How do you choose what to buy?

[froogle_jimmy]

You could just go the simple route and buy everything!

LOL, yes that would make it really easy

You may also want to break it down into 2 categories:

1) soap manufacturer
2) scent

Razorock, Synergy and Stirling are all good soaps, so you can't go wrong choosing from any of those. Just find a scent or two that you think you'd like from their offerings and you won't be disappointed

My problem is I don't really know what the scents are just from the description.when a description says classic bay rum scent....well, I dont know what bay rum smells like. And I dont think I want to smell like I have rum on my face.....but people seem to love bay rum.

 

[Pepin]

When I started I read through a lot of the forum postings.
I choose sample packs of blades, and I found out that certain blades worked great for my face and head while some popular blades were horrible. You need to try things out, as it is YMMV.

You can or samples of creams, soaps, aftershave from Garys Samples.
Maggard sell samples of creams and soaps, as do Fendrihans and Italian Barber.
Connaught Shaving has great prices and low shipping costs.

Perhaps try some samples (soap, cream, and aftershave)whose scents/descriptions appeal to you. Then go for the bigger order and get the free shipping

 

[Spor]

Usually through looking at what is popular with others and deciding if I really want x product or x razor, also a bit of it comes from my experience that the fact that I live close to a gourmet shaving shop and they help me with recommendations as well!

 

[Pepin]

If and when I do place an order I think I will go with Italian Barber. Sounds like a great guy to deal with and his prices seem very good.

I live in Canada and have order from both Fendrihan and Italian Barber. Great service, quick shipping. I found only Connaught Shaving in the UK had some items that were cheaper.

 

[daedpa]

If you want to try CO Bigelow get Proraso instead because I think Proraso makes CO Bigelow and Shoppers Drug Mart sells Proraso (the SDM in Sudbury, Ontario does). Yes I know SDM is an expensive place to shop but see if they will match a Canadian website price.

 

[justino_14]

Trying out new things is half the fun of wet shaving. Every time I get a parcel in the mail it feels like Christmas morning. It is difficult to know what you will like when you are just starting out. The only way to figure out is to roll the dice and hope for the best. For me I'm all about reviews. I usually read a lot of reviews and watch some videos on reviews to see if I might like a certain product. In terms of scents I usually go with more universals scents like lime and such and try to buy samples of more exotic scents that I have no clue if I will love or hate. Overtime you will figure it out. There is lots of inexpensive quality products out there, don't think you have to spend a lot of money to get good products. The best thing to do is order online, and you might have to spend a little bit of money to make up for shipping costs.

 

[Oday450]

You might take a look at Garry's Sample Shop on the internet. He has samples of a lot of different items as well as beginner's sets. After looking at recommendations on B&B, I ordered samples from Garry and then chose the ones I liked most.

 

[xraygun]

I'm in the same boat here on the island. (bad pun) I bought TONS of stuff off the BST, what I didn't like I resold. Costs only a few bucks to try something that way. Once I found some manufacturers and vendors I liked, I just ordered up whatever sounded good, sold the stuff that wasn't for me on BST at a very small loss.
Try stuff that everyone is always talking about. MWF, DR Harris, Florid, Spieck etc.

 

[froogle_jimmy]

I had not seen the sample packs of creams and soaps before. That is a great idea!!! and upon reading lots of reviews and hearing what fellow B& Bers seem to really like I have a few ideas for my next order. MWF, TOBs, Razorock and maybe Dr.Harris and Spieck. Thanks everyone for all your input....now I just have to wait for the funds and convince my wife to let me buy a bunch of shave stuff!!!

 

[SyntheticEvil13]

Garry's shop on here has a good list of samples.

 

[celestino]

When it comes to scents, unfortunately, it's all trial and error! No way to avoid it. What works for some, may not work for you.
Best of luck.

 

[dfoulk]

I read reviews to see what is getting the most praise and definitely purchase samples whenever available.

You'll still find some that you don't like but hopefully not too many.

Be very particular about what you buy or you'll end up with a lot of below average soaps.

 

[redisland]

I do tons of research on the products I want to buy, followed by searching for reviews here at B&B........if the products have good reviews here and at other places on the interweb, I'll pull the trigger on the product.