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 March 9th, 2026.

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Today on the Show:

A Sad Day For Vendors: Bullgoose Shaving Closing May 1st 

Razor Emporium’s Meet-Up

First Line Shave’s Wagyu Soap Base

Rocnel MC Series 

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A Sad Day For Vendors: Bullgoose Shaving Closing May 1st

The owner, Phil Huntsinger, shared the following details regarding the closure:

• Reason: The decision was made because the company chose not to renew its lease, with the owner stating “the juice is no longer worth the squeeze”.
• Final Inventory: The shop will not be restocking items, though it plans for one final release of Ascender razors before shutting down.
• History: The business is closing after 17 years of operation since its founding in 2009.

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Razor Emporium’s 2026 Meet-Up  

The 5th Annual Arizona Shavers Meetup, hosted by Razor Emporium, took place on Saturday, February 21, 2026. 

Event Details

Location: Razor Emporium, 210 S. 37th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85304 (near Sky Harbor Airport).

Time: 9:00 AM – All Day.

Admission: Free and family-friendly.

Attendance: Over 100 wet shaving enthusiasts were expected for this celebration of traditional shaving and craftsmanship. 

Key Highlights & Activities

• Demonstrations: Live razor plating (gold and nickel), soap making, and aftershave making classes.
• Exclusives: A limited-edition 2026 Shave Meet Up Shaving Soap was released, featuring a “desert-born” fragrance profile of citrus (tangerine, lemon, grapefruit) with notes of lavender, clove, and oud.
• Shop Tours: Behind-the-scenes tours of Razor Emporium’s inner workings, including their CNC machinery.
• Community: A “Pay it Forward” trade table, free raffle prizes, a food truck, and a photobooth were available on-site.
• Vendors: Artisans and figures from the community attended, including representatives from Sharpologist, Ohio Shaves, Ariana and Evans, and Frugal Shave. 

An official recap video of the event was released by Razor Emporium following the meetup. 

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First Line Shave: Imperial Wagyu Tallow Shave Soap  

First Line Shave’s Imperial Wagyu Tallow Shave Soap is a premium, high-performance wet shaving soap featuring rare Wagyu beef tallow for exceptional glide, moisture, and skin protection. 

• Released around June 2025, this soap is known for producing a dense, creamy, and nourishing lather. Popular scents include Autumnal Equinox and St. Louis Barbershop. 
• Key details about First Line Shave Imperial Wagyu:
• Performance: Described as a significant improvement over previous bases, offering excellent cushion for straight razor users.
• Key Ingredients: Features Wagyu tallow, goat’s milk, shea butter, and various oils for superior skin hydration.

Scent Profiles:

• Autumnal Equinox: Notes of cinnamon, apple, pepper wood, tobacco, incense, and cedar.
• Fallout: A dark, masculine scent inspired by “Tuxedo”.

Availability: Retails for roughly $25.99 for a 4 oz tub at The Shave Supply. 

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Rocnel MC Series Razor  

The Rocnel MC Series (often referred to by enthusiasts as the “Master Collection”) represents the pinnacle of craftsmanship from the Turkish manufacturer Rocnel. These razors are known for their extreme precision, limited production runs, and use of luxury watchmaking techniques. 

The series primarily features the Sailor Series Adjustable razor, which is widely considered one of the most over-engineered and high-performing adjustable safety razors on the market. 

Key Features and Construction Precision Engineering: 

• Each razor consists of approximately 14 separate machined parts and is produced using ultra-precision CNC machines and luxury watch production techniques.Premium Materials: 
• Most models are forged from AISI 316L Stainless Steel, though rare limited editions have been produced in Pure Copper or Titanium Grade 5.Adjustability: The Sailor models typically offer multiple levels of aggressiveness (often 5 to 8 settings), ranging from very mild to highly efficient.Heft and Presence: 
• These razors are exceptionally heavy; for instance, the 2026 MC 2026 MC Series weighs approximately 146 grams, while copper editions can reach up to 193 grams.Available Models and Variations

The “MC” designation is applied to Rocnel’s most refined collector-tier releases.2026 Mc Series (316 l Steel) in Stock2026 Mc Series (316 l Steel) in Stock$1,325.95(€1,150.00)According to rocnel.com, this model features a new watered carbon steel locking mechanism and an anchor figure engraved on the handle base.It is currently in stock at rocnel.com for $1,325.95.

