Darwin Shaving is a shop specialized in traditional shaving, also called wet shaving. We offer our own brand, Darwin, but also vintage and second-hand shaving equipment, restored with care, both for shaving and collecting purposes!

Darwin is a high-end artisan brand of natural products and quality accessories for traditional shaving and beard and moustache care: safety razors, shaving soaps, aftershaves, beard oils and balms, shaving brushes…

Darwin shaving products are unique in many ways:

  • A proven formulation: the formulation of our cosmetics is 100% natural, of rare quality and purity, with a focus on effectiveness. Developed in true collaboration with Le Père Lucien here in France.
  • Ecological packaging: the packaging is designed to be recyclable, without one-use plastic, while being original and sophisticated. In addition, our Ethical range supports the solidarity economy: each soap, oil or aftershave is contained in an original container (period bottle, artisanal jar and bowl, vintage crockery, etc.) from the Emmaus charity stores. These containers are recycled, reusable, unique and by purchasing a Darwin ethical product, you support a good cause. Upcycling for the win, Darwin.
  • Artisan manufacture: our products and accessories are mainly hand-made, and as much as possible in France. We do all bottling, designing, labeling, bowl filling, packaging by hand in-house.
  • Bespoke fragrances: each of our lines revolves around a scent, a common theme, a character. Our fragrances are made with natural essential oils, in close collaboration with Laboratoires Lelégard, of Le Père Lucien fame.

The click, or how Darwin rose from the ashes

As luck would have it, it was a photo of a shave that triggered the whole Darwin project!

It’s 2014, and the french forum “Rasage Traditionnel” is hosting a photo contest between members, with the only theme being “shaving”. The prizes to be won were offered by different artisan members of the forum, who were very generous! So I used all my creativity to think outside the box and try to get a place on the podium.

Here is my proposal. It shows a duo of pirates on a sea of razors, searching for treasure on an island covered in brushes… Lego’s have always been the signature of my SOTD’s (Shave Of The Day pictures), I had to include them in my proposal.

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My photo won second place, but the first place winner forfeited (he was one of the artisans!), so here I am, at the top of the podium, with the King’s choice: I could choose any prize. So I chose a unique soap + aftershave set from Le Père Lucien! A perfume he had never released before, and would never release again (opposite).

What he didn’t know then was that this fragrance would become my favourite! I already knew that if I created my own project, this scent would be part of it. In fact, it was probably this perfume that pushed me to embark on this crazy adventure! So naturally, it was the first to be released under the Darwin brand: the “Classic Scent” perfume.

With my knowledge of the traditional shaving market and my passion for its history, I wanted to recreate a forgotten brand. Add to that my love of beautiful things done well, and Darwin quickly became an obvious choice…

The pirate theme of my photo would also later mark the development of my project: already the Drake range had its first impulse…