You’re listening to Wet Shaving Talk powered by Sharpologist.com where we’re dedicated to preserving the art and skill of classic shaving. I’m your host Joe Borrelli and today is June 11th, 2025.
Today on the Show:
Happy Father’s Day!
Emails from Listeners
How To Give the Perfect Father’s Day Gift
Big Apple Soap Release and Mini Meet -Up At
Tartara Amakuni Razor
How Much Have You Invested in Wet Shaving
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How to Get The Perfect Father’s Day Gift
It’s that time again!! Father’s Day is right around the corner and you know what that means! It’s time to get the perfect gift for that special wet shaving dad!
What Do You get the Wet Shaver in Your Life? Getting a gift for a wet shaver can be difficult especially if you know nothing about wet shaving, I’ll help you find the right gift!
What To Do:
-First ask a few qualifying questions such as “What brands of soap do you like” or what type of razor have you been looking into? , “Is there anything you’ve been looking at” “Who is your favorite vendor? What is you favorite scent? Trust me as a wet shaver myself, any wet shaver would be happy to talk about it so be ready for a ton of information.
-Once you get a few ideas/brands that he likes, then it’s time to do some research. Remember lots of traditional wet shaving products are not available in stores or on Amazon so give yourself at least 5-7 days to ensure it gets here by Father’s Day. Research the brands mentioned and look to see if there are new items or items that he may like.
-If possible, take a look at what he already has. (yes you may have to snoop around 🙂 See what he has and take a few notes. Then hit the internet and see what you can find.
-If you happen to have any family heirloom razor lying around (this could be from a relative or friend then take this opportunity to gift it on Father’s Day. These are some of the best gifts you can give the traditional wet shaver. It’s not limited to just razors, brushes, old shaving mugs, soaps or anything wet shaving will become a prized gift.
What Not to Do:
-Do not make a blank purchase without knowing what he likes. The traditional wet shaver can be particular and if you get a random gift from stores such as marshalls, it may just end up sitting on a shelf.
-Do not buy a straight razor if he doesn’t use a straight razor, especially one made in China. This happens every year. I’ll tell you why.
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Big Apple Release at Pasteurs
A collaboration between Strike Gold Shave and Pasteur’s Pharmacy, this scent had a mini-meet up last week with about 20 guys including the artisan to get their hands on it. Currently backordered.
Inspired by Kilian’s Apple Brandy, The Big Apple captures the spirit of a night out in Manhattan—refined, intoxicating, and unforgettable.
Scent Profile:
Top Notes: Cardamom, Bergamot
Heart Notes: Apple, Rum, Brandy, Pineapple, Vanilla, Moss
Base Notes: Warm woods & subtle sweetness
Wish I could have made the meet up!
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Tatara Amakuni Razor
A new artist club razor has emerged. It’s been several years since we;ve seen a razor of this design emerge ( you remember the Mongoose and Cobra” and Tartara has done it. This razor is getting great reviews. I’ll tell you all about it.
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How Much Have You Invested in Wet Shaving
Recent Poll on B&B really opened up my eyes!
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Mantic’s New Site: The Black Coffee Life
MAntic has a new site dedicated to coffee: Check it out: https://theblackcoffeelife.com/
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Blackland Razors New Facility
Really Exciting News for Blackland razors
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Our show is powered by Sharpologist.com, “What Your Father Didn’t Teach You about Shaving”
Special Thanks to:
Mark aka Mantic 59
Most of All……….YOU!!!!
Don’t forget to check out my blog site www.shavestraightandsafe.com for the tips and interesting wet shaving stories!
Please feel free to contact me at [email protected]
Subscribe to my You Tube Chanel for videos regarding some interesting wet shaving content.
Don’t forget to check out my book “The Modern Guide to Straight Razor Shaving” available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and at Pasteur’s Pharmacy in NYC.
If you’re a vendor and would like to be featured on the show please contact me!!
Next Show: 6/23/25
Transcript (Machine-Generated)
Transcript generated by Transcript LOL
Three, two, one. You’re listening to Wet Shaving Talk, powered by sharpologist.com, where we’re dedicating preserving the art and skill of classic shaving. I’m your host, Joe Borelli, and today is June 11th, 2025. Hey guys, welcome back to the podcast and first and foremost, happy Father’s Day to all the fathers out there.
