The shave I always wanted

[chilehed]

Noob from Michigan here. I gave up on DE razors about twenty-five years ago because it was getting impossible to find blades, I was pissed because of the insane cost of cartridges but whaddy'a gonna do?

A few weeks ago I stumbled on this site, and after a bit of study got an Edwin Jagger DE89 and a sample pack of blades on Amazon. The Feather blade and the Cremo I already had worked pretty good, but this afternoon I drove down to Maggard Razors in Adrian, MI (only an hour or so away) and picked up a Kent VS70 brush and some Barrister and Mann Reserve Fern soap and aftershave.

Hot shower, pretreated with Cremo while building lather with the Barrister, a rub with alum after, cold water rinse and finally the aftershave. It'll take a bit to get used to the new regime, but I just got done and that was the best shave I've ever had. Love the old-school smell, too.

I'm not as happy with the brush as I'd hoped, I like a scrubby feel but it seems like about 10% of the hairs are a lot stiffer than the rest and that's a bit off-putting. We'll see what happens with use.

I also got a cake of Mitchell's Wool Fat. Lord, I love how some things have changed in a quarter-century! Thanks for the great website.

 

[xxvaleria]

Welcome to the club. Glad to have you aboard. Congratulations on the shave.

 

[ackvil]

Welcome to B&B.

 

[emwolf]

Welcome! There's a lot of great brushes out there, and if you're near the Maggard's store you've got a supply of incredible stuff. I've purchased a lot of their products online. One of my favorite synthetic brushes is a Maggard product, and their London Barbershop soap and aftershave have always elicited compliments from the missus.

 

[ajkel64]

Welcome to the forum. The brush might settle down with use. Give it some time. Congratulations on the shave.

 

[Lightcs1776]

Great start! Welcome to the B&B forums.

Sent from my DROID Turbo using Tapatalk

 

[Red Rider]

Welcome back to DE.

 

[Macfrommichigan]

Howdy, neighbor!

Welcome to B and B.

Mac

 

[sharpstar90]

Congratulations! This is the reason all of us are here too. It's a great time to shave with DE!

 

[BigJ]

Welcome aboard!

 

[Invicta]

Welcome to B&B.

picked up a Kent VS70 brush

That is a boar haired brush.

I'm not as happy with the brush as I'd hoped, I like a scrubby feel but it seems like about 10% of the hairs are a lot stiffer than the rest and that's a bit off-putting. We'll see what happens with use.

It will take ~ 30 shaves to break in so give it time. That stiffness will soften at the tips.

 

[alessia15]

Welcome to B&B.

 

[dmshaver]

Welcome to B & B, glad you're joining us! You've got a great set-up, take your time & enjoy!

 

[NickCutlip]

Welcome to the forum !!

 

[johnwick]

Welcome aboard!

 

[chilehed]

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome. I've been snooping around the site more, this place has a lot going on!

 

[August West]

Excellent.

 

[CJB3]

Welcome aboard!

 

[chilehed]

One of my favorite synthetic brushes is a Maggard product, and their London Barbershop soap and aftershave have always elicited compliments from the missus.

Oh yeah! I gave up on the Kent brush, after more than two months it's still losing hair nearly as fast as when I first got it; I'd never recommend it.

I got a Maggard synthetic brush, and it's MUCH better. My wife picked out their London Barbershop soap and aftershave, and it's great stuff: rich and slick, good cushioning, excellent scent, great skin feel afterward. I love the bloom of heat from the aftershave. The Mango Sage Tea is good too, not my favorite but she likes it so that's enough for me.

Last month I had picked up some Pinaud Clubman at the drugstore, and I gotta say that if I was stuck with that it wouldn't be a terrible thing.

 

[Earcutter]

Welcome.