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Newbie looking for AD suggestions

Hi everyone! Thanks for making such a great forum to lurk in. I've been spending far too much of my time reading all around B&B for the past few weeks and I decided to finally bite the proverbial bullet--creating an account. I've had some cheap wetshave gear for a little more than a year now, but the once-a-week shaves didn't go very well. Even worse, I wasn't really putting forth the effort to do better.:blushing:

But since the first day I found B&B I've been striving for better and better. I'm up to about twice a week with very rare blood loss (never had a ton to begin with) and above the jaw is fairly clean with very little irritation. Below the jaw is much less clean cut with a persistent patch of irritation on the lower half. Coincidentally, this is the same area that switches from N-S to pointing towards the ears. I've seen a ton of posts about similar problems and I think I know what to focus on, so I'm sure the technique will come to me eventually.

But I'm rather impatient to be rid of that patch--then I can shave even more often! :thumbup:
So, I'm looking for help choosing new products. I figure good quality products might be a little more tolerant of my naivete and healthier for my skin. I pretty much haven't tried any of the usual suspects around here that everyone talks about with such high regard, so I was hoping you guys might help me pick some good stuff to try. I'm most interested in getting some soaps that are easy to create a good lather with even in moderately hard water, but other consumable product suggestions are welcome too. Arko and Haslinger are currently at the top of the list, and I already have Thayer's WH, Proraso White pre/post, and Nivea ASB.

I'm also now considering getting a soap with menthol or a similar cooling agent for a real cold water shaving experiment. I know this sounds like far too many routine changes, but I have good reason. Last night my shave didn't go too well. Not horrible, but the persistent irritation got noticeably worse and the actual shave was mediocre. This morning I saw how bad some of the patches of neckbeard were and I did something a little crazy. I splashed cold water on my face and gently buffed up the worst offenders--against the grain with only cold water and the remnants of last night's ASB! In retrospect that was a very bad idea, but there were no consequences: I now have a few tiny patches of BBS skin (or near to it) on my neck with no additional irritation!:001_cool:

Thanks for reading everyone! I'd love to hear all of your thoughts and suggestions. One last thing! I'm yet another of the poor college students, so I can't go and drop $200 on "samples." That's the main reason I'm posting here and not on the soaps forum. :lol:
 
Welcome aboard! Two of my favorite soaps are Catie's Bubbles and Bronson. Both are easy to lather and they perform with the best of them.
 
Hello and welcome. Great to have you here on B&B.

An easy soap? Proraso green. Many of us started on that one.
 
I an a Newbie and started using Proraso White (for sensitive skin).
easy to lather (in bowl or face) and the smells is very pleasant
 
Welcome to B&B [MENTION=109588]OtterLunacy[/MENTION]! Love the name! I think your setup now is great. I'd try an upgrade at razor to a Merkur 34C, a blade sampler and the Proraso Green soap for the cold water shave.
 
Welcome to B&B Otter. Gonna have to go with mightyeskimo on the Merkur 34c and blade sample pack. It's what I used when I started and still use when I shave with a DE. Maggards also has some of their brand of safety razors that are very good quality, and you can get one for as low as $18.
I am a big fan of Barrister & Mann's Latha line for shave soaps. It's the best value I've ever seen at $11 for a 4 oz puck and It's almost impossible to not get a great lather with it. Great glide and post-shave feel as well.
Maggards also has a great synthetic shaving brush for around $10, which is similar to the Razorock Plissoft,(about the same price). I have one of the Maggards brushes and it's been very good to me. I have no problem recommending it to anyone.
 
Thanks for the warm welcome everyone! I'll definitely be making a list of items to try.
I'd try an upgrade at razor to a Merkur 34C, a blade sampler and the Proraso Green soap for the cold water shave.
I didn't want to make my first post even longer by rambling about my razor, but. . . Almost as soon as I started browsing B&B I realized that my assumption that all DEs are pretty similar was very, very wrong. I noticed there were qualities such as "aggressiveness" and that different razors do, in fact, perform very differently. I also noticed that my razor had a pretty big blade gap compared to a lot of the razors I saw around here--I was shocked to see that on some razors the head and guard practically touched without a blade! I eagerly looked around for posts about the aggressiveness of razors and quickly found a few different threads in which the Merkur 1904 OC was mentioned as being very mild--"stupid mild," according to one post. So I looked at my trusty Amazon Prime (student!) and found it for a price I could live with. In retrospect the 34C probably would have been a better choice, but the 1904 seems to do a pretty good job and allowed me to see what all the OC fuss was about. But it might be a little too mild. The starter DE only needed to have one pass on the face for something close to DFS but this definitely needs a minimum of 2 with touchups just to look decent.

I did pick up a blade sampler from Try A Blade containing 5 each of Astra SS, SP, Persona Lab Blues, Israeli Reds, Derby Extras, Gillette 7'o clock yellow, GSB, and Wilkies. Considering I started with Feathers, this has been a real eye opener. And probably the real reason I'm not bleeding anymore. :lol: I also picked up an Omega boar hoping it would be better than my scratchy pure badger--the only good thing about the badger is its stainless steel handle. So far I've had trouble lathering in general, especially on the boar. It probably needs a little more breaking in. I did start face lathering, which seems to be building better lather than my darn bowl, so maybe the boar will do better there.

