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 January 13th, 2025.
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Today on the Show:
Wet Shaving New Year Resolutions
Condolences to Barrister and Mann
The Last of Personna branded Gem SE Blades
Supply’s Disposable SE Razor
Special Offer from Castle Forbes for Sharpologist for the Month
Market Saturation for Artisans?
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Wet Shaving Resolutions
What way to start off the new year then with some Wet Shaving Resolutions. Whether you’re going all in or holding back, it’s always fun to set up some wet shaving goals.
Here are mine:
- Try at least 5 new artisans that I have never tried before
- Try some new homage scents from artisans.
- Use a straight razor at least 50% of the time
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Condolences for Barrister and Mann
Recently I was made aware of Will from Barrister and Mann’s father passing away suddenly.
My condolences to him, his mother and entire family. I understand how hard it must be, and only wish the best for his family
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The Last of Personna branded Gem SE Blades
Hard to believe this is true, but Bullgosse shaving just found these hidden away. The new blades are now called Accu Tech Pro.
A few vendors still have them in stock so get them while you can!
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Supply’s Disposable SE Razor
I thought these were pretty cool. A 5 pack costs $15, and even though SE blades are cheaper ($1 each or less) this is still a cool concept. I’ll tell you my thoughts.
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Special Offer From Castle Forbes for Sharpologist
Castle Forbes is offering a 20% discount to products purchased from their website, www.castleforbes.com with discount code mantic20 . It’s valid from 10 January to 10 February.
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Market Saturation for Artisans?
Saw this on a thread at a major forum. Are there just too many artisans making software? Too many of the same ideas? I’ll tell you my thoughts.
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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: 1/27/25
Transcript (Machine-Generated)
You’re listening to Wet Shaving Talk powered by Sharpologist.com where we’re dedicated to serving the art and skill of classic shaving. I’m your host Joe Borrelli and today is January 13th, 2025. Hello everyone, welcome back to the podcast on this first show of 2025. Happy New Year everybody, I hope you all had a great holiday season. I know our last podcast was, I believe, on the 30th, so it wasn’t that long ago, in between Christmas and New Year’s. But I love this, I just love to say Happy New Year. I mean, that’s 1 of my favorite phrases to say.
And I actually had a conversation about it this week, like when do you stop saying Happy New Year, is there a specific date, or is there a, just a, you know, when you see somebody for the first time of the year, So I kind of, I guess, broke it down to where, when it is still acceptable to say Happy New Year. So I think in a professional setting, usually the first email or first phone call or first interaction you have in the new year, I usually put Happy New Year in it. So if I’m sending an email for the first time of 2025 to a specific person for business or work, I usually say Happy New Year and that’ll be it.
Like the first interaction with somebody in the new year is a happy new year. And then I think it kind of gets, it does get a little weird or out of place after mid-January. So I’d say this is about the last time I’m gonna say happy new year. Or in some form of respect in that matter. I think that’ll be it after today because it’s kind of like mid-January and like, all right, we already know the New Year’s here and that’s it. So just a little, I guess a little fun fact or a little just something I was thinking about when I was making up the show this week and saying am I gonna say happy new year is it that you know late in the year or ready to say it and I said you know what’s the first podcast of the year there’s nothing wrong with that so happy new year everybody so on the show today we will discuss a few things going on in the wet shaving world as well as wet shaving new year resolutions.
This is something that I like to do every year. I do about 2 or 3 bullet points of stuff that I want to actually accomplish for 2025 or the new year. And then from there, it’s more along the lines of how do I stay to them or come back to them mid-year to see if you’re still doing it. Now, a lot of people will say, hey, the first, second week of February is when most of the New Year’s resolutions get kind of put to the side. With the wet shaving resolutions I try to stick to them all year if I can.
