having had a good look through the B & B forums it seems to me that the vast majority of shavers on here go with Creams or Soaps as part of their shaving routine...i just wandered if any of you guys use shaving gels atall? As a relative newcomber i certainly feel that gels (i use KOS Alpha) are far more forgiving and offer more margin for error when shaving as opposed to creams/soaps where if you get the lather technique wrong it can affect your shave badly. Not to mention that a gel seems less messy, quicker to apply + doesn't leave a film all over my DE razor & sink. Comparing the actual shave quality to when i use cream (ive recently started using Edwin Jagger Premium sensitive cream) i don't notice much difference either. As i mentioned i'm a relative newcomer so maybe i'm abit biased towards using a gel as it seems abit less daunting and requiring of technique than cream and is also a hangover from my Mach 3 days...but hopefully i'll come over to using cream more long term. I just wander what views you guys have of using shaving gels.
does anyone use shaving gel as part of their DE shave routine?
- Thread starter shavemonkey
- Start date
I was having trouble getting good lather. It was really runny and bubbly. I ended up using neutrogena (or nivea can't remember) sensitive skin in the tube. It worked really well and let me focus on other techniques. Once I was having a better time with technique I started using soaps and creams.
It does seem like essentially no one around here uses a gel (which is often referred to as canned goo). I agree that a gel seems to protect your face better than poorly made lather from a cream or soap. But if you practice with the soaps/creams and figure out how to get a good lather (lots of helpful videos on youtube for this), it will protect your face at least as well as a gel and leave your skin feeling better. It's an investment that requires a little work to get right. Good luck with it.
I never use canned goo anymore for the following reasons:
1. the smell
2. I've found it to be hard to get a good cushion on the skin since the goo foam wants to sit on the water layer over your skin. You can work it into the beard with a brush of course, but then you might as well be lathering a good cream/soap
1. the smell
2. I've found it to be hard to get a good cushion on the skin since the goo foam wants to sit on the water layer over your skin. You can work it into the beard with a brush of course, but then you might as well be lathering a good cream/soap
I must confess here that one of my top ten shaves came from a can of edge sensitive skin. I was visiting my inlaws and forgot to pack a tub of soap, all I had was my razor and brush. The brother I law uses edge so I borrowed his goo and wet my brush, put the goo on the tips of the brush and went about face lathering. To my amazement the shave was very very good.
Please B&B don't ban me for my momentary laps in judgement I just as well could have went scruffy as to sink to this level but like I said the results were great.
Please B&B don't ban me for my momentary laps in judgement I just as well could have went scruffy as to sink to this level but like I said the results were great.
You are forgiven. At least you used a brush. Anything is better than looking homeless (AKA Scruffy <G>)......
No , but it's your face so you get to make the rules.
I still enjoy my Sanex Shaving gel very much and I own 72 shaving creams and I'm now 12 months into traditional wet shaving - so still not an advanced all seasoned veteran, but however no longer a rookie in this game.
I get good to perfect lather from my many different creams 9/10 times now, yet when I'm in a hurry or decide to shave both my head and my face in the shower I will use my can of Sanex Shaving Gel and I know this product from years of usage and it always give me a very nice fine shave.
You get better face feel and protection from using a cream - but since I use a hoard of skin care products after my shave anyway, this doesn't really matter that much to me.......
Sanex Shaving Gel was on sale lasr year at my local supermarket for $2 a 250 ml can, and I bought 20 cans - yes, 20 cans - so I have enough for the next 10+ years now.
I prefer Sanex Shaving Gel over Clinique Shaving gel and Barbasol - it's that good, and I usually apply it with Mühle Classic 25 mm Silvertip Fibre brush (I bought this particular brush for this purpose alone - to apply the gel from my can of shaving gel, and when you apply the Gel with this brush, in a matter of 5 seconds you have a great thick dense cover all over your face. When I face lather my creams, it takes me 3-4 minutes get the cream to lather - so it's a time saver, when you only have 6-7 minutes to spend on your shave totally)
I will never part with my Sanex shaving gel - to me it gives me a very fine shave. I did not start using creams because I hates the cans of shaving gel, I started because I was curious about the shaving tradition and culture behind it all.
