What draws you to a particular brand?

[Wgg2017]

The most important factor for me is a product that works. So I rely on the opinions of members here quite a bit for new purchases.

I also appreciate companies that stand behind their products. There are several higher-end razor manufacturers that offer a trial period. If they believe in their equipment that much I'm considerably more likely to give them a shot.

Beyond that, I look for value; getting a good product at a good price. Particularly with soaps, I've found you don't have to spend top dollar to get something that works very well.

 

[thombrogan]

Drawn to AP ShaveCo brushes because they let the buyer customize handle, knot, and loft and Andrew tolerates me.

Drawn to Simpson Shaving Brushes because the Wee Scot is so stinking cute.

Drawn to Lord Razor blades because they put pictures of sharks on some of the boxes and tucks.

Drawn to Samah Razor Blades Industries Ltd because I think titanium coating is neat and I like writing ”Loi” and saying “Deploy the Loi… …Loi deployed”. Obviously, you don’t need the product to say that, but I have a box of the stuff. Harder to develop catch-phrases with Bolzano

Drawn to RazoRock because their Hawk V3OC and Game Changer JAWS 0.84 have Wallace and Gromit teeth.

Drawn to Stirling because they make three soaps with no fragrances added.

Drawn to ARKO! because it works with 16 of my 17 brushes and all nine of my brain cells.

 

[RRGGMM]

Drawn to AP ShaveCo brushes because they let the buyer customize handle, knot, and loft and Andrew tolerates me.

Drawn to Simpson Shaving Brushes because the Wee Scot is so stinking cute.

Drawn to Lord Razor blades because they put pictures of sharks on some of the boxes and tucks.

Drawn to Samah Razor Blades Industries Ltd because I think titanium coating is neat and I like writing ”Loi” and saying “Deploy the Loi… …Loi deployed”. Obviously, you don’t need the product to say that, but I have a box of the stuff. Harder to develop catch-phrases with Bolzano

Drawn to RazoRock because their Hawk V3OC and Game Changer JAWS 0.84 have Wallace and Gromit teeth.

Drawn to Stirling because they make three soaps with no fragrances added.

Drawn to ARKO! because it works with 16 of my 17 brushes and all nine of my brain cells.

I want to try a Stirling soap, but I just ordered Saponificio Varesino - Morado and Barrister & Man - Seville, bringing my total to twelve shaving soaps. My shelf is running out of room, and I like to keep everything in rotation, so adding another soap would be ludicrous. Since I just loaded a new puck of the tallow-based MWF into my bowl, everything I have has hundreds of shaves left. I shave ~165 days per year, and any puck of soap I own, if used exclusively, would last me at least a year and probably longer. I also have three more pucks of the tallow MWF on hand, so I have AT LEAST fifteen years of shaving soap on hand. That will bring me to 71 years of age. I either need to try Stirling and accept defeat in keeping a manageable soap inventory or forge ahead knowing that Stirling is just one of many great soaps I probably won't try.

 

[thombrogan]

Soaps are a rapidly expanding rabbit hole.

 

[VerbaVolant]

What draws you to a particular brand?
...
What are your considerations for new purchases? Are you strictly performance-oriented? Nostalgic? Shopping on price?...

Value.

 

[Phoenixkh]

What draws me to a particular brand?

For me, it's reputation and recommendation from people I've grown to trust. Brian Mulreany recommended I buy one of his newly released ESC Claymore Evolutions... I watched the two videos or so he made about it.... talked to him in emails and the chat feature on their website and I copied much of the gear he was using. Even though he owned the company at that time, his advice was stellar. He didn't just try to sell me stuff, but listened to my needs and made recommendations based on them.

Since then, I've found B&B and have a group of friends here whose recommendations have been stellar. I'm a follower, not a leader, that's for sure. I only stepped into the DE shaving world because I read the posts here and felt a bit less intimidated. AC razors are easier.. there are only a handful of blades from which to choose. With double edge razors.... there are dozens of models: Vintage and Modern... and over 100 blades from which to choose..... I was overwhelmed at the very beginning.