Condolences to Barrister and Mann for their loss. We’ll get more into that on that segment of the show. Barrister and Man did suffer a devastating loss in their family and we wanted to just extend our condolences to them and just say, hey, we’re thinking about them. The last of Persona branded SE blades are out there in the world. 1 vendor just advertised they have a box. What happened to them and what are they now? Are they rebranded, are they still here? I’ll let you know in that part of the show. And Supplies Disposable SE Razor.
Came across this on, I saw this posted on Sharpologist, checked out the site, thought this was really cool, that it’s finally a disposable S eraser. I’ve never seen 1 before, but really interested in seeing the reviews on them, which were very positive, And just another cool item to add to the West Shaving arsenal. A special offer from Castle Forbes from Sharpologist for the month. This is a really great offer guys, big discount. So you won’t want to miss this part if you’re into that Castle Forbes, if you’ve never tried it before, I’d say now would be the time, because I don’t think discounts get much better than this.
And a discussion on 1 of the major forums, market saturation for artisans. Is there too many artisans out there now, or are there not enough? I’ll let you know my thoughts and tell you what I found. So without further ado guys, let’s get on with the show. Wet shaving resolutions. Is that something that you do? Is that something that you should do? And If you do, how long can you stick to it? Well, what a way to start off the new year with some wet shaving resolutions, right? You know, we’re into wet shaving. If you’re listening to this podcast, you’re obviously into it.
So what better way to do it than start off with, hey, let’s do some commitments for this year. Whether you’re going all in or holding back, it’s always fun to set up some wet shaving goals and have an end all, I guess, New Year’s resolution for wet shaving. So I wanted to let you guys know I have a few bullet points for myself, stuff that I’d like to do this year for wet shaving. I’ve been doing this for about several years now, and I may not have it on every single podcast, but I do have it at home and stuff that I wanna do.
These are just wet shaving, like try, buy. This is not anything professional. It’s not about writing or anything like this. It’s just mainly about stuff. So I’d like to try at least 5 new artisans that I’ve never tried before. This is something that I have not done in the past and I really wanted to do a little bit more with that because back in the day, I’d say 8 or 9 years ago, I was trying a lot of artisans and I’ve kind of stuck with what I have. My collection got to the point where I don’t really need to purchase much more and I haven’t really purchased maybe 1 or 2 soaps in the last year, right?
And then the year before that maybe a couple. And I noticed that some of them come and go and they actually like don’t last that long. So if you have soap and you have some aftershaves, aftershaves not so much, but sometimes with age it takes a while to happen for wet shaving, but it does happen. They deteriorate and they don’t perform as well. So I try to keep it to stuff that I use. But I want to try 5 different artisans that I’ve never tried before for 2025. I think that would be really cool to actually do it, right?
And buy some new stuff, try some new stuff, review it, and then tell you guys on the show, whatever I do with it, and just try something new. So that would be my first wet shaving resolution. Number 2 would be try some new homage scents from artisans. So I like cologne and stuff. I do wear cologne and I do enjoy different types of cologne. And usually every year for Christmas or for anniversary, birthday, whatever, I get a new cologne or a different 1. And I like Homage Scents to that because most of those colognes, they don’t have soap, right?
They might have like a wash or like a shower gel or something like that, which is nice, but I like to try like a shaving soap to go with it. I think sometimes that’s fun. So I wanna try some new homage scents from artisans. I’ve tried several of them and I think there’s a great opportunity out there for them to make some new stuff as well. So I’m gonna try some, maybe 1 or 2 of those 5 new artisans I’ll try homage sent a homage sent is a scent that’s dedicated to a already made popular national brand main brand like actual scent So it could be like a homage to Eros by Versace or Dolce & Gabbana or something like that.
And number 3, my final wet shaving resolution is to use a straight razor at least 50% of the time. Last year I achieved this, this year not so much. I’ve been using safety razors a lot this year, I’ve been using the 1 blade a lot and the reason being is it’s just more of a convenience thing, time thing. I’ve been getting up early, trying to get some stuff done in the morning, so I’ve been using a safety razor, but I’ve gotta slow down and get back to my straight razor shaving. So 50% of the time, minimum, I’m gonna use a straight razor, and I’m gonna stay hard to that.
