Come Join FRUGAL FRIDAY!!!

[Goatrope]

Post up your frugal shave right here every Friday!

Rather than set a dollar limit, please use your own judgment on what's frugal. Think of shaving with a Wolfman razor, $40 soap, and a $250 brush....and go in the opposite direction from that.

There are lots of good yet inexpensive ways to shave. Let's see yours!

Bought an old Tech at a flea market? Sure! Got a Baili or a Weishi razor? Yup. A cheap shavette? Absolutely. Maybe a Lord or a Dorco? Yes! A Toggle you win in a PIF? Ummm ok I guess? As I said, use your own judgment on what's frugal. Also plenty of ways for lather; use a brushless cream, shave stick, and even lather up a bar of Pears soap.

Use your imagination. No shaving with cut-up rusty tin cans or broken glass though, please.

I'll start. Here's what I'll be shaving with in the morning. A Lord L6 razor loaded with an Astra blade, Arko shave stick face lathered with a $7 brush from Amazon, and some Gold Bond lotion for aftershave.

I hope to see you here every Friday for some Fun Frugal Friday Shaves!

View attachment 1480770

The most frugal shave I can come up with:

* 1957 Gillette Superspeed blue Flair tip razor which I inherited from my dad.
* El cheapo badger brush (think I paid $6.99 for it)
* An old donut of Williams Shave Soap ($1.99 from local grocery store)
* Nivea Men's Post Shave Balm (probably the most expensive item)

 

[MovingToMars]

Frugal Friday, September 23, 2022

Razor: Baili BR179 that was delivered by mistake (€3.01 after 50% refund)
Blade: LORD Super Stainless (€1.- for 10 blades, so 10 cents)
Lather: ARKO stick (99 cents)
Brush: Van der Lovett (€2.50)
Bowl: Empty yogurt container
Aftershave: De Vergulde Hand alum block (€2.24)
Aftercare: Dove Nourishment Cream (€1.11)

Grand total: €9.95 ($9.64 USD)

This was my first time using this shaving soap, this razor and this blade. I was very curious going in, and now I'm still puzzled.

Arko: That smell! I travelled through Turkey as a journalist and it doesn't matter whether you are in Istanbul or below Diyarbakir near the Syrian border; this scent is everywhere. It's in the lemon hand oil that's offered, around laundry on the line in gardens and in the complimentary packets of wet wipes at restaurants. I was immediately transported back. One part incense, one part detergent and two parts mosquito-repellent; I'm not a fan. The scent got a little better when lathering though and the soap worked well enough. The stick was a little thirsty but offered nice creamy protection for the skin. Not bad at all.

The Baili BR179: This very mild razor confused me. I didn't need another TTO, but a seller on AliExpress send me the wrong razor. (I ordered the updated Baili BR171 3-piece, it was recommended to me here on B&B.) Shipping it back would be way more expensive than the 6 euro's I paid because the Chinese seller didn't have a return address on the European mainland (some do) and the seller wouldn't ship the razor I originally ordered without me sending this one back (which I understood), so we reached an agreement to split the damage 50-50. Seeing as how this mystery razor was definitely staying, I took it out of the plastic today, popped a LORD Super Stainless in there, started shaving and my first thought was: 'Hello? Is this thing on?' Zero blade feel. I was looking for an angle but had trouble finding it. I had to check if it really was shaving or if I was aimlessly moving the guard over my skin. To my surprise, it worked just fine, but I feel like I doubled my strokes to make sure. I also nicked myself slightly because I got careless due to a lack of blade feel. But overall? Pretty decent shave.

I don't know what to think of the LORD Super Stainless. Either the blade wasn't very sharp or the razor was super mild- or both. (It needs a couple more test drives in another razor.) The combo did a nice job and the shave was hella comfortable, but it's not my closest shave to date. (I doubt this would work very well on thicker beards, for instance.) For under 10 bucks, you could do a lot worse though.

DFS. 8/10

 

[MovingToMars]

Update: the ARKO soap was annexed by my husband this morning. I only found out because I told him he had an impressive BBS- shave going on and he went: "Yeah, so there was this new red stick on the shelf and it was just standing there, staring at me..." He lathered with his hands, poor thing, but probably only because he didn't see the brush. I need to get him his own badger before it's too late.

He likes the scent just fine, so the stick won't go to waste, hurray!

 

[geneaut]

Oddly enough I just made a purchase from the Gifts and Care website in Spain and I'm expecting some Lea branded 'frugal' products to arrive in the next few weeks. Nothing over $5.

