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Greetings everyone

So I'm trying to get more serious about wet shaving after years of butchering my face/neck with a Norelco electric razor. Quick and dirty, I'm looking for something less irritating and more meditative.
I did try a trial box of butter/razor carts from Dollar Shave Club, but am not impressed. I get snags on day one stubble with a fresh cart, hot towel pre-shave and plenty of shave butter. So I'm hoping for a smoother process when I get equipped and experienced with DE shaving.

Found these forums after a bit of research on DE shaving. I'm a bit wary of straight razors, reckon I'd start with DE blades. Really good resources and guides here.

I'm looking at a Merkur 34G razor and an Omega brush to start with. Haven't yet decided on soap or aftershave, preferably something unscented, I still live with my parents and a lot of fragrances give my mom headaches.
Any suggestions?

Thanks
 
Welcome!

Your choice of the Merkur 34 and Omega brush are good ones. I would suggest you also consider the Henson AL13 simply because it is very easy to learn with and gives an excellent shave.

Take a look at Stirling, they have a good unscented shave soap called Naked and Smooth. They also have an unscented aftershave balm. Stirling products are top-notch at reasonable prices IMHO.
 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
Welcome @lordalexander74. I went from carts directly to straight razor shaving. Best decision I ever made.

I am still very scared to shave with a "safety" razor. You are a very courageous individual to shave with a mass-produced tool where you cannot see the blade's edge on your skin.
 
Welcome!

There are more answers on this forum than there are questions out here in the wild.

Seek and ye shall find.
 
Glad you've joined, welcome! There's lots of good reading in the various subforums of B & B to help in your search for a soap & aftershave. You've got a good start to a good kit with the Merkur & Omega. Enjoy your shaves!
 
preferably something unscented

Hello, and welcome from a fellow unscented new member/new DE shaver!

There is an aweseome group in the Clubs and Brotherhoods -- Brotherhood of Unscented Gentleman Shavers (BUGS). They all have been so helpful for resources and experiences with unscented shaving products. For example, @MaineYooper recently posted an extremely informative overview on soaps, linked in the following quote:

Here is a list I compiled mostly for myself, but with prompting from Rusty, I put more notes into it. The order is just how they came to mind using my log as a prompt. And any “rating” is solely my own. Others will disagree based on their experience. So given that caveat, here is the list so far.

Best shaves your way 😃
 

Star_Wahl_Clipper_Treker

Likes a fat handle in his hand
So I'm trying to get more serious about wet shaving after years of butchering my face/neck with a Norelco electric razor. Quick and dirty, I'm looking for something less irritating and more meditative.
I did try a trial box of butter/razor carts from Dollar Shave Club, but am not impressed. I get snags on day one stubble with a fresh cart, hot towel pre-shave and plenty of shave butter. So I'm hoping for a smoother process when I get equipped and experienced with DE shaving.

Found these forums after a bit of research on DE shaving. I'm a bit wary of straight razors, reckon I'd start with DE blades. Really good resources and guides here.

I'm looking at a Merkur 34G razor and an Omega brush to start with. Haven't yet decided on soap or aftershave, preferably something unscented, I still live with my parents and a lot of fragrances give my mom headaches.
Any suggestions?

Thanks

Welcome to Badger & Blade! :)

It brings me much pleasure to welcome you to your new shaving journey, congratulations on taking your very first step, to improving your shaving routine! Since you have been having a lot of issues with cartridge razors, I suggest staying away from them from now on. Additionally, electric razors are known for causing serious razor burn, unless you use a non foaming shave gel, lets put that electric down.

The Merkur 34G is a beautiful razor without a doubt! But did you know, that the same exact open comb razor is available in the Merkur 34C for only 38 dollars? Unless you really want the gold razor, I would go with the 34C to save some money. But that is an absolutely wonderful choice for your first razor, you've been doing your homework, and I like it!

Omega makes excellent brushes for the money! Have you decided on which type of Omega brush you'd like to go with? Since you are a beginner to wet shaving, I would suggest a synthetic Omega brush, maybe something in the 24 knott class.

Regarding a lather bowl, you could technically use a jumbo size mug to start with, but you will find that you will be hitting the sidewall with the brush handle a lot, and it will get annoying fast! While I am an advocate for Captains Choice lather bowls, but they are a bit on the expensive side, and since your just starting out, I think I am going to recommend the Proraso lather bowls for now.

However, if you are willing to spend more money, then go ahead and get yourself a Captains Choice ceramic or copper lather bowl. IMO, they are the best lather bowls you can buy and use!

Regarding shave soaps, I think a wet shaving beginner, should always start out with Tabac. I started out with Tabac two months ago, and I am planning to use it again soon, cause its been awhile. Tabac is a very high performance soap, meaning, it get nice nice and thick, and slick lather, which is what you want. You want a soap that lather's on nicely, to aid you in your quest for a good shave without razor burn.