What keeps me a fan of a particular brand?

That one is easier, perhaps. Performance coupled with great customer service. I've had excellent communication with all the companies whose products I've used when I've needed something.

 

[Phoenixkh]

Soaps are a rapidly expanding rabbit hole.

I enjoyed your comment about Stirling having 3 /Th THREE unscented soaps. I have two of them but I haven't used the Sheep yet.

Canada Shaving Soap is the easiest for me... It's much easier scraping some into my shaving bowl and letting it soak while I shave. All the other great unscented soaps I have have to smeared thinly in my shaving bowl.... this takes time and it's harder for my brushes to turn that smear into lather. I don't know why I don't load the brushes right from the containers. I guess I like the soap tubs to remain pristine for no apparent good reason. It's probably due to some odd part of my personality. All they see is the little silver spoon my wife gave me... she got it from her grandmother and I used it for years as a grapefruit spoon. Grapefruit was always part of our Christmas Morning breakfasts when our kids were young....up until they left for college and it was "Dad's grapefruit spoon" when they helped set the table. I liked adding it to my shaving routine...it brought back a lot of pleasant memories.

But back to Stirling soaps.... Their unscented with Beeswax is among my favorites.

 

[WThomas0814]

After trying numerous razors, I found the best (i.e closest, most comfortable, no irtritation) shaves came from my Muhle Rocca R94. So much so that all of my other razors NEVER got used, leading to my selling them.

Not wanting to suffer from complete boredom, I added additional Roccas until I found myself the owner of all four models. I scratch my razor variability itch by cycling through these four, knowing I will have a good shave and not risking slicing myself up learning a new razor.

I still rotate through my five favorite blades (all are stellar in the Rocca) and my five chosen soap/brush combos. I have enough blades and soap for at least the next decade, perhaps more.

 

[Frito Ray]

I generally like to stick with proven brands, but also like to try controversial products just to see in which camp I fall.

 

[mcee_sharp]

I generally like to stick with proven brands, but also like to try controversial products just to see in which camp I fall.

Examples of controversial products? Soap that uses hydrofluoric acid vs stearic?

 

[Lane101]

@RRGGMM great thread with lots of thoughtful responses.

For us we focus on effectiveness, reliability and overall value in making our brand choices. When warranted by continued delivery in those three areas we are brand loyal and won't hesitate to change loyalty should if warranted by changes on how well a brand delivers.

For example we've purchased nothing but Honda automobiles for 35 years until last year when we acquired a Toyota Camry. Honda reliability, while still good, has declined a bit over the decades and this is important as, while we buy new, we typically keep our cars for 10-12 years. In its latest Honda Accord models the cars now use a more complex Turbo drive train with a CVT while Toyota figured out how to deliver similar performance specs with a more conventional engine and multi-speed transmission that is more proven (note that we did purchase a new Honda CRV one year earlier and decided that one car with the new turbo/small displacement engine was enough for now). Also Honda dramatically cheapened the quality of the Accord interior unlike Toyota who maintained a high level of finish.

In the case of shaving my focus has been on high value tools that do the job well. To date I've found that the one area where there is value to be had in going beyond budget options is in the area of shaving soaps and creams.

I started with Williams and Van Der Hagen and found that with custom blending I could get great shaves. While my custom blends deliver core shaving performance (ease of lathering, lather quality and stability) as good as anything else over time I expanded into a number of well known commercial soaps and creams (e.g. MWF, Tabac, Cyril R. Salter, What-the-Puck, Arko, D.R. Harris, etc.) that could be acquired typically for $5-10 each or less and delivered material improvements in the areas of scent, post shave feel and/or a more luxurious lather texture. Definitely some some brand loyalty here for certain soaps though formula changes and discontinuations will force some brand shifts over time. I've likely invested more in shaving soaps (reserve stock) than any other shaving tool or supply category as a hedge against the those formula changes and discontinuations. I'm willing to invest here because lather creation and application is my favorite part of the shaving experience.

