blade or brush first?

[anarchyburger]

So I'm on my last M3 cartridge and I can't bring myself to buy another four pack for $9. Also after learning of Gillettes market research/James Bond spy techniques
http://www.boycottgillette.com/spychips.html
I really don't want to support a company that is a pioneer of this kind of technology. Right now I am broke as a joke, and it's just not in my budget to buy everything I need right now. So my question is this, do you think I'd be alright buying a Merkur HD, some blades, and some proraso first. Or should I buy a brush, a tub of some lavender goodness, and just one more pack(I promise) of Mach 3s to tide me over for a month or two? I really want to get the best brush I can afford, so I don't have to buy something twice. Like get a $20 special then 6 months down the road decide I really want/need something better. The brush I'm looking at is the Vulfix #2234, I heard that super badger is the best and this seems to be the best deal for it, but I really don't know, what do you guys think? So as a newbie do you think I will hack my face off using a DE without the extra foam a brush provides? Or should I be alright smearing it on with my hands like a commoner for a month or two? Are there any decent shave creams that work well without a brush available in the chain stores? Aveeno, nevea, burts bees? I really hope I don't need a brush right off the bat as I see buying those mach 3s as a huge waste of hard earned cash. But I will let you guys be the judge of that, let me know what you think. Thanks!

 

[Gatorade]

Brush first. The canned creams don't provide enough lubrication for a DE razor. The foam disperses and dries up faster than brushed stuff so it doesn't protect as much. I have heard from quite a few people who have improved shaves by just changing to soaps and brushes. Since you are not menioning any irritation problems but are leaving the M3 for other reasons then you would actually get a better shave just by switching to a cream and brush. Come back to the razor and check the forums for some for sale. Great deals and no Ebay risk.

 

[NMMB]

Yeah, the brush (and a decent soap and/or cream) is the first and most important purchase (IMHO).

 

[Leisureguy]

The Edwin Jagger Best Badger from Crabtree & Evelyn for $35 will stand you in good stead for quite a while. Proraso shaving cream is fine, and you can find it at Target (in the "spa" section, I believe). You'll want to get the sampler blade pack from LetterK in this forum so you can figure out which razor is best for you. Take a look at the shaving mall and the selling/trading thread at SMF and you can probably find a good starter DE razor fairly cheaply.

That will get you started well enough, and what you get can last a long time.

UPDATE: I corrected the price: I had $40, correct price is $35.

 

[Jim]

Welcome ! (insert name here!) to the B&B

 

[moses]

Here's the deal - is there a target nearbye? If so, get the proraso boar brush. Word is that it is very good for $12 or so - in that you could well use it indefinitely, and be happy with it. If you want badger, everybody seems to suggest the Crabtree & Evelyn brush for $35. A very good price, and a lot of chaps on this forum seem to find it superior to a lot of brushes that cost a lot more. I am sure that Vulfix would work well too - I have the slightly cheaper #403, which I am pretty happy with (yours would be softer - mine is slightly scratchy, but I like that). For a price somewhere in between, you could get a handmade Shavemac pure, like this. Shavemac makes quality stuff, and whether that brush would be better than the Vulfix or the C&E I don't know, but it is a little cooler looking than either.

So, buy one of those. Buy some cheap buy good shaving cream (palmolive from your drug store or proraso from target seem to be suggested). I don't think either one of those works well without a brush, though.

Alternatively, if you are really stuck on buying a razor now, and can't afford a decent brush at the same time, get your razor from classicshaving.com and buy a tube of cremo-cream to go with it. That will shave very well just smeared on your face, and you can use it with a brush once you get one. You do use a little more without a brush, but it honestly shaves a little better that way, I've decided (totally IMO/YMMV).

Option three. If you wanna by a brush and try a DE razor, PM me your address and I will send you a cleaned and sterilized 1940s Gillette Super Speed. This is a great razor to start on. I picked up several from Ebay when I first started, intending to keep the best. Now I actually use something else that shaves about the same anyway, so I have at least one extra of these lying around still, which I would be happy to donate to a newbie. It is a little worn looking in places, but will shave just as well as the day it was new. These are great razors to start with.

 

[Leisureguy]

At least on the C&E Web site, the Edwin Jagger Best Badger is now $40, not $35.

UPDATE: I was wrong: it's still $35

--- Ahh, there's a Pure Badger travel brush that's $35. But for $5 more, I'd spring for the Best Badger non-travel brush. YMMV

 

[moses]

Thanks, Leisureguy, for the correction. I would go with the bigger one too, I think.

 

[Leisureguy]

I would bet that we'll see other price increases as transportation costs rise (due to petroleum cost rising). The Jagger brushes come from the UK, so...

 

[Dinder1]

Welcome. I would have to agree with purchasing the brush and cream first, and the the fine recomendations listed above.
Cheers, DJ.

 

[anarchyburger]

Wow, thanks so much for all the great advice. Decisions, decisions. I took your suggestions and ordered the C&E Best Badger! No turning back now. After shipping and tax it came to $43.67. I have a feeling I may just bite the bullet and order the Merkur sooner than later, although the kind offer from moses is very tempting as well. I'm gonna go check out some estate sales tomorrow, perhaps the shaving gods will be kind to me. I'll keep ya posted, Thanks again!

 

[rtaylor61]

C&E Edwin Jagger Brush...still $35 bucks when I load the site:

http://store.crabtree-evelyn.com/acc130147.html

Randy

 

[mrob]

You could also lowball a bid for a Gillette Superspeed or FatBoy on eBay and try to snatch one for a low price?

 

[Leisureguy]

I think you might be loading that page from your cache. Hit "refresh" when you have the page up. When I used the link, the price was $40.

UPDATE: No, the problem was that I was looking at the price for the wrong item. Duh. Correct price of the brush is $35.

 

[Buzz]

Wow, thanks so much for all the great advice. Decisions, decisions. I took your suggestions and ordered the C&E Best Badger! No turning back now.

You definitely did the right thing. You can see some very good improvement just by moving up to a good brush and cream, but sticking with the razor you already have. Try that for a while and see.

I dropped the canned-goo habit first. I used soap & a brush with a multiblade cartridge razor for a couple of years before moving to a DE.

When you do get a DE, you'll already have some experience under your belt knowing how to get a good lather.

 

[TraderJoe]

I think you might be loading that page from your cache. Hit "refresh" when you have the page up. When I used the link, the price was $40.

brush is 35, nomad EDT at the bottom is 40

 

[Leisureguy]

You're absolutely right! I was looking in the wrong place. Many thanks. And what a relief! There are SO many references to the wonderful $35 brush!

 

[anarchyburger]

So I did decide to take the final plunge after all. I ordered the Merkur HD, a pack of Merkur blades, and a tub of Taylors Avocado from classicshaving last night. I feel I made a wise investment, thanks to your advice. Now please excuse me while I cook myself some Ramen.

 

[fuerein]

Hey no problem with ramen! You know you have ramen issues when the girl running register at the market asks you if you are eating all the ramen you are purchasing... that happened once...

 

[fatt_tony]

So I did decide to take the final plunge after all. I ordered the Merkur HD, a pack of Merkur blades, and a tub of Taylors Avocado from classicshaving last night. I feel I made a wise investment, thanks to your advice. Now please excuse me while I cook myself some Ramen.

Nice set up, thats what I started with a few weeks ago.
Enjoy.
Tony