i'd like to help out my fellow wet shavers from manila. if they do not already know. perhaps they can give me some recs as well. or at least for the lurkers.
DE Blades - we have dorco, a korean brand at the hortaleza beauty centers. not the high quality ones either so perhaps we're stuck with ordering online. but they may be decent quality even for the shaving connoisseur.
DE Razor - i've seen the refillable straights like the ones our dime barbers use at hbc but these are not good for noobs and are even harder to use than a regular straight so i hear. the barbers apparently get theirs from some type of door to door salesman or in easier filipino terms "naglalako". i bought my safety razor in HK on nathan road and planned to refill with dorcos but never got the hang of it much. i'm a brute with my motor skills. so no specific recs here as i've not found any back home. i use a sensor or a mach III most of the time.
Creams - best value/ quality is kiss my face lavender shaving cream from beauty bar. they also have anthony logistics (damn expensive even on sale) and burt bees. no bay rum aftershave though (so if they read this!) kmf only come in smaller tubes and i haven't seen other scents aside from lavender but i haven't checked other locations. adora has e^ shave, which is an interesting modern brand. i've tried the white tea. body shop has the maca root stuff. just as stinky as the old one. good enough. we also have crabtree but they rarely have sienna cream. sandalwood soap was alright but i'm not a picky guy so it may be beneath some members here hehe! there is also l'occitane at essenses in rustan's. i bought my cade there but never got to refilling it. good stuff. maybe when i run out of kmf. there is also a store in trinoma but i've been there only once.
Aftershaves - Cash and Carry has the cheapie drugstore stuff. of course stocks are not consistent but i've picked up vintage old spice, aqua velvas in glass bottles, mennen, brut. no pinauds! we have a limited selection of nivea balms at drugstores too. i've been using kmf patchouli moisturizer lately. i think i'll try the more modern aqua velvas next time. since i just went through a vintage drugstore aftershave phase.
they also have canned creams. the best i've scored is barbasol and c.o. bigelow barber elixir red (rebranded proraso? no wonder it was good). they also have foamy red (generic but not sold here) and aveeno gel (better gel than nivea but not as great feeling as barbasol and bigelow). there are many more canned creams (edge stuff) but IMO barbasol or broke! the bigelow i feel was a 1 time thing but maybe you can order stuff. i dunno i should try to order pinaud. also try to apply barbasol with a brush. i've never gotten a close shave when i applied it by hand and thought at first it was crappy cream. bigelow was good from the start even applied by hand.
Badger Brush- adora is the only place that regularly stocks them. they are from e^shave and some have downright funky designs. i got the small travel brush in clear which i liked since it was the most classically shaped. a little small but economical in the usage. plus it's the only brush i've used so i'm used to its shape/ size by now. they are real badger hair. loved that new badger smell! crabtree has the good value EJ brushes people rave about here from time to time but they sell out very fast and i don't think it was that cheap. if i remember it was close to $100 but may be a different crabtree brush than the $35 one. and the woman may have been wrong as i just asked her how much they sold for when they were out of stock. also that was a couple of years back so you may want to check for availability.
Colognes- this could take a whole other thread but AC+163 in greenbelt 5 stocks carthusia and musgo. the carthusia is a little expensive IMO (maybe i'd be willing to spend the same amount on acqua di parma in rustan's essences but they go on sale anyways so no need) but the musgo is great value. i didn't know they sold for not that high a retail (thanks basenotes) so i never paid any attention to them. no shaving products last i checked. hmm... what else? adora has floris if you're looking for those non designer/ niche masculine houses. also rusatn's essences has pino silvestre and woods of windsor.
Barbers- here is a real dollar (after conversion) barber. i'll only be able to do this in manila but sometimes i go to a salon to get a haircut and have the neighborhood barber do my sideburns.
frivolous i know. they are hit and miss with haircuts though. i guess if you always got a crewcut they'd be more consistent but their short back and side or barbers cut look different everytime. you can direct them though and i've got some pretty awesome haircuts from the one on my street. i brought him a pic of someone in a french crew and he gave me a caesar lol! he was shocked though at how awesome it looked. also the korean expats are the best barbers in manila. their technique at using their modern compact razors is so good they just put the locals to shame. i only go to them now. you're going to look trendy when you step out but if you style conservatively anyway it will look conservative the next day. one last thing, the nostalgic smell of the more expensive barbers that rented in malls was mennen. we've never had pinaud (as far as i know). i've never even seen a bottle in person ever. even more specifically i'd say iggy's barbershop in viramall had mennen in plant spray containers and probably diluted in some water so that's what my barbershop smelled like.
this may interest tourists. old army and navy club barber that used to be within the walled city of intramuros.
http://www.bworldonline.com/weekender/content.php?id=3028
also, the korean salon i go to.
http://www.tonyandjackey.net/branches_malate.php
hope this helps!
