So I've made the switch.

[conk]

I recently went out and bought a merkur long handle safety razor, some colonel conk Bayrum shave soap, and a brush. They wanted to sell me a mug, but not for the $15 price tag for something I have in my kitchen/ boxfull in the garage. Besides, I found a nice brown and tan Virginia city, Nevada mug with cracks in the glaze that give it a nice rustic look. (not that it matters)

I have been using the mach 3 for as long as they have been available. I started out shaving with an electric razor and that wasn't good at all. I really had no problems with the mach 3. Just a few ingrown hairs here and there. Not much razor burn or irritation. The mach 3 was a real quik shave. I could just zoom that thing around my face with out any regards about getting cut. I tried the 4 blade schick as a free sample, the results were about the same as a mach 3.

I made the switch because of the rising costs of blade cartridges and I hear I can get a much nicer, closer shave with a brush and safety razor. I've been growning a beard for about 5 weeks, but I'm ready to get rid of it.


besides the cutlery/knife/sword shop in the shopping mall that I bought the razor at, is online the only good place to buy soaps and replacement blades?

do supermarkets usually sell good blades and soaps?


I've read the faq and some other sites on wetshaving tecniques. I think I'll shave tomorrow, so I will post how it went later.

 

[TomH]

Hi Conk,

Welcome to B&B and in the world of real-wet-shaving

Thomas

 

[rafikz]

Wilkomenn

 

[salsadj]

 

[Lightwaves]

Goodluck pal,

Let me know how it goes, I gotta do some reading around but have yet to take the dive away from the trusty safe Mach 3's. Using a brush and better shave soaps have brought me a long way...

 

[Ashe]

I can only agree with the last post here. Even when using a Mach 3, a proper brush and a good quality cream resulting in excellent lather can go a very long way.

However the end result with a DE/SR is in my opinion better because of a) the classic ritual, b) the more careful you need to be during the shave and c) the feeling you had a great shave taking into account points a) and b).

 

[fuerein]

Welcome

do supermarkets usually sell good blades and soaps?

Some do.

The blades you get in most supermarkets aren't great. Particularly the gillette DE blades normally get low marks, the store branded ones (manufactured by Personna) get slightly higher marks from some people. eBay is prbably the best way to get blades, especially on the cheap. You can pick up 100 Derby or Isreali blades (both get high marks) for around 15. Someone on the forums, I forget who off the top of my head, has a sampler with 5 different types of blades that all normally get high marks for a decent price.

Edit: the person selling samplers is letterk.

The Williams shave soap, the most likely one to be found in a supermarket, gets decent reviews. While if you can find them the Palmolive (usually found in drug stores, I know the CVS near me sells it), Kiss My Face, and Toms of Maine (both KMF and Toms can often be found in health food stores and Whole Foods Market) creams get good marks (of those four soaps/creams I can only personally attest to Toms).

 

[Quagmire]

& good luck.

 

[catatonic]

Hey hey, welcome!

Yeah, Williams is the most common "grocery/drugstore" mug soap, and it's alright. It lathers up easily into a insanely thick lather, has decent lubrication, and a citrus like scent.

If you want a nicer soap or cream, go to Target, to the "Spa" section, it's located in the cosmetics aisles. There you will find Proraso. I'm still debating if I like the soap or the cream better. They don't lather up all that well (could just be my poor brush form), but the Eucalyptus/Menthol within it leaves my face feeling good, reduces irritation, and offers great lubrication. I'm also a fan of their after-shave balm.

If anyone wants a cheap shaving mug, I just bought an all white procelain mug from Target, in the tableware section. They sell them singly, and it's just a hair larger than the diameter of a cake of williams soap, so I figure it's about perfect size. It's also tall enough that my Proraso brush seems to sit perfectly inside of it.

 

[htownmmm]

Welcome to the collective.

Resistance is futile- you will be assimilated!


Marty

 

[JMT]

Welcome,

Target stores sell the Proraso line. You have to look for them though. They are not in the shaving section. The proraso products are in the Spa section located near cosmetics. Don't ask about Proraso, nobody will know what you are talking about. Just ask where tha spa section is then look for yourself. I would recommend picking up the Pre shave, the soap in the small green tub and a tube of cream. Also, if you don't already have a good aftershave balm Proraso makes one of these than works very well.

Also there may be a Crabtree & Evelyn store near you. If so, they have a full line of soaps, creams, and aftershave in various scents.

Good luck,

 

[Ashe]

Welcome
The blades you get in most supermarkets aren't great. Particularly the gillette DE blades normally get low marks, the store branded ones (manufactured by Personna) get slightly higher marks from some people.

Do you mean the blades that are manufactured in the US? I've read numerous reviews and most of them mention a clear difference between the US and the Swedish made Gillettes where the Swedish ones are far superior.

The reason I'm asking is because I started with the Swedish Gillettes a few weeks ago and had very comfortable shaves + the fact that these are widely available in just about any big store in my neighborhood.

 

[fuerein]

Do you mean the blades that are manufactured in the US? I've read numerous reviews and most of them mention a clear difference between the US and the Swedish made Gillettes where the Swedish ones are far superior.

The reason I'm asking is because I started with the Swedish Gillettes a few weeks ago and had very comfortable shaves + the fact that these are widely available in just about any big store in my neighborhood.

Yeah, sorry should have been more specific. The US Gillettes aren't well liked on this forum.