The Manly Shaving Thread

RoboCod · 17 Dec 2012 at 15:08

spaceman said:
most supermarkets sell palmolive soap sticks and cream, very cheap and good stuff along with personna blades.

Boots sell Tabac soap and sticks, very nice stuff performance wise, smells a bit weird though. Overpriced compared with online

Boots own brand soaps as well.

I think i've read house of fraser sell TOBS creams and Kent brushes?

My favourite blades are :-

Gillette 7 O'Clock Super Platinum (Indian Blacks)
Gillette 7 O'Clock Sharp edge (Russian Yellows)
Gillette 7 O'Clock Super Stainless (Russian Greens)
Gillette Super Thin (new improved stainless)

^ I like the super platinums, highly recommended, but I still prefer the feathers over all.

bsoltan said:
Are there any high street stores that sell the decent shaving stuff? Or is it all online?

Thinking about a brush, stand & soap/cream at the moment.

Unless you can find a specialist shop nearby you're only really able to find this stuff online. Buy only pure badger hair brushes, don't be tempted by a cheaper boar hair or a synthetic one from boots. A stand can be had from boots but you can pick them up pretty cheap online. The only problem with buying the soaps & creams online is if you don't like them you're stuffed. You could always just give it to one of us guys here though eh

Gavin · 17 Dec 2012 at 21:24

i find the boots shaving creams in the tubs utter pants, may as well use a bottle of bubble bath. Not a nice rich creamy lather like taylors stuff.

Feek · 17 Dec 2012 at 21:54

Today for an experiment I mixed ToBS Shaving Shop cream and Mike's Barbershop soap. The lather was really amazing, super slick, thick and very cushioning. The scent from Mike's soap overpowered the ToBS almost completely and they worked well together.

I think I've now found the ultimate blade for me, it works very well in all three razors giving a really smooth shave and when I shave, it's so comfortable that it feels as though there's no blade in the razor. I've just ordered 100 Personna Med Preps and can't see myself using any others.

Hatter The Mad · 20 Dec 2012 at 16:09

What's the deal with badger burshes? They seem to start at £30 and go up to £250. Ideally not wanting to spend more than £40-50, unless I'm really missing out on something.

Hatter The Mad · 20 Dec 2012 at 17:41

Hatter The Mad said:
What's the deal with badger burshes? They seem to start at £30 and go up to £250. Ideally not wanting to spend more than £40-50, unless I'm really missing out on something.

I settled on a £35 Edwin Chatsworth badger brush.

DGarfield · 20 Dec 2012 at 18:28

Cover your face in petrol and burn it off.

spaceman · 20 Dec 2012 at 18:59

Hatter The Mad said:
What's the deal with badger burshes? They seem to start at £30 and go up to £250. Ideally not wanting to spend more than £40-50, unless I'm really missing out on something.

you pay for the grade of hair and density of the hair for the most part.

http://www.shaving101.com/index.php...erstanding-hair-grades-of-badger-brushes.html

i face lather so have to pay attention to the length of the knot, anything over about 50mm is normally too floppy unless you lather in a bowl.

i've got one terrible brush which was the one i got in my starter kit - Edwin Jagger Best Black Badger, it took ages to build up a decent lather, ok for painting a lather on my face i suppose..

a Simpson Duke 2 in best badger - this is quite a small brush but excellent for face lathering as the knot is dense. i recommend this one. (about £60)

a Rod Neep 26mm extra silvertip (48mm loft), African Stone handle, this is bigger than the duke 2, it is awesome for face lathering, the knot is very dense and the hair is very soft, its a lather monster (about £85).

it was custom made my spec (material, hair type and length, handle style) i highly recommend Rod if you are looking for a brush ( http://pensoftheforest.co.uk/shaving/shaving-brush.html )

spaceman · 22 Dec 2012 at 12:09

I had my first shave with a Merkur 37c Slant last night, with a 7 O'Clock yellow it cut through 5 days worth of whiskers like they weren't there. No tugging like a normal razor on that length hair. Very impressive!

