So I received an interesting email from the "Contact Us" tab of the website. The basic question was, "What makes your products different". I went to respond immediately, then I sat back and thought for a minute. What does make WSO products different?
I have to preface the answer regarding the products with the circumstances that allow the products to be different. WSO is not my primary job, in fact it is not a job at all. It is a hobby, a passion, a true joy. Some people like to Golf, some like to Fish, I like to utilize my interest and passion for both chemistry and wetshaving, combine them, and make shaving products. I also love working with my hands, it is a hobby of mine I have taken part in since childhood. Carpentry, woodworking and restoration are activitites I have literally been doing since my pre teen years. This transitions perfectly into the vintage razor and brush restorations I so love to do.
How does that impact or enable the products to be different? Well unlike a large vendor my primary goal or even obligation isn't to make as much money as possible or to cover payroll, it is to make the best shaving products and do the finest restoration work possible regardless of the time or effort it might take to do so. What this means is I do not dismiss doing certain things, or taking certain steps when it comes to product manufacture or restoration work due to the cost of time involved. I love to do it. I enjoy it. This opens up the door to go to lengths it is virtually impossible for a large vendor to go too. This fact alone is what allows WSO to take the manufacture of shaving product or the restoration of vintage razors and brushes to a whole new level.
As far as the products themselves go, the above ties right into the very core of the products themselves. The ingredients you start with. The ingredient section process was based solely on benefit. The ingredients chosen were all carefully selected based on the numerous and specific benefits they bring to the table. Cost was never considered. That is why you see unique ingredients like tocotrienol oil and MCT oil, the list goes on. These products perform their designated tasks or fulfill their role better than any other ingredients known or available. Now many people say they use the finest ingredients available and I am sure many do, however with WSO it doesn't stop there. First of all the ingredients are Organic and all Natural whenever and wherever possible. This was extremely important to me upon developing the products. I knew I wanted to utilize the finest quality, purest unadulterated ingredients available, regardless or the cost. I also knew I didn't want to stop there. I felt way to many people stop there. I wanted to improve those ingredients. I wanted to make them better.
The first example of this would be the use of distilled tallow based glycerin derived from organic grass fed sources. No one I knew of was even using tallow based glycerin much less using one that would go through a distillation process, removing all the salts, toxins, and impurities. I had a question on a forum the other day. They asked if I consider my Soap a Tallow Soap. Not only would it be irresponsible of me to claim its not a tallow soap, I honesty feel it is the cleanest, purest form of tallow sop available, bar none.
Now It could have stopped there, using a unique, never before utilized ingredient to make your products, however for me that was just the beginning. My thought process was if you use the cleanest, purest ingredients it will not only pay off in product performance (provided I optimize the ratios and combinations), but it would ultimately yield better end results and much healthier skin. No slathering pore clogging, toxin rich oils in one form or another, directly or indirectly, whether it be in your Soap, Pre-Shave Oil or Aftershave, all over you face. Pure, clean, organic, natural. So my next step was to take these oils, including the distilled tallow based glycerin, and filter them to a 100% sterile state. So every oil used, in every single product is 100% sterile at the point of manufacture. These organic top quality oils could not be any more pure or bacteria or toxin free. This is the same process used to sterilize oils for depot injections. That is how pure the starting ingredients in WSO products are.
Next was the formulation of the products. I essentially listed everything I wanted and didn't want in each product as far as performance. The ingredients were selected based on their specific properties, they were purified to the highest level possible, then the extensive experimentation began. Different amounts and ratios until the desired product performance was achieved. Then the testing. I knew I had products I liked, and I felt that was a good start, but I needed others input. this took the most time. Gathering feedback from others, assessing their input, adjusting and tweaking accordingly. This process continues to this day. I follow up with my customers all the time, asking their thoughts, gathering their input. Should a common consensus be reached regarding anything my customers wished were different, rest assured it would be changed.
Essentially, to sum it up, what makes WSO products different is that they are the fruits of my passion. I manufacture them because I love to do it. The ultimate goal is not the bottom line or profit margin, it is the finest products possible. I do not concern myself with the value of my time, as I derive so much pleasure doing it. As long as WSO is self sustaining it will continue. In fact even if it were not I would still do what I am doing. It would simply revert back to what it was before sharing my products with the public. Me, making products for myself and sharing them with my local wetsahving friends. I use the finest ingredients possible, I use unique, never before used ingredients, and I make them as clean and pure as possible. I spend as much time as it takes to formulate and perfect the product. If I don't feel it is optimal, I will not release it. My ultimate goal really is to take these wetshaving products to the next level. That is essentially the WSO motto. Wetshaving taken to the Next Level.
I want to thank everyone out there who has allowed me to pursue this passion. I sincerely appreciate your support and patronage. I truly hope all the time, thought and effort put into these products is paying off for you where it matters most, in the form of a fantastic shave and healthier skin.
So I hope this answers the question from yesterday. Once again thank to you all for enabling me to pursue my passion. I will do my best to ensure you derive as much pleasure out of the use of my products as I derive from the manufacture of them! Stay tuned as I have many new product ideas, with a couple in the works and I will be making some exciting product release announcements in the upcoming weeks.
Enjoy Your Shaves!
Jim@WetShaveObsession
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