 

[StewB]

Frugal Friday for today -

Razor: Maggard V3M
Cream: Olivina "bourbon cedar" shave cream
Aftershave: Nivea sensitive cool post-shave balm

The V3M ("M" for "mild") has a chromed cast metal head that has a Gillette Tech-like design that uses corner posts to position the blade. It's a low-profile head that covers the blade tabs and has spot-on blade alignment. This razor was only about $15 US on Maggard's site a few months ago and it included a stainless steel handle. It doesn't look like Maggard's site has the $15 deal anymore but you can get the V3M head for around $10 or with a bundled Maggard handle for around $25.

I was short on time this morning and opted for a brushless shave with some shave cream I got as a Christmas gift last year. I like the scent and it provides decent slickness. I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to get a nice irritation-free shave in a little under 10 minutes. The V3M is a nice value IMO.

 

[J T]

Gillette Guard Razor

Shave Secret Shave Oil

Excellent Shave.

 

[StewB]

Frugal Friday -

Razor: Van Der Hagen short handle TTO Super Speed clone
Blade: Dorco ST-300 (2nd use)
Pre-shave: Shave Secret
Soap: Arko
Aftershave: Nivea sensitive cool

I decided to go back to the beginning of when I started DE shaving and used the VDH. This is not a bad budget razor, IMO.

 

[Ron R]

SE SOTD, Friday, November 18th, 2022.
Frugal Friday I almost forgot about it, well this is a good inexpensive set up for the budget minded, Razor head and handle bought on yaqi live sale $20 Canadian, blades I won in a raffle, brush I bought for around $7.50 Can on sale, Gillette True cream $6, Dickenson's witch hazel $6.25 and CeraVe moisturizing lotion $7.50 but when you break down to the shave cost per shave it is well under $1.00 Canadian per use for all these products combined easily. A person could eliminate some CeraVe products if they want it less cost but not sure why. Pinaud Aftershaves are inexpensive usually $7 for many uses $.07 per use?
It is hard to determine a razor cost because a person could get 1,000> shaves at $.02 Canadian per use. Some vintage razors I have the previous owners had 5,000 + shaves on head(estimating) by just the wear of the plating over decades of use. I have a daily dedicated synthetic brush with well over 1000 uses for $ 10 Canadian($.01 per use) still going strong. Consumables are the big expense of shaving like soaps, blades, pre-shaves and aftershaves so there are lots of products that are bargains there to find. I do have some sort frugal thinking about every thing I buy and Black Friday sales can lower cost for some folks also. All my gear has been been paid for by just trimming my hair over the last 5 years and not buying cartridge blades and gels and have enough shave products for many years of shaving enjoyment.

Razor : Yaqi Excalibur 50mm with a Yaqi Milano 316 SS polished handle. Mfg 2021>, upper mild >tame mid range, simple way of clamping AC 50mm blades, affordable + stellar shaves. Very easy going carefree shave this morning with a new blade.
Blade : Schick Proline p30 (1), sharp & smooth with reasonable longevity. Good blade match for this razor IMO.
Soap : Gillette Pure cream, nice clean sweet scent(masculine) with excellent lather qualities. Also makes excellent ubber lather.
Brush : Yaqi "Orbital ring" 24mm boar brush, excellent lather generator, soft split end tips boar bristle hairs, great splay scrubber + great lather painter.
Pre shave : (Dedicated Cashmere synthetic)Brush wash whole face with CeraVe hand bar cleanser with a dollop of clear Aloe Vera on the cleaned beard area.
Prep : Cold water rinse after each pass of 2 + pickups. WTG + ATG + pickups.
Post shave : Pinaud Clubman with witch hazel + a dollop of CeraVe moisturizing lotion(scentless).
Results :CCS,DFS,BBs + no irritation + no weepers=

Excellent shave with my Yaqi Excalibur 50mm with a Schick Proline p 30 blade.

Have some great shaves!

 

[geneaut]

Frugal Friday Shave

Ever Ready 1912 ( yard sale $1 )
Feather blade ( <$1 )
Omega 49 ( $9 )
Lea Shave Stick ( $2 )
Witch Hazel splash ( $1 )
Burt's Bees Balm ( $2 )
9.7/10

I only did two WTG passes since I was in a hurry to get to work this AM, so it wasn't a BBS, but it was smooth, comfortable, and just what I was aiming for. I kept the razor head almost perfectly flat against my face today. Yesterday's shave with it was a little too close, but I think maybe I let the angle get a little sloppy, and with a Feather blade, that can be a mistake.

Lea always works well, and today was no exception. I finished with dollar store witch hazel and a dab of Burt's Bees aftershave balm I purchased on clearance a few years ago. The $9 brush is the most expensive item in the shave.

It's odd; the Feather blade <may> be the most expensive blade in my collection if you average it out per blade. However, in the grand scheme of the total cost of the shave, it is reasonably affordable as it is the lowest-cost item in the entire collection.