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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!!

Transcript (Machine-Generated by Transcript.LOL)

You’re listening to wet shaving talk powered by sharpologist.com where we’re dedicated preserving the art and skill of classic shaving. I’m your host Joe Brilliant. Today is March 9th, 2026.

Hey guys, great to see you again. Can’t believe it’s already March. Isn’t it hard to believe it’s already March? This year is going by so fast.

First off, gotta give a short apology on why, you know, the podcast has been delayed a little bit, just been very busy with work. You know, it’s been a very busy holiday season, or I guess winter season here for Florida. A lot of people moving down, a lot of people visiting. Now we got spring break coming up, and that usually is the last hurrah.

And it just was a lot going on, so I apologize. You know, I had a lot going for work. personal stuff too, so we are back, we are better than ever and ready to talk about some great wet shaving stuff going on and some unfortunate wet shaving news as well. So today on the show we’re going to discuss a sad day for vendors.

I love starting it off positive but this is something that’s going on and it kind of hit me a little hard over the last week because this is a vendor that I’ve been dealing with and working with for the whole time I’ve been wet shaving and find out that Bull Goose Shaving is actually closing its doors on May 1st. We’ll talk a little bit about what was posted on their website and on social media, and what it really means in the in the entire industry as well. On a lighter note, though, razor Emporium had a huge meetup in Arizona, over 100 people showed up.

Great. I mean, it looked like probably one of the better meetups out there a lot of great feedback from the from the actual event itself. And they even did a video to just to dedicate it to that event. So it was really, really cool to see all the wet shavers out there and what they did.

So I’ll talk about that in detail and what went on in that meetup. First line shave has the Wagyu soap base. It’s been out for a little bit over six months now and it’s been getting a lot of rave reviews online. Made from Wagyu, I guess from Wagyu beef tallow.

Really interesting to see that we have that kind of an item out there and I’m always interested in seeing some new and different ingredients in shave soap. So we’ll talk a little bit about that one as well. And the Rocknell MC Series razor. Sort of like a new razor coming out.

I mean, it is a razor. It’s been out here and there. Usually goes into special editions for yearly releases, but also it’s a collectible razor as well. We’ll talk a little bit in detail on that and I’ll tell you my thoughts and how a super high-end razor is definitely worth the investment.

So without further ado, guys, let’s get on with the show. It is a sad day for wet shaving to hear when a long-term vendor is actually shutting down its stores. Bull Goose shaving has been around since 2009. That’s right guys, that’s when this wet shaving fad really started, right?

There was hardly anything out there and these guys were the ones that Sorry about that, my phone was going off. And so these guys are the ones that started it really, right? You were able to buy European stuff from them, you were able to buy different other items, really all involved in that, in the wet shaving aspect before the artisan movement, right? I like to say the artisan movement started really around 2012, 2013.

Bull Goose Shaving was there, they had McCores, they had all these other razors, they had the shaving salves from Europe and that was one of the few vendors you can get it from, right? Well, the owner Phil shared the following details, he shared these details on social media recently so I just bullet pointed them for you. The reasoning why they’re shutting down is just the company’s not renewing their lease and where they are so he’s decided not to renew renew his lease because the juice is no longer worth the squeeze. It’s turning out that the hard work that they put into and all the work is just not making it happen for them, right?

I guess prices increase, demand, all this stuff, vendors. It’s just tough, right? It’s a tough business to be in. So they decided that, hey, once the lease is up in May, May 1st is their last day, they’re gonna shut down the business and that’s it.

