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 May 7th, 2025.
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Today on the Show:
Farewell to Southern Witchcrafts
Rowen Safety Razor
Several Vendors Have Closed Up Shop. How is the Industry today?
Some big items sold on Ebay this past Month.
Mantic’s New Website!
New Shop for Blackland Razors
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Farewell to Southern Witchcraft Soaps
After several years, Southern Witchcrafts has decided to close up shop. I was personally a fan of their products and thought they made some of the best fall releases in the industry.
I’ll tell you my thoughts.
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Rowen Safety Razor
The Rowan Razor is a Double Edge Razor that appears to be CNC machined from aluminum, Although there is not much on their website, they do have their own branded blades and accessories. Priced at $59 what not?
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Vendors Closing Up Shop. What Does This Mean For The Industry
A lot of long time brands (Williams, MWF) closing up shop along with some newer artisans. What to expect in the near future.
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Some Big Dollar Items Sold this Past Month
Some big auctions this past month. With vendors closing you would think the ebay items would go down too? I’ll tell you my thoughts.
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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: 5/21/25
Transcript (Machine-Generated)
You’re listening to wet shaving talk powered by sharpologist.com where we’re dedicated preserving the art and skill of classic shaving. Today is May 7th, 2025. Hey guys, welcome back to the podcast here on this beautiful May morning, May day here in South Florida. Also happens to be my little guy, my son, his sixth birthday. So happy birthday, Anthony, on your sixth birthday. I cannot believe you’re already six years old. Incredible amount of time has gone by and it’s so fast. I always talk about how fast time goes. That’s why I really try to enjoy everything when it comes.
Anthony happy birthday when you’re listening if you’re listening to this when you get older hopefully you’ll know that your your daddy your mother mom and dad love you very much and we’re very proud of you so wow that’s a lot to take in you know talking on this podcast for the last 10 years now we’re coming up to the 10th anniversary soon you know my son when he was born I would talk about it and everything like that and going through all that and now he’s here and he’s getting to be a young man himself he likes to watch me shave every morning so he watches me use a straight razor he watches me use a safety razor he’s got a little chair in my bathroom that he sits down in and he’ll sit and watch and just sometimes he wants to grab a brush and I’ll put some lather on his face and stuff like that so I’m sure we have a future wet shaver In the midst with my little boy, Anthony.
So happy birthday again, buddy, and wishing you the best of luck and many, many more. So in the wet shaving world guys a lot of stuff has gone on. I know it’s been a few weeks. I actually a few things came up and I’m about a week and a half late so I apologize about that but you know what we’re here and we got some really good news and a lot of stuff going on. I think with that I think a lot of stuff in the wet shaving world that doesn’t make sense is happening. I’m trying to make a little bit of sense of it today by saying, Hey, is there, um, what can we do and what’s going on with the industry itself?
And why are certain things going up and some things going down? Why are vendors closing and certain vendors expanding? So I’ll tell you a little bit about my thoughts and, and, uh, what makes a successful business in the wet shaving world today. and why some of these guys are lasting longer than others and why some of the longtime vendors, some of them being around, you know, over 50, 60 years are shutting down. So I have a little bit of that just coming up. So we’ll discuss that in a little different parts of the cast today.
So first on the cast we’re going to discuss Farewell I give them a salute to southern witchcrafts this this hit me hard this vendor I’m definitely a fan of this vendor. I think they’ve done great work and a lot of great stuff out there for the wet shaving world and great scents and I really look forward to their their releases all the time and just What does that mean to the industry? How is the industry doing today? And also, to coincide with that, we have some big items selling on eBay over the last month. Some, not record prices, but getting up there.
It looks like pre-pandemic levels on that as well. We also wanted to, I want to do a quick shout out to Mantic’s new website. He has a brand new website that just came out yesterday or the day before, and really exciting to see how this one works. And hopefully I’ll be working a little bit on there as well, because it’s one of my actual interests as well. And then finally a new shop for Blackland razors. Yes, Blackland razors is an American razor company and they built they’re building a new shop. I’ll tell you a little bit about that and much more guys.
So without further ado, let’s get on with the show. So Farewell to Southern Witchcraft Soaps and Aftershaves. You know this one hit me hard. They announced that they are closing up shop. All inventory is out. Whatever is left is going to be in Maggards. And when that’s sold out they are done. I think, I was a fan of these soaps. I think their whole Real like they’re there. I guess you want to say their whole Mission statement was just cool wet shaving stuff for wet shavers Nothing fancy wasn’t really crazy labels crazy names crazy releases or anything like that just straight-up good stuff.
