Expensive is not necessary

[onadraw]

I've got razors from vintage gillette to injectors to SE gems. My most expensive would be the Feather all stainless. I have several brushes and have tried several different soaps and creams. My #1 favorite combination right now is a Gem 1912, Gem ptfe blade, and Palmolive shave stick worked with a Tweezerman badger brush.

These items are among the most inexpensive available and I think they work great.

So any new guys thinking about this, no need to break the bank to get a great shave.

 

[BroJohn]

Keep in mind that 'Technique' is always more important than 'stuff'.

1) What you use, (razor, brush, cream, blade, alum, A/S, etc,. eg, 'stuff').

2) What you do, (location, direction, order, and length of razor strokes, pressure or lack of pressure on razor, buffing if any, blade angle, etc,. eg, 'technique').

You can use modest cost products and get a very fine, comfortable shave using good technique. You can also use the very finest products, sharpest blades, high-end razor, but with poor shaving technique suffer weepers, cuts, nicks, scuffs, razor burn and be frustrated.

I tend to shave using very modest 'stuff' with an occasional splurge to the high end.

-- John Gehman

 

[tchmango]

Well said Bro John. Well said.

 

[SRock]

I've got razors from vintage gillette to injectors to SE gems. My most expensive would be the Feather all stainless. I have several brushes and have tried several different soaps and creams. My #1 favorite combination right now is a Gem 1912, Gem ptfe blade, and Palmolive shave stick worked with a Tweezerman badger brush.

These items are among the most inexpensive available and I think they work great.

So any new guys thinking about this, no need to break the bank to get a great shave.

This is very true. You don't have to break the bank. I think many get nicer and nicer items because they are just that, nicer.

 

[Wil Dorenbos]

I've got razors from vintage gillette to injectors to SE gems. My most expensive would be the Feather all stainless. I have several brushes and have tried several different soaps and creams. My #1 favorite combination right now is a Gem 1912, Gem ptfe blade, and Palmolive shave stick worked with a Tweezerman badger brush.

These items are among the most inexpensive available and I think they work great.

So any new guys thinking about this, no need to break the bank to get a great shave.

Exactly. For me getting good things cheap is a sport / hobby

 

[TenorClef]

Wet shaving can be a sink hole (a fun one!) but it doesn't have to be if you can keep your AD's under control.

 

[goby]

I would add the virtually NOTHING is expensive in wet shaving if you just get one... it's when you have 20 creams and 20 soaps and 20 After Shaves that it gets expensive.

You could even go first class all the way and still not spend a whole lot. Get the most expensive soap and after shave balm (Acqua di Parma or Castle Forbes) and they will last you up to a year. When I was a one soap guy a puck of Crabtree & Evelyn would last about 8 months, a puck of Col Conk about 3 months.

 

[ouch]

You really can participate in this hobby for a song. Trouble is, nobody wants to and, ultimately, nobody does.

 

[atison]

I personally have 1 brush and 1 razor that I bought (have a few vintages from a relative), and I am quite happy with those. What I do have a lot of are blades and soaps (relatively speaking).

To me, if you have the money, indulging in the consumable's is ok since if money were to ever get tight, you could just sit back and live off your stockpile for years without spending a dime on shaving.

 

[Beerman]

I agree-getting things as cheaply as possible is a great hobby/endeavor. Wetshaving can be as expensive or as cheap as you wish it to be.

I purchased three or four tubes of the old Proraso Red a few years ago. I think I paid $4 each. That's as good a cream as any out there, and I've tried cream from each of the 3T's. I use a 20 year old or so Col. Conk brush and a ceramic bowl to lather in that I bought from the local Goodwill store. Cost me all of .25.

I get a pain-free, BBS shave most mornings without breaking the bank or investing in a $100+ brush or razor. If you want to spend moeny on the more expensive things, fine. Do so. But you don't HAVE to in order to get great results.


Beerman

 

[DE Shaver]

Like all hobbies, wet shaving can become expensive. However, unlike many hobbies, it can be done on the very cheap. You can get a decent shaving kit for less than a bottle of bourbon.

