Around the one-year anniversary back in August, I posted a kind of check-in to talk about what I thought would be next for my shaving journey. I’d learned a lot, improved my shaving experience a lot, and was getting to a pretty consistent and happy place in terms of my shaving. In addition, you’ll be able to watch my photography change as the year progressed.
It’s the end of the calendar year now, with only a couple of hours until the clocks tick over to 2026, and this seems like a good time to look at 2025 and look ahead. And to see what plans I might have already broken.
Overall, 2025 was really a huge year of growth and adaptation for me when it comes to shaving. I started on and am continuing to find my way to quality and comfortable shaves. Yes, I’ve spent a lot on supplies and equipment–about $835, according to the spreadsheet, with another $200 or so coming to me as gifts from family, and roughly $125 coming in the form of prizes or giveaways. And while I can say that I would have likely found my way to this $1,150 collection eventually anyway, I really have been aggressive with collecting the stuff I wanted to use in my shaves in order to make them better. Or see what doesn’t work for me.
I’ve refined my technique and learned that more often than not, my skin wants to be treated gently and given extra love and care in the form of milder shaves, better slickness and lubrication during the shave, and good balms after the shave to keep the skin moisturized.
I’ve learned that I can’t just use the same technique for all of my razors. Some of them (I’m looking at you, semi-slant) need special treatment and technique to not rip my face off. I’ve learned what to look for in products for me. I’ve learned that unscented products aren’t always what I want, and that I can go with some scents (within limits).
I’ve learned how to track my shaves, how to report on them, and how to analyze them so that I can compare today’s shave with one last month. And I’ve learned a lot about planning a shave and how much I do truly enjoy planning what I’ll be shaving with next week.
And finally, I have reached the primary goal that started this journey: I’m enjoying shaving. For the first time in my life, I truly enjoy and look forward to the next shave. It doesn’t hurt or burn (as much). It smells good. It feels good afterward. And shaving genuinely brings me joy because while it is something that I have to do, making it a self-care routine really has made it enjoyable.
Let’s talk about each part of the shave, and what 2025 brought to them.
Razors
I entered the year with two razors, the Van Der Hagen and the King C Gillette. The KCG was my daily driver through January and February, but then things started changing in March.
In 2025, I added 4 razors to the stable: The Henson mild (in March) and medium (September), Rockwell 6C (April), and Parker 55SL semi-slant (August). The Henson mild quickly became my favorite razor, but I really like the Rockwell and Henson medium as well. The Parker has been a challenge, but I want to keep trying with it to see if I can get better results with it.
The Parker and Henson mediums were additions late in the year, the Parker because I wanted to try a slant, and this was one of the cheaper ways to go with a highly regarded razor. And the Henson medium because I wanted to see if the Henson design worked well in a slightly more aggressive razor.
I have found through this year, that my face prefers a mild razor and blade setup. That lets me make multiple passes and strokes with less irritation than a more aggressive setup brings. So I know to keep looking for milder razors that might improve my shaves.
I said after the Parker and Henson medium were added that I don’t really have any other razor needs. And that’s true. I do, however, have other razor wants. So here’s the hope for 2026: One of the hot new razors is the Oliworks Meteorite, and I’m interested to give it a try. It’s machined aluminum, comes in some cool colors, and includes 3 interchangeable plates to offer a mild to aggressive shave. It also falls into what appears to be a fairly common price point for higher-level entry point razors at about $70.
I also want a traditional twist adjustable razor, like the Merkur 500/510, Rockwell T2, or Parker Variant Adjustable. I’m leaning toward the Merkur, just because then I could experience another long-standing brand, which offers a lot of appeal to me.
Finally, I’ve decided that I want a Razorock GameChanger razor. They consistently appear in the forums as a favorite, and I think I want the mildest version. Again, this would let me try a new to me brand, and would let me experience a very popular razor.
Will all three happen this year? Maybe. If you asked me at the end of 2024 how many more razors I’d buy in 2025, I would have said none. Because at the time I didn’t see myself as being that sort of person who has a huge shaving collection. But my how times change and one becomes fully hooked by the bug.
Blades
If you’re a regular reader, you’ll know that through purchases and a Reddit post, I almost tripled my blade collection in 2025. I’ve got several years worth of blades to go through, in the form of about 150 tucks and 36 different brands.
I say this as confidently as I can, though won’t be surprised if I fail to stick to the statement, but I have no intention of adding any blades in 2026.
But I’ve really found some favorites and have found some awesome blade/razor pairings. And I look forward to possibly finding more in 2026.
Brushes
I don’t remember if I bought my first brush in 2024 or ’25. If it was ’24, it was very late in the year, and thorougly disappointing because it was a cheap goat bristle brush, didn’t hold its shape, and lost tons of bristles with each shave. And at the same time, I also bought my first shaving soap puck, but more on that later. Either way, that one is long gone. It didn’t hold its bristles and didn’t work well at all. I upgraded in March to 3 brushes–two boar and one badger–and I’ve generally enjoyed the experience. Though the badger started losing a lot of bristles midway through the year, so I’ve kind of set it aside.
