Do Over?

[Macfrommichigan]

Life and shaving can be a journey. Along the way you learn what works for you, and sometimes what does not. For example, in 9th grade I learned algebra was not my cup of tea. LOL

Now in the wet shaving world, if I could have a do-over or three, that oversize, cheap, English badger brush that felt like a porcupine would never have followed me home. And that overly dense Portuguese boar would not have jumped into my shopping cart. That deadly open comb razor would not have found its way into my shave den. These are things I liked as much as algebra.

How about you? What shaving kit did you try and truly dislike?

 

[Gman9537]

Not so much hardware, but one of my very very first soaps was this puck from Amazon that was marketed as an organic shaving soap. Try as I might, I could never get it to lather in a useful way. It would immediately explode into huge bubbles of useless froth and no amount of work could bring it back to a dense consistency. I tried to shave with it to no avail, it would almost instantly dry on the skin. Terrible execution of a good idea....

All my hardware, I appreciate in different ways. Feather AS-D2 and ikon OSS were two I could have done without trying. But even at that, at least I've now experienced them both and understand that they don't work for me. I appreciate that I don't have to wonder anymore...

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[Lightcs1776]

A soap in a sample pack of blades and a badger brush from a combination brush and stand. I ended up throwing out the both of them.

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[Hoka Hey]

No, no do over needed. Yet.

 

[jasonledbetter125]

I enjoyed the experience of finding what works for me razor and blade wise. But if I knew then what I know now, I would have bought an EJ Kelvin, a Wilkinson Sword Classic, and two 5 dollar Amazon special shavettes (one as a backup for ten years from now when I somehow accidently break it's cheap plastic handle). I would have never wasted my money on a badger brush and immediatly bought a synthetic satin tip pure brush, and a razorock plissoft monster. Would still have my stash of persons blues, astra sp, Gillette platinum, and polsilvers.....

 

[Macfrommichigan]

If I knew then what I know now, I would not have proposed marriage to my ex, nor bought a long handled razor.

 

[Rotflmao]

Do over or second pass?
I would've avoided a russian sampler pack. (Sputnik, Voskhod, Rapiras) I already found my favourites (Nacet) and could've done without these blades ripping out my facial hair.

 

[BSAGuy]

Shave Secret oil. Just not my cup of tea.

 

[BigJ]

For me it would be 'Badger' shaving soap (the name was the only good part) and several preshave oils.

 

[Prof. Moriarty]

Not sure what I would do over, most of the things I have bought were after research and I was fairly happy with them.

 

[davent]

The vile, vile Arko stick.

dave

 

[ShavingPanda]

I can't think of too many things I would do over. I guess, I wish I had started wet shaving years earlier and perhaps didn't buy quite as many cheap grocery store soaps. I am still using the soaps, they work ok but not the best, but trying a few helped me figure out what I prefer and what no cushion or slickness feels like.

 

[adamchur]

Quite a few....

Derby Extra blades - not a bad shave, but the (suspected) allergic reaction to the coating always left my face hot, red, puffy, sweaty and unbelievably itchy every time.

Laser, Topaz, Zorrik, Gillette Wilkinson Sword, Super-Max Stainless and Super-Max Super Stainless- only 2 very mediocre shaves with all the above

Gillette 7 O'Clock Super Platinum, Gillette Rubie - longer lasting, but so uncomfortable, it felt like a cat was licking my face.

Boctok 3-Piece razor - cheap Tech-style razor manufactured in China and packaged for the Russian market.
It was so mild that it just didn't cut- even with a Feather blade !!
I cannibalised the knurled handle, which is slim, yet heavy - perfect for the head off my Rapira Platinum Lux 3-piece razor

Pre-shave oil - I tried Floïd Pre-shave oil, overpriced at €7,50 for 50ml found that Mercadona's Sweet Almond Oil did exactly the same job for only €2,50 for 100ml, but gave up using them because I didn't like the greasy feeling on my skin, and liked smeared lenses on my glasses even less !!

Monsavon Bol A Raser - they call it soap, but it's actually a croap - although I'd omit the letter "o" in the word croap when describing Monsavon.
I was never happy with the lather, I found that Williams lathers easily by comparison.
I never liked the scent, to me it was a sickly, cloying lavender scent that always made me sneeze
The final straw was when all the goodness evaporated out of it and it shrunk to half it's size due to the loosely fitting lid.
It went to file #13 and it's probably stinking out the local landfill site !!

Pinaud Clumban Musk - not even the slightest whiff of musk, in fact it reminded me of cheap women's perfume- probably the sort of perfume that cheap women would probably wear while standing under a lamp post trying to attract passing kerb crawlers !!

 

[SoullessSingularity]

I regret the shark razorblades to start. All the irritation! All of it!
Also I should've started with a large synthetic brush as opposed to a smaller pure badger. Small brushes are not great for so much skin to shave...

 

[ackvil]

For me, it was a Parker synthetic shaving brush. It was my first synthetic shaving brush that I bought in 2012. You can read about it here. Hopefully, the brush has been improved as synthetic brushes have come a long way.

 

[Macfrommichigan]

I regret the shark razorblades to start. All the irritation! All of it!
Also I should've started with a large synthetic brush as opposed to a smaller pure badger. Small brushes are not great for so much skin to shave...

Oh, my. I prefer smaller, but only learned that after trial and error. LOL

 

[SoullessSingularity]

Oh, my. I prefer smaller, but only learned that after trial and error. LOL

Maybe, but I have so much skin I have to shave, that a smaller brush really just hampers the process for me.

 

[Hoka Hey]

Maybe, but I have so much skin I have to shave, that a smaller brush really just hampers the process for me.

I could see where shaving your legs, a bigger brush would help.

 

[Ad Astra]

Preshave oils. Herban Cowboy soap. Dr. Bronners "soap".

But not the Veg. Though I'd never rebuy, an education in this whole shaving nonsense is incomplete without a bottle.


AA

 

[Nate B]

Badger and boar brushes, my sythetic is pure lathering bliss.

FaTip Piccolo, it got so much love here I had to try it even though I am not fond of aggressive razors. I am still not a fan.

I enjoy all my blades but I could have simplified things and just bought 5,000 Personna Labs or Astra SP's in bulk.

I have about 10 different soaps and the only one I truly enjoy is Cella in the kilo.