Last year I was able to accomplish that goal and I’m gonna do it again just because sometimes you get into other parts of shaving and you kind of forget where you came from. So straight razor shaving’s important to me. I’m gonna stick to that. Moving along guys, condolences for Barrister Man from me and from everybody I’m sure out there. Recently I was made aware that Will from Barrister Man’s father passed away suddenly over the holiday season and I read the post he posted on, I believe it was on his website in an email. Really, I felt really bad because the way it happens is, it seems like, I’ve never met Will or his family, but It does seem like there’s a close-knit family business and their family, right?
He does speak to about them a lot in his post. I know his mother has a big part of working with him. So to hear this, it really hit me kind of hard for Will and his family. And I just wanted to send out my condolences to him. And I do understand how hard it must be losing a family member especially 1 that was that close to you. So Will, highest condolences for you. Hopefully you guys recover soon and for the listeners just understand that they might be a little bit delayed and things, for the next few months, give them some time.
I know he mentioned that on his website as well. So just give them some time, extra time, and understand that it’s not anything that they’re doing on purpose, it’s just that they are actually going through a tough time. The last of Persona branded GE, excuse me, say this 3 times fast, of the branded GEM SE blades. So that’s a lot to take in what I just said, but in short, Persona made blades under the GEM name. As you know, GEM was a safety razor company for turn of the century, the shovel heads, all that stuff.
We’ve discussed this many times, but the most popular single edge razor out there that took the standard SE blades single-edge blades that look like box cutter blades but they’re really not We know that well they have changed the name to acutec pro And I believe it’s still persona, and it’s no longer using the gem name so if you’re if you want that little bit of historic I Guess nostalgia for wet shaving these blades whatever’s out there are the last of them Bullgoose shaving set found a box I guess they found a couple boxes or a case of these blades in the back of their storage and they’re selling them.
So if you wanted to get something now or if you wanted to have that little bit of a nostalgia with that packaging, now’s the time to get it. Now the AcuTech Pro blades, I’ve tried them, they’re the same things. They’re the same ones, they are really good, they really shave nicely. Shave the same pretty much, I think it’s just a different name, so it’s not really that big of a deal, but just to lose that gem name, it’s a little bit of a bummer, I think. You know, not being able to have it and be able to speak to them anymore.
But with all good things come to an end, so as long as they’re still making blades, I mean, that’s really the most important part, because if they said, hey, we’re not making blades anymore, I think we’d be in a little bit of trouble. There are several vendors out there still advertising them, but just make sure if you really want that gem on the blade, if you want that actual name, just contact them before you purchase because they might be the new ones and they just haven’t changed over the, like the image on their website or something.
Interesting post that I saw recently about Supplies Disposable S-Eraser. I thought this was really cool that they came out with this. So they came out with a pack, I think it’s a 5 pack. Costs about 15 bucks. And it’s like their injector style bleed, but it’s fixed into a plastic handle. And this is a, you know, it’s kind of expensive if you think about it, but if you look at a $5, they’re 3 bucks each, the blades are less than that. Right, if you get the supply razor, spend 100 bucks, you get the blades, about a dollar a blade, maybe less.
And you’re talking, it might take you some time to make up the expense, yeah, I get it. But you probably get about 4 or 5 shaves out of these disposable razors. And It was great, I thought it was really cool that somebody came out with this concept for something that I have never seen before. I’ve never seen an injector style disposal razor. Now I believe the blades are fixed, you can’t really take them out, but it’s a 1 time use type thing. But still really awesome to see this type of razor in the field. So Supply, keep being innovative.
You know, if you guys are familiar with Supply, they were on Shark Tank, you know, they were around, they’ve been around a while, and they have their really interesting, great concept, their high quality SE razor, that’s like an injector style razor. I have 1, I think they’re really good and I wish them the best of luck with the disposable because I think it’s really cool. Reviews online have been very positive about them so I’m sure they’re great for travel And just great to have around too in a pinch. So, Sharpologist has a special offer from Castle Forbes Soap.