He’s gonna go on to other endeavors. The final inventory, they will not be restocking anything, though they do have one more ascender razor release, which is already in the works, which they will do before shutting it down. But basically what they have is what they’re going to have. And after 17 years of operation, it’s just, it’s unfortunate to see them go.

Now, what do you guys think about this in the industry? You know, we’ve seen a lot of vendors shutting down. We’ve seen a lot of artisans going different ways, right? They’ve been going, they’ve been saying, hey, this is it.

I’m gonna, or I’m gonna collaborate with another artisan. So they’re gonna have my brand. You know, we saw that several times last year and this year as well. And what it’s telling me is that it’s just really hard to make money in a small business.

And you gotta think about it like this. How many shave soaps, how many aftershaves, how many razors do you sell to make enough to pay the rent and to pay your light bill and all that? It’s a lot of soap, think about it. You’ve gotta sell, at a soap at $25 each, 10 soaps a day is $250 a day, right?

That’s a decent salary if you can make that, right? but you gotta go by cost and everything, so you really gotta sell double that to make that, right? Probably even more than all that, plus the time with the social media, plus time with shipping, plus the expense of shipping, there’s a lot of expenses. So think about it, it takes a lot of soap to sell to make a lot of money, right, or to make at least a decent salary to where you can live.

When it gets to the point where it’s not worth, and I love the way he says this, The juice is no longer worth the squeeze when the juice is no longer worth the effort it is to get it. And living in Florida, you can see that, guys, right? I can tell you right now in Florida, orange juice used to be the biggest thing in the world here, right? Orange groves everywhere.

Well, where I live, I think there’s one more orange grove left. And when I was a kid, when I moved to Florida, there was probably about 200, right, in Palm Beach County. There’s one, maybe two left. All right, if that, right?

It’s just houses and stuff like that. And when it comes to, hey, well, are you willing to pay more for the juice? Are you willing to if we get it from Brazil or South America and make it cheaper or keep it the same price, you know, will consumers care? And that just shows you that.

So that’s kind of what that means in little and figurative forms, right? The juice is no longer worth the squeeze. So he’s, I can tell you that just by watching the video a few times with Phil, it definitely looks like he is just, you know, he’s a little bit upset about it, right? He’s a little upset, a little frustrated.

I think he’s gone through enough to where he can’t, you know, just subside this way anymore. So, you know, we do salute you, Phil and Bull Goose Shaving, the whole team over there, and hope the best for you and your future. And hopefully you’ll come out with something else that we’ll see and that we’ll all love as well. So a big shaving, a big wet shaving talk, salute to boogoo shaving, right?

And wishing them the best of luck. And just also the industry as a best of luck in the industry as well to all the small vendors and artisans that may be struggling right now. On a very much lighter note though, the fifth annual Arizona Shavers Meetup at Razor Emporium took place a few weeks ago. And this was an event for, I think, for the record books here.

Over a hundred people showed up and it was a free event, which is awesome. They had demonstrations of live razor plating. They were doing golden nickel plating, soap making. They were doing aftershaving, making classes.

I mean, it was great. Everybody was getting involved And really just being part of the action, right? They did a limited edition 2026 meetup soap and aftershave collaboration. They did shop tours.

They had like a pay it forward table and they had a bunch of artisans that were there just to show up and talk. So, it’s really interesting to see this and really great. They did also a cool video on their website about the whole recap of the event. But this just shows you that, hey guys, there are still a lot of great wet shavers out there.

And if you don’t go to a meetup, I know there are not as many as there used to be, go to them, right? If you’re in the Arizona area, you have to go to this one. This is awesome. You’re going to see a bunch of like-minded individuals.

Not only that, people that you can talk to about your daily routine, right? Everything that you do. And then, you know, have fun with it, right? Just have fun.

Maybe you’ll make a new friend, maybe not. You know, it’s a lot of this wet shaving. When I started, it was just me by myself wet shaving. And when I went to my first meetup, it was amazing.

