This is a community of enthusiasts, hobbyists and artisans who enjoy a traditional wet shave: brush, soap, and safety or straight razor. We are a part of the WetShaving community found on Reddit, Discord, and IRC.
New subscribers welcome!
Please visit our wiki, which is always and forever a work in progress.
While this server is funded by personal contributions, we'd like to thank Zulip for giving us a Community subscription to their chat software (available at https://chat.wetshav.ing/).
https://gem.wetshaving.social/ - a nice modern interface
Our sister Mastodon instance is https://wetshaving.social/.
https://uptime.selfhost.ing/status/wetshaving
Be Respectful. Do not bully, flame, or harass others.
Malicious comments are not allowed but heated discussion and salty banter is okay.
Low effort replies and complaints about content will be removed.
Mail Calls, Simple Questions, and SOTD posts belong in the recurring weekly threads.
Posts must have sufficient content to generate a meaningful discussion.
Images, links, or videos must include additional text that summarizes the topic.
Use [First Impressions] in the title if your experience with the product is limited.
Use the [Review] in the title if you can provide comprehensive details with enough familiarity to answer follow-up questions.
Disclose how the product being reviewed was acquired (e.g., PIF, loan, or purchase). If the product was provided to you directly by the maker or vendor free of charge or at a discount, you must disclose this fact even if the item will later be returned to the maker or vendor.
Vendors are to keep marketing within the biweekly Deals/New Products threads.
Non-vendors may post topics about products if it will foster a compelling discussion.
Do not solicit donations or share fundraisers without mod approval.
All NSFW/L content must request mod approval and be flaired appropriately.
Non-shaving related NSFW/L content is not allowed.
February 6th, 2026
Shave 14 of the brain bowl
February 6th, 2026
Not the worst, but I did give myself a tad bit of irritation.
SOTD - 2026-02-06
One of my best shaves so far, approaching DFS. First pass WTG. 2nd pass WTG on chin. 3rd pass XTG on chin and moustache. I changed a lot of things for today's shave which makes it hard to tell what made it so good. I think the blade was nice, but so was the shaving cream - nice cushion, sufficiently slick, mild but pleasant scent. Possibly the least feedback I have ever gotten from my alum!
I also changed up my preshave method a bit, trying something I saw on shavemyface.com. I showered as usual but this time after sudsing the preshave soap on my face I didn't rinse it straight off. Instead I got a washcloth damp with really dang hot water and held it on my face until it cooled down and then repeated 3x and then rinsing off fully before shaving. Maybe that helped more than my usual routine where I would just rinse it right off.
Also my package from Stirling arrived:
At this point I don’t really do any pre shave. The most I’ll do is rub some of the extra lather from the tub on my face.
When I get irritation it’s usually because my lather or technique was off.
I think my technique is not anywhere close to perfect, so that is almost certainly part (or most) of the story here.
I really struggle to avoid tugging on my chin, so much that I find it almost impossible to do a smooth/fluid pass; the razor frequently catches. I think I am having a hard time keeping the angle correct as I navigate the quickly changing angles and that I have a bad habit of pressing the blade too hard. I feel like even when I am getting it to cut on my chin it is impossible to get a close shave, so then I do more passes which results in irritation. I have the same problem in my moustache area except the difficulty navigating contours isn't an issue there so idk why I can't get it close there.
I am also pretty inexperienced in making good lathers so that may be part of it as well. Overall though I feel that I have been making faster progress in this department, especially in the last week or two :)
February 6, 2026
This soap doesn't seem to be in WSDB yet I suppose because it's seasonal. I think they've released it more than once year so I hope they continue. It's very nice. It's sweet but well balanced. I recommend it.
Used the GEM Junior second day in a row.
Used the GEM Junior second day in a row.
At this rate, it will get senior very quick 🤔
Today's challenge soap is The Holy Black - Jeckyll and Hyde (Mr. Hyde). Scent notes are: Vetiver, Patchouli, Sandalwood, Amber.
Stirling - Destination Unknown, a dupe of Versace Eros, matches 100% of these notes:
Italian lemon and mandarin, mint oil, candied apple, geranium flower, clary sage essence, amber, cedarwood, vetiver, patchouli, sandalwood, and vanilla.
Road to victory:
| Category | ∑ | Δ |
|---|---|---|
| Daily theme soap | 6 | 0 |
| Artisan | 4 | 0 |
| Scenter | 0 | 0 |
| Half of the scent notes | 6 | +2 |
| Airbudding the day | 1 | 0 |
| Cross posting | 6 | +1 |
| Snitching | 6 | 0 |
| Snitching incorrectly | 0 | 0 |
| Goody Two-Shoes | 6 | +1 |
| Total | 35 | +4 |
Kind of Fougère Friday with a bit of Spice.
Atlas TLC Scorecard
| Category | ∑ | Δ |
|---|---|---|
| DT Soap (6) | 0 | 0 |
| DT Brand (4) | 4 | +4 |
| DT Scenter (3) | 0 | 0 |
| Half of the scent notes (2) | 0 | 0 |
| Airbudding the day | 0 | 0 |
| Cross posting | 1 | +1 |
| Snitching | 0 | 0 |
| Snitching incorrectly | 0 | 0 |
| Engagement Booster | 1 | +1 |
| Total | 6 | +6 |
Have a good one.
Gunpowder Spice sounds interesting! I have some Dr. Jon's Black River soap and EDT which is floral and gunpowder and I quite like it.
This is a pretty good dupe of classic Old Spice with that gunpowder note sitting right on top.
Octidi 18 Pluviôse an 234 de la Révolution, jour d'If
Reporting on a morning shave. I'm headed for a former colleague's funeral, and settled on Arkadia for an event-appropriate scent.
Have a good day.
Condolences on losing your colleague. I hope their memories bring some light to your day.
Thanks! It was very moving
