Dirt cheap wet shaving

[celestino]

Great thread, Marco!
i guess if i were to go for a cheap shave and a good shave it would be the following:
Gillette Single Ring
Astra SPs
Frank Shaving synthetic
Kiss My Face shaving cream
Thayers
Unrefined Shea Butter

 

[Lamar]

Razor - A '46? black Contract Tech for $5
Blade - bought a 100pk case of Derby's for 8 bucks
Soap - There's more than one that fits my cheap bill. Arko (buy in bulk on Amazon), VDH deluxe. KMF for about 8 bucks is pretty cheap. Also a 2.2 lb brick of Cella for about 37 dollars seems like a good deal as it will last forever. C. O. Bigelow when on sale at that store (forgot name).
Generic witch hazel
If you need an aftershave, pick up Barbasol Pacific Rush or Brisk at a Dollar General for 2 bucks or head to Family Dollar and get knock-offs of Old Spice or Brut for a few dollars
Although I use my Vie Long or Semogue brushes more (which were around 30 bucks), my first brush is from a TracII razor,stand and brush set that I found in an antique store for 8 bucks(instead of the trac2 razor she threw in a german travel razor with case). Divide the three items by 3 and that means I spent 2.66 on my first boar brush. It actually works well with no shedding, but I prefer the others.

 

[Mr_Spiffy]

Razor: Ming Shi TTO
Blade: Feather
Cream: Ikar or Super Max
Aftershave: Lucky Tiger

I've found that, with a sharp blade like the Feathers, the Ming Shi is a nice razor. Picked my first up for $5 on BST, and then promptly bought two more on the bay for about $10 each so I can PIF them to any interested friends. The Ikar cream is really nice, too. I found it online from a Turkish store and the Super Max came from WCS, both for around $4 each, if you don't include shipping. I haven't tried the Super Max, other than just a feel test on my fingers, but it seems great.

You can definitely shave on the cheap, if you try. Just get one of these cheap razors and creams, an inexpensive AS, and a boar brush from Omega or Semogue. Easy! Most of us have ADs to battle, though. Makes it tough to keep shaving cheap... but it's fun!

 

[oldbluelight]

Brush: The ubiquitous VDH boar. It shares the honor with a balding EverReady 150 (tried soaking it in Ragain but it didn't help).
Soap: VDH Deluxe or Luxury.
Razor: EJDE89L
Blade: Feather this morning. Part of a sampler. I ain't no snob. Used all the Derby's that came with the razor first. Figuring to go with Personna Labs cause they last and last for me.
Aftershave: Got a bit of a rotation going, Clubman today, but I also have Master's Bay Rum, also using some vintage Old Spice or English Leather - leftovers from Christmases long past.

Maybe we need some sort of informal organization here. How about the Clan Of The Tightly Clasped Sporran in honor of the legendary Scottish frugality or the Brotherhood of Utilitarian Misers. Yeah! that's it BUMS

 

[stryker4526]

What I started with:​
Brush: Tweezerman ($10)
Soap: VDH Deluxe (<$3)
Razor: Shave Like A Man special: $16
Blades: Astras ($9/100)
Aftershave: Pre de Provence AS Balm ($12-ish)

 

[ia_james]

Brush: The ubiquitous VDH boar. It shares the honor with a balding EverReady 150 (tried soaking it in Ragain but it didn't help).
Soap: VDH Deluxe or Luxury.
Razor: EJDE89L
Blade: Feather this morning. Part of a sampler. I ain't no snob. Used all the Derby's that came with the razor first. Figuring to go with Personna Labs cause they last and last for me.
Aftershave: Got a bit of a rotation going, Clubman today, but I also have Master's Bay Rum, also using some vintage Old Spice or English Leather - leftovers from Christmases long past.

Maybe we need some sort of informal organization here. How about the Clan Of The Tightly Clasped Sporran in honor of the legendary Scottish frugality or the Brotherhood of Utilitarian Misers. Yeah! that's it BUMS

There used to be the Dollar General Shavers I think it was for guys scraping their face on the cheap.

My inexpensive (not cheap) set up:

Burma-Shave brush for $5
Palmolive Stick for about $3 at my door
Gillette 7 O'clock Black, shop carefully and they are under $.25/blade
Gillette Old, scored for $5 at an antique shop
Inexpensive aftershaves, Nivea, Gillette, Clubman, etc.

You'll spend quite a bit of money to do better, IMHO.

 

[RandomHero]

Lord L6
(15) Gillette 7oclock blades
Proraso preshave
Tweezerman brush
Arko shave stick
Alum block

currently in my Amazon cart and showing $52.34 before taxes. and all of the items are prime eligible or "free shipping" from the vendor.

note: the Proraso preshave is $12.35, a high glycerine face soap could be substituted and allow the user to save $5-$8, which can be used for a Clubman after shave.

 

[ezlovan]

Brush: Rooney Badger $70 (only expensive part of it)
Razor: No Brand $20
Blades: Ebay sampler pack $12 for 120 (getting ready to buy 100 Astra blades for 11 bucks though..)
Soap: My own handmade stuff - about $2.50 worth of materials a puck
Aftershave: Usually none, but sometimes straight witch hazel on a cotton ball~ $.03-$.04 for a cotton ball full of the stuff

Could have saved a ton had I shopped around for the brush and blade, but frankly, they were gifts from my wife and I love them both. They are awesome.

