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 July 3rd, 2023
Today on the Show
Happy Independence Day !!!
80’s Shaving
Summer Time Scents
Hot or Cold Water Shaves in Summer Time?
Woolf Blades Straight Razors
80’s Shaving
Shaving in the 1980’s was all over the board. It was a transitional period, where electric razors, cartridges and the end of DE production by Gillette. Many men were using new forms of shaving while many older men still held on to the tools of the past.
Notable Wet Shaving Events of the 80’s:
-Gillette introduced the Atra, a twin blade razor with pivoting head ‘
-Gillette’s TTO safety razor was discontinued for the USA in 1988
-Gillette Sensor Razor debuted in 1989
-Barbasol introduced its first shave gels in 1988
-Schick Injector Type L discontinued in early 1980s
Summer Time Scents
.
What type of scents/soaps do you use for summer?
-Top notes: floral, slightly sweeter scents
-Mentholated for that cool burn.
-Citrusy, and some like the scent of rain and earth.
-You can even purchase menthol drops to add that cool feeling to any of your favorite soaps
Hot or Cold Water Shaves in the Summer?
I was surprised to see that Cold Water Shaves won in this survey. Lots of guys report that it gives a more refreshing/closer shave with less irritation, but I have not received the same results. What do you prefer?
Woolf Blades Straight Razors
-Some beautiful custom straight razors coming out of South Africa.
-Read to ship stock or custom options available.
-Costs vary but start in the $400 usd range.
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Special Thanks to:
Mark aka Mantic 59
Most of All……….YOU!!!!
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Please feel free to contact me at [email protected]
Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for videos regarding some interesting wet shaving content.
Our next show will be 7-17-23
Until then….
Shave straight and Shave Safe!
Transcript (Machine-Read)
You are listening to, Wet Shaving Talk, powered by Sharpologist dot com, where we’re dedicated, preserving the art and skill of classic Shaving, your host, Joe Borrelli, and today is July third, twenty twenty three.
Hello everyone and welcome back to the podcast. First off I got to say sorry for the hiatus on the last last show. Miss actually missed, I think, a whole month here I actually got sick. So I got a little bit of a cold and it doesn’t really sound too good on the podcast to record when you don’t have much of a voice. So it’s a little bit difficult in that time. So I had to had to make the decision to hold off on on doing a show. So I do apologise, but we’ll make up for it this week.
So today on the show first I want to say happy Father’s day to everybody out there, all you, that we’re celebrating Father’s day. It was great one for me as well. You really got to enjoy it, got some relaxation and that for that day relaxed, spend some time with the family, got some good food. So it was a good day for me. Hope you all had a great father as well. I know it’s been a while since we’ve talked, but we did do the gift-giving guide for Father’s day, which I hope helped out a lot of you guys with some gifts and letting your significant other and know, family and children as well, know what to get you instead of just getting you regular stuff that you might see you now that you may not want. So I hope that helped out.
Also happy Independence Day, that’s tomorrow, can’t believe it. We’re already more than halfway done with 2023. It’s incredible. I cannot believe how far how fast this year is going. Eight shaving. I wanted to talk a little bit about 80 shaving. You know it’s it’s a decade you don’t really talk too much about with wet shaving. There were some notable events that happened in the eighties and a little bit of that. I saw a few people posting online about it and got me to start googling and researching myself and realized that the eighties, with what origin originally thought, was not a very big decade for what shaving actually is. And I’ll tell you why.
Okay, we’re full-fledged summertime guys, full-fledged summertime. What are those summertime sent? What do you look for in summertime soap or after shave? I’ll let you know my thoughts on that as well and hot or cold water shaves in the summertime or in general. Which one do you prefer? And would you believe that a lot of people are doing the latter? I’ll tell you more about that as well, and Wolf blades coming from South Africa, a new, relatively new straight razor producer making custom straight razors that look really incredible. We’ll talk a little bit about them as well. So, guys, without further ado, let’s get on with the show.