I and they kept it to where they kept that theme like that fall theme all year round, which is great because I love the fall season. You guys know it with the fall season special every year. Southern Witchcraft usually has a nice portion of that podcast and I’m a little disappointed because it’s gone now. We wanted to say that we salute you Southern Witchcrafts, you did a really great job for the last seven, eight years. I was a very big fan of your products. I have several soaps left and I’m still glad I do. I was unable to get some because by the time I went on their website, they were gone.
And then when I went to Maggard’s, all the good stuff was gone as well. So I will be cherishing my soaps here. They’ll be in my collection for quite some time. And I think really looking at this, Telling us that it’s hard for those smaller Vendors to get through the business. I think that’s it. I mean, you know if you think about it costs going up everything like we’ve discussed It’s getting hard out there. Like it’s not easy to be a small business right now, especially with everything going on and I think In time, it will get better.
But right now for some of these artisans, they’re looking at it like, hey, it’s a lot of work. It’s a lot of like answering emails and stuff. It’s around the clock. Remember, most of us purchase their items when we are not working, which is usually the majority of people work, you know, in the middle of the day. So say, imagine you’re making soap all day, sending out orders, and then answering emails all night long, because that’s when they come in, you want to be quick on them. So you make sure that your customers are happy.
So that kind of got to me and I was thinking about it a little bit. And I think that’s mainly what we’re looking at here. I think that’s why we’re, we’re in a little bit of, um, little, little turmoil with, with the artisans and stuff. It’s just, it’s just hard to, to make ends meet. And if you think about it, you know, for a company of two people, could they just go back to their trades beforehand and work full time and make the same amount of money and be able to go home at night? Yeah, maybe, or maybe even make more.
Right. So, just some thoughts in the industry itself. Because in this podcast, you’re going to see something closing and then you’re going to see record prices and you’re going to see people expanding. So I’ll tell you a little bit about each one. When we get to that point. So it’s really it’s kind of it’s a shame that we’re seeing southern witchcrafts go. But I understand guys and we’re looking forward to whatever you do in the future. And hopefully it will be involved in the wet shame world. If not, good luck. The Rowan Safety Razor. This is coming up next.
This Rowan Safety Razor is under I believe it’s under $70, it’s $59 and you know what, it is a double edged razor with a nice squared off head, decent blade gap and it’s aluminum CNC machined, I think hollow handle. Obviously it’s got to be imported because of the price, I highly doubt that any American artisan or any artisan, Canadian, European or anybody like that is actually making these one by one so I would say this is probably made in a factory. or it’s probably Maynasia somewhere, but at $59, why not try it out? It’s been getting some decent reviews online for the price point and the packaging and everything, so I think this one might be a winner.
Again, it’s aluminum. I believe the whole razor’s aluminum with the exception of the head, but I couldn’t find too much online on it. You know, it was a little weird looking online and not being able to find anything on it. No maker, no story, just, hey, this is a razor, we’re making it, and here you go. So interesting to see where this one comes from, or this one comes. And if this is going to be a razor that we will be seeing, you know, long term. So $59 a lot of guys have gotten it, they’ve tried it out, and they said it’s been great.
So hopefully, you know, if you’ve tried it, or if you haven’t, if you’re on the fence, or if you’re looking for a new safety razor, and want something different, this might be for you. So vendors closing up, what does that mean for the industry? What does that mean moving forward for wet shaving, right? We talked about Southern Witchcrafts, a little bit about why, and you know, I mentioned, hey, this might be the reason. The reason might be, hey, it’s just that time, move on. We’re not making as much money as we should be. and then, hey, maybe we should be doing something else back to where we were, right?
What we were doing previously, what we did before our wet shaving endeavors, or just going back to a full-time job. And that might be easier for a one- or two-person business. I could think about it. It’s an around-the-clock business, like we mentioned. It could be difficult. But the industry, I think, itself is going to, I think we’re gonna see more of this happening. I think the reason is like, for example, we saw Williams shut down, right? Williams soap, they were around for over 100 years. Mitchell’s wool fat was around for over 100 years. They’re gone, right?