 

[Alec79]

Erasmic. There's no need to spend more

 

[Speedwell68]

My best shave combo at the moment comes from a Muhle R89, £1.40 for 10 Dorco blades, 85p a tube Boots shave cream, a dash of £1 shave oil and a £5.50 synthetic brush. Yes, I have expensive creams, tried feather blades and have an expensive brush. But that lot above is the best combo.

 

[grouse79]

I got an excellent shave this morning with Palmolive soap milled into a puck (£1), one of 3 Techs I got for £12, a £10 boar brush and a blade that is £21 for 100, which lasts me about a year. Decent balm and aftershave can be had for £2 in most supermarkets.

Of course I only know of this great cheap set-up after having tried a whole lot of much more expensive stuff. At least I'm recession-proof as far as shaving is concerned.

 

[steveclarkus]

I went back to a DE because of the absurd cost of cartridges. I use a pre WWII Tech, a New, Williams soap and Clubman A/S. My most expensive item is a recently purchased Omega Pro 49 ($14). I ordered a case of Arko because it is cheaper than Williams even with shipping. I get fine shaves with my "common man" gear. For the ten or fifteen minutes I spend shaving each day, it seems quite adequate and far superior to cartridges and canned cream I had been using for the past thirty years.

 

[Dewaine]

The highest-cost item I use regularly is a Merkur razor (38c). But everything else I enjoy the most often is very low-cost: Omega boar brushes (~$12 each), VDH Deluxe soap or Williams soap, Derby or Shark blades, and Pinaud or Ivy Club aftershaves.

And on a daily basis, I choose the things I want to use based on performance, quality, scent, etc., not based on price, meaning I am not thinking about saving money when I start shaving each morning.

 

[binowatch]

With this hobby I have found that the amazing range of products and the availablity of vintage instruments allows equippage at all price points. Interestingly, performance and quality as measured by individual preference often seems remarkably unrelated to cost. Right now I am finding that an old Gem single edge, erasmic cream, an alum block, Paul Mitchell "the conditioner", a little Old Spice and a Wee Scot brush give me a great shave-these could be described as lower end products. Next week the list may change as part of the joy of this type of hobby is the eternal quest for the perfect "you name it".

 

[SSGDPM]

Compared to other hobbies/interests de shaving is downright inexpensive even if you buy quality items. What's the most expensive new razor? $100-200 and it will last you a lifetime. About the same for a really nice brush that will last decades. The most expensive soaps and blades still cost less per shave than fusion cartridges. Even buying a multitude of high end items you still won't come close to what you can spend on hobbies like bicycling, motorcycles, cars, etc. and at the same time you are getting items that will last and get used daily.

 

[rdh1223]

Its the cheapest hobby Ive ever had, cars, hunting and fishing, camping, hiking, and boating are all far more expensive and unlike all of those I shave everyday! That being said Im still lost and confused about narrowing down which gear works best for me, so far a new blade of any type works just as well as the others but I havent tried them all yet! I like my slim adj, but the blue tip I started with still sees some love when Im in a rush and cant see well nuff in the morning to play with an adj, I want a mergress because its pretty and new but will i be able to get a better shave out of it? quick answer probably not, atleast until I get the technique down. The Trumpers GFT I have doesnt get me a closer shave then say co bigelow, but it sure does smell nice! When I started wetshaving I was using a vdh boar, vdh deluxe, and a sensor excel and really if I worked at it I could get a really close irritation free shave (only with a new cartidge), but that was in light of recent events probably the cheapest gear I have used or will ever use. And yea it worked just fine but in pursuit of the perfect shaving experience not just the perfect shave I would have to say that there are some way better products out there. On the flip side there are some very expensive products that suck all around given there cost, gold plated mach 3's (never used one but just cuz its shiny dont make it shave better) and Lab Series (have used it, why not just rub some topical anithestic on my face and shave dry?) come to mind.

 

[grump]

The main thing is that you have fun and enjoy your shaves!