DE Blades - we have dorco, a korean brand at the hortaleza beauty centers. not the high quality ones either so perhaps we're stuck with ordering online. but they may be decent quality even for the shaving connoisseur.
DE Razor - i've seen the refillable straights like the ones our dime barbers use at hbc but these are not good for noobs and are even harder to use than a regular straight so i hear. the barbers apparently get theirs from some type of door to door salesman or in easier filipino terms "naglalako". i bought my safety razor in HK on nathan road and planned to refill with dorcos but never got the hang of it much. i'm a brute with my motor skills. so no specific recs here as i've not found any back home. i use a sensor or a mach III most of the time.
Creams - best value/ quality is kiss my face lavender shaving cream from beauty bar. they also have anthony logistics (damn expensive even on sale) and burt bees. no bay rum aftershave though (so if they read this!) kmf only come in smaller tubes and i haven't seen other scents aside from lavender but i haven't checked other locations. adora has e^ shave, which is an interesting modern brand. i've tried the white tea. body shop has the maca root stuff. just as stinky as the old one. good enough. we also have crabtree but they rarely have sienna cream. sandalwood soap was alright but i'm not a picky guy so it may be beneath some members here hehe! there is also l'occitane at essenses in rustan's. i bought my cade there but never got to refilling it. good stuff. maybe when i run out of kmf. there is also a store in trinoma but i've been there only once.
Aftershaves - Cash and Carry has the cheapie drugstore stuff. of course stocks are not consistent but i've picked up vintage old spice, aqua velvas in glass bottles, mennen, brut. no pinauds! we have a limited selection of nivea balms at drugstores too. i've been using kmf patchouli moisturizer lately. i think i'll try the more modern aqua velvas next time. since i just went through a vintage drugstore aftershave phase.
they also have canned creams. the best i've scored is barbasol and c.o. bigelow barber elixir red (rebranded proraso? no wonder it was good). they also have foamy red (generic but not sold here) and aveeno gel (better gel than nivea but not as great feeling as barbasol and bigelow). there are many more canned creams (edge stuff) but IMO barbasol or broke! the bigelow i feel was a 1 time thing but maybe you can order stuff. i dunno i should try to order pinaud. also try to apply barbasol with a brush. i've never gotten a close shave when i applied it by hand and thought at first it was crappy cream. bigelow was good from the start even applied by hand.
Badger Brush- adora is the only place that regularly stocks them. they are from e^shave and some have downright funky designs. i got the small travel brush in clear which i liked since it was the most classically shaped. a little small but economical in the usage. plus it's the only brush i've used so i'm used to its shape/ size by now. they are real badger hair. loved that new badger smell! crabtree has the good value EJ brushes people rave about here from time to time but they sell out very fast and i don't think it was that cheap. if i remember it was close to $100 but may be a different crabtree brush than the $35 one. and the woman may have been wrong as i just asked her how much they sold for when they were out of stock. also that was a couple of years back so you may want to check for availability.
Colognes- this could take a whole other thread but AC+163 in greenbelt 5 stocks carthusia and musgo. the carthusia is a little expensive IMO (maybe i'd be willing to spend the same amount on acqua di parma in rustan's essences but they go on sale anyways so no need) but the musgo is great value. i didn't know they sold for not that high a retail (thanks basenotes) so i never paid any attention to them. no shaving products last i checked. hmm... what else? adora has floris if you're looking for those non designer/ niche masculine houses. also rusatn's essences has pino silvestre and woods of windsor.
Barbers- here is a real dollar (after conversion) barber. i'll only be able to do this in manila but sometimes i go to a salon to get a haircut and have the neighborhood barber do my sideburns.
frivolous i know. they are hit and miss with haircuts though. i guess if you always got a crewcut they'd be more consistent but their short back and side or barbers cut look different everytime. you can direct them though and i've got some pretty awesome haircuts from the one on my street. i brought him a pic of someone in a french crew and he gave me a caesar lol! he was shocked though at how awesome it looked. also the korean expats are the best barbers in manila. their technique at using their modern compact razors is so good they just put the locals to shame. i only go to them now. you're going to look trendy when you step out but if you style conservatively anyway it will look conservative the next day. one last thing, the nostalgic smell of the more expensive barbers that rented in malls was mennen. we've never had pinaud (as far as i know). i've never even seen a bottle in person ever. even more specifically i'd say iggy's barbershop in viramall had mennen in plant spray containers and probably diluted in some water so that's what my barbershop smelled like.
this may interest tourists. old army and navy club barber that used to be within the walled city of intramuros.
http://www.bworldonline.com/weekender/content.php?id=3028
also, the korean salon i go to.
http://www.tonyandjackey.net/branches_malate.php
hope this helps!
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