I can't believe I didn't think of Proraso green on my own! That probably is the best candidate for the CWS test since I have the "free" Prime shipping. Too bad the Ingrams doesn't do Prime shipping--and is marked up quite a bit compared to WCS. I might settle for just the Proraso and Arko for the next month or two. Next time I get a decent paycheck that doesn't get eaten by bills I'll definitely have to put together a hefty (for me) cart over on WCS or one of the other B&B supporting vendors. I don't seem to have much RAD, but the SSAD might be kicking in. :huh:
 
I got a tube of proraso green and had my first shave with it last night. I didn't have other menthol creams and I really enjoyed it.
 
Thanks for the warm welcome everyone! I'll definitely be making a list of items to try.

I didn't want to make my first post even longer by rambling about my razor, but. . . Almost as soon as I started browsing B&B I realized that my assumption that all DEs are pretty similar was very, very wrong. I noticed there were qualities such as "aggressiveness" and that different razors do, in fact, perform very differently. I also noticed that my razor had a pretty big blade gap compared to a lot of the razors I saw around here--I was shocked to see that on some razors the head and guard practically touched without a blade! I eagerly looked around for posts about the aggressiveness of razors and quickly found a few different threads in which the Merkur 1904 OC was mentioned as being very mild--"stupid mild," according to one post. So I looked at my trusty Amazon Prime (student!) and found it for a price I could live with. In retrospect the 34C probably would have been a better choice, but the 1904 seems to do a pretty good job and allowed me to see what all the OC fuss was about. But it might be a little too mild. The starter DE only needed to have one pass on the face for something close to DFS but this definitely needs a minimum of 2 with touchups just to look decent.

I did pick up a blade sampler from Try A Blade containing 5 each of Astra SS, SP, Persona Lab Blues, Israeli Reds, Derby Extras, Gillette 7'o clock yellow, GSB, and Wilkies. Considering I started with Feathers, this has been a real eye opener. And probably the real reason I'm not bleeding anymore. :lol: I also picked up an Omega boar hoping it would be better than my scratchy pure badger--the only good thing about the badger is its stainless steel handle. So far I've had trouble lathering in general, especially on the boar. It probably needs a little more breaking in. I did start face lathering, which seems to be building better lather than my darn bowl, so maybe the boar will do better there.

I can't believe I didn't think of Proraso green on my own! That probably is the best candidate for the CWS test since I have the "free" Prime shipping. Too bad the Ingrams doesn't do Prime shipping--and is marked up quite a bit compared to WCS. I might settle for just the Proraso and Arko for the next month or two. Next time I get a decent paycheck that doesn't get eaten by bills I'll definitely have to put together a hefty (for me) cart over on WCS or one of the other B&B supporting vendors. I don't seem to have much RAD, but the SSAD might be kicking in. :huh:
That is very loyal and supportive
 
Keep plugging away at it Otter, it's gets easier and faster with practice and for me, shaving is some nice, quiet and enjoyable "me" time that I look forwards to every day. If you're having trouble lathering in a bowl or mug, I went to Woolworths and got a cheap dessert bowl that was dark blue (easier to see the foam against it) with a grooved pattern on the inside that helped to build the lather. That made a big difference for me when I started out. Since then I've moved on to a Fine lather bowl which is awesome.

This DE shaving hobby can be as expensive or cheap as you want it to be. One good tip is to tell your family and friends about it, a tube of shaving cream, new brush, bowl or some blades makes for a cheap and easy birthday/fathers day/christmas present for them to give you. My brother just lost his job for the third time in eighteen months (none of them his fault) so I gave him a year's supply of blades to cheer him up - cost me about $12.
 
Everything and anything! Your wallet is the limit! The official B&B answer to any question like this is "Yes, and more"
 
Thanks again for all the support everyone!
If you're having trouble lathering in a bowl or mug, I went to Woolworths and got a cheap dessert bowl that was dark blue (easier to see the foam against it) with a grooved pattern on the inside that helped to build the lather. That made a big difference for me when I started out. Since then I've moved on to a Fine lather bowl which is awesome.
I actually did pick up a lather bowl, though it has very minimal texture on the inside. Right now face lathering seems to be working the best for me, so I'll mostly stick with that for now. In a few months when the rest of my technique is doing better I'll revisit bowl lathering. It seems useful for getting fickle soaps to work, and I definitely want to try the Fat at some point.
One good tip is to tell your family and friends about it, a tube of shaving cream, new brush, bowl or some blades makes for a cheap and easy birthday/fathers day/christmas present for them to give you. My brother just lost his job for the third time in eighteen months (none of them his fault) so I gave him a year's supply of blades to cheer him up - cost me about $12.
That was nice of you! He sure has some bad luck. I will definitely be hinting at all kinds of wet shave gear as we get closer to X-mas and my B-day, but sadly those are quite a ways away. I really wish I had found B&B a few months ago!
 
I love getting a package of shaving gear in the mail. It's like being a kid again and opening a present on Christmas morning! It's worth the wife's disapproving frown.

I figured it would cheer my brother up no end to get that feeling too. He's got a law degree and a science degree and ten years employment experience, but a crappy economy with no jobs means he's probably going to end up pulling beers in a pub. At least he'll be BBS shaven when he does it.
 
Hello Otter! *waves* I've nothing useful to add to this discussion, but had to pop in for just a moment. Welcome to the group and thank you for the warm welcome that you gave to me! :laugh:
 
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