It’s just not a profitable thing to do if you’re making a few soaps. And if the costs go up to the point where you’re gonna have to charge 40, $50, I mean, none of us really out there are willing to spend 10 to $15 on Williams soap, right? It’s just not a soap that’s worth 10, 15, 20, It’s a $2 soap. It’s been a $2 soap. And I think that’s probably it. But the other question that comes up that I get a lot, or that I see a lot, or I think about is, hey, wet shaving is like the biggest it’s been in a while.
There’s a lot of people out there doing this. And why are we seeing stuff close after… I mean, think about it. For years and years, when people stopped wet shaving, started using Kangoo before the internet, before that, 20, 30, 40 years ago, They survived all that and made it up until now. You know, I would think it would be better now, you know, it’d be easier with Amazon, with different distributors. And then, you know, not having to just buy it where you’re from. Like I can tell you right now, Mitchell’s Wolfette probably wasn’t available in the United States up until maybe in the 1990s, right?
Maybe later, maybe a little earlier, but for the most part, no. So it just really goes to tell you, hey, what are we doing with this and what does this mean? And I think it means that we’re going to start seeing more companies shut down for the short term, right? I think you’re going to start seeing some more artisans shut down just because of the cost and because of the demand. Wet shaving was really in that peak around 2010 to about 2017, 2018. Really strong wet shaving was. I mean, a lot of vendors are coming up, a lot of them sticking around.
But you know, just looking at the bigger sites like Maggard’s, West Coast Shaving, I used to count over 80 to 90 vendors, sometimes 100 vendors just making software. Last week I counted, it was like 45 on one of those sites. So I think we’re probably at the worst of it right now. We might see some more shutdowns, maybe a couple more open up, I don’t know. But I think for right now, I think we’re probably gonna get through the worst of it now with the industry, with the closings. And then we might see a few more close here and there, but I don’t think it’s gonna get under like 30 or 40 vendors.
I think it’ll be about that. What worries me is just the whole industry as a whole with, you know, you see a lot of software going away, but a lot of hardware come back. Like there’s a ton of safety razors. You know, when I first started wet shaving, there was only one or two wet shaving, excuse me, razor producers that made like artisan razors. Now there’s about 20 of them, maybe 25, right? And now with the Artisans, with the actual software, there was at one point, I had a database that I have here of live ones that I use for the vendor checks.
I had 128 at one point, now I only have about 60. So I think we’re seeing more razors being produced and less soaps. I think people are holding onto the soaps a little bit more. And they may not be willing to spend 40, 50 bucks on a puck of soap that will last them a year, but they are willing to buy a razor that will last them a lifetime, right? And if they gotta spend 100, $200 on a razor, Subscribe in US English I think it would be a great email to me and I’d love to discuss it to see what your thoughts are on that.
So that’s my thoughts on the artisan aspect vendors closing. And I guess Yeah, that’s my two cents. So hopefully, hopefully I’m wrong. Hopefully more of them open up and this kind of goes away soon. I think once the tariffs subside and everything like that, I think we’ll we’ll see everything coming back. So moving along, the exact opposite of what I was saying with the industry where you see things closing down is some big dollar items sold last month. We had, for example, there was a bottom dial that went for $1,850 that honestly, six months ago, wouldn’t have gone for that.
This razor is not in good shape. It only had three bids. So somebody went and said, hey, I want this razor no matter what, and I’m gonna get it. So they did $1,825 sell price on this. We also had a regular case toggle go for $1,000. So I couldn’t believe it. I saw it sold. Whenever I see these high dollar items, I always watch it or put them on my watch list on eBay and just wait for them to sell. And when they sell, I take a look and see what they sold for. And I could not believe this bottom dollar.
I thought this thing was going to go for about $800, like $900. But it went for $1,800. Definitely not in the greatest shape. I can already tell from the picture I need some work. So I’m a little bit surprised on that. And that’s kind of what I said in the beginning of the cast. You’re looking at razors that are going for more money and software going away because I think people are looking more at the collectability of it. They’re looking at something they can hold onto for a long time. And I guess the razor’s worth more than a $50 soap.
Example, you know, I was talking to a friend of mine the other day and he said, hey, he was getting work done on his house, right? He was getting his kitchen redone. And he said to me, he’s like, hey, you know, my wife is the type of person that will fight at the grocery store for a 50 cent coupon, but will, you know, when it comes to spending an extra thousand or $500 on a project in my kitchen, she doesn’t bat an eye. This kind of has the same, you know, concept. Hey, with the soap, it’s cheaper.
