Oh! Sorry. I must have just assumed they were soaps being Queen Charlotte Soaps and all.
In all fairness, I am in love with their Desert Sands body/hand soap and their Cedarwood Rosemary shampoo bars :D
You guys are all getting to be Queen Charlottes yourselves. Whatever happened to shaving with your kukri before going out of jungle patrol, that’s what I want to know.
I’m too busy knitting doilies and skipping for that sort of thing, to be honest.
Please talk me out of a Semogue boar brush. On one hand, they’re so cheap, and I’ve never used boar. On the other hand, I really shouldn’t be spending the money. On the third hand, see the first hand and fuck the second hand.
I’ve never seen any reason to update from my $10 Tweezerman badger brush. If it loses bristles, I just buy a new one. It’s like the Mosin-Nagant of shaving brushes.
I mean, if you’re going to buy a boar, you may as well get an Omega. The Pro 48 and 49 are both super reasonably priced and one or the other is usually available with Prime shipping on Amazon.
You guys talked me into trying Feather blades again and the first shave went really, really well using my slant bar. I’ve got this spot on my neck that always ends up extremely irritated and never smooth, but it is now smoother and less irritated than it has been in years. Assuming the blades hold up as long as they do for most other people, the extra cost will be worth it.
Changing tack slightly, do any of you have a Merkur slant bar? If you don’t, I highly recommend one. They’ve got a reputation for slicing your face off, but really aren’t bad at all. If you can shave without cutting yourself with a normal razor, you’ll do fine with a slant bar. The reason you want one is efficiency. The blade angle cuts the hair closer with less effort, allowing you to do in two passes what might otherwise take three.
I bought a tube of the Musgo Real shaving cream locally and like it a lot. It lathers really, really well. I’ll have to pick up some Proraso next time I’m in there. I also grabbed the Musgo Real Lime Glyce preshave soap and like it as well.
I have way too much fucking cream and soap.
I would so love to use one of these old fashioned razer things but… I could cut myself with a saw and not be bothered, getting cut with a razor freaks me out something awful. I don’t know why - maybe it’s the being cut and not realizing it thing plus the delayed pain response. Like how paper cuts do way more to irritate than a big deep gouge. Anyone else feel like this before going the old fashioned shaving direction?
Treat the tool with respect and you’ll never damage yourself significantly. Learn how to use it and how it works best on your face and you’ll rarely, if ever, even nick yourself. Miss one of those two and there will be some blood, at least at first.
It’s somewhat visceral (I imagine a straight razor even moreso than the double-edge single-blade razor I enjoy) and there is–I’ll admit–a hint of pride to mastering a tool and learning a skill.
That said, initially, I liked the idea of the cost savings, the smooth shave without irritation, and the scents/feels of the products involved more than anything and that got me over the fear.
Not sure if that’s a helpful post at all, sorry. Midnight here and I am very sunburned and quite loopy :)
HUHUHUHUHUHUHUHUHUH
Well, here’s my little secret:
Buzz first, shave later. All there is to it. I’m among some of the lucky ones who own an electric shaver. Came with a buzzer for those thick 5 o’clock shadow days. Just buzz first, then go for a clean cut shave with your standard razor.
All there is to it ;)
I recently started shaving with straight razors. I got a few really old ones off Ebay, plus a stropping belt and some hones. One of the razors is probably at least a hundred years old, a Shefffield steel Wilkinson Pall Mall that looks awesome. Then I have an old Dovo, and an Ern with a cool gold etching. I got a nice but cheap 100% badger brush and some Old Spice aftershave. I spent way too much on all that stuff, but I’ve always wanted a straight razor and now that my Philishave needed new heads, I felt it was now or never.
I managed to go through the first two or three straight razor shaves without bleeding, but the other day I somehow pressed the razor straight down into the skin next to my mouth and cut myself. I rubbed the cut with a shaving stick and it seemed to be ok. But yesterday I noticed that the cut had already closed and healed, leaving what I guess will be a permanent scar. I’m quite unhappy about that, of course. It didn’t even hurt a lot, that’s the strange thing. It’s probably a sign that I managed to get that razor really really sharp.
I’ll keep shaving with a straight razor. I think it’s a cool and stylish way to shave, and I enjoy it a great deal more than using my Philishave that always needs four or five passes to achieve an acceptable result.