Actually, it’s just for Sharpologist listeners. Really, I was made aware of this the other day and I thought what way to share than to share with you guys because this is pretty cool. It’s 20% off discount on all items purchased on their website. So you gotta buy directly from them. You can’t buy it on Amazon or anywhere else, but if you buy it directly from their site, castleforbes.com, use the discount code MANTIC20, it’ll give you 20% off everything. So I am gonna purchase some stuff from them because I think they make some great products. I’ve never really gotten too deep into them, so I think now’s the time to do it.
The coupon code is MANTIC29, and it is actually valid from the 10th of January to the 10th of February, so you got about a month to do the purchase. I thought this was really, really cool that they’re doing this, collaboration with Mantic, and Sharpologist to do this type of offer. So guys, check it out, castleforbes.com, 20% off with Mantic 29 coupon code. So don’t leave, if you’re interested in trying it, now is the time to do it. And really the main thing I wanted to talk about this week is it’s actually a, well I guess you could say post I saw online on 1 of the major forums, and it made me think a little bit.
And 1 guy was like, hey, is this place getting too saturated? Is the vendor artisans, is it market saturation? Are there too many artisans out there to where they’re like not? It’s finding the main ones hard to make money or the small ones are like, hey, you know what, it’s just, I’m selling once or twice a week. And this is in regards to software, so it’s in regards to soap, aftershave, all that good stuff. Are there too many of them? Well, I’ll tell you my thoughts. I think you gotta look at it like this. If, for a business to survive, it usually requires, you know, return customers, right?
So I’m a retail manager, you guys know that. I’ve been a retail manager for many, many years. I’ve mentioned it on the podcast many times. 1 of the things is, we’re really big on, is like rewards programs. If you go to a store and they ask you for your phone number and say, hey, join our rewards program. We’ll give you an incentive to stay in the reward. What does that mean, why do you do it? So the reason why we have the reward programs is to get you to come back, right? It’s so you come back and shop with us again.
It’s not that we want you just to come in, buy what you’re looking for 1 time and never see you again. That’s great, we’re happy that you came in, but the problem is we’re not gonna make a business that way because return customers is about a good substantial portion of the business. I could tell you right now that return customers in the business that I’m in, in the retail aspect that I’m in, is about almost 82% right now. So 82% mean they have a loyalty account, they signed up, and that they are return customers. That’s really good.
It’s also really bad because you want to have, kind of balance that out to about, I think it is 70%, so we have 30% new customers, and then 70% reoccurring customers. But, you know, still overall, it’s still the percentage is higher for reoccurring. So when you’re an artisan, if you can do that percentage, you make a soap, a soap that lasts 3 to 6 months. Your soap really, it lasts 3, 6 months, a year, and you do different collaborations, whatever you do. Ultimately, a customer will come to you once, if they’re a one-soap person, right?
1 shaving soap person, 1 after-soap person, they might see you twice a year. And that’s great. But if there’s a lot of people out there and they buy 2 soaps a year, well then there’s about 80 artisans that aren’t gonna see that person’s business. So that’s where it comes into where a lot of the vendors, the bigger ones, example, Phoenix Artisan Encroachment says this is excellent, probably the best at marketing and the best at reinventing themselves on a weekly and daily basis. Is They do different collaborations, they do different releases, they do different promotions, they have also, every week there’s something coming out, they’re very seasonal.
So they get you to go back. They’re great with advertising, they have an app, they’re great with online advertising, this is where artisans need to invest in like they do that. They I’m sure a company like Phoenix artisan accruchements, or barrister and man, you know, the 2 major vendors out there have a strong loyalty from their customers. I’m sure their percentage is the highest out of anybody else of reoccurring business, right? Their reoccurring customers is probably up there, right? Might be even up as high as 50, 60%. And the new customers are a portion of it, because people know what they’re gonna get, they have a loyalty program, so they have incentive to purchase from them, and they stay seasonally relevant, and they’re good at advertising.