That’s right, Father’s Day is right around the corner. It’s this weekend and this is the, I would say either the first or second busiest holiday for gift giving and wet shaving, right? That’s right, the biggest holiday for gift giving and for that wet shaver in your life. I would say Father’s Day is probably a close second, if not first, over Christmas.
So, a few things for today on the cast. I wanted to go over, hey, how to give, how to give that perfect Father’s Day gift. What to do, what not to do. You know, I love talking about this kind of stuff right around those holiday times where, you know, to prevent people from getting the right gift, or I’m sorry, prevent them from getting the wrong gift and getting the right gift for that special person in their life, that special
dad in their life. And usually during these episodes, if you have anybody that you know or if you want to refer to them to this segment that are not a wet shaver and they’re buying a gift, perfect time. If you’re a lurker, if you’re listening, if your significant other, husband, boyfriend, or all the above is a listener of the podcast, this is the one that you’re going to want to listen to because this will help you get him the right gift. So I will definitely show you how to get the perfect Father’s Day gift for that father in your life.
We’ve also got a little bit of news going on the wet shaving world. We’ve got the Big Apple soap release. This is a mini meetup at Pasteur’s. This is really an exciting meetup that was going on over there in New York.
So a new release, kind of a mini meetup that happened and I’ll talk a little bit about that. We’ve got the Tartara Mukini Razor, which just came out. It’s a single edge razor from Tartara, which is a very nicely made double edge razor that’s gotten a lot of I would say a lot of fanfare out there. It’s got its fan base and it’s got a lot of people that really have some positive reviews about that.
They came out with a single edge razor. We’ll talk a little bit about that razor and what the initial reviews are on it and actually how they brought back a kind of a new old concept to wet shaving. And how much have you invested in wet shaving? This was a poll on Badger and Blade and I want to talk a little bit about it to see what you guys think about what is a major investment.
If you’ve invested more than the maximum amount that they put on this poll, or if you’ve not invested in much of anything, we’ll talk a little bit about that and what the average person really I think is as investing in the wet shaving world. So without further ado, guys, let’s get on with the show. Very important, big holiday coming up. One of my favorite holidays for the wet shaver out there is Father’s Day.
That’s right, Father’s Day is a big one. That’s for the dads in the lives, for the fathers, grandfathers, uncles, everybody, all of the above to celebrate their day and that’s this Sunday coming up here in the United States. So, it’s that time again. Father’s Day is right around the corner and you know what that means.
It’s the time to give the perfect gift. So what do you get the wet shaver in your life? That’s the question. That’s what a lot of people ask me, and that’s what I used to actually really ask myself when I was going through holidays and asking people to get me something.
How could they get me a wet shaving gift? So getting a gift can be a little difficult, especially if you don’t know anything about wet shaving and if you’re really unaware of what’s going on, but I’ll definitely help you find the right gift. So what to do, how to find out what to get, right? So first, I’ve got a few steps of what to do and then I’ll tell you what not to do.
So first off, ask a lot of qualifying questions, such as what brands of soap do you like? Or what type of razor have you been looking into? Is there anything that you’ve been looking at? Who is your favorite vendor?
What’s your favorite scent? Trust me as a wet shaver any wet shaver be happy to first off. We love to talk about wet shaving in general, right? So if somebody actually showed interest in it to me, that’s not a wet shaver I was like, yeah, sure.
I like Phoenix artisan accoutrements. I like Barrister man. I really wanted to try a Blackbird razor and Some of those things would be great questions to ask. And I’m very sure, if not 100% positive, that wet shaver in your life will definitely answer those questions and probably talk in great detail of what they like.
We love to talk about wet shaving, especially when somebody asks us questions about it. So that’s something that I think will be the first thing to do. After you’ve gotten a few ideas and you’re really looking at the brands or whatever, or types of razors, or whatever you would like that that person likes, then it’s time to do a little bit of research. You know, a lot of traditional wet shaving products, that’s another thing to remember, are not available on Amazon or on big major sites, so you’re gonna have to go find the artisan themselves and buy it and purchase it.