Tabac may not be the greatest scent in the world, but its not really an overpowering scent. And once rinsed off from your face, the scent it only mild left on the skin, so I don't think your mom will have issues with it. And while I adore Stirling soaps, I feel that their scents are just way too strong, and will cause your mom issues.

Proraso also makes some good shave soap, not as good as Tabac for slickness performance though, but it is good. The Proraso WHITE I would classify as the least offending on scents, meaning, its a weak scent, not overpowering. Don't use Proraso GREEN or Proraso RED, those soaps have strong scents! Hopefully my post has been helpful to you in some way.
 

ajkel64

Check Out Chick
Staff member
Welcome to the forum from Australia Alexander. The Merkur 34G is one of my favourite razors. So much so that I have 2 of them plus 2 34C‘s as well.
 
Welcome to Badger & Blade! :)

It brings me much pleasure to welcome you to your new shaving journey, congratulations on taking your very first step, to improving your shaving routine! Since you have been having a lot of issues with cartridge razors, I suggest staying away from them from now on. Additionally, electric razors are known for causing serious razor burn, unless you use a non foaming shave gel, lets put that electric down.

The Merkur 34G is a beautiful razor without a doubt! But did you know, that the same exact open comb razor is available in the Merkur 34C for only 38 dollars? Unless you really want the gold razor, I would go with the 34C to save some money. But that is an absolutely wonderful choice for your first razor, you've been doing your homework, and I like it!

Omega makes excellent brushes for the money! Have you decided on which type of Omega brush you'd like to go with? Since you are a beginner to wet shaving, I would suggest a synthetic Omega brush, maybe something in the 24 knott class.

Regarding a lather bowl, you could technically use a jumbo size mug to start with, but you will find that you will be hitting the sidewall with the brush handle a lot, and it will get annoying fast! While I am an advocate for Captains Choice lather bowls, but they are a bit on the expensive side, and since your just starting out, I think I am going to recommend the Proraso lather bowls for now.

However, if you are willing to spend more money, then go ahead and get yourself a Captains Choice ceramic or copper lather bowl. IMO, they are the best lather bowls you can buy and use!

Regarding shave soaps, I think a wet shaving beginner, should always start out with Tabac. I started out with Tabac two months ago, and I am planning to use it again soon, cause its been awhile. Tabac is a very high performance soap, meaning, it get nice nice and thick, and slick lather, which is what you want. You want a soap that lather's on nicely, to aid you in your quest for a good shave without razor burn.

Tabac may not be the greatest scent in the world, but its not really an overpowering scent. And once rinsed off from your face, the scent it only mild left on the skin, so I don't think your mom will have issues with it. And while I adore Stirling soaps, I feel that their scents are just way too strong, and will cause your mom issues.

Proraso also makes some good shave soap, not as good as Tabac for slickness performance though, but it is good. The Proraso WHITE I would classify as the least offending on scents, meaning, its a weak scent, not overpowering. Don't use Proraso GREEN or Proraso RED, those soaps have strong scents! Hopefully my post has been helpful to you in some way.

What do you mean by 24-knott class? I've got an eye on a few synthetic Omega brushes on Amazon... unless there's local vendors here selling them. Getting a bit late, I'll look around tomorrow sometime.

To everyone else here, thanks for the tips and welcomes. I've got leads on about everything needed to start DE shaving. I'll likely start shopping this weekend.
 

Star_Wahl_Clipper_Treker

Likes a fat handle in his hand
What do you mean by 24-knott class? I've got an eye on a few synthetic Omega brushes on Amazon... unless there's local vendors here selling them. Getting a bit late, I'll look around tomorrow sometime.

To everyone else here, thanks for the tips and welcomes. I've got leads on about everything needed to start DE shaving. I'll likely start shopping this weekend.

As you shop for brushes, you will discover, that brushes are made in different knot sizes, this refers to how large the brush is in diameter. And then there is what is known as the loft, which is how tall the hairs of the brush are, measuring from the top of the handle, to the top of the hairs.

There are a lot of great posts on here discussing this stuff, this site is a real resource of information I can tell you that. If your somebody who likes a smaller brush, go for something in the 24 knot class of brushes. I am sure you will figure this all out over time. Sometimes it takes experience to know what you will end up liking, and thats perfectly normal.

For me, I love big boy brushes, so I got a 30 knot brush, but its huge. Brushes also come in, synthetic, bore, badger, or horse hair. I would always recommend a synthetic brush for a beginner to start out with. Then let you figure out what you want over the course of time, as you gain experience.

Were always eager to help, here at Badger & Blade!
 
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