I had such a good time. And I remember the first meetup technically I did was I met somebody on Badger and Blade and, you know, we just met up at a Panera Bread and we just kind of talked and brought some razors and talked about it. It was really fun. It was the first time I ever talked to anybody else in person about wet shaving since I found it because I was just, you know, messing around online with it.

So yeah, I do recommend going to them. I’m going to do my best. I am working on getting to that Maggard’s meetup this next month, I believe. And if I can get out of work to do it, I will definitely go.

I know it’s a weekend, but retail managers, we work the weekends. It depends on what’s going on to hopefully be able to make that. It would be a lot of fun to do. So, if you haven’t saw the video, go check it out and see if it inspires you to go to a meetup or even start your own meetup.

You know, you don’t need to have an event to do a meetup. You can just post it online and have a couple friends meet up with you and talk wet shaving, maybe have a coffee, a beer, all the above, a bourbon, and just have a good time. First line shave. A vendor that’s been around some time and I think this is really cool because they came out with their Imperial Wagyu tallow shave soap.

So Wagyu meat is that Japanese steak that you can get that’s got that really cool marbling in it. I’ve never had it but I’ve seen it and I do find it very interesting. So to see that kind of stuff there. And to see, you know, somebody do a shave soap with that.

I remember some years ago, a lot of guys were doing lamb tallow, they were doing what else are they doing? They did lamb tallow, they did duck fat was a really big one, which is still pretty good. Some people did other types of fats, you know, synthetic, whatever. But to see Wagyu come out, this is really interesting, really cool, and definitely got my attention.

So there’s several scents out and this soap was actually released last year in June. And it’s known for producing, the Wagyu tallow is more for a dense, creamy, nourishing lather. But a lot of people say it’s great for straight razor users, right? Because it’s got a nice cushion in addition to the slickness.

So the actual ingredients in the soap is Wagyu tallow, not only that, goat’s milk, shea butter, and then some oil, and some various oils and stuff. So they have several different scents and the price is $25.99 for a four ounce tub, which is not too bad at all available at the shave supply. So guys, if you’re interested in trying some different tallows, again, I know like 10 years ago, this is really big, like a lot of people did it. And they had a lot of fun experimenting with different tallows and stuff.

This is the way to go. Try something different today. And I think you’ll have a fun time at least trying. I did order one, so I’m going to get it.

I’ll let you know what I think and my thoughts on it when I get it in. I get to try it for a little while. All right, moving along to the Rocknell MC series razor. Now, this razor is often referred to as the master collection.

It represents the best of the best from Rocknell, which is a Turkish producer and does some collaborations, but makes some amazing razors. And they do fixed razors and they do adjustable razors. In fact, Rocknell is one of the first, I believe, CNC machined adjustable razors out there and continues to be improving every year when they do their yearly release of the Sailor Series razor when they do it. And I believe every year it comes out a little bit better.

Primarily that with this fee with this razor itself about the the sailor series It’s it’s really one of the most over engineered and probably highest performing adjustables out there again It doesn’t have I don’t believe it has springs and stuff. So it’s not like a Gillette Adjustable razor and when this razor came out again, like I mentioned It was the only adjustable really out there besides the Mercores that were being built new right? We just had you just had like old vintage razors that you can use. But McCore was always making an adjustable razor for years.

And then Rocknell came out with the first like artisan CNC stainless steel razor. And it comes with about, there’s like 14 parts in it, which are all CNC machined. And they use a lot of like luxury watch production, like polishing and stuff like that, techniques, good stuff. They use a 316 stainless steel.

And then they actually have a copper or titanium version as well, which are, little bit lighter and heavier with the stainless steel being about 146 grams so that’s pretty heavy and then the copper being almost almost 200 grams at 193 grams so that is definitely a heavy razor quality razor it comes in a great box and it’s just presentation is just perfect on this razor I don’t think I’ve ever heard anybody really complain about it other than the unfortunate price it has. So as their flagship razor, the price for this year’s is $1325.95 directly from Rocknell. So that is, you know, it is a costly investment, but it is an investment that I think is worth it if you’re into hobbies and stuff.

