Limited-edition collaborations, reviews, and field-tested gear for the wet shaving community. Whether you're picking up your first DE razor or you've been at it for forty years, you're home.
Inspired by Tom Ford's Beau de Jour: lavender extract and fresh lavender over rosemary, oakmoss, mint, basil, and geranium, on a base of patchouli and amber.
Reviews, interviews, and dispatches from artisans and content creators across the wet shaving world.
Half the artisan soap shelf is a tribute act. Pineapple and birch smoke here, lavender and oakmoss there, and behind almost every one of them stands a famous bottle. These are the fragrances wet shaving dupes more than any others, the soaps that chase them, and where to smell the originals.
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Pre-shave oil is the most argued-about thirty seconds in wet shaving: some swear it saved their skin, others call it a bottle of marketing. Both camps are right about their own faces. Here is what the oil actually does, who genuinely benefits, who can skip it, and how to use it without gumming up your gear.
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Bary tests Van Yulay's homage to Obsession alongside the LIK Shaveware Attila, and finds Monica captured the muskier, dirtier version of the fragrance he wore for years.
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Look closely at the brushes in the Shave Dad group and one name keeps turning up: Frank Shaving. Ming builds knots and custom brushes for the group's creators, supplies the house brushes at The Wet Shaving Store, and has quietly become one of the community's favorite makers.
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My favorite aquatic soap, a slick lather from Subtle Art, and a straight run at the beard and mustache with the PAA Ascension Select. No trimmer, no nicks.
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A shave den is not a shrine, it is a station: the small set of gear that keeps your razor dry, your brush alive, your blades safely retired, and the whole ritual ready to go. Here is what actually earns counter space, what is merely nice, and what to skip.
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I came out of retirement for one review: Strike Gold Shave's 9/11 tribute soap, with every dollar going to Tunnel to Towers.
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A benefit release for the 25th anniversary of September 11: a shave soap and aftershave splash from Shave Dad and Strike Gold Shave, made by a retired NYPD officer and a retired Port Authority police officer, with 100 percent of proceeds going to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation.
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Two safety razors can look identical in a photo and shave nothing alike, because the head is the razor. Closed comb, open comb, slant, adjustable: here is what each head actually does to the blade, who each one suits, and how to pick your next one on purpose.
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The five-blade cartridge was sold to you as progress, but the mechanism it uses to feel smooth is the same mechanism that causes ingrown hairs and razor burn. Here is what actually changes for your skin when you switch to one blade, and what the switch honestly asks of you.
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Ming Lee at Frank Shaving sent me their matte copper twist-to-open, and it might be the smoothest TTO I've ever used.
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The brush is the most misunderstood tool on the shave shelf, and the specs are a wall of jargon: badger grades, boar break-in, knot millimeters, loft, fan versus bulb. Here is the whole picture in one place, what each fiber actually feels like, what the numbers mean, and how to pick your first or your fifth.
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A discovery tour of the double-edge razor blades worth knowing, grouped by where they come from and what kind of shavers reach for them. Not a ranking, a map of the territory.
Each collab is a one-and-done partnership with an artisan. Each release is sold by the partner, links go directly to that retailer.
A discovery tour of the classic aftershaves worth knowing, splashes, balms, colognes, and cooling treatments, grouped by where they come from and what kind of shavers reach for them. Not a ranking, a map of the territory.
Small-batch makers, family-run soap labs, and independent razor smiths. Every Shave Dad release is a partnership.
Short guides built around the questions Jerry has answered ten thousand times in the Facebook group.
The Full Beginner's Path →
Wet shaving is the original way to shave, a brush, a soap, a single-blade razor, and water. Here's why people still do it.
What to look for in a starter double-edge razor, and three specific models that won't steer you wrong.
Synthetic, boar, or badger, what each is, what they cost, and which one to start with.
Soap vs. cream, tallow vs. vegan, drugstore vs. artisan, and three specific starter products that won't disappoint.
The single skill that makes or breaks a wet shave: turning a puck of soap into a thick, slick lather. With water ratios.
WTG, XTG, ATG, what they mean, why each pass exists, and how to actually do them without bleeding.
What you do in the five minutes before and after the razor matters more than most beginners realize.
Diagnose what went wrong from the symptom: stinging, red rash, bumps, or pinprick bleeding.
How to make a brush last 10 years and a razor last forever. Drying, blade rotation, soap storage.
The mistakes everyone makes in their first month, and how to recognize you're making them.
The vocabulary you'll see in every Facebook group, every YouTube review, and every Shave Dad release post.
Traditional Wet Shaving, men's grooming and healthcare. Everyone is welcome.
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