222 The Logical Conclusion Of The Wet Shaving Hobby - Soap Thing Thoughts With Greg Tardif

Great video, Ben and Greg. I really enjoyed the banter. Not sure why, but I felt a bit deflated at the end. Your channels are very different, but you both sounded kind of weary of the YT experience – although not of wet shaving itself. I don’t make videos, so my reason for watching wet shaving videos is hard to compare to your (pl.) reasons for making them. Primary among my reasons for watching are a desire to learn about new (or new to me) hardware and software and to get recommendations I can trust as to what might be worth buying (and maybe who to buy it from). Left unsaid in your discussion (or only mentioned in passing) are your (pl. again) reasons for making the videos. They obviously involve an enormous amount of time and effort. Why does a content provider provide content? The answer for many, of course, is to influence viewers to buy certain things and, at the same time, get as many likes and subscriptions as possible. Behind that is a desire to generate some income. There’s nothing wrong with any of this: the influencer knows he’s influencing and the viewer is happy to be influenced. Hence my reference to trust. TBH, there are some wet shaving channels where I find myself unable to believe that the content provider is being completely honest with me: he is more interested in the financial incentives associated with saying certain things.

Your channels (BM and GT) are two of only 3 wet shaving channels that I watch regularly. I trust you both, and give a lot of weight to what you say and your recommendations. You both seem like good blokes. Straight shooters, if you like. I wish you both all the best and urge you to continue producing content for wet shavers like me. I watch your videos over a cup or tea or coffee, feel calm and content for a few minutes and learn about a new (to me) item of hardware or software – which might lead me to order the item to see what it’s like. Nothing wrong with that! Cheers. 👍🪒

Another interesting discussion, this time on the shaving journey and where it may finish up. Could we end up going full circle and back to where we started? I certainly would like to be back to my old totalitarian style, but don't think I'm at that point yet, I'm more at a Hobby stability point where I'm not increasing my collections as such but keeping them balanced with ins and outs.👍🤠

Great video Ben and Greg. Really enjoyed the discussion. I was at a certain mental state sort of how you described in the beginning of the video. I love the hobby and have been a hobbyist for many years, but a Creed Aventus dupe is an Aventus dupe however you look at it. Thats a big reason why became an Artisan. I really don't want to dupe every dupe thats ever been done. It's funny because you could have five different Artisans doing the same scent and using the exact same sourced fragrance from the same scent company and you will get so many different reactions from wet shavers. I also know for me I sort hit the ceiling when I had close to 200 sets and also back ups of back ups of product and I stepped back and looked at it all and also the money spent and knew it was a problen. This is also why I'm a big fan of producing smaller sizes and also just getting samples. Crazy hobby, bun fun. Just keepnit in check...lol

A great discussion. I approach the hobby with it being a niche hobby, and I stay within niches inside the hobby as well, so hardware, there’s my vintage razors, and like three premium makers I purchase razors from, and I stay within that, same as brushes… I have a couple favourite artisans and I don’t stray from there, and same with soaps, I have about 10 artisans I really dig, so I Ike to explore their catalog, and all this combined really limits my purchases and wants, to those parameters, which cuts down on a lot of the wants and desires to acquire everything I see. Sure my collection is fairly large, but I still manage to enjoy what I own at the same time.

Great vid.
Always nice to hear people talk about my favorite subject!!!

I bought too much shave gear most definitely. I probably have 40 razors from 10$ to the Super premium razors. Some of these razors are vintage, which I will always keep. All the other razors there are only a handful that I actually use or would want to keep. My keepers out of all the razors would be my mild smooth shavers for my daily face and head shaves. I would keep my Henson AL 13 and Ti22, Karve Overlander, Razorock Game change 68, Razorock Lupo 54, Rockwell 6c, and my Rex Konsul.

Great Chat with Mr. Greg. My opinion is..."The longer you are in the Wetshaving hobby/ lifestyle, the harder it is to impress me. In comparison with how I used to acquire Wetshaving stuff, now I am more "discreet" if that word fits. Even in pulling the trigger in buying brushes and vintage razor. Why another brush, razor? I only use this and that and that 20 dollar brush is as good as that 200.00 dollar x artisan one. Anyhow, great job brother 👊🏽

Thanks for inviting me to talk with you. You have a very robust knowledge about a lot of this stuff!

Great video guys, I really enjoyed the discussion and the variety of topics. Keep up the good the work!

Good discussion. The only thing I will say is the 3ONE6 has more blade feel than I like. I had the razor, but it just didn't suit me for that reason. You may like it, but it won't feel anything like the RR Mamba 70.

Great discussion. It’s clear that we all have an incredible amount of “passion” for many aspects of this hobby. What drives my passion seems to change with time and experience. Brushes always drive me. Now, learning to use a straight is at the top of my list.

New does not mean better; different does not mean better. So there is nothing wrong with deciding what you like and going with that. I think exploring a new soap brand is great but I also think having a set of stable stapes that you keep makes sense. I will always have PAA Doppelganger Black handy, for example, in my shave soap inventory.

I'm still pretty new to the hobby, and was surprised by the amount of product out there. I used cartridges and canned foam for about 40 years. I like variety, just didn't know how much variety there is. I am also frugal, so I try not to buy more than I can use. I've been sampling a lot of Stirling's products, because they make it really easy and the 1oz soaps are a great size for a guy that likes variety. My first razor purchase was a fairly expensive, the Rockwell 6S, I prefer American products. I also have a '65 Gillette slim, and absolutely love it for 16 bucks. I bought 2 brushes and won a 3rd in a giveaway. I would like to try an open comb, so I'm looking for an older Gillette. I have one bowl. I don't plan on buying much more hardware, but I'll keep exploring scents in the soaps as I go through what I have.