 

[Ron R]

View attachment 1583738

Frugal Friday Shave

Ever Ready 1912 ( yard sale $1 )
Feather blade ( <$1 )
Omega 49 ( $9 )
Lea Shave Stick ( $2 )
Witch Hazel splash ( $1 )
Burt's Bees Balm ( $2 )
9.7/10

I only did two WTG passes since I was in a hurry to get to work this AM, so it wasn't a BBS, but it was smooth, comfortable, and just what I was aiming for. I kept the razor head almost perfectly flat against my face today. Yesterday's shave with it was a little too close, but I think maybe I let the angle get a little sloppy, and with a Feather blade, that can be a mistake.

Lea always works well, and today was no exception. I finished with dollar store witch hazel and a dab of Burt's Bees aftershave balm I purchased on clearance a few years ago. The $9 brush is the most expensive item in the shave.

It's odd; the Feather blade <may> be the most expensive blade in my collection if you average it out per blade. However, in the grand scheme of the total cost of the shave, it is reasonably affordable as it is the lowest-cost item in the entire collection.

That is a bargain shave, it does not get much better than that with good gear also.
I buy my Gem Blades from Connaught shaving UK and have them shipped to Canada and they are very reasonably priced and I get 10 shaves with the Gem Personna SS PTFE blade. Finding blades for the ASR razors are difficult in Canada and I think Connaught has Gem distribution rights ? Any ways a excellent blade and most folks get more than 10 shaves but that is my average so I toss. It works out to about $.02-$.04 per shave depending on the amount of times used when buying 100 pc lot, they have smaller quantities of 10 also. Great online store to deal with also + takes 2-3 weeks to arrive for the blades.

 

[geneaut]

The $9 brush is the most expensive item in this picture. Two of these items came from Dollar Tree. The razor ( Baili ) was roughly $5. LaToja punches far above it's price point. I'll never bad mouth Skin Bracer.

It was a simple, but lovely shave, and the orange+Skin Bracer finish was invigorating.

 

[geneaut]

A nice little shave today. I haven't used the Palmolive stick in a while so it was nice to revisit it. The $7 brush is the most expensive piece of today's shave.

 

[DesertIguana]

Frugal = Penny Wise.

 

[slimshavy]

All of my shaves are on the frugal side, but I'll post today because I'm burning through some of my previously used blades between rounds of the Polsiver blade challenge.
Razor: Late ball-end Tech bought for $3, with a 3D-printed Old Type guard (printed free at library!)
Soap: Em's place glycerine round: $7.50, I believe, the only soap I've used since last October. It's getting to its end, but that will end up being 3 cents per day.
Brush: Semogue boar, my only brush, around $14 a couple years ago. I'm not going to depreciate it, but I expect many years of exclusive use from it.
Blade: Dorco 300
Aftershave: Barrister and Mann Bay Rum. So I splurged. (It was a Christmas present.)

The shave wasn't as close as it could be. The blade was used quite some time ago, and I thought it had maybe two uses on it but it may have already had four or five. However many times I've used it, this will be my last, as the sharpness just isn't there anymore. This Dorco/3D Tech pairing is normally quite good.

 

[Ron R]

SE SOTD, Friday, May 26th, 2023, All these items for my morning shave where bought on great sales over the years and the most costly item is the Yaqi Milano polished 316 handle at a live Yaqi sale($20 Canadian) that they do not have anymore for now. The Schick proline p30 blades I won in a raffle .What I paid for these items it would be very hard to find today IMO. And still knocked off a wonderful shave for the day, Over time these would be the equivalent of a $.05-.10 cent per item use. I like shaving item sales and I do have a lot of product over the years.

Razor : Yaqi Excalibur SE 50mm AC- Mfg 2021>, mild to tame mid range, very simple clamping system, small head part( I like to work under a wash cloth), very enjoyable razor to use and very nimble to work the face. I get stellar results with this razor 95% of the time.
Blade : Schick proline 50mm AC type, sharp & smooth with reasonable longevity. Really good razor blade match for my morning shave.
Soap : Razorock Lavender, nice masculine scented lavender with excellent lather qualities.
Brush : Yaqi "Cavern lake" 24mm tuxedo knot, excellent lather generator, cloud like soft tips, great splay scrubber + excellent lather painter.
Pre shave : (Dedicated Cashmere synthetic)Brush wash whole face with CeraVe hand bar cleanser with a dollop of clear Aloe Vera on the cleaned beard area.
Prep : Cold water rinse after each pass of 2 + pickups. WTG + ATG + pickups.
Post shave : Razorock King Louis Lavender with witch hazel + a dollop of CeraVe moisturizing lotion(scentless).
Results : or CCS,DFS,BBS + no irritation + no weepers= excellent stellar shave this morning with my Yaqi Excalibur 50mm with a Schick proline p30.

Have some great shaves!