It’s like, hey, I’m not gonna, I’m not willing to spend $50 on a soap, but I’ll still buy a bottom dial for 1800. You know, that kind of mentality. And that’s true, and that comes a lot. And that comes, I think, a lot when you talk about wet shaving, and especially in that area with collectability, too. It’s like, hey, this is what’s valuable to me to more than that. Even though I’m paying $10 more for a soap, I’m willing to spend $200 more on a bottom dial. Same thing with my kitchen. Hey, the project’s going to cost, say, $5,000.
An extra $100, $200 is not a big deal. But if I go to the deli counter at the grocery store, They better not charge me 50 cents more a pound because I have a coupon or because the price is different on the shelf, right? They’ll fight for that may not fight as much for the bigger things because that’s more I guess it’s more of a demand or more of desire So that’s my thoughts on that guys some big item selling so I’ll watch those Auctions and see if there’s anything you’re looking for. There’s a couple good items out there right now We’ll see how they sell and I’ll definitely report it on the cast Want to take a few short moments to shout out Mantic’s new website, The Black Coffee Life.
That’s at blackcoffeelife.com, theblackcoffeelife.com. It is a website dedicated to coffee, primarily drinking it without milk. Now, I have a cup of coffee with me right here. I got it from a beautiful French bakery here in Delray Beach, Florida. and I think that it is amazing but I do put milk in my coffee so I don’t know how sophisticated I am for the coffee life but I am definitely intrigued may do a little bit of work on the site with Mantic as well let’s see what happens but I am a coffee drinker I do drink a lot of it and I drink and I’ve been drinking it for years so I would like to get into it I’m gonna definitely be reading that content and getting more into coffee myself Instead of just making it just a drink to get you know, get me going.
Hey, maybe this could be another oh boy Hope my wife’s not listening another hobby to go along with wet shaving. Oh Man, no, I’m just kidding. It’s definitely would be a fun hobby and looking forward to Seeing some great stuff coming out of that website And finally, Blackland Razors has some big news. They have a brand new facility that they are, after weeks and weeks of hard work, they are going to open it up with more CNC machines. They will be able to do more stuff. And they will be able to do different stuff. So they’re doing a full behind-the-scenes tour coming up here soon.
As you know, Blackland Razors are American razors. They make the Blackbird. They make a couple other razors that are really, really popular. They’ve worked with different material. I believe he was doing some stuff in-house, some stuff outsourced. Now Shane will be able to do everything in-house. So really excited about this. They’re going to stay in the United States. It looks like they’re here for the long haul. And if you guys know, Blackland had some supply issues. They had some issues where they couldn’t make deadlines because they were waiting on somebody else. It looks like now they’ll be able to take care of themselves.
Really excited for this one guys giving them a salute looking forward to seeing what black line razors comes out with maybe they’ll bring the Trudari back Who knows one of my favorite razors? I have the original one and I really love it and they made a spot-on great Home, I don’t even say his homage. I think he bought he bought the name and bought the right to the razor So it was very pretty much the same thing Hopefully they come back with that and we see some great releases are coming from them in the near future.
I Alright guys, well that kind of concludes our show for this week. I apologize for being late and not being able to bring this show a little sooner. As we know, things happen, you know, it’s just like, well, kind of slips by me sometimes. I will definitely, I’m working on getting a better schedule in order to do this. I’ll be doing this on my day off so I don’t have to like hide in the garage or go out in my car and do it whenever I’m sleeping. And just to get more of a consistent schedule.
So I’m working on that. So thank you all for bearing with me and being very patient with me and in that sense. I remember our show was powered by Sharpologist.com, what your father did not teach you about shaving. Special thanks to Mantic59 and good luck with your new site. Looking forward to seeing some great things coming out of that. And most of all, you guys are listeners. Don’t forget to check out my blog site at ShaveStraightAndSafe.com and always feel free to email me at joe.wetshavingnews at gmail.com. All right guys don’t also don’t forget the modern guidance straight razor shaving is on amazon in barnes and noble and pastor’s pharmacy and we will be running a special promotion for father’s day uh coming up so hopefully uh you if you wanted to take a look at that there’s going to be some special stuff and i will be doing a little bit of a Little different content for Father’s Day month.
So looking forward to bringing that all to you guys as Father’s Day is a very Special time for us wet shavers and great time for us to give wet shaving gifts to those dads that we love Next show will be on the 21st of May until then shave straight and shave safe. Bye. Bye now