So you do need a little bit of time, and I know if you’re doing that right now, you might not have enough time. I know today is Wednesday before Father’s Day, It may be a little bit cutting it close. But if you do next day shipping, or if you might pay a little bit more, you can definitely get it before Father’s Day for a lot of them. And then once you find out the you know, those brands, research them, find it out, look at where you can find them and then start looking at making your purchases and do them as soon as possible just because you want it shipped to the house, or wherever you’re
shipping it to in a certain amount of time, give yourself about four to five days. If possible, take a look at what that wet shaver already has. If this is somebody that you live with or you visit quite often, hey, there’s nothing stopping you from snooping around a little bit, looking in the shave den, right? Looking in their cabinet, seeing it.
If you see a couple of brands of soap that that father in your life actually has, that wet shaver has, then maybe look at, hey, okay, he likes Barrister man I see three or four soaps in there says barrister man let me look up the website see if there’s anything in there see if there’s any Father’s Day gift packets or something new or cool that he doesn’t have in there right or even just even a gift card would work out as well too but taking a look at that really take a look snoop around a little bit and find out if there’s anything and then hit that internet harder than you ever had and try to find something something like very similar to it and I’m sure you’ll be able to find something within a few minutes of searching Now this is a big one. If you happen to have a family heirloom razor lying around, this could be from a relative, this could be from a friend, it could be from, you know, your grandparents could have it, right?
It’s not as common as it was maybe 20, 30 years ago, or even like 10 years ago, when we would just start looking around, oh yeah, I have this old Gillette razor from your grandfather, why don’t you take it? Right, once you talk about what shaving with your family or something. I think that the generations now, the baby boomers and younger really honestly probably adapted more modern forms of shaving. You know, a lot of them don’t have those Gillette razors anymore.
I’d say like my grandparents and my grandparents were born, you know, they served in World War II and were born in the 20s. They really kept a lot of things. They kept everything, right? My grandfather kept everything.
He had an old Gillette razor. He had brush. He had a bunch of stuff that he kept, right? I kept his old watches and everything.
But the newer generation really don’t. And if you are, you know, looking at a millennial and younger, you’re probably looking at never seeing anything like that, unless they are a traditional wet shaver collector. Because during our time, most of us, I’m a millennial myself, most of us didn’t start shaving until probably in the 90s, late 90s. And as you know, Gillette stopped making safety razors really in the late 80s.
So that’s something we may not have for our hair. I mean, I will, and maybe you and I both, because we’re collectors. A lot of them won’t have that, but if you do happen to have a family heirloom razor lying around, I would say do not hesitate to give that as a part of a gift or the gift for Father’s Day. It would mean a lot to that wet shaver.
Doesn’t mean you have to spend any money, right? It’s just something special for them. It will really lighten their day and it will be something that they will cherish forever, really. If you think about it, it will always be in their collection.
So what not to do, guys, when you’re giving out gifts for that wet shaver. Don’t make a blank purchase without knowing what he likes, right? The traditional wet shaver can be particular. If you get a random gift from stores like Marshalls or like T.G.
Maxx or, you know, maybe even if you go to the grocery store, drugstore, it’s just not… Some of those soaps you see there are there for a reason. Yeah, you can get some good stuff, but for the most part, you really can’t get much that’s that good at Marshall’s. I’ve gotten a lot of gifts.
I hope my family’s not listening right now, but I’ve gotten a lot of gifts from Marshall’s and stuff, I know, and I never really use it. I end up giving it away or trying it once or twice and just not being happy with it. I will say though, if you are going to make a blank purchase without knowing, Art of Shaving is good stuff, right? If you’re going to make a purchase and you see it at Macy’s or if you see it at a department store, don’t hesitate to get Art of Shaving.
I think that wet shaver would like it. If you see a kit, that’s definitely a good kit. I love getting Art of Shaving stuff for Christmas and Father’s Day and stuff, or holidays like that. It’s really nice.
So I wouldn’t hesitate on that, but I would be very careful of getting off brands or brands you’ve never heard of or stuff from the secondary department stores like Marshalls. And finally, do not buy a straight razor if the person doesn’t use a straight razor, especially one made in China or Pakistan or anywhere like that. And I’ll tell you why. If you’re not a wet shaver, if you’re not a straight razor user, right, a straight razor is going to end up sitting in the drawer.