 

[TheGRman]

Probably my most inexpensive shave yet:

Razor: Turkish shavette straight razor from Bestshave: $3.75
Baldes: 1/2 Astra SP: .09 cents
Soap/Cream: Rise Shaving Gel, $1.00 (an actual gel from a tube, not from a can)
Aftershave Splash: Generic Witch Hazel: $1.98
Balm: Arko Adventure: $3.95

Although, this set-up isn't truly luxurious and all, it still delivers a great shave. Is a great shave the result of good technique and state of mind, or does it happen because of all the shaving tools and products?

 

[Slash McCoy]

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/312600-India-Day!

That's pretty darn cheap. But you might find a 50 cent Tech or OC at a garage sale or flea market, and maybe an old rubberset brush for a buck. Then get a $1.89 puck of VDH and a thrift store mug and you are maybe approaching the $4 mark.

 

[chris.hale]

Cheapest I can muster:

Gilette alu-handled tech - Free, belonged to my wife's granddad.
Astra SP - About £8 for 100 on eBay.
Palmolive stick - 48p from Asda.
Simpson special pure badger brush - £17.50
Bowl pinched from kitchen - Free.

If I'm honest none of these are my favourites, but they all do the job well. I think the Astras are my second favourite blade after med preps, and the Palmolive soap is outstanding!

Preferred setup:

Tradere OC - £150
Personna med prep - £22 for 100
D R Harris Arlington soap - £19.50 (with bowl)
Muhle Basic 2 black fibre brush - £23.50
Muhle mug - £20.50

Actually, with the exception of the Tradere, that's not that expensive either.

 

[rxonmymind]

A very user grade Schick adjustable $1 at flea market
P74 blade $2
Soc boar from.. I forgot but it was $12
Original Proraso soap.

Simple, effective and affordable .
Cheers.

 

[FonGu]

Brush: Tweezerman badger $10 Amazon
Soap: CE Bigelow $10 Bath & Body, got it for $8 with some coupon from SWMBO
Razor: Uxcell DE $5 Amazon
Blade: Wilk Swords $1.79/10 Walmart
AS: Generic witch hazel $2 Walmart

This is not my current set up, but it is how I started. I even started out palm lathering until I found a suitable mug. Entire kit for under $30 (U.S.) to start out. Of course, I've moved on to much more 'high end' products!

 

[musicman1951]

My setup this morning:
Brush: Kent BK8 - $200
Cream: Castle Forbes Lavender $38
Razor: Merkur Mergress - around $130
Blade: Med Prep $.25
AS Balm: Castle Forbes Lime $50

Since these are all great performers for me I consider them all cheap.

 

[creamgravy]

Here's my cheap setup (UK)

Razor: Gillette Slim Twist (Made in England), £3 delivered from ebay. (A Slim Adjustable set on 3, well made, reliable and super smooth)
Blades: ASCO x 100, £10 delivered from connaughtshaving. (my perfect companion for Gillette TTOs, one blade lasts a week)
Brush: Wilkinson Sword pure bristle, £2.70 from ASDA. (Very decent once it's stopped shedding and the tips have softened up)
Soap: Palmolive shave stick (50g x 2), £1 from Tesco/ASDA. (Tallow bomb)
Moisturiser:Banana Boat Aloe Vera Gel (453g), £5 from ASDA. (I find it much more effective than products from Nivea etc )

I'd be happy using that for ~2 years (£22)

 

[wimbouman]

Excellent thread indeed.

My dirt cheap setup would include:

• Razor: Gillette Old Type, 7 USD or so from the French 'Bay
• Blade: Super Max, 12 USD / 100
• Soap: Arko, paid 1,50 USD or so at Bestshave for 10 pcs
• Brush: Semogue 1305, 18 USD

 

[jansob]

This honestly isn't a Bestshave commercial, but it could be....

Razor: Yuma...scary-looking and a decent shaver 1.99
Brush: Bestshave no 6 brush 2.45
Soap: Arko (cheap, smelly and amazing) 1.95
Blade: Astra SP 8.49/100
Aftershave: Aqua Velva 4.99-ish, if I remember correctly

Seriously, if I had a choice between this setup or Fusions and goo for the same price, I'd still tell Gillette where they could put the modern gear....$20 bucks to freedom. In reality, I'd say splurge and grab a $5 Tech off ebay, but the Yuma would suffice.

 

[Shave_Rat]

Gillette Old Type from an antique store: $10
VDH Boar: $5
VDH Luxury: $4
100 personna labs: $14

Not sure the soap puck would last a year, but everything else would. So add a second puck... totals to $37 for a years worth of daily shaving supplies, if you get 4 shaves per blade.

$0.10 a shave, or so?

 

[WoodfordReserve-Neat]

BTW, A really thought provoking thread Marco.
It should help a lot of newbies get started without having to hock the farm....they can do that later on after RAD kicks in.
BTW, my children have Italian relatives in Italy. My daughter has her mother's olive complexion and dark hair. Italian women are a spirited breed of women, IMO.....

 

[tjg5181]

For now, this is my budget shave

Razor: Silver Tone Double Edge Blade Razor (Amazon $6)
Blade: Astra SP (100pk $9 amazon)
Brush: Tweezerman ($10 Amazon)
Pre-Shave: Nivea Face Scrub ($4 Target)
Soap: VDH (Walmart <$2)
After Shave: Nivea Energy Sensitive Balm ($5 Walmart)

Awaiting some 50's/60's Gillette razors. In time I will upgrade my brush (thinking Whipped Dog). I have an Edwin Jagger Sandalwood Soap unopened ($8 from Mens Direct), and will pick up some witch hazel to add to my routine....