Starter kit/basket for brother-in-law

[JMan424]

Hi all -

Last time my brother in law was visiting (he and I are tight and typically have a boy's night hanging out when he and my sis are in town) I "caught" him checking out / admiring my shaving gear.

His bday is coming up in a week or two and incidentally we're all meeting up on Friday in Ann Arbor (taking kids to hands-on museum there) so I thought I'd deliver a bday present early, especially since I've kind of forgotten his last couple.

So here was the idea: Put together a nice, maybe not deluxe, but everything-you-need beginner shaving set. The missus was highly supportive, can't get over how lucky I am with her, and picked up the basket and arranged everything with the tissue paper and shreds and such so it looks all professional.

Contents, roughly left-to-right,
Ogallala Bay Rum aftershave
Ogallala Bay Rum cologne
Ogallala Bay Rum shaving soap sampler (5 mini pucks of their various scents in that little cardboard box)
Omega Stripey brush with stand
Merkur 23C
Shaving mug with 15-20 blades, most of which I got free thanks to generosity of others in this forum (thanks again everybody!)
Kiss My Face cream (unscented)
Styptic pen
Dickinson's Witch Hazel
Shave Secret
Nivea High Performane ASL

And along the back those 4 terry cloth hand towels we picked up at Target last night, as a 4-pack, for only $2.99!! I figured would be good for prep, wiping up counter splashes, etc.

I think I'm going to add a half-used tub of Mama Bear's Lavendar soap so he has a non-Bay rum soap, not to mention one that's ready to use, since it's getting any mileage here anyway.

To all those who will say "Where's the Proraso?" or "What, no Tabac?" I'm right there with ya, but I got a bit carried away as it is and had to draw the line somewhere (this exercise also forced me to confront how quickly the stuff I "need" adds up)

Interested in thoughts but also just excited and wanted to share!

Edit to add: I should also mention I ran this by my sis to make sure he was interested, this is not entirely the result of him looking at my shaving counter while possibly thinking "*** is this?"

 

[Mpugh77]

To all those who will say "Where's the Proraso?" or "What, no Tabac?"

Where's the Bigelow/Proraso? What, no Tabac?

 

[media]

That's very nice. The ultimate gift and he shouldn't have to buy anything for a long time. A+ on the gift and presentation! He's going to love it.

 

[weshofmann]

I understand your point about having spent too much already to include Tabac, but honestly I think I'd consider including Tabac in lieu of some of the bay rum soaps.

I started wetshaving about 4 months ago but I'm a recent convert to Tabac (about 2 weeks now) and I wish I would have started using it from the beginning. For a new wetshaver, having a soap that is so easy to lather and provides so much cushion and slickness would be wonderful. Once they see what a good wetshaving experience should feel like, then they can go out and find all the great-smelling different soaps out there to spice up their shaving experience. Plus, by then, they'll have learned some shaving technique and should run less of a risk of butchering themselves when they try a new soap that doesn't work so well.

I just gave a gift basket of shaving stuff to my brother in law for christmas. In it, I neglected to include Tabac and forgot to include blades (yeah, good ol 'duh' moment), so he hasn't used it yet. When I see him this weekend, I'll be giving him a puck of tabac and some Red IPs to start with.

Anyway, I figure that it would be best to give a newbie the tools he needs to get the best first shave possible so he can see why he should spend time and money on learning to wetshave. I think Tabac is probably one of the best ways to do that. Just my two-cents.

 

[JMan424]

weshofmann, your point is well-made with 1 exception: a bowl of Tabac costs 3 times as much as that bay rum 5 soap sampler did, so it's not quite an even swap. And sure what's another $10, it's important, but so would a bunch of other things that would only be another $10. Also I think I have the "comfortable lather" front covered which diminishes the importance of including a tub of beloved Tabac. A closer swap-out would be Tabac for the Kiss My Face and the soaps.

I don't know if you've used Kiss My Face but if you try just a pinch of KMF cream and a few swirls of Tabac the two combined make a lather you could darn near sleep on. The KMF is also extremely forgiving in terms of moisture content which is also ideal for a beginner (and I'll include myself in that category, having only been at this a few months). Plus it makes whatever soap you combine it with more forgiving so it's kind of a super-superlather (as compared to, say, Proraso + Tabac).

I included the KMF to make the experience as approachable as possible, for the exact reasons you describe. I want him to be able to either use it straight-up or add a little drip to any soap for a superb lather. I think it will also be easier for him to learn to build lather this way. Plus he's got more "scent/shave of the day" permutations which should be fun. And lastly I want him to be able to compare using soaps and creams independently so that he understands the differences from first-hand experience.

All that said, I wish I could throw in a tub of Tabac too

 

[JMan424]

Oh and props to my missus for the presentation on that - I take no credit on that front!! If I can make myself presentable then I quit while I'm ahead!

 

[Chevyguy]

You and your wife did a great job putting that together. I think that your brother in law is really going to enjoy and appreciate your gift.

Clayton

 

[HoosierTrooper]

Dang, that's really nice! Would you mind being my brother in law for a while in the month of February? Hint, hint...

 

[JMan424]

Dang, that's really nice! Would you mind being my brother in law for a while in the month of February? Hint, hint...

My wife has a few sisters but I'm not gonna do the asking for you!

 

[HoosierTrooper]

My wife would probably object. Foiled again.