I just did an order from Amazon and have you folks to thank!
I’ve actually had a Merkur I got for Father’s Day (maybe Father’s Day) along with a sampler that’s quickly running out. I enjoy using the blade, but I am still figuring it out. Looking at the angle guide a few pages back, I think I may be holding the blade to shallow.
I have a bigger brush coming along with some creme and a soap. Somehow I got a small brush with my sampler pack that feels a little wimpy for every day. I may put it in my travel bag.
I’ve been using the creme from my sampler, but it’s running out. I like the creme a lot, but I wanted try some soap to see what it’s like.
I got a sampler pack of blades, but this was just to check it out. I don’t change blades that often. I seem to be able to go an extraordinarily long time with a single blade. Perhaps this is related to how I hold the blade? At any rate, I seem to be able to get the job done but now I have a lot more blades to experiment with. When I spoke to the guy at the shaving store, he said there were really only two types of blades to consider. He explained his reasoning, but I can’t remember what he said now.
Oh, I got some alum too (God bless you, Armando). I have a little pencil stick, but I have super sensative skin and like the idea of just rubbing it onto my face and neck post shave.
My little primer pack came with a little bottle of pre-shave oil, which I sort of like the idea. You put it on to moisturize your skin and make the blade glide over easier. Probably redundant with the creme/soap, but I’ve used it over the summer and like the results. I haven’t seen similar products come up in this thread, so maybe it’s not really necessary?
HUHUHUHUHUHUHUHUHUHUHUHUHUHUH
This is the best thread we’ve EVER HAD!
The bigger ones sure do feel nice. I got a big Parker for Christmas; it’s not the nicest brush in the world and I fear it may only last a year or two before falling apart due to heavy usage, but I rather like it. It does a funny little thing when it fans all the way out during my foam-spreading: the outer bristles will get more lather onto my sideburns and the side of my nose than anything else. But it’s big and soft and cozy, so I love it.
JMJ, you’re welcome for all of that.
I seem to be able to go an extraordinarily long time with a single blade. Perhaps this is related to how I hold the blade? At any rate, I seem to be able to get the job done but now I have a lot more blades to experiment with. When I spoke to the guy at the shaving store, he said there were really only two types of blades to consider. He explained his reasoning, but I can’t remember what he said now.
Blades are pretty deeply personal and also very variable. I can’t get enough of Gillette 7 O’Clock Blues from St. Petersberg and generally get 3-5 shaves out of them. Feathers are far sharper and cut closer easier, but I nick myself with them constantly and they seem to consistently wear out in 2-3 shaves. The sampler was a wise choice, as some people have the exact opposite experience as me.
Oh, I got some alum too (God bless you, Armando). I have a little pencil stick, but I have super sensative skin and like the idea of just rubbing it onto my face and neck post shave.
Yeah, my acne’s all but dead in the face of daily alum and witch hazel treatments, and best of all, my face doesn’t really seemed to be overly dried out. It’s still a little oily some days.
It lasts forever and a day, too. Had the alum since Christmas, too, and used it with every shave since then. The edges of the side I use most are slightly rounded, but that’s the only visual indication it’s been used at all. I do tend to only use one side because I just leave it on the glass shelf in my bathroom when done without wiping it down, so over time, crystalized alum formed along the “bottom” making it less comfortable to use. I could brush it all off, but I just don’t pay attention to it.
My little primer pack came with a little bottle of pre-shave oil, which I sort of like the idea. You put it on to moisturize your skin and make the blade glide over easier. Probably redundant with the creme/soap, but I’ve used it over the summer and like the results. I haven’t seen similar products come up in this thread, so maybe it’s not really necessary?
Some guys swear by it, but as you said, the idea is pretty similar to shave cream/soap, except that the soap holds a little extra water to your face in the bubbles and may or may not have other beneficial components (Queen Charlotte Soaps has bentonite clay in theirs for instance).
There are people who just do a straight olive oil or jojoba oil shave everyday. I hear they have issues with oil “gunking up” the razor after awhile and taking a lot of rinsing to cut that down, so I just never thought to give it a serious try.
I do not understand
SO THEN I PUT THE BUG FURRY ONE ON MY FACE AND IT GOT WHITE CREAM IN MY WHISKERS! OH DEAR!