***The Official Manly Shaving Thread***

[Maundie]

My mate brought me my ToBS Avocado & Jermyn St creams yesterday and I tried the Jermyn St last night.

It is immense, lathers really quickly and thickly and is really creamy and smells good, I would recommend everyone to try it (even if you have a soap/cream you love).

Can't wait to try the Avocado one now.

 

[Feek]

Can't wait to try the Avocado one now.

It'll be _exactly_ the same as the Jermyn St, except that it'll smell different.

I destroyed a week of growth this morning with Arko and a spanky new Feather in a (Sledgehammer) 39C. It was rather good but even with a sprinkling of Clubman afterwards, I can still detect that faint public urinal smell from the Arko!

 

[Swarfega]

It smells like freshly cut grass.

 

[this_is_gav]

Used my 34C (with included blade) and ToBS cream last night and I'm not sure whether to be disappointed or not. Initially I was very disappointed. The ToBS cream isn't as thick as the Truefitt and Hill I have been using, but it was OK. The shave itself went fine (no cuts or nicks that I noticed, which I thought would be inevitable on my first go with a safety razor), but after 2 passes I felt it wasn't as smooth as my old shaves were. But after letting my face dry and applying the aftershave gel it felt much better than it had, to the point where I couldn't feel anything. Odd.

Hopefully it will improve as I practice, and it will certainly be cheaper in the long run.

I have to admit I got better mileage from my old Gillette ProGlide than many seem to do - rinsing the head after ever stroke combined with good brush and cream does give a good shave.

All in all, I felt the shave wasn't quite as good as the ProGlide, but it was fine in itself and there should be plenty of scope for improvement after practice and experimenting with different blades from the sample pack.

Pleased I didn't suffer from any cuts on my first go.

 

[Participant]

Just ordered one of these from eBay for £6.50:



Will let you know how I got on when I'm back from hospital.

 

[Edrof]

 

[welshdragon]

Couple of quick questions guys:

I have the Muhle R89 and R41. Would the Merkur 34c be a better razor?

Also, how are people lathering? With a bowl or on the face?

Cheers guys

 

[Feek]

Face. Always.

 

[jcr]

I find face lathering easiest

 

[Swarfega]

Much prefer a facial of Taylors' cream

 

[jcr]

Just ordered one of these from eBay for £6.50:



Will let you know how I got on when I'm back from hospital.

Those things really aren't any good for face shaving. You'd be better buying a cheap vintage straight and having it sharpened

 

[bazzabear]

I'm pretty happy at the moment with my shaving gear - but I still haven't hit on an aftershave product that I like.

I do use an alum block, and reckon it helps a lot, but what balm / lotion / whatever would people recommend to finish off?

 

[Maundie]

I'm pretty happy at the moment with my shaving gear - but I still haven't hit on an aftershave product that I like.

I do use an alum block, and reckon it helps a lot, but what balm / lotion / whatever would people recommend to finish off?

I wash off with cold water after 5 mins of the alum bloc and then at the moment using Nivea Post shave balm (was £2 in Tescos on offer).

I have used Bluebeards Revenge post shave healer, Clinicque post shave healer, L'Occotaine aftershave balm, Body Shop macca root and some of the other main stream ones and all seemed fine.

Biggest change I made was the alum bloc, since using that all the balms I've used seem to stop any rash (probaly the alum but the balms do soothe as well).

 

[bazzabear]

Yeah, I've got some Nivea thing from the supermarket, but wondered if there was anything I could treat myself to.

 

[Ogoshi]

Yeah, I've got some Nivea thing from the supermarket, but wondered if there was anything I could treat myself to.

From reviews I've got some Proraso shaving cream and post shave on its way to me in the post. May be worth looking into...

 

[Ogoshi]

I was doing the same. Eventually a blade can easily last a week or more. You do feel a difference though when using a blade for this amount of time and then using a fresh new one.

Probably because I'm a noob with it still then!

 

[RoboCod]

For post shave I'd stick with light moisturiser. That simple stuff is perfect. I found things like the nivea for men after shave stuff made my skin too greasy. I did like the TOBS post shave gel, that stuff is great.

 

[Sliver]

Had a goatee for a few years till recently. Then Fargo started on Channel 4 a few weeks back and I noticed how cool Billy Bob Thornton looked with his well kempt beard. I am now the proud owner of a Billy Bob Thornton well kempt beard. Just shave the neck every few days and a quick trim with the beard trimmer, simples.

 

[Participant]

Those things really aren't any good for face shaving. You'd be better buying a cheap vintage straight and having it sharpened

Barbers the world over seem to disagree, preferring to swap blades rather than sharpen and hone, stropping every time. I debated buying a proper straight, but for £6.50 I wanted to see if I was partial before investing time and money in strops and stones and learning the techniques of both.

A cheap vintage straight would just need to go straight off to a honemeister, which presumably = loads more money than £6.50.

 

[welshdragon]

Face. Always.

I find face lathering easiest

Much prefer a facial of Taylors' cream

Cheers guys. Had some good success today. Very little irritation and an around more enjoyable shave.