The Manly Shaving Thread

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I thought this was about meeting the energy needs of the planet. Maybe I should pay more attention...

Anyway, I think we need to put more resources into developing cold fusion. If Gillette want to throw their corporate muscle behind it with a sponsored product then good for them! ;)
 
Want to get a decent blade sometime soon, will wait untill I move though.

Is there kits anywhere? That come with the brush, soap, blades, and handle all in one?
 
Begbie said:
Want to get a decent blade sometime soon, will wait untill I move though.

Is there kits anywhere? That come with the brush, soap, blades, and handle all in one?
Click to expand...

Yup here

http://www.traditionalshaving.co.uk..._STA-SOA-LUX/268168/Starter-Kit---Luxury-Soap

One thing about derby blades, if you get the ones with the horizontal writing no problem, however the derbys with vertical writing have been known to be duds, if you do find yourself with such a pack all is not lost you can try corking them, which means running the blade very lightly through cork or polystyrene to take the roughness off the edge.

Use the code bandb to get 10% off your order.
 
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What do you guys use to shave your head? I used to use my Mach 3 fusion, but moved onto using those Gillette Blue disposable razrors, £1.27 for i think 6 razors. Does the job okay, But im fedup of it taking me like 30 minutes to do it!!

I've been looking online at one of these
http://headblade.com/

And I'm considering purchasing one, Dont suppose any of you have any experience with one? are they as good as the site says?
 
Can anyone recommend a stand to place one of these Razors on?

Reluctant to have it just lying around, want to have on display in the bog with a nice badger brush next to it.

Any nice sets with a brush even?
 
Slipperz said:
How easy is it to cut yourself with one of these badboys?

Slipperz :)
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never cut myself shaving and i've been using it a couple of months now i'd say, but the last time just when i had finished shaving i went to reset the setting back to 1, with wet hands and shaving cream on the razor it wasn't the smartest thing to do...oh and you must grab the top(tightly) and the handle and twist.
yup it slipped...5 days later and i still can't use the finger properly.

bit of bad design there....other than that it gives a pretty good shave :p
 
thanks guys, just ordered a Merkur 34C and 100 derby blades after reading this topic :D hope it shaves better than my bics :eek:
 
Think the key to a good shave is a good bath or shower open the pores in skin slap on foam ( any will do ) shave away ( again ive found any blade will do some cheapo ones are better then the over priced crap from well known brands). Next part is after your shave wash face with cold water , to close the pores in the skin and pat dry . Creams and oil are a waste of money and are overpriced and are of no great benifit , and make you smell like a big girls blouse . Oh almost forgot slap on some old spice ! :).
 
bhindi said:
Think the key to a good shave is a good bath or shower open the pores in skin slap on foam ( any will do ) shave away ( again ive found any blade will do some cheapo ones are better then the over priced crap from well known brands). Next part is after your shave wash face with cold water , to close the pores in the skin and pat dry . Creams and oil are a waste of money and are overpriced and are of no great benifit , and make you smell like a big girls blouse . Oh almost forgot slap on some old spice ! :).
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Shower/bath - yes
Slap on foam (any will do) - no, some barriers are far better than others and foam is generally terrrible.
Any blade will do - not really
Cold water - yes
Cream and oils waste of money - no, they're not, they can help with ingrown hairs and reduce razor burn for some.
Old Spice - debatable.
 
I've been thoroughly unimpressed by Gillette's razors, tried a "Mach 3" once, it felt too light and I'd swear that despite being completely new, it was blunt.

I much prefer my usual Wilkinson Sword "Diamond Protector 3D", it's got a beefy metal body and the blades (which I recently noticed now come with 3 blades rather than 2), always feel sharp for at least 5 uses (depending on how thick the stubble has grown). If I'm going to spend a lot of money on a shaving product it'll be an electric shaver.

As for irritation, get the method right and you will be fine:
1. Wash face with soap and hot water.
2. Apply foam, I find any foam works.
3. Using hot water to clear and heat the blade, shave 90 degrees to the direction of growth (never against the direction of growth).
4. Rinse using hot water.
5. Pad face dry with towel.

I'm surprised this isn't written down anywhere, like you're left to work it out for yourself. I initially thought cold water would make the hair stand on end and cause a closer shave, nope, just tears up your skin.


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And as for the ones that vibrate... Come on, what do you think that's doing for you?
 
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I am still using my cheap Boots safety razor, however, I have been unable to get any more of the boots blades which were cheap and each blade lasted between 10-20 shaves. I've got some Wilkinson sword ones now and after 2-3 shaves they hurt :(
 
Got myself a Merkur 34C and the whole brush+shaving soap+pre/post shave cream setup. Had around a months practice now and watched the videos yadda yadda.

Have to say it does a good job on my sideburns and face, but I think I used to get a better close shave on my neck when I was shaving in the shower with a cartridge razor - I could feel out the grain on rough patches and make passes in the opposite direction. Attempting to do the same with my DE usually results in multiple nics when I try and get the awkward patches, and takes a lot more time with all the reapplying soap etc.

So far i'm not convinced the whole thing is worth the extra time it takes. It will definitely be cheaper than cartridges in the long run though .
 
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You can cut yourself pretty easily with a DE but it's never anything major and it seems to depend on how the blade is feeling and you're proficiency. I haven't had any cuts/nicks for a while so it's probably just experience. It's important to not put any extra pressure on the blade and just let it glide naturally.

I agree on the neck/chin closeness problems, at the moment I don't get brilliant shaves there but I've only started doing against the grain on my neck but I don't think it agrees with my skin - got pretty bad razor burn the other day there. I think the problem is from using cartridge razors and going over the same point again and again which I was doing with the DE's. Happy enough with 2 downward passes, 1 XTG and 1 generally tidying up.

Ritual at the moment:

1. Shower and rinse beard.
2. Wash face with whatever
3. Apply Proraso pre-shave cream (Highly recommended)
4. Lather up cream (TOBS Avocado), chuck it on with best badger brush
5. 3-4 passes as above with rinses in between
6. Cold water rinse then Aftershave.

Takes me bloody ages just now but I'm getting faster.
 
I recently started doing the rub-against-jeans trick on my fusion blades.

5 shaves in and the blades are still sharp as new, usually I'd get reduced effectiveness from the 3rd shave onwards.

Today I also gave King of Shave oil a go, rather than the alphagel I usually use, and it worked surprisingly well! I also like that it can be used with my electric shaver to reduce dry skin.

My facial hair is only moderate in terms of thickness, so ymmv.
 
On my 5th or so shave with the Merkur and Wilkinson Sword blades (came with razor), have to admit i'm not loving it so far, it's still early days but I just find i'm having to go over the same patch a few times to get all the stuble which ends up irratating the skin.

Thinking of trying a set of Derby blades on the recommendations here, anyone else unable to get the 'proceed with checkout' button to work on this website ?

www.shaving-shack.com
 
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Lose the wilkinson blades, they're nothing like what they used to be.

Have a nose at connaught shaving they do a great shaving blade sample pack.
http://www.connaughtshaving.com/popular.html

I mostly use the super iridium blades, both very sharp and smooth im not mad on derbys they seem to be having problems of late, if you want a gentle blade an israelli personna blade is an option.

If you find yourself having to go over the same area repeatedly it could be technique but could also be your razor isn't aggressive enough i found this the case with my de89L even now my futur taken to 6.5 still lacks the aggression i require hence my ordering a straight razor.

Just stick with it, it takes time to figure out what's going wrong failing that you can always ask on badger and blade.
 
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