I still use my can of shaving gel and my Fusion cart, when I shave my head in the shower 3 times a week - and get fine wonderful shaves from it each and every time.
I get good to perfect lather from my many different creams 9/10 times now, yet when I'm in a hurry or decide to shave both my head and my face in the shower I will use my can of Sanex Shaving Gel and I know this product from years of usage and it always give me a very nice fine shave.
You get better face feel and protection from using a cream - but since I use a hoard of skin care products after my shave anyway, this doesn't really matter that much to me.......
Sanex Shaving Gel was on sale lasr year at my local supermarket for $2 a 250 ml can, and I bought 20 cans - yes, 20 cans - so I have enough for the next 10+ years now.
I prefer Sanex Shaving Gel over Clinique Shaving gel and Barbasol - it's that good, and I usually apply it with Mühle Classic 25 mm Silvertip Fibre brush (I bought this particular brush for this purpose alone - to apply the gel from my can of shaving gel, and when you apply the Gel with this brush, in a matter of 5 seconds you have a great thick dense cover all over your face. When I face lather my creams, it takes me 3-4 minutes get the cream to lather - so it's a time saver, when you only have 6-7 minutes to spend on your shave totally)
I will never part with my Sanex shaving gel - to me it gives me a very fine shave. I did not start using creams because I hates the cans of shaving gel, I started because I was curious about the shaving tradition and culture behind it all.
I still use my can of shaving gel and my Fusion cart, when I shave my head in the shower 3 times a week - and get fine wonderful shaves from it each and every time.
I only use gel when I travel. (I don't travel often, either.)
Nothing can match properly made lather. Learning good lathering technique is essential to learning traditional wet shaving. Just using a DE is NOT traditional wet shaving.
Nothing can match properly made lather. Learning good lathering technique is essential to learning traditional wet shaving. Just using a DE is NOT traditional wet shaving.
I have a brushless cream and a Spanish gel for quick evening shaves. I used the Night & Day gel tonight. It smells like the AOS Ocean Kelp line. Effective for a quick pass before going out for dinner.
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Nope! Keep practicing with your brush on your palm to get the proper consistency of water and cream. i would highly suggest getting some good soap which works really well and would be less expensive than cream.
if I was traveling I'd use a gel in a tube not the canned stuff but I'd be more inclined towards a brushless cream. The only non canned gels I've tried have been latherless and I didn't particularly like the feel of them, they were slick but didn't really offer much protection and if you misjudged and use too much it's like shaving with vasaline
I've revisited canned foams and gels from time to time and Edge Sensitive gives a very nice shave.
Dirt cheap and a little goes a long way, too.
Dirt cheap and a little goes a long way, too.
I sometimes use Edge Sensitive gel when traveling.
I use Clinique shaving cream which is a brushless, latherless cream similar to gels. I used this to help get me going as I worked on my lather technique and still use it when I'm travelling without a brush. It leaves my skin feeling very nice but then I'm now using a lot of Clinique skin cae stuff.
However, once I got a lathering better and tried stuff like TOBS, Proraso, RazoRock and others all the super market gels I used to use before going DE, like King of Shaves, Nivea, Gillette Fusion goo or whatever it's called, all got binned and will never darken my shaving den again.
Face lathering RazoRock or Valobra or a cheap Palmolive soap stick with a lovely big boar is one of the great pleasures of shaving, why would I deny myself this luxury ?
However, once I got a lathering better and tried stuff like TOBS, Proraso, RazoRock and others all the super market gels I used to use before going DE, like King of Shaves, Nivea, Gillette Fusion goo or whatever it's called, all got binned and will never darken my shaving den again.
Face lathering RazoRock or Valobra or a cheap Palmolive soap stick with a lovely big boar is one of the great pleasures of shaving, why would I deny myself this luxury ?
No more gel for me! I continued using my Edge with Aloe for the first few months of DE shaving, but weaned myself from it when I discovered Arko & face lathering with cold water! I gave 2 1/2 cans to a friend who loves the stuff.
~Frank
~Frank
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