All the blades I've tried work the same for me with the exception of blade longevity so I've stocked up on high value brands such as Dorco, Astra SP and Derby Extra at prices of between 4 cents (Derby in 200 packs) to 10 cents (Dorco Prime) per blade. If I ever need to order more blades Dorco Stainless would be my go to brand out of these three as the best value option (most shaves per blade) based on current pricing where they are available for around 6 cents per blade and deliver twice as many shaves as my Derbys that now run around 8 cents per blade.

For brushes I started with a couple of cheap ones (an Amazon special synthetic and a Van Der Hagen boar) that were mediocre of fell apart. Thanks to all the information here a B&B I was able to settle on three amazing brushes at value sale prices of under $10 each (Razorock plissofts and a Blondie boar). Priceson these were similar those initial "cheap" brushes. These brushes work so well and cost so little that I've a backup for each. No signs of significant wear and tear after well over 3 years on the oldest plissoft so I may now have a lifetime supply of brushes unless I drop one.

As to razors, like many here, I've settled on three high value shavers, all purchased for less than $15 each, that provide excellent shaves and deliver my desired range of aggressiveness. These include my Weishi Long Handle, King C. Gillette and newest razor the Razorock Adjust (rebranded Baili) TTO adjustable. My first razor was a long lost Gillette Super Adjustable purchased for under $5 ($20-$25 in today's dollars) in my college days. Based on that my sense has been there is no need to spend more for a quality razor for great shaves. No brand loyalty here, just researched what other B&Bers were doing and given the low risk at these price points also experimented and for example found that my $6 Lord L6 and Ming Shi 3000s just didn't work for me. My 4+ year old chromed zamak/brass Weishi shows no sign of any corrosion. Like my brushes I've a backup for each razor as the main risk is damage if one is dropped.

The Razorock Adjust started as another low cost ($7.99 on sale) experiment that was a pleasant surprise. Not only does this razor work really well but it uses the same style of adjustment mechanism used by Gillette in the 1960's -1980's in razors like my old Super Adjustable. Something I was not aware of until my first use of the razor. When I first returned to DE shaving 4+ years ago my initial razor search was for a current production DE with the Super Adjustable mechanism. At that time there was nothing like that available beyond vintage so I started with the Weishi. Now we have the Razorock Adjust and more premium Rockwell T2 that also uses this style of adjustment mechanism.

I realize that higher end razors appeal to many for reasons such as tighter manufacturing tolerances, beautiful artistic collectable designs and higher quailty materials such as stainless steel or titanium and respect that. In my case I'm just looking for quality effective tools and have no problem manually checking blade alignment before locking down my blades. Like most here I've found it enjoyable to explore the wide variety of options we have available and then choose what fits my preferences.

P.S. @Lockback , what led you to eventually change from Honda to Toyotas in your garage?

 

[Lane101]

After trying numerous razors, I found the best (i.e closest, most comfortable, no irtritation) shaves came from my Muhle Rocca R94. So much so that all of my other razors NEVER got used, leading to my selling them.

Not wanting to suffer from complete boredom, I added additional Roccas until I found myself the owner of all four models. I scratch my razor variability itch by cycling through these four, knowing I will have a good shave and not risking slicing myself up learning a new razor.

I still rotate through my five favorite blades (all are stellar in the Rocca) and my five chosen soap/brush combos. I have enough blades and soap for at least the next decade, perhaps more.

You hit the nail on the head that razors with different geometry/levels of aggressiveness often require significant changes in technique to work well. A lesson I learned when rotating between my moderate Weishi and mild King C. Gillette.

 

[Lane101]

Examples of controversial products? Soap that uses hydrofluoric acid vs stearic?

You are not far off. Have another look at the soap threads such as Tabac and MWF. All it takes for controversy is the removal of the potasium or sodium tallowate.