So the 19 eighties were very big decade for a lot of different things. You know you have different types of jonas of music that came out and became mainstream. It is. It is now a decade. I can’t believe it. It’s over 40 years now, started 40 years, over 40 years ago. I’m an eighties kid. I was born in the early eighties, so I am very the eighties are dear to my heart. I grew up watching lots of 80 shows. I still do think a lot of us do too. If you’re if you’re around, you know that age and enjoy it. But I didn’t realize that there was so much that there was actually wet shaving, notable wet shaving events, and it was a very big transitional period.
So in short, shaving in 90 was all over-the-board not only was it a transitional period where electric razors became really really big and the technology became better with it. You know the first electric razors really coming out in the sixties, the eighties, that time when the s and the double edge razors were kind of taking the back road and people were really getting into that technological cartridge razor, letric razor, kangoo and stuff like that. So many people were using forms of new forms of shaving. But there are still kind of the vintage stuff out there and a lot of guys held on to those as well. But here is a little bit of a-list of notable wet shaving events of the 19 eighties that I didn’t even realize a couple of my new. But until I really started like googling and just really researching.
So in the 19 eightys Gillett did introduce the Theatre, which is a twin blade razor with the pivoting head. That was around 1980 881. That was introduced. Now, if you guys know what that is, the basically like a track too only with a pivoting head. Apparently was first cartridge razor with pivet head and that came out in the eighties and it’s still you could still buy blades for the actual brand of blades of the Tram and I think you can still buy the at itself in the United States today. Let’s twist an open safety razor. As a lot of you know, it was discontinued for sale in the United States in 1988. That was the last of the American-made twist open safety razors from Joe, which were the black beauties Joe and I believe there was a couple of other ones too, of the non adjustable razors that were out.
But that was the end of it. The safety razor was done with Joe, the American-made one, for our market here in the US in 1988. The Gale Center razor debut in 1989 and Barbosa introduced its first shave in 1988. Believe it or not, they were using cream and they introduced some shave shave Joe in 1988, and the chick injector type, which is the most common chick injector razor, probably the most famous today, was discontinued in the early 19 eighties. So that was gone. So those are some notable wet shaving events that happened in the 19 eighties and again it was a transitional period for wet shaving.
Now a lot of guys we’re going through that modern stuff. You know you had a lot of technology happening then. Different types of music, different types of stuff. You know the player came out. At the end of the 19 eighties a lot of people were still using casts and and they just really getting the man. If you listen to some of the eighties music you’ll hear a lot of computerized stuff in it. So people were really going modern in that time and that’s when all of these modern forms of shaving really started to take off. I’d say: would it be in the 19 eighties to the nineties as well?
So if you like this little excerpt of the 80 or a decade of shaving, I can definitely I’m I’m definitely thinking about doing it. Let me know about your thoughts because I wanted to go move on an do like a 90 decade dedication show as well. So I’m just kind of just just testing the waters out on this too. So let me know your thoughts on this, on this little segment and we can continue doing summer time, since so it’s summer and one thing I’ve got to say is it’s hot. I live in South Florida, it’s 90 something degrees every day and at night it’s about 80 something degrees too. So I mean it stays hot for the most part. The thing is with that is your face. After taking a hot shave or hot shower, you really want to cool down, go outside and really when you hit that heat, you want, you want your face to feel like fresh and all of that right. That’s what Mental does with with shaved soap.
So a lot of people ask: I want that cool feeling and that’s what they associate with summer sops. And that’s when I use my mentholated sops. Now, Mental is just a little. Those little crystals they add to it that give it that brisk, really open feeling, just makes you feel really cool when you go outside, especially if you go from from the cool, from the cool house after you just put in after shave, Mathilde, after shave us. So if you go right outside it feels really brisk. It feels it’s kind of like when you go into a son, then jump in the in the snow or for those of you that have ever done that in Europe or in northern states, right, if you go into the extreme heat and then jump in the snow, you get that feeling. This is kind of like the opposite. You go from the extreme cold to the extreme heat and you get kind of cool feeling.
