Well, it's not "a good shave" as in one shave that you repeat and repeat - you're welcome to that if it floats your boat. It's a rotation. So in that rotation might be 6 razors and 30 soaps. That's pretty typical round here. People like variety.
Mass market vs artisan soaps
- Thread starter matthewoli98
- Start date
Well, it's not "a good shave" as in one shave that you repeat and repeat - you're welcome to that if it floats your boat. It's a rotation. So in that rotation might be 6 razors and 30 soaps. That's pretty typical round here. People like variety.
$15 vintage Gillette + a few kinds of soap to rotate + 2 brushes to rotate + a few aftershaves puts you well below $100 including whatever blades you want and plenty of variety. If you like to spend money and collect that's fine but it's just silly to think that somebody *needs* 6 razors
Did I say that anybody "needs" 6 razors? There are plenty here who "want" 6 razors but that's different. I agree that you can get a great shave with an Ever-Ready 1912 or MMOC, a Yaqi synth brush and a tub of SV. That puts you well under $100. But would you want to use the same setup every day? Some do - and there are plenty of "use one item for a month" threads - and some don't.
I said earlier in this thread that I couldn't get Stirling to work for me, so now that I've got it figured out I thought it was only fair and fitting that I come back here to say that it's a fine performer and I've become quite a fan.
I think the key was just that I wasn't getting enough soap loaded up. I've been doing this long enough that I really should have known better, but there you go.
I was already a fan of their other stuff, but now that the shave soap's behaving too, I see what all the fuss is about.
I think the key was just that I wasn't getting enough soap loaded up. I've been doing this long enough that I really should have known better, but there you go.
I was already a fan of their other stuff, but now that the shave soap's behaving too, I see what all the fuss is about.
hey captn coconut.. i have one tub of stirling at home that i am not a fan of at all. Lathers up quite nice but it lacks the protection and slickness that i look for in a lather... after your comments I am going to give it one more go and load up the brush like i have never loaded before
Nobody believes that though.
The problem is that you may have to spend $500 on razors and soaps to end up knowing exactly what you want. If I'd stopped with what I started with - a Tech, Slim and Arko, Proraso, Cella and Tabac - I'd never have experienced the joys of using what I have now, which is a whole world better.
Ah, Yes!!
I started shaving about the time Wilkinson Sword introduced the first PTFE coated stainless steel razor blade. I used those blades for a while along with canned foam shave cream dispensed using chlorofluorocarbon gas, which is now banned.
In high school, Schick provided me with a free injector razor and trial pack of blades. I think it was a Type L.
Due to sensitive skin and a bad case of teenage acne, shaving with either a DE or SE blade was not comfortable, so I switched to a Norelco rotary electric shaver which I continued to use well past my teenage years. I had a fast growing beard; I was never satisfied with the closeness of the electric shaver as I had a five o'clock shadow by early afternoon. After the introduction of shave gels and modern cartridge razors, I started using them to get a closer shave, but I did so at the expense of irritation to my face.
It was only after may retirement that I started to explore more traditional shaving methods. I inherited a couple of straight razors from my uncle. I never knew him to use them personally; they may well have belonged to his father, whom I never met. However, that got me interested in exploring the use of straight razors.
I also started exploring DE razors and various degrees of efficiency and aggression. I started exploring DE razor blades and their various degrees of sharpness and smoothness. I started exploring the variety of shaving creams and soaps looking for those that would provide the most comfortable shave.
Over the course of my exploration I have spent several thousand dollars to acquire a large collection of straight razors, DE razors, hones, strops, razor blades, various shaving brushes (badger, boar, horsehair, and synthetic) and numerious shaving creams and soaps. It would have been a lot less expensive to continue using electric shavers, multi-blade cartridge razors and canned foams and gels. However, had I done so, I would not have experienced the joys of exploration, nor would I be achieving the same level of shaving enjoyment that I now experience each time I shave.
Although I could shave with a single razor and single soap, I have acquired a marvelous collection of shaving hardware and software. Thus, it is unlikely that I will every shave with exactly the same setup again. There are too many combinations.
If i have to do something every day then i may as well enjoy it. That's true whether its a Job, Exercise or Shaving. For shaving if that means using different razor/soap/AS combinations that's fine with me.
He doesn't believe it he just wrote it 5 times
Best of luck, I hope it works out well for you like it did for me. I think it's worth the effort of figuring it out if you're having trouble with it.
What I ended up doing was pinching a decent little portion off the edge of a sample puck and rubbing it into my stubble, then face lathering like I would with a shave stick. Since then I haven't had a problem loading from the puck like you normally would. For what it's worth, I face lather exclusively.
It might sound absurd, but it's almost like once I'd gotten a proper lather, my brain had cracked the code and I didn't have a problem with it any more.
i chickened out mate, didnt give it a go today.. will try tomorrow, might try and bloom it also, got to give it one more try.. will report back with the results
You are following a false "god" in believing that there are better DE razors than the Tech. Repent!!
That's a weird way to spell Rocket HD500
Thanks to the kindness of an individual I kow got my hands on some artisan soaps. Catie's Bubbles Connecticut Shade and Soapy Science Hanalai. Time to find out what's all the fuss about artisan soaps 
My very first observation is that they are both very hard (triple milled hopefully?) so I think they will last me plenty of time.
My very first observation is that they are both very hard (triple milled hopefully?) so I think they will last me plenty of time.I'm a believer in razor fidelity- rotating away from my favourite never seems 'fun and just doesn't produce as good a shave. Brushes and soaps can be more interchangeable and if I ever get bored with my set up that's a way to add so,e interest.
Thanks to the kindness of an individual I kow got my hands on some artisan soaps. Catie's Bubbles Connecticut Shade and Soapy Science Hanalai. Time to find out what's all the fuss about artisan soaps
Few (if any) artisan soaps are triple milled as they are usually made in small batches and the equipment to mill the soaps would be expensive. However, they can range in consistency from very soap (creams, croaps) up through very firm. Many artisan soaps are easily dented with the finger. A lot of the newer releases tend to be on the softer side. Whether soaps are hard or soft does not matter as long as you load the right amount of soap and add the right amount of water needed by the soap to hydrate the lather.
I have not used Soapy Science soaps, but I have a couple of Caties Bubbles Luxury Cream soaps. They are quite soft. I do not see Connecticut Shade soap listed on their web site, so it might be an older soap version. They do have the matching before and after shave listed.
I love CO Bigalow, and a few from Chiseled Face...
That being said, just discovered Mitchells Wool Fat.. That is the soap I will buy the rest of my life. Maybe some CF Pine Tar too. But MWF leaves my face feeling amazing.
But sometimes in a rush, do one pass with some Barborsol.. The shave isn't bad, but if i did that everyday, my skin issues would come back.
That being said, just discovered Mitchells Wool Fat.. That is the soap I will buy the rest of my life. Maybe some CF Pine Tar too. But MWF leaves my face feeling amazing.
But sometimes in a rush, do one pass with some Barborsol.. The shave isn't bad, but if i did that everyday, my skin issues would come back.
Interesting take, and I think, largely true.
Use a wetter then normal brush for Stirling, no need to bloom it.
