I truly hated to something I look forward to.

My second biggest surprise was that I was able to get my wife into wetshaving. She's been using soap/brush/safety razor for a couple years now and even got her sister doing the same. Neither of them are into the hobby as I am, but both enjoy their shaves and lack of irritation now.