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Products you wanted to love, but...

Which are those?

For me the following lists consist of products I bought and had high expectations from, but I eventually sold without regretting my decision.

Rocnel SE-P, not smooth at all
Rocnel SE50, too heavy, head was way too bulky
Gillette Aristocrat 1948-50, not a very smooth head
Gillette NEW ( [emoji6] ) SC, not a smooth razor
Merkur 34C HD, not a close shaver

Tabac, almost hated the scent
MWF, not as good as it's being said, lather that tends to disappear during passes
D.R. Harris Windsor and Marlborough, not great performance, very lightly scented
Valobra Unscented and Fougere, dried out my skin

Personna 74 (lots of them), there are better modern blades, too much hype because of the scarcity


These are my opinions. I understand that many share different thoughts about them. I've sold dozens of products and given a second chance to many. These are some that I'd never buy again, even though they're highly praised by some people.
 
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Declaration Grooming Trismegistus soap, Chatillon Lux Pure Lavender AS, Floid Vigoroso AS, Henry and Victoria soap, Saponificio Varesino soap and AS balm and Martin de Candre "Fougere" soap (great soap I absolutely hated the scent).

I know, I know, how is that possible as these are some "heavy hitters", but, I guess we're all different.
None of these were really bad, just I really wanted to like them a lot more than I did.
 
I wanted to love these but they just don't work out for me:

Merkur 34c- just didn't work well for my face
B&M glissant base- lather not how I like it
Witch Hazel- causes me to break out
Astra SP blades- not smooth
 
The two things that come to mind are the DE 89 and feather blades. The DE 89 is not a bad razor per se, it just didn't give me a close enough shave. I gave this one a good shot, but it just doesn't work for me. Feathers don't seem to last more than a few shaves for me before they become dull and "tuggy." Yes, they are sharp, but there are other super sharp blades that last longer for me, and are a lot cheaper to boot.
 
Good question. One that I have a love/hate relationship is the Proraso Cypress & Vetyver cologne to match the shaving cream. My favorite cream, and the scent of both the cream and the cologne is absolutely divine. The issue is longevity and sillage of the cologne. It honestly smells so good, I love it, but the scent fades so quickly. I know it's just a cologne and not an EdT or more, but still, I wish it would at least be more than a skin scent beyond one hour, but alas, on my skin it just doesn't last. YMMV on the longevity front though, and for anyone that likes woody scents, I'd still recommend it because it smells so great.
 
Would love to have loved the following:

Feather AS-D2. Beautiful razor. Not for me.

Muhle R106 AKA DE89

Timeless Bronze SB and OC- irritation I couldn’t ever get over.

Captain’s Choice soaps

KAI Blades- Perplexing, I love sharp blades. These felt like sandpaper. Worst blade I’ve ever used out of dozens. Weird deal.
 
Modern razors. With one exception, I'm all vintage Gillette.

Almost any blade not made in a Russia by Gillette. Some Personnas are OK. Yellow 7 o'clocks are not.

MWF - fighting with it, may conquer, may not. Proraso - didn't love the soaps, blue ASB burned a bit. Some tallow smell from Stirling soaps, although others are fine and work well.

Any brush that isn't badger.
 
Crown Shaving: I like supporting Canadian companies but their shave cream irritated my skin and their pre-shave "glide" reminds me of ultrasound gel.

Nacet blades: With the near universal love for the blade I feel a little left out because I get horrible shaves when I use them.

Tabac soap: LOVE the scent of Tabac (I keep the jar in my underwear drawer) but the soap gives me a horrible rash on my neck.
 
Scuttle: A regular mug is just as good for my face lathering habits.
The Veg: Using it as an air freshener now.
Nivea Sensitive Shaving Gel: Using it for my nape now.
 
Lord Super Stainless and Shark Super Chrome. Both were pretty miserable shaves (the Lord especially) in every razor i own. Also the Yaqi tuxedo knot synthetic. Brush is wonderfully soft but has so much backbone it’s a chore to get it to splay. I’ll continue to use it because it builds a great lather, but it’s just too springy for me to really love it.
 

AimlessWanderer

Remember to forget me!
Products I expected to work for me, and was wrong about:

Polsilver SI - Horrible blades. Tug like crazy in mild to moderate razors. Only gave a pleasant shave in aggressive razors, which I don't own and have no interest in.

Nacet, Gillette Silver Blue, and Kai blades - none of which were particularly comfortable, nor long lasting, compared to other blades I have tried. Good enough to use if I already owned some, but not good enough to buy again.

Shaving Creams - Yes, I appreciate that's quite a broad claim. I've tried four so far (Truefitt, ToOBS, Salter and Erasmic), all of which are passable for DE shaving if loaded heavily enough, but offer no advantage to me of any kind over cheaper and longer lasting soap.

Products I thought wouldn't work for me, and I was right:

Fatip Grande - Too aggressive. Has working angles which won't cut cleanly, but still damages skin. Only gave a pleasant shave if paired with the underwhelming Polsilver SI, as they cancelled out each other's negative traits.
 
Badger brushes. I tried a good highly recommended 2 band badger and did not like it. The I tried a Silvertip badger and I did not like it either.
Synthetic brushes work the best for me. They make lather much easier and more of it. (Good thread BTW.)
 
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