I have a KCG and I’m still in the process of finding the best blades for it. I have feathers and derbys, and the feathers are too sharp for my liking but the derbys seem to be okay. I have a homemade pre shave oil (castor and olive oil and bay rum essence) and stirling bay rum soap. If I do everything right I can usually get an okay shave but haven’t really managed anything stellar because my skin is super sensitive. Anyway, to the question on hand. Out of curiosity I’ve tried barbasol for a quick shave a few times, whipped into my brush and one time watered down. But every time I try to use it it seems as if the shave is ansolutely terrible, and it leaves me horribly red throughout the neck area. My old can of gillette goo was no different. Is it something with the razor just not being able to play nice or is there another factor I’m missing?
Trouble with the canned goo
- Thread starter sirplatypus
- Start date
Too much pressure is almost always the culprit when starting out. Try to let the weight of the razor do the work. The neck area is sensitive for a lot of us. Perhaps just do one pass on the neck until you get the hang of it.
- Thread starter
- #3
I was pretty darn careful this last time to just hold the razor resting against my skin, but maybe I got the angle wrong or something.
What @CJB3 said
, but you might also want to try Barbasol for sensitive skin (green cap) or Barbasol Extra Moisturizing (purple cap) if you want to stay with canned. Maybe canned stuff just isn't going to work for you, possibly an allergy of some kind. In that case there are too many to list great options of soaps, creams, etc.. out there to look into.- Thread starter
- #5
I suppose I’d best stick with the Stirling soap and give up the idea of the super quick setup. Got a gilette blade sampler coming in today too so that should help pave the way to a better shave.
Stirling makes very good soap, miles ahead of any thing I have use from a can.
When I first started DE shaving, after the first few shaves, my face and neck felt like they were on fire. I quickly learned that I was pressing too hard. As others have pointed out, it is critical to just use enough pressure to allow the razor to cut your whiskers. Any more than that will cause irritation, or worse.
I also realized that the more a blade touches my face, the greater the chance of things not ending well. Repeated passes and lots of touchup often lead to cuts and/or irritation - at least until you figure things out.
My suggestion (as others have said): use a quality soap (your Stirling) with a brush, go lightly, try to get a close and comfortable shave, try a 2-pass shave (WTG, XTG) even if it isn't perfect (until you improve), avoid excess touchup, and don't be in a hurry - take your time and enjoy the shave.
The last thing I would add is: If your shave isn't working, don't change everything all at once. For example, if you try a new blade, use the same prep, soap, and razor. I have seen new guys buying new razors, thinking that the tool is the problem, but they are the problem. I know I was.
Keep at it and everything will eventually fall into place. You will be getting great shaves without even thinking about it.
Welcome to the forum !!
Great suggestions above!
I would add that for me it is best to change one thing at a time.
I would add that for me it is best to change one thing at a time.
Welcome to the forum!
Welcome to B&B.
I am wondering if you will be better of directly applying the canned foam to your face but adding the water for slickness. Using the brush seems an unecessary complication. Keep working on the razor technique.
Welcome to B & B! 
You are missing residual slickness and cushioning. Lousy lather will make you red. You have some good advice posted here by other members, regarding pressure and number of passes/strokes.
Welcome to B&B.
- Thread starter
- #15
Thank you all for the welcome, it’s been a bumpy start messing around with all this stuff but slowly but surely I’ll get there. I think I’ll try just sticking to one pass for now because even with stirling’s soap I’m fighting ingrown hairs on my neck. The hair grows straight to the sides, it’s a major pain…
Ron R
I survived a lathey foreman
I used the Gillette gel and that worked real well just using my hand when cart shaving for over 35 years. The best brush for softness would be a synthetic or a silver tip badger I'm thinking and you should be able to splay scrub still even if that is what you enjoy.
I would go with Gillette gel with a 26mm synthetic brush to experiment with and like other have mention to much pressure on the brush will work against you it sounds like from your experiences.
Gillette also has a inexpensive cream called Pure and I find it works well with excellent lather qualities when bowl lathering. Bowl lathering takes the brunt of the preparing the lather instead of the face and all you have to do is lather paint your face for excellent results also & some fellows do that.
(archived photo, 26mm Yaqi "casino Clubs" synthetic brush, excellent lather generator, heavenly luxury cloud like soft tips, gentle splay scrubber + excellent lather painter!) My face just enjoys this recent Yaqi brush purchase! West coast shaving also carries Yaqi 26mm brushes and their line of brushes also.
Have some great shaves!
I would go with Gillette gel with a 26mm synthetic brush to experiment with and like other have mention to much pressure on the brush will work against you it sounds like from your experiences.
Gillette also has a inexpensive cream called Pure and I find it works well with excellent lather qualities when bowl lathering. Bowl lathering takes the brunt of the preparing the lather instead of the face and all you have to do is lather paint your face for excellent results also & some fellows do that.
(archived photo, 26mm Yaqi "casino Clubs" synthetic brush, excellent lather generator, heavenly luxury cloud like soft tips, gentle splay scrubber + excellent lather painter!) My face just enjoys this recent Yaqi brush purchase! West coast shaving also carries Yaqi 26mm brushes and their line of brushes also.
Have some great shaves!
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- Thread starter
- #17
I saw that brush in another thread once and was immediately curious about it. I currently have a proraso boar brush, the scrub is nice but the lather isn’t always as thick as I’d like it to be. These seem cheap enough that I’d been wondering if getting one would be worth a shot just for the hell of it.
Ron R
I survived a lathey foreman
I would use a 26mm synthetic brush for just the performance and pleasure they are not lather hogs either IMO. West coast shaving supplies Yaqi and their brand also. Yaqi sold out of the 26mm Casino club brushes for now and they no doubt are making another batch up. Mine is a odd ball one because they used the Husky 26mm knot in their regular brush where mine is a 26mm Timber wolf knot(Yaqi experimenting?) that is marvellous and I like it a lot.
Canned cream is fine, particularly if you’re just starting out and want to keep the variables down to a minimum. I would apply the canned goo with my moist hands, not with a brush. I think you’ll get better results.
I've a King C. Gillette (KCG) and it works well with my Derby Extra blades so it's not likely the razor. In fact during one of my recent shaves I did not dial in the soap well resulting in really fluffy lather that made the shave close to shaving with just water and the razor (with a Dorco blade on this shave) still did reasonably well. KCG razor also works well with my Dorco and Astra SP blades.
Have used Barbasol on rare occasions (with my more moderately aggressive Weishi) when in a quick rush with no issues. I use it straight on a wet face and work it in with my fingers. Wonder if your pre-shave oil is somehow reacting with the Barbasol to reduce its effectiveness. Recommend you try using the Barbasol without the preshave oil and see if that makes a difference.
It also sounds like you are still dialing in the KCG overall. You may want to stick with your best shave soap/cream when using it until fully dialed in. It's very angle sensitive for delivering an optimum shave and in my case I need to adjust technique on my cheeks for a BBS shave with a technique called "riding the cap" for the final pass. There are videos out on the web that illustrate this. Much lower risk of irritation and weepers versus applying pressure to the razor.