Crowort · 22 Dec 2012 at 12:47

The other thing that puts the cost up on the better grade brushes is that the knots are hand made normally instead of done by machine. I believe the hair used in the cheaper brushes is the stuff the hand knotters leave.

pooley · 22 Dec 2012 at 13:52

Hatter The Mad said:
What's the deal with badger burshes? They seem to start at £30 and go up to £250. Ideally not wanting to spend more than £40-50, unless I'm really missing out on something.

lookup Ian Tang's Shaving Workshop on fleabay, you can get badger brushes for cheap..

RoboCod · 22 Dec 2012 at 14:03

Found a place out here that sells packs of 5 feather blades for the equivalent of 40p (8p each). Naturally I relieved them of their entire stock

Hatter The Mad · 23 Dec 2012 at 00:20

I got a pack of 'platinum coated' Merkur blades with my razor. Are they decent kit blades or should be replaced with something else?

MachM · 23 Dec 2012 at 00:26

My experience of Merkur blades is that they're crap. I recommend Gillette 7 o'clock Sharp Edge. They come in a yellow pack. I will say that blades are a huge variable though, it's worth getting a sample to see what works for you.

Feek · 24 Dec 2012 at 09:58

I've been using Old Spice cream recently and I'm really liking it. I've imported a few tubes of the Shulton made stuff from India along with some matching aftershave and it's great.

Add that to the Personna Med Prep blades which I've discovered work fantastically well for me, far better than Feathers, Astras or 7 O'clock Yellows and I've got a winning combination. The blades are sharp and incredibly smooth and I think they're 'the one'.

spaceman - Simpsons increased their prices a lot a while ago and the Duke 2 in best badger is now nearer £80 than £60! Quite interested to look at the Rod Neep brushes though, do you know if he make the knots himself or are they imported as a whole?

Hatter The Mad · 24 Dec 2012 at 10:29

I've got a tub of Proraso Pre and Post Shave balm (£10) which I can't stand the smell of (due to an association I have with the menthol smell while being sick one time). Only poked out a tiny bit with a finger. Anyone want to swap it for something?

Feek · 24 Dec 2012 at 10:42

I've got 112g left of ToBS Mr Taylors that I didn't think much of. Other people rave about it but the scent just didn't do much for me. If you'd like that, I'm happy to swap.

Frozennova · 24 Dec 2012 at 10:46

Feek said:
I've been using Old Spice cream recently and I'm really liking it. I've imported a few tubes of the Shulton made stuff from India along with some matching aftershave and it's great.

Add that to the Personna Med Prep blades which I've discovered work fantastically well for me, far better than Feathers, Astras or 7 O'clock Yellows and I've got a winning combination. The blades are sharp and incredibly smooth and I think they're 'the one'.

spaceman - Simpsons increased their prices a lot a while ago and the Duke 2 in best badger is now nearer £80 than £60! Quite interested to look at the Rod Neep brushes though, do you know if he make the knots himself or are they imported as a whole?

Got a link for the old spice cream Feek?

Feek · 24 Dec 2012 at 10:49

Sure, eBay item number 170856973076 is for three tubes or 170856970347 is one tube. The seller ID is namaste.world

Hatter The Mad · 24 Dec 2012 at 11:11

Feek said:
I've got 112g left of ToBS Mr Taylors that I didn't think much of. Other people rave about it but the scent just didn't do much for me. If you'd like that, I'm happy to swap.

What's the scent?

Feek · 24 Dec 2012 at 11:21

I have no idea how to describe it so I typed Mr Taylor Cream Review into Google and this was the first result.

Good Lord. When you open the lid, your olfactory senses just go bezerk. This is one of those creams I just keep bringing up to my nose and taking big whiffs of. Now, obviously aromas are a very personal thing, but I haven't heard anyone complain of this cream. In my opinion, the aroma is a very complex combination of citrus, spice and leather. It is a bold aroma, yet it is not overpowering. This just screams masculine. I cannot think of enough adjectives to describe how this cream just keeps on giving. The complex aromas can really deliver different feelings on different mornings. That's something I most enjoy about this cream.

Personally, I didn't think that much of it. I guess it's because I like ToBS Shaving Shop and they're on a similar vein, it's almost as though (to me), it's a distant cousin of Shaving Shop.