That’s where it boils down to. It takes a lot of time. I could tell you that if I was an artisan, I would be on emailing, doing all that stuff every single day, right, as much as I could. Because if somebody sent me an email, I would personally respond to them as much as possible because that is how you build a business, that’s how you build a market for yourself. You just gotta be available and as much as it might take a lot of your personal time, but with anything, we all work a lot. Working a retail job, you could work 50, 60 hours a week on the average.
Even if you write your own podcast, you could be doing 20, 30 hours a week if you’re doing that. So, I mean, it just takes a lot of time and effort. So, I think for market saturation, I think it’s not saturated. I think it’s just specialized. I think that when you talk about market saturation, there’s too many artisans out there, there’s too much stuff to try. Well, the vendors that don’t advertise anything, that only go by word of mouth or just kind of put it out there, yeah, they’re probably gonna get close to 100% new customers, right, people that come in once, but do they get reoccurring customers?
That’s where they gotta build that business part. So I think part of my wet shaving resolution for this year is to actually go back and try new auditions because I only see stuff from maybe 4 or 5 on a daily basis, and there’s only about 5 or 6 of them that have loyalty programs and incentives. And I can tell you this for example, how I really got into this is knowing, is doing the, what is the fall seasonal special. The fall seasonal special is 1 of the biggest shows I do every year. We do it for Halloween.
I go over every single piece by piece vendor that I can find and go through their fall releases. And I can tell you that 90% of the vendors that I go through, the artisans I go through, have nothing advertised, right? It’s very hard to find their stuff. I have to search for them. I usually have to go by posts and just Googling and stuff like that. But the 10 or so artisans that do have a lot of it, they get the biggest part of the show because I can find it and they’re seasonally relevant. Now, a couple of companies that have been around a very long time.
Example, Mama Bear Soap. They’ve been around since the start of this whole wet shaving start, right? Since I started, they’ve been around since the early 2000s. And they’ve been making soap, and they’re still in business, and their website has remained unchanged for 10 years plus, right? Their product packaging has remained unchanged for 10 years plus, but they’re still here. And the reason is they have reoccurring customers, right? They’re not advertising, they’re not doing anything like that, they’re 1 of the first vendors out there, and some of those wet shavers have been wet shaving for 15, 20 years, still purchase from them on a monthly, whatever, bi-monthly, yearly basis.
So that kind of shows you a successful part of the business, how you can stick around for a long time. Do I think the market’s saturated? I don’t think any market’s really ever saturated unless it’s starting to hurt sales. So unless you see 4 people selling the same thing, you know, that might be market saturation where It’s like, okay guys, it’s enough, it’s enough. But I don’t think it can get there yet. I don’t think we’re there. I don’t think we can get there in wet shaving. But that’s just my 2 cents. If you’ve got anything to add to yourself or if you don’t agree with me or you do agree with me, feel free to send me an email.
We could definitely discuss it and I’ll post it on the show. All right guys, so the first show of 2025 is done, it’s over and I look forward to doing many more shows this year and going through and ringing in 2026 with you guys as well. So just to let you guys know a few things coming up on the podcast we will be doing dedication months coming up and our next show will be on the 27th, 27th of 2025. Please remember our show is powered by Sharpologist.com. What your father didn’t teach you about shaving. Special thanks to you guys the listeners and of course Mantic59 for everything that he does with the wet shaving community.
Don’t forget to check out my blog site ShaveStraightAndSafe.com and when you get a moment if you want to shoot me an email at Joe.WetShavingNews.com. Again my book The Modern Guide To Straight Razor Shaving is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and at Pastors Pharmacy. Guys until the 27th of this month January, Shave straight and shave safe. Bye bye now.