During the year, I only identified one more need on the brush front, and that was a synthetic bristled brush, and one such brush just arrived as part of an emergency order, so I’ll be able to play with that into 2026. I’m looking forward to what that can bring to the party.
I don’t anticipate buying any more brushes, but I may want to replace the failing badger. We’ll see what happens.
Lather
In a year of massive changes, this is perhaps the biggest. Maybe. I mean adding four razors is pretty big, as is expanding the blade collection. And the brushes changed things a lot.
But the lathers…At the start of 2025, I was using 2 lathers: the Aveeno Positively Smooth Shave Gel, and a can of Barbasol Original shave cream. A foam and a gel. That was it.
Early in the year, I picked up a cheap soap and brush from my local food co-op. The soap was a hippie brand without any fragrance except soap, and the brush…Well, that was mentioned above. It didn’t lather well at all (mostly due to the brush). But I knew I could do better. And that may have been the step forward that I needed.
I brought in an additional gel (the Nivea Men’s sensitive gel, which I still use on a regular basis), picked up a small can of foam while on vacation, and then in March started going to town…I got the Proraso white line (soap, not cream, and the pre- and after shaves). Then samples from Razor Emporium. And a tub from a local maker just blocks from me. Then samples from Stirling Soap. Then a tub to try a glycerin-based lather. And more samples. And I had to see what all the fuss was about with Arko, so I picked up a stick. Then 2 more Proraso product lines. And a shave stick from a vendor at the State Fair. And then freebies from Hoffman’s Grooming…
Embarrassingly, I have to admit to having 30 lathers at the moment. Which, you will note, is 28 more than at the end of last year.
Not embarrassingly, I am working to try them all and evaluate whether I’d consider them a top tier lather or not. I think, as I finish a bunch, I won’t restock them (either by choice or because they may not be made any longer). But others are top tier, and I don’t want to be without them–hence the emergency Taylor of Old Bond Street Organic shaving cream order with the Yaqi synthetic brush.
I’m kind of thinking that in the end, I’ll probably settle to a regular stable of 12-15 lathers, as that feels like the ones I really like.
Pre-Shaves
I had one pre-shave to start the year. And I don’t consider that a pre-shave anymore.
I’m not saying it’s bad, I’m just saying that it (and other pre-shave oils) do not work well for me. They don’t provide additional slickness to the shave, and I’m just not a fan. But I do use them as a beard oil, as it does help moisturize the skin underneath my beard.
Anyway, I learned this year that pre-shave soaps and creams are my shaving friends, and they help make every shave better. So at this moment, I’ve got 7 pre-shaves that I’ll admit to. One was a sample, and won’t get used much anymore. But I know what works well for me in terms of a pre-shave, and I’ll work with these, as a pre-shave soap or cream is relatively rare.
Aftershaves
I had one aftershave at the end of 2024. That, with that one lonely pre-shave above, came to me as a gift from my wife, and it’s technically just a facial moisturizer. But it worked well as a balm too. I just don’t use it much these days.
…Because I have 10 other balms, lotions or serums for post-shave use.
I learned this year that my skin doesn’t want a splash or after shave lotion containing alcohol or even witch hazel, because it makes the skin feel dried out. What it wants right after a shave is moisturization from a balm or lotion designed for such things. Some, I really like and they work well for me. Others just fall sort and become like a hand lotion on my face.
But I did also learn from this that as much as I always thought my face was oily, it’s really just my nose and forehead that are. The rest of my face and neck want daily moisturization. So that’s become a habit.
What’s to come?
I don’t really know. Maybe a couple of razors, I’ve got a few more lathers coming that are delayed as they’re clearing customs. But looking back at 2025 in terms of my shaves, I’ve come a very long way and learned a lot about what works well for me and what doesn’t.
I’ve learned a lot, as mentioned at the top, but I think I have more learning and discovery that I can do. I don’t know where that will come from or what it will look like, but it’s coming.
I don’t have a roadmap for the shave year ahead. 2026 will explore the new to me products to see if there is anything there that will continue to transform my shaves. But I’m also at a point where I think I need to start revisiting things that worked well, just to keep them in a rotation. Though I can say that I’m very excited about what I have planned for the first few weeks of the new year.
I’ve got about 156 shaves coming, and honestly, I’m looking forward to all of them, even the shaves that will be challenging. Each shave will bring with it some learning and some experimentation, and hopefully some discovery. And I really love that about shaving these days.
I entered 2025 working to improve every single shave, and I’ve achieved that, and I’ve tracked the shaves and reported on them, and will continue to do that in 2026.
Stay tuned! There’s a lot to experience in the coming year.