The neverending quest for the ultimate shave den

[Mike M]

I think we can all agree that the quest for the ultimate shave den appears to be neverending.
Last year my den was going to contain as many razors, blades, soaps, and brushes as possible. This year I am looking to have a small selection of razors, blades, a few brushes and a selection of quality soaps.
This leaves me with the problem of using soaps I want to get rid of and acquiring the ones I want, not to mention the hardware.
What is your ultimate shave den? (at the moment). Have any of you ever reached your ultimate shave den? Are you on your journey to the ultimate den?

 

[silverlifter]

I'm pretty much done. I'd been using the same kit for close to 20 years when I found this place late last year. A flurry of activity ensued, as I discovered the amazing array of razors, brushes, soaps, blades, etc. My needs are pretty simple, though, so I've settled on three razors, a brush, two soaps, and a decent stash of blades. I'm now signing up for some of the GRUMEs and similar type challenges (FFFMM is next).

One thing I do really enjoy about this place, though, is the vicarious thrill of watching what everyone else is using: there truly is a mind boggling amount of shaving related hardware and software out there now. Great time to be wet shaving!

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I got sick of trying new razors, only to discover that I prefered using what I already had before. An Edwin Jagger zinc cast razor, Merkur open comb, and a Dovo shavette do all I need. I do have a few more razors, but rarely use them. I'm quite minimal with brushes too, and keep two in the bathroom, and have a couple of others in the bedroom, in case I fancy swapping one for a while.

I have a stockpile of soaps and creams, but whatever gets put out for use, stays tin the bathroom till it's finished, or thrown out. That's usually, one cream, one mug soap, and a sample sized serving of a tub soap. I also keep a small tub of mixed blades in the bathroom, and most blades are randomly drawn from there as needed. Just grab whichever blade wrapper the fingers land on first.

This is my ideal set up. Inherent simplicity, with a few alternatives in case I fancy a change for a while. Having more stuff just makes daily choices tougher, and I don't like making life harder than it needs to be.

 

[steveclarkus]

I think we can all agree that the quest for the ultimate shave den appears to be neverending.
Last year my den was going to contain as many razors, blades, soaps, and brushes as possible. This year I am looking to have a small selection of razors, blades, a few brushes and a selection of quality soaps.
This leaves me with the problem of using soaps I want to get rid of and acquiring the ones I want, not to mention the hardware.
What is your ultimate shave den? (at the moment). Have any of you ever reached your ultimate shave den? Are you on your journey to the ultimate den?

My idea of the ultimate den is one razor, one soap, one brush, one strop and one aftershave. Almost there. I have about 30 straight razors but only use my favorite most if the time. I have four soaps but only occasionally use something other than ARKO. I have a mid range badger brush and use VIBR in the winter and OS in the summer. That’s as close as I’ve managed to get to my ideal “den” but I keep trying. Simplicity is the ultimate quest in life as far as I am concerned.

 

[FarmerTan]

My den is in boxes, hiding from the lovely but heck bent cleaning/organizing/throw it out War Department....

 

[Leverspro]

The ultimate for me isn't a certain piece of kit but a place where curiosity exists every day.

 

[FarmerTan]

The ultimate for me isn't a certain piece of kit but a place where curiosity exists every day.

I'd like separate bathrooms.


She'd gladly help me build an out house, so I must be detail oriented in my description of what a "Shave Den" is....

She'd laff her fool head off if she ever heard the term "shave den."

She has no idea the lingo us Kool Kids have!

 

[BigJ]

Ultimate?

For me, that means sticking with items that really work for me. And only items that really work!

And, one day, I may get there!!

 

[silverlifter]

Look my works, ye mighty...

 

[Tomo]

I eventually stopped chasing the ultimate shave den. No matter how much you buy, it always seems to be just one razor and one stone away. It’s a fool’s errand that will never be completed and only serves as a distraction.

These days, I find it more enjoyable to focus on a small, well curated selection and enjoy the shaving experience with familiar equipment.

 

[nelsonic21]

I doubt that I'll ever get an ultimate shave den. Starting out I planned on 2 razors, 2 brushes, 2 soaps/creams, 2 post shave and 1 brand of blade to be the norm. Then the den began growing and I never sold enough product to balance out the buying. Now I have more than 10 DEs, 3 injectors, 7 brushes and over 15 soaps/creams. There's too many options out there and new products coming out every month.

 

[JasonJT]

Here is my shave den slightly updated.

I am really pleased with it!

Jason.

 

[AlBHappy]

2 razors, one I don't use anymore, one tube of Proraso Red, 2 brushes, 120 blades Voskhod and Parker, a bottle of Duke Cannon Ice Cold and 3 bottles of cologne.

Minimalist.

