July 8, 2023
- Brush: Yaqi – Evil Zebra #TOLL
- Razor: GR100B #KAMISORI
- Blade: Feather – Professional SoftGuard AC Blades
- Lather: Maggard Razors – Mango Sage Tea Soap
- Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. – Mountain Man Splash
- Fragrance: Giorgio Armani – Code
- Music: Snoop Dogg, Fabolous, Dave East - Make Some Money
Happy Maggard Day!! Maggard Razors has become the premiere place to buy any and all shaving related items. What started as Brad Maggard renting a space to service straight razors has turned into a small Mecca for those of us who consider our daily grooming routine a hobby. I still haven’t been to the storefront in Michigan, but I’m hoping the stars align and my schedule allows me to go to the World Famous Meet-Up next year. Being able to meet so many artisans, talk with those on the sub, and sniff so many products sounds like a wonderful time for me and an awful time to be my bank account.
There are other places to buy shave stuff, but none reach the level of Maggard's when it comes to service, selection, or knowledge. If you email them, odds are it will be Brad who responds. This community is a better place because of Brad's small business. So I'm happy to continue to support his small business and hope one day it becomes a large business.
I actually just Googled what the definition of "small business" is: it's 500 employees!! Holy cow! That's a lot bigger than I expected. If that's the case, I'm not sure Brad would want to grow that much. But if that's what he wants, that's what I want too. And if not, I hope he keeps chugging along and doing things the right way.
So lets take a ~~minute~~ entire day and raise a glass to one of the guys who enables us the most: Brad Maggard!
Today, I used the Maggard’s House Brand Mango Sage Tea Soap. I this is a wonderful, slightly sweet scent that is perfect for a July day. The Mango is there to lift the soap up, the sage brightens the scent, while the tea bring everything back down to earth. It’s a great, well-balanced scent and the soap performed brilliantly. It provided a smooth slick lather that was easy to build.
I used Stirling’s Mountain Man aftershave splash because the bergamot and tea go great with the tea in the soap. And it also has an orange note that I thought would complement the mango from the soap. Because oranges and mangos go together like peas and carrots.
For my fragrance, I went with Armani Code because it’s bergamot and lemon notes would play nicely with the tea and citrus fruits from the soap/splash. If the soap and splash were like peas and carrots, this fragrance was the mashed potatoes. Everything was brought together for a #FOF win and I am feeling fresh to death.
For the #photocontest, I have wildlife! I saw a rabbit in my backyard, grabbed my shaving stuff and took a pic just quickly enough before he ran off.
CHALLENGE
Ask a question? The challenge is to ask a question? Aren’t the challenges supposed to be… A challenge? Here’s a link to the thought provoking question I asked.
I absolutely recognize that some challenges are easier than others and the challenge announced tomorrow could very well be “Shave blindfolded, while balancing on one leg, humming the theme song to ‘The Golden Girls’, and wearing a tutu” so I’m just gonna take the W with this challenge and mentally prepare myself to shave my legs in a couple weeks.
Continuing on with my “10 Questions with…” Series, I touched base with Brad Maggard, founder of the World Famous Maggard Razors. He gives a lot of insight into is business and the wetshaving industry as a whole. This one is definitely worth a read! Thank you so much for taking part, u/undream22!! So, let’s get into it:
10 Questions with… Maggard Razors
1) You started your store in 2012, what did you see in the marketplace that made you think this was a good idea?
Service was always the driving force that got me thinking about renting a space that wasn't my garage. At some points in 2011-early 2012 I would have 20, 30, even 40 straight razors waiting for work in my queue. The store idea didn't really come until AFTER I had rented a space in our downtown to move my workshop to so I could be more efficient at servicing straights. I figured - if I was there working, why not have the door open and sell a few items? Of course, that part snowballed, so, I kind of "fell into" the market - it was not a calculated effort to open a store.
2) At the time, did your friends and family think you were crazy to open a store dedicated to shaving like our Grandfathers?
Everyone thought I was nuts. But, my first storefront lease was $350/mo, and at the time I was doing $1500/mo in service and $1000/mo in ebay sales (pin kits and various selling of vintage razors). I knew if I got myself out of the house/garage and into a heated space so I could focus on pumping out a couple more razors, the bills were paid. Thank goodness I did this - as who knows what would have happened had I stayed at home.
3) If you had to guess, how many straight razors have you honed over the years?
I'd have to estimate around 6,500. tough to say. At one point I was averaging 4/day (1200+/yr). Things have significantly cooled off in the SR market---and now I might average 5 a week (250/yr)
4) If your storefront had a theme song, what would it be?
No clue. lol!
(INTERVIEW CONTINUED IN THE REPLY)