Think about all the hobbies out there. If you’re into watches, $1,350 really can’t get you, it won’t get you a Rolex, it won’t get you an Omega, it won’t get you those type of watches, right? A Breitling or anything. That $1,500 is very hard to get anything new from them for the flagship.

I mean, you can look at Rolex’s start at around, I believe they start, for the cheaper models, the Oyster Perpetuals, they’re about $7,000 a start, and then I think you have, like, the Submariners are now well over $10,000, and then you have, you know, the president model, which is around $50,000. I mean, you’re talking big money with those. So if you want to do a hobby and you want to have the best of the best, really this is a bargain.

And that’s what I, I think that’s what got me into wet shaving and collecting. It was like, when I was saying to myself, you know what, I like cars, I like watches, I like all this other stuff, but really I don’t have the amount of money to play, pay for play in these actual hobbies, right? I don’t have a lot of money to go buy a supercar. you know, to buy a super watch, right?

A crazy watch, a platinum watch. I don’t have, you know, the funding for that. But when I looked at wet shaving, and at the time, a toggle was like everything. I was like, wait, toggle’s only going for like a couple hundred bucks.

I can swing that eventually, you know, when I get, when I decide it’s time. Or a bottom dial, which I can get for, you know, at the time, maybe $1,000. I said, yeah, okay, you know what, I could swing that. I could definitely save up and get that.

That’s not out of reach for most people, right? And I can, you know, and that’s what I did. I saved up my money. So what better way to have the best of the best for your hobby than to have a razor like this and really only spend a fraction of what you would spend on a supercar or a really, really high-end watch or even a really good suit or anything like

that, right? I mean, it’s all relative, but that’s what got me into this. And I think this is a really a great razor. I’d love to get one someday.

Again, I’m kind of got to save up for it because When you have a family and all that stuff, you know, I think the high-end razors and all the ones that I own now I bought years, you know, several years ago before I had, I guess all the responsibility I had, I have now. And just really, you know, saving up for this and it makes it fun too. I think also when you save up for something.

It makes it more fun because you’re like, hey, I gotta save my money, right? I gotta struggle for this. I gotta work really hard to get it. And then focus on, hey, how can I get to the next level?

How can I do this? What do I gotta do? And then look at it when you purchase it and say, man, that took a lot of extra hours at my second job or overtime or whatever. I sold a bunch of the stuff that I had, took some work in cleaning up my stuff and getting it out.

Or I went and got a part-time job just for a few weeks, months for Christmas and I had some extra money and I saved up for it. So I mean, there’s a lot going on. Yeah, it’s fun. I think so.

You know, there’s a lot of ways to do it. So if you want it, go get it guys. If you want that razor, make sure that you put in the time and get it and struggle for it because you’ll really appreciate it. It’ll definitely be with you and you can hand it down to family members for generations to come.

So a few other things I want to talk to you about the wet shaving world, guys. I wanted to, you know, not in the show notes, but I wanted to discuss just a little bit about the industry itself. You know, we talked about Bull Goose a little bit and how some vendors are changing around. And I would say, guys, for right now, I’d say that we are probably in a little bit of a crisis mode, I think, in wet shaving.

You know, we saw a lot of big brands just disappear. We saw, you know, Williams Shave Soap is gone, right? We saw that’s then that was around for since the 1800s and and you would think that with the resurrection of wet shaving There would be more of them around right it would still be here William what was it? The other one was Mitchell’s wool fat, you know, that’s hope was around the longest time, right?

That’s generations and generations of being around and now that’s gone It’s just a little scary to see all these big brands just disappear and just not come back Recently, I discovered that Old Spice wasn’t being sold in a lot of countries anymore. It’s not being sold in Canada. It’s not being sold in some parts of Europe. Still here in the United States because I think we have a following for it.

