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Let's talk about styptic

Hi everyone and happy new year. This is my first post here for a while, so I wanted to raise a topic that I haven't seen here in the forums.

So I am asking my readers which if any brand they use, recommendations they can make, and what alternatives they may have. Yes I know about putting toilet paper or tissue paper on your nicks.
 
Happy New Year to you, sir!

I use a Clubman styptic pencil. It's only the second one I've ever bought -- the first, purchased at a Walmart in 1986, lasted me for many years, mostly because I usually shaved with an electric. This one has broken into 2 pieces. I'm still using the end that's pointed like a candle, the way it came. A little bit of the stuff goes a long way. So one purchase should really last.
 

ajkel64

Check Out Chick
Staff member
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This is my current Styptic Pencil. I bought it many years ago from one of the local Chemist Shops. It actually expired March 2020. It is Australian made and has helped me out of some very interesting shaves. You can get Styptic Pencils from most Shaving Supply shops but I just happened upon this one day and grabbed it.
 
I usually go with an alum block I purchased from a local Indian market. I have no idea what the brand is, I'm assuming something generic as it was just $2.

However, if I ever cut myself badly enough to need a styptic pencil in addition to the alum block, I use a Pinaud Clubman styptic pencil.
 
Clubman, because I can find it a few blocks from where I live. I've had the one forever.

And honestly though, since isolation I hardly use it. When I go out my mask never comes off, so who cares.
 
I have 3 Clubman pencils in route, along with some Pinaud Bay Rhum A/S, from Amazon. Will probably give one pencil to each of my sons.
 
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This is my current Styptic Pencil. I bought it many years ago from one of the local Chemist Shops. It actually expired March 2020. It is Australian made and has helped me out of some very interesting shaves. You can get Styptic Pencils from most Shaving Supply shops but I just happened upon this one day and grabbed it.
Why would a styptic pencil expire? Isn’t it alum in a pen form? I ask because i do not have one. I use a Bosomo alum block that i got from Amazon and have never needed anything more.
 
Fortunately, I do not need these products very often. When I do, my product of choice is Pacific Shaving Nick Stick. It is a liquid in a roll-on applicator. It is clear so it is not as messy as styptic.
 

musicman1951

three-tu-tu, three-tu-tu
A styptic pencil is a medicated stick generally made of powdered crystal from an alum block and a wax binder which is pressed into a handy lipstick size and shape. You use a Styptic Pencil to seal small cuts and nicks, especially those caused during wet shaving.

If I give myself a weeper that the cold water rinse doesn't fix I go with the alum block. Every couple of years I give myself a good one, then I go with the styptic pencil - which works, but totally without enjoyment.
 
No it’s a different stronger substance than alum. Doesn’t explain why it would expire though.
I Googled “What is a styptic pencil” and found that most of them are made from Anhydrous Aluminum Sulfate or Potassium Alum. It turns out that there are a whole host of common items that have astringent properties. Aloe apparently has styptic properties. I found a homemade styptic on the Internet made from:
 

Old Hippie

Somewhere between 61 and dead
No-name from the shaving "section" of the nearest grocery. Only the second one I've bought in 45 years of shaving...

O.H.
 
I use the Clubman "pencil". It's a bit unsophisticated. The cap/base are not all that elegant. But it works!

After getting the Clubman, I noticed that Razorock makes a bit more refined tool?:
At least it apears that the styptic pencil might actually be fixed in the plastic base?

These "matchsticks" also look interesting. The larger "pencils" get cruddy after a few years.
These are single-use:

Proraso also makes a "gel".
 

Ron R

I survived a lathey foreman
Styptic should be in everyone's shave den IMO. I use mine about once every month on average and I have reasonable technique.
I usually get a bleeder when I shear off a bleamish(pimple) or when I'm careless with the weight of heavy razor, they will seal the tiny nick quickly. The alum block is a little different than a Styptic pencil IMO and are not designed to seal a larger nick like a styptic pencil.
I recommend when you purchase razor supplies just buy one from your online supplier when purchasing other shave gear products have one put in your order because you more than likely get a better one than at the local grocery store. When done using a styptic pencil just leave it to air dry for a little bit and then place protective lid back on.
 
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