What is your biggest SURPRISE since switching to traditional shaving?

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.

Well, if you don't keep track of the spending, you won't be surprised. lol.

Even with 20+ brushes and 15+ razors, 20 + soaps and creams, 6+ aftershaves, and around a thousand blades, I still have to fight off the urge to buy more stuff. To the point where I actually have stuff in the cart but then just close the page.

I had several surprises:
1) How close I could shave. After a morning BBS DE shave, I could barely notice any stubble in the evening. I could never get as close a shave with a Fusion or ST and canned cream.
2) The quality of traditional wet shaving soaps, creams and aftershaves from artisan vendors whom I did not know existed until getting into the forums.
3) What I was missing all those years. After a typical DE shave (prep, lather, shave, aftershave) my face feels like it has had a "cruise ship" facial. I believe that this process is
healthier and better for your skin.

Just how good is the Grooming Dept Chypre Vert scent - and coming from a guy sworn off scented soaps

I think my biggest surprise was how much I could like shaving! After years of dreading it and hating to shave, I really started to enjoy it once I started working with DE razors and better technique.

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.

I agree a lot with Marko! I used to hate shaving with the cartridges & canned goo, just hated it. About 4 years ago I started shaving with a DE some shaving soap and a brush and had the BIG SURPRISE! Instead of a lousy chore, this type of old school shaving became a pleasurable ritual that I look forward to daily!


SURPRISE #2 Today is the best time ever to be a wet shaver! The quality hardware and software and companies and artisans and selections are endless and with the great forums and internet everything is right at our fingertips! Learning,teaching,sharing,buying,finding,selling,fun,etc,etc,etc, we got it made!



SURPRISE #3 Didn't think my shaving would turn in to a full time hobby that can be very COSTLY if I get carried away with the purchases like a little kid in a big beautiful huge endless selection TOY STORE !!! I'm a very happy kid in the toy store but I realize I don't have to buy the whole store to be happy!



Happy Shaving!
49erShaver

My biggest surprise was realizing just how damn good lookin' I was after a great wet shave.      

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 agree with what you have indicated. However, for me is the realization that is is not cheaper than the cartridge razor but much more expensive. Why? Because we have become collectors. One day you start out with 2 tubs of soap turn you back and not you have 100. Am I complaining? No; just being truthful.

My biggest surprise was learning how to smell. When I first started wet shaving I couldn't tell vetiver from sandalwood from oatmeal. I thought amber was just a name for a girl. Vanilla was strictly for ice cream. Labdanum and olibanum were strange and alarming words. Five years passed, it now it's all starting to make sense. My schnoz is starting to "see" for the first time. Fragrances now make a sharp picture that before was just a blur of sweet smells.

I'm also surprised by how much I've paid for this education. I started wet shaving because cans of aerosol cream rusted in the shower and left a nasty stain on the tub. To solve the problem, I went in search of a soap that came in a plastic jar. I found a tub of Barrister & Mann's Cheshire, and I thought that would solve the problem. But it actually created another, far larger predicament. As you all know, one tub leads to another, and now I've spent enough on soaps and scents to have remodeled the bathroom altogether.

What surprised me the most was the variety of products available. I knew that there was some variety in aftershaves, but I hadn't really thought about soaps and creams before; I figured most canned shaving foams were pretty similar, so soaps must be also. And I assumed that all razors were about the same and that a razor blade was just a razor blade, regardless of who made it. I had given no thought at all to brushes, so that was a huge discovery.

Several things surprised me including, but not limited to, the closeness of the shave, the fact I could enjoy and look forward to shaving, how expensive shaving could be, shaving could be a form of meditation, and that shaving was even considered a hobby. But the thing I think that has surprised me the most was the fact others felt the same way! I was astonished to find a podcast and forums on wet-shaving...I mean, c'mon it's shaving And I hope that doesn't come across as derogatory because I am so glad I found DFS and the fact there is a place to talk about and share experiences regarding this hobby