Brushless shaving

[tamahagane]

Does any of you shave without a brush? How tough is your beard, how often do you shave and what is your preferred gear?

Personally, I have never managed to shave off anything longer than a day's growth and then again it only works with creams (also shaving creams meant for brushes). Soap or oil shaving (without a brush) have never worked for me. I stick to Speick shaving cream and I typically buy a different soap once my bowl gets empty (mostly Italian soaps).

 

[BigJ]

I have been known to forget a brush when traveling.

In that pinch I lathered a shave stick using my fingers. Not my personal favorite!

 

[DEPenguin]

Not a fan of brushless creams because now I'm accustomed to, and really enjoy, using a brush. Having said that many of us were brushless for decades and never thought about it. I suppose I'm spoiled now.

 

[Billski]

I use Barbasol once in a while.

 

[jackgoldman123]

I have Weleda brushless incoming...via US snail mail

 

[tamahagane]

Since posting this thread, I have tried several things and would like to summarize here. On balance, I am happy that I can do without a shaving brush since this saves me time (3-5 minutes) and space. I think I will use up my remaining soap and switch to cream and gel beginning this fall with a preference on non-canned for environmental reasons.

• Shaving oil - only good under the shower. Soap- or detergent-based lubrication keeps the beard moist and makes shaving easier
• Shaving soap - I tried a Speick stick and Proraso green. Applied only by hand it is more difficult to get slickness compared to the more watery options below
• Shaving cream - Tried Proraso wood and spice and Cremo menthol, equally good. Not as good as SC or SS applied with a brush, sufficient lubrication for 1-3 day beard. The trick was to use more water than I used to and to work in the cream (at least a minute), not just slab on and shave.
• Shaving gel - tried 2 kinds, a canned Edgewell/Wilkinson and an all-natural gel from a tube (don't remember the name). This worked best for me overall
• Shaving foam - Speick from a can and Lavera from a pump dispenser. This was the worst for me overall and I ended up using the foam as a substitute for hand soap

 

[thombrogan]

@Dovo1695 has been known to praise brushless use of Ach Brito Mogno and ARKO! though I think the badger bug bit him of recent.

Neutrogena Men Sensitive Skin Shaving Cream and Kiss My Face Moisture Shave both worked okay for me before I discovered ARKO!, Stirling, Col Conk, and face lathering.

 

[malocchio]

I have several brushless creams in my rotation, I find Stephan's

Smooth Shave to be the best ...

 

[ajkel64]

I occasionally use brushless creams when I go away for a few days. Mainly because the bathroom sinks in most motels can be too small for a decent sink full of hot water to have a decent shave. I have thought about using the small tubes of hair shampoo and conditioner that the motels give you in the room. I have not yet but some here on the forum do.

 

[Razorcan]

I have been getting daily BBS shaves with a DE and canned shaving foam since 1980.
Absolutely nothing wrong with it.
If there was I am sure that the vast majority of men,who shaved with this combo from the mid 50s when shaving foam took the market by a storm till the late 70s when disposables and cartridges became popular, would have noticed.

 

[DaveHStone]

Arguably the most enjoyable part of a shave is swirling and painting warm lather with a soft brush... why would anyone want to skip that part is beyond me. I get the travel thing, but to go brushless as a "preferred" method, man you gotta be kidding me!

 

[tamahagane]

why would anyone want to skip that part is beyond me.

I partly answered this, but for the sake of completeness:

• Less time
• Less gear required ( less money on purchases, maintenance)
• When in a rush: no cuts (brushless) vs brush and cream
• More sanitary (see Shave Brush Ramblings ( Cleaning, Disinfecting & Conditioning a Shave Brush) - https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/threads/shave-brush-ramblings-cleaning-disinfecting-conditioning-a-shave-brush.383767/ )
• Shaving is not a hobby for me, but a hygienic need (and aesthetic for others)

In my experience, the last point is the widest line of division on b&b

 

[musicman1951]

I like brushless shaving almost as much as carless driving and clubless golf.

 

[DaveHStone]

I partly answered this, but for the sake of completeness:

• Less time
• Less gear required ( less money on purchases, maintenance)
• When in a rush: no cuts (brushless) vs brush and cream
• More sanitary (see Shave Brush Ramblings ( Cleaning, Disinfecting & Conditioning a Shave Brush) - https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/threads/shave-brush-ramblings-cleaning-disinfecting-conditioning-a-shave-brush.383767/ )
• Shaving is not a hobby for me, but a hygienic need (and aesthetic for others)

In my experience, the last point is the widest line of division on b&b

Brother, if shaving is not a hobby for you, then perhaps you might wanna have a look elsewhere.

As for me - when in a rush - I don't shave. Period.

Instead, I get my butt out of the bed 15 minutes earlier, so I make sure I'm not in a rush.

 

[tamahagane]

Brother, if shaving is not a hobby for you, then perhaps you might wanna have a look elsewhere.

This is exactly what I thought before joining. Turns out the community has been helpful to me and I hope I can turn the favor back, even despite some obvious differences.

I have been getting daily BBS shaves with a DE and canned shaving foam since 1980.
Absolutely nothing wrong with it.

Still experimenting with canned stuff. The biggest issue for me is the ingredients of most canned lubricants, so most are forbidden territory for me. But I do have half a dozen on my wishlist, so here's hoping. Which is your goto?

 

[thombrogan]

Any chance of getting/fashioning a shave stick with the ingredients your skin tolerates and using your hand and water to thin it down after application?

 

[McBlade]

IME you can shave without a brush. A decent shaving soap will be nice and slick even if it hasn't been whipped up into a lather. The problem is that the soap will dry out quite quickly.

That's the main function of a lather: it stops the soap drying out.

 

[Razorcan]

Which is your goto?

The cheapest ones
So usually for shaving foam it's Proraso or Noxzema (in the EU where I live they cost 2 USD or for shaving gel the DM one that costs half a dollar.)
They all work fine as long as you use them correctly and of course always after a nice hot shower.

 

[tamahagane]

Any chance of getting/fashioning a shave stick with the ingredients your skin tolerates and using your hand and water to thin it down after application?

Tried with Speick and Palmolive shaving stick. I either get to little soap on the face, resulting in cuts, or too much so that (the dry) part of the soap sticks to the stubble and makes shaving painful. It only looks runny. I think cream works better because it has higher potassium lye content, which is more hygroscopic than sodium lye (predominant in hard soaps), so I am using up all my remaining soap with a brush - for soap brush is faster.

 

[thombrogan]

Tried with Speick and Palmolive shaving stick. I either get to little soap on the face, resulting in cuts, or too much so that (the dry) part of the soap sticks to the stubble and makes shaving painful. It only looks runny.

I had the second problem when I tried hand-lathering with an ARKO! shave stick. Current stick is pressed in the bottom of a mug, so can’t try again for now.

Although it ultimately didn’t do right by my skin, Ach Brito Mogno hand-lathered a lot easier and was slicker, too (which made the skin irritation that much more disappointing).

As for creams, have you tried the Stephan’s Stay Smooth recommended by @malocchio ? That and Linha Granado shaving soap are in my “if I live that long and stop buying ARKO! lists of creams and soaps.”