What is wet shaving?

Wet shaving is the process of shaving while wet.

OK, that sounds a little flip. That is, however, the simple definition of wet shaving. Shaving, using copious amounts of hot water which helps lubricate the skin and breaks down and softens the whiskers.

Lather for wet shaving is made from shaving cream or soap. The lather is whipped to proper moisture and consistency using a shave brush, the bristles being made of either boar or badger hair. Badger is usually considered the better material for a shave brush as it is somewhat softer than boar hair and holds more water.

While using a Mach III or Fusion cartridge razor technically fits within the definition of wet shaving, the tool most often used to remove the whiskers is either a straight razor of the traditional barbershop shave, or a double-edge (DE) safety razor.

Almost pushed to the forgotten margin of history by the shaving Powers That Be (I’m looking at you, Gillette and Schick), wet shaving staged a roaring comeback after a segment on the Today Show done in 2005 by its tech editor and wet shaving aficionado Corey Greenberg.

Overnight, sales of shaving creams, soaps, and brushes skyrocketed and sellers of old DE razors on Ebay were seeing bidding wars erupt over items that before had expired with nary a look.

Why would one bother? Why not slap some canned goo on the cheeks and scrape it off with a disposable plastic cartridge razor, getting the shaving chore over with as quickly as possible?

There lies the rub.

Once you have relived the process that men practiced for generations, scrubbing warm, rich lather into your mug, skillfully removing the stubble and then admiring your baby’s bottom smooth cheeks, it is difficult to go back.

The side effects of straight or DE wet shaving: smoother shave than you thought possible, reduction or elimination of acne, the disappearance of that red irritation under your jaw you had accepted would be there forever, are fringe benefits.

It’s the feeling of pampering yourself a bit, regaining a lost connection to your forefathers, reveling in the skill of gliding the edge through the stubble at just the right angle and pressure, that keeps you hooked.

It’s that feeling that just might turn what had been a daily chore grudgingly performed, into a ritual looked forward to, or even a hobby.