Shaving, gents - Page 53

Nice! Even using some vintage razor has some sort of "sentimental" feel so it would be real cool to have your own grandfather's old razor.

You are a very, very very lucky fellow... Enjoy the ride shave !

 

Nice! That's a terrific find and a great thing to have passed down. I always wish I had a razor from my dad - but seeing as how he has a beard, well .... . I have set aside a W&B Barbers Use that I refinished, and extra strop to give to my son should he ever show any interest in learning to use a straight.

Congrats on the sweet addition. Keep it in good shape for your kid.

It's awesome to have an heirloom.

 

My very first razor was a Merkur Futur. When my mom saw it, she passed onto me my grandfather's minty Gillette Fat Handle Tech. My mom claims it was one of my grandfather's prize possessions as he felt it provided him the best shaves and the quickest shaves. It is still one of my favorites.

Hi all, just wanted to update, I've started using shaving cream (Nivea Mild) and brush (Omega, boar brush), and its much better compared to the gel.

 

The feeling is smooth, and almost no irritation during the shave.

I'll recommend this to anyone trying out cream+brush for the first time. Its not very costly, and makes a big difference.

 

Has anyone heard of Epolari cream? Apparently it has squalene (shark liver oil). I'm not sure how good is it, its ~$30 for 180g.

 

The only trouble so far is the neck region. I don't seem to get the same level of smoothness and shave, and it becomes a bit rough if I go against the grain. I suspect the blade angle is too high, so I need to change my technique.

Any suggestions?

Edited by proton007 - 3/10/13 at 10:12pm

I took a trip into NYC this weekend and made a "quick" stop at Pasteur Pharmacy. This place really is a mecca of shaving supplies. Crammed into their shelves was pretty much every razor, brush, cream, soap, blade, and aftershave I have seen or read about online, all at prices as cheap or cheaper than you can get from any of the online suppliers. I was in awe of this place. It was just great to be able to smell any product that I have been contemplating.

 

I wound up coming away with a new tiny Omega brush, some Razorock Cacao croap (discontinued now), Spieck aftershave lotion, a Palmolive shave stick, and four packs of blades (Feathers, SuperMax Platinum, Super Iridiums, and Gillette 7 O'Clock blacks). If in NYC, I highly recommend you visit this place. It is definitely worth the trip.

Very cool.

I've always wanted to check out Pasteur's, but my trips into the city have been few and far between and something "more important" (according to those I'm usually there with) always seems to come up.


Admittedly, the last time I had a chance, I opted instead to head to Shopper's Vineyard.
For some of this (Click to show)

Oh, good stuff. Abuelo is a Panamanian rum manufactured by a Cuban family, according to the rep at my local retailer. I get the 7 year rum for mixing, it is at least as smooth as most 12 year rums and dead on perfect for Cuba Libres.

 

KP

Been DE shaving (face lathering) for about a month now with a Merkur 33c

 

Any tips for the chin area? I can't seem to avoid irritation on my chin.

 

Process:

Cold water

Pre-shave gel

Face lather (loaded boar brush)

WTG (except upper chin)

XTG on chin ( seems to result in the least irritation )

Cold water

Witch hazel

Face moisturizer as needed (usually need to apply heavily on chin area)

The chin is a tricky part.

 

I usually do a light touch on the chin and try to stick out my jaw so I can get as flat a surface as possible.

On your chin or the under neck area below your chin?

 

My chin is usually my least irritated area, but I have hair like a porcupine on my neck that grows sideways and low to my skin, making it impossible for me to get a smooth shave in the area no matter what I do. If I'm not careful, its very easy for me to get razor burn on my neck too if I hit it too many times.

 

In the name of continually changing things up to get the best shave, I have a cheap E Type Shick Injector inbound. I figure I need to have all the major razor types represented before I can make any firm conclusions (DE, SE, Injector). Right now my SE and Fatboy are neck and neck, however I need to play with adjusting the Fatboy more. I can get an irritation free shave on "3" but it isn't that close no matter how many times I hit certain areas. I have tried two shaves on "4" and gotten minor irritation, so this has made me leery of going any higher up. I might need to just bite the bullet and see what happens.

 

Here's my setup. 2 Thiers Issard razors, one 3/8 "Super Gnome" and one 6/8 "Spartacus," which my dad gave to me after he tried shaving with straight razors and decided that it was too difficult. A badger hair brush with an Israeli olive wood handle that I made myself on a lathe. And a shaving soap bowl that my mom made for me (She does pottery as a hobby, and one of my dad's many hobbies is soap-making).

 

I'm quite liking using straights now. Unfortunately, it seems like it's very difficult to procure straight razors these days. I'm very happy with what I have now, but I think one of these days I'll feel compelled to start spending some of my own money on this hobby.

That's an awesome looking brush! I need a lathe so I can make things like that.

 

I actually just got in a 1930's Schick Injector with a cracked handle and I might take a stab at making my own from a scrap of Bubinga I have laying around. Should be easy enough, its nice and small with no complex curves.

Thanks! That wood was kind of a pain to work with because of all the knots, but they gave it a really beautiful grain once the piece was finished.

I can never beat a really, really, sharp knife. My friends think I'm just trying to look cool, but seriously? A nice knife reground with a shallow angle, sharpened carefully and stropped on a belt gets closer than any razor I've found (I imagine a nice straight razor would be better, but I have no idea where to find a good one, not to mention they're likely quite expensive.)