 

[BobbyB]

Most of my den is now in the rotating carousel. it consists of:

3 razors (King C Gillette, WCS 84S, and Van der Hagen)
3 brushes (Omega--11126, Van der Hagen, Gray Dog)
2 fresh tubs of soap (Cattie's Bubbles, and Stirling Barbershop)
1 one Omega alum stick
1 styptic pencil
1 travel size bottle holding CVS Witch Hazel The main container is stored separately
1 travel size bottle holding Pinaud Clubman A/S The main container is stored separately
97 assorted blades stored separately

I stopped using the enameled mug, defaulting back to the a Rubber Maid measuring cup

 

[Phoenixkh]

I'm working on the theory that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure... so I bought this... and plan to prevent my gear to expand to fill available space:

 

[caj411]

I think we can all agree that the quest for the ultimate shave den appears to be neverending.
Last year my den was going to contain as many razors, blades, soaps, and brushes as possible. This year I am looking to have a small selection of razors, blades, a few brushes and a selection of quality soaps.
This leaves me with the problem of using soaps I want to get rid of and acquiring the ones I want, not to mention the hardware.
What is your ultimate shave den? (at the moment). Have any of you ever reached your ultimate shave den? Are you on your journey to the ultimate den?

I don't have one of those massive dens like some guys, I've got four razors plus a couple of straights, a handful of different blades, and a fair amount of skin care products. Fortunately for me there is so much information here in this forum that it really helped me narrow down my selections. There are still a million things I could buy, but I have already found good products and techniques to last a lifetime.

 

[caj411]

Look my works, ye mighty...

View attachment 1412614

I never thought about making my own wood block to hold my razors vertically. So simple it eluded me.
No more just sitting them on their sides, I'm off to make me a nice razor holder now.

 

[AQOSS]

It has been really fun is to see how much joy many members experience from arranging and displaying their shaving items, whether it a one razor, one brush, and one bowl, or enormous museum quality collection.

 

[Ron R]

I started out very minimal with 4 synthetic brushes and 6 razors in my shave den for the first 2 years and then got interested in collecting ASR razors and then into brushes and some modern razors.
Then had some surgeries 2 years ago and got bored and started buying shave brushes at whole sale prices and some razors also wholesale and enjoyed that while recuperating was almost therapy and with Covid 19 we did not travel anywhere like we use to.
My brushes average price is around $12.50 Canadian because I buy mostly on sales in the last 2 years.
My den is mostly done with and I have used most of my razors many times because I'm a daily shaver and enjoy variety.
It might be hard to believe but all of this stuff has been paid off by trimming my own hair over the last 4.5 years and not buying cartridge blades and gel. Some of the photo's are not up to date but they are the bulk of what I do have.
I have given some of my brushes and razors as gifts to encourage folks to try traditional wet shaving.(Son & son inlaw, friend)
(each razor rack holds 8 razors and they are part of a large rotation of about 44 razors.) I have enjoyed collecting and buying.

Have some great shaves!

 

[Star_Wahl_Clipper_Treker]

I think we can all agree that the quest for the ultimate shave den appears to be neverending.
Last year my den was going to contain as many razors, blades, soaps, and brushes as possible. This year I am looking to have a small selection of razors, blades, a few brushes and a selection of quality soaps.
This leaves me with the problem of using soaps I want to get rid of and acquiring the ones I want, not to mention the hardware.
What is your ultimate shave den? (at the moment). Have any of you ever reached your ultimate shave den? Are you on your journey to the ultimate den?

Well, since I am still fairly new to DE shaving, my shave den is slowly getting filled up with more stuff. But I will say, some beginners probably start out even slower then I do, so I'd like to think I am doing pretty good so far.

As far as razors go, I have no dream of owning tons of razors, that has never been my goal. My goal, was to find the razor that works great for me then stop. My first razor, a Feather AS-D2, while a high end razor and all, ended up being too mild for my course whiskers 2-day stubbles.

Then I got the Rex Ambassador, and that was the razor that carried me through the adventure I seek. My first brush was garbage, so I had to fix that right away by getting a Maseto Avatar brush. Now days, I am just on the hunt for new soaps and aftershaves.

My goal is not to turn my entire house into a shave den. I live in a small home, I simply do not have the space. But, I do reserve my space to a single bathroom, and if the shaving supplies fit on the counter, in the medicine cabinet, or under the sink, that is good enough for me.

But if I get to a point where I got no more room, then I know that is the moment that I really do have to stop. Since I am fairly new to the DE shaving journey, I have plenty of room right now. I do find myself breaking my own promises a whole lot though.

I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't buy anymore shaving supplies this year. Little did I know how truly powerful the energy from the black hole was, it just sucks you right in there! Still though, I am having fun on this journey and thats all that counts.

I live in an old home, old bathroom, my shave den will never look as pretty as many of yours. I have nothing to be proud of as far as that as concerned. But what I am proud of however, is that I live in a country, which allows me the benefit of enjoying such a shaving journey.

There are many other countries where the people can't enjoy such things, so I count myself lucky in that way.