Example, I knew a couple of wet shavers out there that they love safety razors. Love brushes, love soap, everything. Traditional wet shaving all the way. But they hate straight razors.
These two guys I know, they don’t want any part of a straight razor. They know it. They’ve tried it before. It’s just not for them.
But they’ll buy safety razors and everything. They’re really into wet shaving. Every year somebody gets him a straight razor and every year it ends up going on the BST or buy sell trade and they end up Trading it or selling it or just never using it or it stays in a drawer So example if you are if you see that your husband uses or your or your father uses straight razor every day that yes, then I would say get over straight razor, but I would avoid stuff like naked armor and or you know gold dollar or anything like that.
I would just go and get a Dovo or a Boker or something like that just that you know it’s a good razor, it’s shave ready and they’re going to be able to enjoy using it instead of having something that may not be able to work too well. So in short, no straight razors unless you know they use straight razors, stick to reputable brands made in Germany, United States or France or Japan or something like that. Stay away from China, Pakistan and anything in the Middle East. And honestly guys, that’s about it.
I think you can be very successful with a good wet shaving gift if you follow those guidelines and just go for it there. I think, and remember guys, it’s always a thought that counts. Another thing is also a good shaving cabinet. If you’re looking, if you see your significant other has a ton of stuff, maybe get them a nice cabinet or something cool or a nice picture or poster for their shave then.
You know, that’s also really great too. I’ve gotten a lot of wet shaving gifts in the past. You know, some were and honestly, I know because I’ve gotten some stuff like stuff I said to avoid avoid. And I’ve gotten some really good stuff like you know, a great cabinet and some good soap from art of shaving and stuff like that too.
So I think you’re in good shape there. If you have any questions, always feel free to email me even if you’re not a listener of the show. And I will do my best to help you in in that sense. all right so moving along we’ve got the big apple released which is released at past stores over the weekend this is a collaboration between strike gold shave and past stores and will be only limited only available at their store or online from their site which is actually sold
out at the moment so this is a really cool collaboration with a A cool scent with about 20 or 30 people showing up to the meetup, to the release, and having like a mini meetup at Pasteur’s just this last week. Inspired by Killian’s Apple Brandy, the Big Apple captures the spirit of the night out in Manhattan, refined, intoxicating, and unforgettable, with a top with, excuse me, a scent profile of cardamom, bergamot, apple, rum, brandy, pineapple, vanilla, and moss, with base notes of warm woods and with a little bit of sweetness. I really wish I could have made this meetup because I’ve been to Pastor’s many times actually not many times I’ve been there about three or four times and I plan on going again actually soon hopefully in the summer I try to get into Manhattan at least once a
year maybe twice last year I went twice which is very rare I don’t really usually go that often but when I do I always hit up Pastor’s and I think this shave soap is definitely and I think there’s also a splash with it as well. Very, very interesting. I really would like to actually get a smell of this, a sniff of this and try it out because I love those collaborations, especially when they’re available only there. So this apparently is the Scent of New York from Strike Gold Shave and we give you guys, we wish you guys the best of luck with this scent and hopefully, you know, you guys had, whoever went to that Big Apple Meet up over there and Manhattan had a
great time picking up those soaps and hopefully they’ll be in stock soon I saw that they have like a waiting list on it or you know a Pre-order because it’s up. It’s back ordered at the moment, but we’ll see when it comes back out I will definitely I’m definitely picking up a set of this and the Tartara Amakuni razor. Sorry if I said it wrong. And Amakuni razor, this is a single edge razor with the Artist Club blade.
So that longer blade, remember guys, if you’re a fan of the Mongoose or if you’re a fan of the Cobra Classic single edge razor, that was a relatively new concept, taking those hair shaper blades and putting them in so they have a little bit more Please see review No.11263 on PissedConsumer.com You know, you’ve got a lot of makers that have done this, but really it was a mongoose and the cobra that took off with this design. And this one’s available. It’s a good price.
I think it’s just over $150. And it’s really interesting to see that they brought this out. Now, the double-edged sotaras are very popular with wet shavers all over the world. They’ve been very popular.