So a lot of people love methylated soaps during the summer time. There are so many of them out there. You can actually even buy the mental drops and put them in any soap that you want or put them into an aftershave and just splashed on yourself. One thing it will be will be to note is that this stuff can be very cold and can actually like. I’ve used some really strong methylated soaps and they make my eyes water. But this is the typical scent or typical characteristic of those shave soaps or shave after shaves that you would see in the summer that a lot of people like other sense than people that go for those top to tes with floral, slightly sweeter sense. You have maybe a little bit of a like, true, in some sense, like a scent of rain or earth. Just signific cuse me, I’m just, I’m like trying to think of this, the words. It’s very, it’s very difficult to to show you what summer is all about right. Summer is about growth, it’s about coolness, it’s about flowers, it’s about fun, it’s about summer vacation and all that. So that’s kind of like what I think of when I think of the summer time, even though I live in a climate where it’s time about 10 months out of the year.
So if you think about it, that’s kind of what I think of summer. Everybody has their own little taking on summer. There’s so many different soaps out there coming out and but one thing I could say is the metallated sops. That’s got a lot to do with summer and it is just nice and cool in your face, especially when it’s really hot outside. So what do you like for summer? Do you have anything that you you are really passionate about? Send me an email and I definitely want to know about it. We’ll talk about a little bit about it, maybe feature it on the show because I’m going to have a few summer soap reviews coming up here on the on the podcast, because this is the time when I switch out my seasonal stuff and hot or cold water shaved in the summer or in general.
You know this is something that came up recently and I was really you know I was. I was almost dumbfounded by the results. I was shocked to say the least. I’ve never really done a cold water shave before and when I do I’ve done shave to where I haven’t had a hot face, haven’t really gotten the results I wanted or good results in general are just uneasy shape. Sometimes it’s a little bit. I’ve got a ration from that. But what I’ve read on this recent pole that was done on Badger and Blade and there wasn’t that many people that that applied, that that voted for it. But there are plenty.
But out of all the votes the majority of the people that voted on this on this pole liked coldwater shaves and I was really really shocked. I was surprised to say the least, and I was reading some of the comments and it’s going through and searched a few more threads that had cold water shaves involved in it and they were like, yeah, I like, because it saves irritation. That was the most common, similar attribute to each and every single one of these posts and why people like cold water shoes. They received less irritation and I said to myself why I just can never do it. I always felt my face was cold. I would get a bad shape, but then I’m looking at it. Maybe it’s prep, maybe you need to do a different prep. So they’re doing similar, perhaps very leathery, very wet shaves and they’re doing using soap and stuff like that and just using it the same way they would do with hot water, with cold water and receiving really good results.
Unfortunately I just tried it the other day. I didn’t really receive those results. I don’t know if I was petrit or what. I did use my regular routine water, a lot of water, soap kept lathering. I did bowl lathering for that technique, but I didn’t get really the results that I was looking for or good results in general. So I’m going to continue using hot water. But I’m going to try this again. But if you get really good cold water shaves, how do you do it? What’s your secret and share, share, share with the community, because a lot of guys are posting that they’re etting great results with cold water shaves and I just don’t see it and I wish I did because I would love to try something different and not have to use warm water on a daily basis. So that’s something that I’m going to do a little bit more research on and if you have any ideas or if you are a cold water shaver, you know. Let me know, because I would love to know.
So I need. I need some help in this area myself because I’d like to try it. You know again, it’s summertime. I’d like to do. Cool up my shave a little bit and anything that could do to beat the heat, even if it means just a nice cold water shave in the morning, works for me moving along. Wolf Blades, Wolfblade That’s is a straight razor company out of South Africa that makes custom straight razors that are honestly works, true works of art. I mean, I’ve been just found out about them recently, been researching some of on this website and looking at some reviews, a few reviews out there. They are on the higher ends for price point. They range from 400 to about $2000 in all, converted from the rent from Brandon and South Africa.
