The Road Less Travelled

[spolct]

Mini Intro:
After 24+ years of shaving my face and about a year of shaving my noggin, I'm finally tired of buying new electric razors and/or replacing heads. A few years back I tried cartridges with canned fluff stuff but didn't have very good results and went back to the electric. Overall, I've always disliked shaving my face and using an electric on my noggin just takes a long time.

Path to the DE:
I started using my old cartridge (Mach3) on my noggin in the shower with some soap and found it to be much quicker with a smoother result than the electric. Soon enough the time came to pick up new cartridges and at the same time the head on my electric started to wear out so I had to look at other options.

Stepping into the light:
Obtained the following:
-Weishi TTO razor that came with 5 blades from Amazon.
-Creamo Cool tube
-Styptic pencil

-Decided that while the Creamo worked ok for the noggin, I wanted to be able to keep visual track of where I've been with the razor which sent be back to the Amazon for some​

-Col Conks sample puck
-Perfecto Badger brush

The first few shaves were dicey and took 4-5 passes to come away with a passable shave. I was a bit shocked that I didn't have much irritation and only a couple of weepers. I also remember thinking that this whole thing was taking waay too long for not that great of a result. I took a bit of a break and backed off of my shaving schedule. I also used the cartridge a couple of times (worked great with 1-2 passes) and even the electric once (face didn't like it much).

Current setup/process:
Added a Merkur 34C and a tub of TOBS Sandlewood. The Merkur is the razor I should have picked up in the first place. The TOBS lathers up nicely even with what I now know to be a junky brush. I'm getting pretty decent shaves and I'm enjoying the process.

Next acquisitions:
-A better brush, maybe synthetic, maybe boar. Hopefully something in the sub $40 range.
-Different soap/cream, the Sandalwood is ok but it's quite smelly and I really don't get any actual wood notes from it. I'm thinking a Barrister & Mann sampler or maybe a TOBS sampler.
-Blade sampler pack. I have 5 shaves on the Merkur blade and a couple of Weishi blades left. This will probably be my most imminent purchase.

 

[MilkCrate]

Welcome to the journals. Sounds like you are moving right along.

For a synthetic brush try Omega, Maggards, Razorock or Yaki.

You might check out Proraso Red for sandalwood, I really like it.

For blades, try a sample pack to find one that works for you. Www..tryablade.com.

 

[Clay S]

For boar brushes, Omegas are an excellent choice, especially when you consider their prices. Polsilver, Rapira, Classic Shaving, Treet Kai Razor Blades is a good place for buying sample blades. Proraso is a good choice of cream or soft soap.

 

[spolct]

Thanks for the responses! I'll add Proraso to my list. It seems there is no shortage of purveyors of sample blades - I'll try a few here in the next week or two and report back. For now the Merkur blade seems to be working fine.

Last night I went back to my Conk sampler pack and tried the Lime flavor for the first time. It lathered up ok and gave good protection, but I didn't like the scent much at all and She liked it less. I haven't used any of the Conk pucks with the 34C so next shave I'll go back to either the Bay Rum or Amber, both of which I liked the scent.

 

[spolct]

12 hours ago I lathered up the amber flavored Conk puck and while it might have been my lathering skills it didn't offer much protection and I had a few irritated spots on my neck after a couple of passes. Started over with the TOBS Sandlewood and knocked out the rest of the shave without issue.

 

[spolct]

New developments:
Stirling sample packs!
Scuttle!
Maggards brush!
Blade sample packs!
Google Doc Spreadsheet!

I've been heavy into TX on Fire and Christmas Eve, and have been able to work up a nice lather. I also have a sample of B&M Nocturne which I really like as well. The TOBS Sandalwood is just too strong for my liking.

My neighbor 3D printed a scuttle using plans from the internet and it works nicely to keep the lather warm. It's a bit on the small side though so I've set it to the side until I can talk him into tweaking the design. While vintage store shopping I found a nice wide soup mug with a handle that appears to be handmade and it's been my go-to lathering instrument.

Purple swirly handled synthetic brush from Maggards has been working out great. The price was right and I enjoy using it.

I've found the Astra Super Stainless and the 7 o'clock Super Stainless to be the smoothest and sharpest. I still have several brands to work through before I get into the 100 pack route.

I've made a google doc spreadsheet to keep track of soap/razor/blade/comments for each shave. 8-10 different types of blades means there's no way I'll remember them all by the time I've tried each type.