Very known in the in the wet shade on the forums and stuff. They’re very Highly thought of and spoken of there so they’re good performers great razors and this one kind of looks the same very slim head design so much slimmer head than them than the than the actual mongoose itself and This comes together with magnets, so it’s magnetized So I believe you don’t have to screw it in the magnets just go on and put the blade on there So that’s a pretty cool concept as well. I haven’t seen that in a single edge razor yet and So looking forward to seeing more on this guys, the Tartara Mukini, I think that’s how you say it, razor, which is now available.
I believe they have, I think they’re at, I’m not sure. I thought when I saw it, they still had a few left in stock. So I think they are, but I’m pretty sure they’re selling quickly. They’ve been around, I think a couple of months now, but they’re, they’re still out there.
So try them out guys. If you’re into that single edge razor, if you’re into that, the style and see if you really love it, I’m sure it’s going to be a great shaver. All right, guys. And finally, how much have you invested in what shaving?
It’s well, you know what a lot of people don’t realize how much they what they really invested until they start adding it up and looking at it, especially if you’ve been around for several years. So for me, I’ve been around, excuse me, I apologize. I’m getting over a little bit of a cold, hence why I was not on for about a month and a half. That and a couple other things going on, but I am back and I hate to, sorry to sidebar on this conversation, but definitely back and ready to have some more podcasts, get back on the regular schedule.
So I apologize for that in advance. But how much have you invested in wet shaving? Okay Again, if you’ve been around a couple of years, you might might be shocked on how much you’ve invested. So they have this was a If a like a pole on on badger and blade and they just wanted to see how many people You know spent some money in what shaving it looks like the majority of them spent over $2,000 Now you got to remember that badgering
blade is full and you know a lot of us do are not the average wet shaver. You know the average wet shaver might buy one razor, one soap, one brush. A lot of us you know we buy much more than that and I am definitely over the $2,000 mark in the past 12 years of wet shaving. I’m sure most of you are too.
So I think a lot of it has to do with, hey, how long you’ve been doing wet shaving and how much you spend yearly on it. Now there’s some guys out there, I’ve met guys that spend over $30,000 a year buying and selling and they end up really only spending like a couple thousand because they bought, they sold, they bought it for this and they sold it for what they paid for it or a little bit less and they just keep buying and using it for a little bit, selling it. And then just going on from there and then really saying themselves, hey, you know, I get doing this I yeah, it’s a lot of work and maybe I spent a lot But I do get to try everything and I then I sell it and I don’t keep it
in my you know It’s stored so I keep I bring it in I let it out So the recent poll, it really just, it kind of just opened up my eyes guys. It really was like, I could not believe how, um, how much, how many, what the percentage was of how many people spent over $2,000 and a couple of the wet shavers in there that were mentioning on the poll. of America. That’s just my two cents on it.
If you would like to be included in this in this poll, it’s on badgerandblade.com. It’s in their general shaving, I believe, discussion. So check it out. And also if you have any, you know, if you wanted to send me some notes or if you have any suggestions or if you want to talk to me about your journey with wet shaving and your investment, go right ahead and send me an email at joe.wetshavingnews.com.
All right guys, so that concludes the show for this week. I do apologize. I have been kind of out of it lately. I’ve been very busy with work and then not only that, I’ve been, I got sick again.
Nothing new there. I just got a cold and when you get a cold, it’s really hard to talk and do. The actual podcast because your voice kind of hurts and doesn’t sound right and you know I don’t want all of my you know all the listeners to to be like, oh wow, you know I don’t want to listen because it sounds bad right now My voice is probably on the threshold of being good or bad.
So I apologize for that guys, but Podcast isn’t going anywhere. I promise you we’re still gonna be here. We’re still gonna be doing this So it’s not it’s gonna be trying to get back on the regular the actual regular Programming I guess if you’d like to say the regular schedule, so I so wanted to say guys our show is powered by sharpologist comm which your father didn’t teach you about shaving and Special thanks to Mark, Mantic59, and most of all, you guys, the listeners, because without you, there’d be no podcast.
Don’t forget to check out my blog site, ShaveStraightAndSafe.com, and as always, feel free to contact me at wetshavingnews at gmail.com. And remember, my book is available at Pasteur’s Pharmacy, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon, The Modern Guide to Straight Razor Shaving. Check it out. Makes a great Father’s Day gift.
All right, guys. Our next show will be on the 23rd of June. Until then, shave straight and shave safe. Bye-bye now.
