What was your first shaving equipment?

I think a lot of us have embarrassing moments like that.  Mine was when I was in Chicago and I was given a free sample of Art of Shaving shaving cream in the Marshall Field's in the Loop.  I had just purchased my first shaving brush there and the sample was thrown in.  Of course, up to that point I had always used foam or gel in an aerosol can.  When I got home to San Diego, I couldn't wait to build my first lather.  This was even before I started using a DE razor; it was still a Gillette Mach3 at that point.  I simply could not understand how anyone could use the AoS cream because all it did was gunk up my razor and didn't cut my beard.  Naturally, being completely green and the tiny sample packet having absolutely no directions, did I bother to add any water to the mix?  Noooo.  I can laugh about it now and it was only my stubborn insistence that many men shaved with a brush and soap or cream for many years before I came along so I would find out exactly how to do this that finally won the day.

I have to say, though, that even I knew how to open a TTO razor so I definitely think you win this round.

EJ DE89
Semogue 730
Taylor of Bonds cream
Astra SPs
Unrefined Shea Butter (I had been using this for 12 years before)

No horror stories; just a decent shave with a bit too much irritation and too much stubble left over.

It has taken five years to perfect things, but one of the best things to come of this journey is that I have learned how to take photographs, somewhat.

My first traditional wet shaving set-up was:

Merkur 34C HD
100 Personna Lab Blue DE blades (they were cheaper in quantity. we're trying to save money, right?)
Perfecto Pure Badger Brush
Proraso Green Shaving Soap
Perfecto Deluxe Chrome Razor and Brush Stand
and, as an afterthought, I also ordered the Feather Popular TTO Safety Razor based on reviews(I think ordering the 2nd razor set a precedent.)

As fate would have it, everything but the Merkur 34C arrived at the same time, so my first DE shave was with the Feather Popular.  So, with my wife  watching intently, I lathered up the Proraso in its bowl and shaved away.  Now, considering I didn't have too much of a clue what I was doing, I ended up OK.  There was definitely some razor burn and an abundance of left over whiskers, but no blood shed.  That came a little later after the 34C arrived.

"Look, Ma!"  at all of the shaving loot I have now..... Oh, boy.....

...
Around that time, I somehow became aware of wet shaving. I promptly bought a brush, razor, and cream on Amazon with absolutely no knowledge whatsoever. The brush (which I still have and use in my shop to brush resin dust out of my forstner bits) is an old synthetic with massive fibers. Branded badger, it looks like banded boar and feels like grim death. The cream was Proraso green. The razor - and this is where things get fun - was possibly the cheapest TTO razor that has ever existed. The best part is that I had absolutely no idea it was TTO (or that TTOs were a thing), and before I even had my first shave I seriously damaged the doors trying to pry the thing open like an otter trying to crack open a clam. This led to an incredibly frustrating hour before I gave up. Days later I learned that twisting the very non-descript bottom of the razor magically opened the doors - which, slightly, worked.

Of course I didn't let this stop me. Did I have any notion of blade gap? Angle? Nope. Didn't care. I wet my brush, squeezed a little Proraso into a champagne flute of a mug, and spent the next 20 minutes progressively adding more and more Proraso to the bubbly soup. 1/8th of a tube later, I just decided to go with it - after all, I had done something similar to what I read. Cream and brush were mixed with water by a brush, I figured that had to be all there was to it, and the amount of cream used would make up for anything I could've possibly done wrong. I wound up having to soak the brush in the soup and then press it against my face to let the bubbly soup run out, as there was no way I could paint it.

And there I was: shave time! I picked up The Mangler...
...

Fantastic story telling! Thank goodness my keyboard is sealed. I just hope the coffee doesn't stain!
Thanks so much for the sharing!

It was around mid 2001 and I used whatever was found locally. I used my Grandfather's Gillette Tech and his Ever-Ready 100t brush. That was paired with Williams Mug Soap and Wilkinson Sword blades from a local drug store. Usually finished with Brut or Old Spice.

I am so glad that the internet opened up the world of wet shaving to so many products and vendors.

...but one of the best things to come of this journey is that I have learned how to take photographs, somewhat.  

Understatement of the year!

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Fantastic story telling! Thank goodness my keyboard is sealed. I just hope the coffee doesn't stain!
Thanks so much for the sharing!
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Hah, you're welcome - I still have The Mangler around here somewhere, I believe. Maybe I'll find someone I really hate and PIF

A Parker 92r TTO, Parker Pure Badger Brush and a Parker sandalwood & shea butter shaving soap.

Yup... Got my stuff from a Parker reseller, after that I joined Forums, watched videos and read reviews and then it grew from there. What started out as an attempt to save money became an expensive hobby! Lol

A Shave Factory DE Safety razor (Derby) from Sally's Beauty Supply and Tri-coastal White Birch and tobacco butter shave butter from Burlington Coat Factory with a synthetic brush.

My first set up in 1964 was a blue tip that belonged to my dad (he preferred the red) if I recall correctly, and I used his boar brush and Old Spice mug with whatever he had in it. The first razor I bought was a slim. In college I used a straight razor. Then for long periods of time I just mowed my beard with clippers. Never really got into the plastic, which gave me too many ingrown hairs. I have been known to shave with a knife on quite a few occasions, whenever the Dan'l Boone mood strikes. My dad taught me that too.

That shaving with a knife reminds me of the scene in Crocodile Dundee where he does that! Kudos!

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