Sometimes the cheap stuff really works!

[El Comanche]

So I've been goin' at this 4 months or so now. Been trying different razors, blades, creams, soaps and aftershaves. Totally addicted. I dropped my EJ DE89 and broke it(usually use feathers with it, my favorite combo.)

So I went back to my Weshei TTO with a bluebird blade(4th shave in). I used Kiss My Face mint shave cream and whipped up the best lather I've ever got with a $12 Omega boar travel brush. 3 passes and a few touch ups and I was BBS without a single weeper! Hot then cold rinse. I usually do witch hazel in between but this time I just went straight to some Aqua Velva classic for the first time since in 25 years and WOW! My face feels fantastic. This is definitely a combo I will be coming back to . . .

 

[SRock]

Sometimes the cheap stuff really works!

I agree with you on this. I don't have much left in my den that I consider cheap but I've zero doubt I could lather up some VDH with a cheap VDH brush and used a run down beat up Tech and get a quality shave.

I think the ability to get a good shave with just about anything is likely a testament to your technique. If your lather skills and blade wielding are stellar you won't need the glide/protection of great soaps or the superior design of a more expensive razor.

That said, I love the good stuff!

 

[michiganlover]

If I didn't have the spirit of adventure, and want to constantly try new things, I could get a wonderful close shave every day with:

-A well worn vintage Gillette Tech
-Personna Red Box Blades
-VDH Deluxe
-Omega boar brush
-Generic witch hazel
-Barbasol Brisk/ Pacific Rush Aftershave.

Because of the spirit of adventure, I have 10 razors, 10-15 soaps/ creams, and 5-7 different aftershaves.

There are some value minded items that simply work, and work very well.

 

[Thebigspendur]

There are very few things in this world that require you to spend alot of money to get a good result. Shaving is no different. The most basic stuff will work the same as you could drive around in a yugo. It will get you where you want to go. Some do and are satisfied but most aren't. Just an observation.

 

[Hreafn]

I dont know if i could talk to people if i had broken my ej.

 

[El Comanche]

Sent EJ an email and they are sending a new head free of charge. Great CS!

 

[Slivovitz]

I intend to give my Weishi another shot sometime this year. It was the first DE I tried when I returned to DE shaving last year, and I couldn't get a close shave. I hadn't really worked on technique yet, and I was using Merkur blades.

I usually use VdH or Williams soap, and a brush that cost me $14. Variety is great, and I have a big selection of razors, but I could get by quite nicely with one injector. The blades aren't much more expensive, since I get more shaves out of each one.

 

[Wil Dorenbos]

I mainly use "cheap" stuff: ARKO stick (1 usd), vintage nos German razor (15 usd - Enigma, 10 usd - Upsal, 5 usd - Rotbart Sportsman), Jaguar 1056 boar brush (10 usd), Chinese / Indian blades (10 dollarcents, tops), ARKO A/S Cologne (5 usd per bottle), Witch Hazel (5 usd per bottle). I get good results and my skin feels great.

 

[El Comanche]

I intend to give my Weishi another shot sometime this year. It was the first DE I tried when I returned to DE shaving last year, and I couldn't get a close shave. I hadn't really worked on technique yet, and I was using Merkur blades.

The Weshei was my first too and I could not get a close shave either. I was sure it was not aggressive enough. I attribute it to two things now:

1. I did not have my technique down, it really took a couple months.
2. Personna Reds and Derbys just didn't do it for me. The Bluebirds rock!

 

[David in Boston]

There are bargains out there for wet-shaving etc.

IMHO for shaving:

Dollar Store aftershave, (Old Spice and Brut) clones for under $2

VDH shave soap for $1.35 a puck

Arko shave stick for around $2 each

And finally I found a place where I can get Astra SP at $9 for 100.

 

[WinstonSmith]

One of the first brush creams I bought was TOBS "Shaving Shop". Hated it at first, got better results from Derby cream mixed with an old puck of soap. A few months of horsing around with cheap stuff (Conk, VDH, Erasmic), and I tried the TOBS again for the first time in quite a while...

NOW I understand

 

[Monkeydad]

Definitely!

I use a VDH brush and soap almost daily and love the results. I'm getting into "modifying" the soap with scents/shave creams/microwaves now but it's still cheap.

Also, I do have a Simpsons badger brush but prefer the VDH most days because it works better on soap, plus unlike the Simpsons, it hangs from my homemade brush stand. The Simpsons is smaller so I reserve it for traveling or when I decide to use CO Bigelow instead of soap. I hate that it doesn't hang from my stand but of course, when I built it, I only had the VDH and made it to that brush's handle dimensions.

Maybe I'll get a badger knot and put it in a VDH handle someday so I can hang it up.

 

[talibeard]

Most of the cheap stuff has been around so long for a reason!

 

[Shave A Buck]

It does'nt have to be exspensive to be good!! I'ven been sayin it all along.

 

[Compaq]

Sometimes the cheap stuff really works!

Col Conk amber works great.. I get it for 50 NOK here in norway (+ shipping)

 

[SUMMERSRL]

I think the ability to get a good shave with just about anything is likely a testament to your technique. If your lather skills and blade wielding are stellar you won't need the glide/protection of great soaps or the superior design of a more expensive razor.

Well said.

 

[BroJohn]

Some guys have the mistaken notion that expensive stuff is best or will work better. This isn't true, of course.

To really simplify this whole process, you can break it down to two categories:

1) What you use, (razor, brush, cream, blade, alum, aftershaves, etc,. eg, 'stuff'),

and,

2) What you do, (location, direction, order, and length of razor strokes, pressure or lack of pressure on razor, buffing if any, blade angle, etc,. eg, 'technique').

You can use rather humble, modest cost products and get a very fine, comfortable shave using good technique.

You can also use the very finest products, sharpest blades, high-end razor, and with poor technique suffer weepers, cuts, nicks, scuffs, razor burn and be frustrated.

'Technique' is more important than 'stuff'.

I get along just fine with a lot of the inexpensive products. I do use some luxury items from time to time, but not because they 'give a better shave'.

-- John Gehman

 

[Shave A Buck]

Other than scent and skin irritation issues, what is the difference between the exspensive stuff and the cheap. Water, steric acid, yada yada yada is how they all begin it seems. I think lanolin and other additives are another thing, but the basic make up is still the same. We as board members know how to shave properly, I think no matter what we used, we'd still get a great shave using the principals we already know.

 

[talibeard]

,
I get along just fine with a lot of the inexpensive products. I do use some luxury items from time to time, but not because they 'give a better shave'.

The nail on the head!

Water, steric acid, yada yada yada is how they all begin it seems.

I much prefer them when they start with 'Potassium Tallowate' and have the 'Aqua' further down on the list!

 

[_JP_]

Interesting discussion. I think that it goes to show how important technique is in order to get a good shave. The best stuff in the world won't give a decent shave unless you know how to use it properly.