The Big, Merged, Master Shaving Thread

[Jered]

I've tried all sorts of different brands of razor blades. So far, I've liked the Derby ones the most. If you have problems with one, throw it out and try a different one.

You can get them for less than ten cents a piece on amazon.

[Kommander]

That is the nice thing about this, you can try a bunch of different blades and find what works best for you with a very small outlay of cash. Try doing that with a cartridge razor.

[First Shirt]

Another necro!

I recently bought a Harry's razor, looking for something to throw in the air travel kit since the Toiletry Stealing Apes won't let me take my safety razor with blades.

I don't really like it. I wanted to like it because the orange handle is attractive. But it turns out the cartridges have 5 blades, and it irritates my skin and makes it hard to get the area on the top lip just under the nose.

I think razor technology peaked at 2 blade cartridges, but I didn't think I could find those any more. Until a brief Amazon search... Maybe there's a purchase in the offing.

The shaving gel I got from them is nice, and the cream works fine with a brush. I don't like the cream without a brush.

I still like my Merkur 34C best, though. But I won't fly with it because I don't want it stolen.

I bought a Harry's razor a few months ago, for when I'm shaving in the shower, and in a hurry, and I really like it. It's not as good a shave as the old Gillettes, but it's a bunch faster, and the blades seem to hold up better than the other multi-blade monstrosities out there. And they don't cost as much, either.

When I want to shave for a special occasion, then its the mug and brush, and an old Gillette fatboy. (I still have the one my grandfather bought the day I was born, but it's tanamount to suicide to try and shave with it, since, like an idiot, I dropped it and warped the head. Three of the kids scrounged and hunted until they each found me an exact duplicate, right down to the production code. Now the only trick is keeping the deadly one out of the rotation!)

[First Shirt]

Another necro!

I recently bought a Harry's razor, looking for something to throw in the air travel kit since the Toiletry Stealing Apes won't let me take my safety razor with blades.

I don't really like it. I wanted to like it because the orange handle is attractive. But it turns out the cartridges have 5 blades, and it irritates my skin and makes it hard to get the area on the top lip just under the nose.

I think razor technology peaked at 2 blade cartridges, but I didn't think I could find those any more. Until a brief Amazon search... Maybe there's a purchase in the offing.

The shaving gel I got from them is nice, and the cream works fine with a brush. I don't like the cream without a brush.

I still like my Merkur 34C best, though. But I won't fly with it because I don't want it stolen.

I bought a Harry's razor a few months ago, for when I'm shaving in the shower, and in a hurry, and I really like it. It's not as good a shave as the old Gillettes, but it's a bunch faster, and the blades seem to hold up better than the other multi-blade monstrosities out there. And they don't cost as much, either.

When I want to shave for a special occasion, then its the mug and brush, and an old Gillette fatboy. (I still have the one my grandfather bought the day I was born, but it's tanamount to suicide to try and shave with it, since, like an idiot, I dropped it and warped the head. Three of the kids scrounged and hunted until they each found me an exact duplicate, right down to the production code. Now the only trick is keeping the deadly one out of the rotation!)

[Weetabix]

Necro!

I was in St. Louis this weekend for a daughter's performance. Having a free hour or so, the girls demanded a trip to the mall. I wandered in to the Art of Shaving store.

I asked about shaving soap. "Well, we have this one here in a teakwood bowl for $50. If you only need the soap, it's only $30!" Wow. I get mine on Amazon for $10

OK. What about blades? "You can get 5 of these for $6 or 10 of these for $14!" Hmm. Mine are 100 for $10.67.

Online shopping for the win. I guess if the experience of buying it from a guy in a suit is worth the price difference to you, more power to you.

He gave me some product samples - preshave oil, cream, and soothing aftershave balm. I tried them this morning.

I hated the oil. Very thick and greasy. Hard to wash off, and I couldn't tell that it helped any. I have sort of a medium beard, I guess.

The cream was the shizz! Great lather. Apparently the creams I've tried to date have not been as good because I couldn't get a consistent lather out of them no matter what I tried. For reference, they were in a tube and thicker. This stuff in the store was in a jar, and it was thinner while still being creamy.

I eschewed the soothing balm for now after the experience with the oil. I actually prefer a sting-y liquid aftershave.

[Aesop]

Yeah, that's about the size of that brand:
they're selling the sizzle at twice the price of the shizzle.

Worse, I can get better product at the local mall cutlery store, and that guy knows more about straight razor shaving than anyone I talked to in two trips to Art of [strike]Schmoozing[/strike] Shaving. It's like they get their employees from the ones who drop out of Home Depot's sales associate training program.

[Kommander]

Asoep on the other side of carbon canyon in Chino Hills there is am excellent shaving supply store called West Coast Shaving. The staff there is extremely helpful and they have pretty much every shaving product at every price point you could imagine. Their prices are also quite reasonable, comparable to what you would pay on amazon. I was there last week and they did not have the tailor of Bond street sandalwood soap that I wanted to try they did give me a few samples and I found that it worked quite well. They recommended some Haslinger Sandalwood instead that I have not yet tried.

I really would like a better brush soon but my boar bristle Omega gets the job done well enough.

[Denis]

I really would like a better brush soon but my boar bristle Omega gets the job done well enough.

See my last post far above - sad to say, I can't recommend Muehle badger-bristle brushes. They work and lather beautifully, but the bristles are potted to the handle with water-soluble glue. Fail once to dry the brush thoroughly, and it will shed hairs for evermore... unforgivable in an expensive brush.

My second pot of Proraso shaving soap is just running out. Bottle of Old Spice is still going strong. I have decided I really like the Proraso after-shave balm. Recommended.

[HTRN]

Having a free hour or so, the girls demanded a trip to the mall. I wandered in to the Art of Shaving store.

If you knew what they paid for rent, you'd A)understand their ridiculous prices and B)probably have a stroke.

A friend of mine's sister once operated one of those carts in the mall, not a store mind you, a cart.

Rent was 1500/month. Except for the "busy season"(October to December) when it jumped to 7 grand.

And this was over a decade ago.