So if you are looking at that definitely you now understand that this is going to be a higher and razor, with some of the razors being in the intends. But I mean they are works of art. This, this gentleman offers true, custom, completely custom razor service so you can email them and then you can say: hey, this is what I’m looking for and they’ll make it for you. I don’t know the waiting period, but I would say I’ll probably be a decent amount of time because these all razors are handmade. In addition to that there are there’s plenty of pre-made ready to ship stock that starts from, like I said about that, $400 range moves up. I have not used these razors. I have not seen one yet in person, but I have seen a couple of reviews and they seem to be pretty good. But there are more of those customs at razor, so they’re going to be a little difficult to shave with because of their designs and stuff. They are really beautiful. But those, some of those customs beautiful straight razors are a little harder to shave with.
So I would start off with the basic model that he has before you get into the really know for the beginner, before you get into the really like custom part, where they look like you know, like almost like like a motorcycle chopper. Like you see those where they are beautiful bikes. They look awesome but they’re almost impossible to ride around with. That’s kind of where it looks at some of those big custom models on this side too. So if you’re a beginner, go with those more basic ones, try them out and then just be mindful that the shipping from South Africa is usually pretty high for the United States. So you know factor that into your budget as well when purchasing them. But I’m looking at the website right now. I’m very impressed. He seems to. This gentleman seems to be making some beautiful razors and some of them are really, you know, honestly, some stunted designs. Just I’ve never seen them before, like some of the scales are totally customed, totally different shapes, really beautiful razors. So while Wolf Blades, we salute you, glad to see that you’re in the, you are in the street razor business and hope to see you around for a long time.
In addition, guys, as also one piece razors like commissary style and other stuff that he makes as well. So check them out when you get a chance. Wolfblade, dot com, all right everyone! So after a very long hiatus I do apologize, getting back into it was a lot of fun. Really hate missing podcasts and not being on the show, mainly because you know this is definitely a joy of mine and and and I do look forward to it every other week to make the podcasts. I love Wet shaving, as you guys now been doing this for a long time, so it’s a lot of fun. I hope you all have a great fourth of July. Please be safe with fireworks and stuff. Let the kids know that too. Make sure nobody’s shooting off fireworks in their hands and all that stuff. It’s just every year. I read about it and I live in a state where it’s legal to shoot fireworks, so it’s like every fourth of July. There’s always that. There’s always that article in the paper. Enjoy those shaves. Guys, a lot of guys are doing making us shaves for this week. You know I saw a lot of forms.
So if you have any man products, you know this is usually the week to do it. I’ve seen a lot of the dedication posts on facebook and on the forms as well, a lot of guys using just American-made products if you have them and if you’re not in the United States, have a great week as well. Guys, also, few other things coming up there’s going to be. I’m going to be putting some of my stuff up for for sale. Actually, I’m going to have that up on my side. I’m going to post that on the next podcast. I am going to look at moving some stuff around. I just have so much stuff and I want to start getting some more newer stuff in. So I’ll be doing that a really good discount before I used to do it just direct, but now I’m going to do it on, so it makes it easier. The shipping will only be a continental. So if you have, for if you’re out of the country and you want to purchase something, you have to do something where you get, like could buy something from a different site. Mean. Most of you guys know that and you can have it sent to a shipping area, mainly because it’s just so hard I’ve I’ve lost so many things: international shipping it out you even with donations and and give aways and stuff it just. It never makes it there and another when it leaves or gets stuck in customs or whatever. So I’ll just be doing it that way. But yeah, I’m going to be moving some stuff and look forward to getting some new stuff. Get some reviews going on well. So that concludes podcast for this week. Guys don’t forget, our show is powered by Sharpologist dot com, which your father didn’t teach you about shaving. Our next show will be on the 17th of July. Until then shave straight and shave safe by by now.