But to see that, it’s also a little scary to say, hey, maybe our beloved brands, the brands that we love may not be around forever. And that’s something that does worry me a little bit. And I think that I think maybe not to stock up like crazy and to buy a bunch of stuff is not necessary, but to really cherish the stuff that we do have and use it and know, hey, this might be like the last shot I got with it, right?

You know, several years ago, I bought a bunch of Williams soaps. I thought they were going out of business, so I gave them away when I found out they weren’t, and then they did, and I forgot about it, and now I gotta get one online if I want a Williams. It’s gonna be 25 to 50 bucks on eBay. Not really worth it if you guys have ever used Williams.

I don’t find that soap worth $50, right? to ever get it again, you might have to pay that. So it’s a little sad to see that go. And then just some other items as well.

You might see some blades here and there disappear, and it’s tough. The Schick American plant’s closing down. It’s done in the summer, and that’s it. They’re gonna be making everything overseas now.

So, you know, just looking at it, it’s just, hey, the industry is changing. I think costs have gone up a lot. I think demand is still there, but I don’t know if we, as wet shavers, have grown to the point of no return yet. I don’t think we’ve grown to the point where we can actually make that much of a difference, and that’s why it’s so important that we spread the word and let everybody know, hey, wet shaving is great and fun.

So I think there’s definitely still some growth left. I’d say right now, I think with hardware, I think it’s very strong. A lot of guys making hardware, like there’s a lot of custom razors. There’s probably like 30 or 40 people making razors right now.

And that’s really good because that’s, something that you would think people would, if they’re gonna not buy anymore, they’re not gonna buy that. It’s the software issue that’s the issue, because you’re seeing a lot of companies, not only core staple companies shut down, but you’re seeing like Barrister and Mann’s now being made by Sterling. That was the biggest shock I’ve ever heard, I think in the last, I couldn’t tell you when, when I saw that. I was really, really surprised when I thought, because I thought that was one of the bigger vendors.

I thought he was one of the bigger artisans and to see that he’s shutting down and basically giving his recipes away. After another company gave him their recipes last year, it really goes to show you that, hey, you never know what’s going on and how hard these artisans work. My word of advice for this, guys, in the industry is enjoy what you have, of course, and then support the ones that you really like. And just know that, hey, enjoy what you shave every day, right?

And just enjoy it. Because you never know, we might all hate Williams, and I know there’s threads online, hundreds, maybe 1,000 threads online about how everybody tried to make Williams work. Or Williams sucked, or Williams is this, or Williams is like that. But a lot of people now are like, hey, I need a puck of Williams because I can’t get it anymore.

Like, I want Williams. I want this. I want a Mitchell’s Wolfhat. Now I can’t find it.

It’s gone. Even though you always knew that item was there, maybe if we purchased it more often, it would still be here type thing. So I guess, I don’t know. It’s also evolution.

Things change. The market changes. Items change. Otherwise, we’d all still be using straight razors, right?

If it wasn’t any evolution. It’s a double-edged sword, I would say, but it’s still really, I think, a strong hobby to be in and a lot of fun. So, don’t worry, guys. I think we’re still going to be okay.

Just make sure you get your items that you like, enjoy your shaves, and I think we’ll be just fine. All right, so that concludes the show for this week I got to say thank you very much to all you guys the listeners without the show wouldn’t be without There would be no show. Sorry and special. Thanks to mark and aka mantic59 Remember our show is powered by sharkpologist.com What your father didn’t teach you about shaving?

Remember guys if you have anything you want to talk about or you won’t have any comments or anything like that always feel free to email me at joe.wetshavingnews at gmail.com and And don’t forget to check out my book, The Modern Guide to Straight Razor Shaving, available on Amazon, barnesandnoble.com, and in person at Pasteur’s Pharmacy in New York City. Until the next time guys, shave straight and shave safe. Bye-bye now.