 

[Lane101]

I want to try a Stirling soap, but I just ordered Saponificio Varesino - Morado and Barrister & Man - Seville, bringing my total to twelve shaving soaps. My shelf is running out of room, and I like to keep everything in rotation, so adding another soap would be ludicrous. Since I just loaded a new puck of the tallow-based MWF into my bowl, everything I have has hundreds of shaves left. I shave ~165 days per year, and any puck of soap I own, if used exclusively, would last me at least a year and probably longer. I also have three more pucks of the tallow MWF on hand, so I have AT LEAST fifteen years of shaving soap on hand. That will bring me to 71 years of age. I either need to try Stirling and accept defeat in keeping a manageable soap inventory or forge ahead knowing that Stirling is just one of many great soaps I probably won't try.

I'm at a similar number of active soaps and creams. I keep a primary rotation of three soaps in two open apothecary mugs and one ceramic bowl. The rest in resealable plastic tubs (creams in the tubes or tubs they came in) in a bathroom drawer. I use the primaries for 4-5 of my typical 6 weekly shaves and pull out 1-2 of the others for the rest. When I 3017 a primary soap one of the secondaries or another new soap takes it's place. Note that if needed I'll mold or shave down a puck to fit snugly into the apothecary mugs. I let the secondary soaps dry overnight after use and then reseal to better preserve their scents that would dissipate in an open container.

Photos of some of my set-up below. The first shows my overall set up and the second shows the containers. These containers are around $5 each from the Container Store. The third photo shows my MWF set up where I've repurposes a Razorock What-the-Puck container. When used I drop the MWF into the larger clear plastic container and begin lathering on the puck. This latter approach, with substitution of a lather bowl or just face lathering for the plastic container could work for the addition of Stirling to your rotation.

CyrilRoseVetIMG_6484.jpg - https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/media/cyrilrosevetimg_6484-jpg.70540/

NewShaveSoapContainers.jpg - https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/media/newshavesoapcontainers-jpg.71705/

MWFSoap10_22_22.jpg

www.badgerandblade.com

 

[RRGGMM]

I'm at a similar number of active soaps and creams. I keep a primary rotation of three soaps in two open apothecary mugs and one ceramic bowl. The rest in resealable plastic tubs (creams in the tubes or tubs they came in) in a bathroom drawer. I use the primaries for 4-5 of my typical 6 weekly shaves and pull out 1-2 of the others for the rest. When I 3017 a primary soap one of the secondaries or another new soap takes it's place. Note that if needed I'll mold or shave down a puck to fit snugly into the apothecary mugs. I let the secondary soaps dry overnight after use and then reseal to better preserve their scents that would dissipate in an open container.

Photos of some of my set-up below. The first shows my overall set up and the second shows the containers. These containers are around $5 each from the Container Store. The third photo shows my MWF set up where I've repurposes a Razorock What-the-Puck container. When used I drop the MWF into the larger clear plastic container and begin lathering on the puck. This latter approach, with substitution of a lather bowl or just face lathering for the plastic container could work for the addition of Stirling to your rotation.

CyrilRoseVetIMG_6484.jpg - https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/media/cyrilrosevetimg_6484-jpg.70540/

NewShaveSoapContainers.jpg - https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/media/newshavesoapcontainers-jpg.71705/

MWFSoap10_22_22.jpg

www.badgerandblade.com

Thanks for the insight into your shave kit!

I started out shunning fragrance, one of the big draws to Mitchell's Wool Fat. In the last few years, I have grown to appreciate different fragrances, whether in soaps or Cologne, EdT, or Edp's. All of my soaps perform admirably. It is the different fragrances I enjoy rotating through. I have enough now and shortly to arrive that every shave is a bit of a "surprise." That has been immensely enjoyable.

I am driving the 5th GMC/Chevrolet 3/4 Ton pickup truck in my years of driving so that I can relate to brand loyalty in automobiles!

When I started DE wet shaving many years ago, I was partly re-creating what I used from my Grandfather's shave kit in the early 80s and also looking towards the new DE razors available. I believed I would have a vintage Gillette DE for "fun" and a single go-to high-end razor for daily use. That held for over a decade until I decided it would be fun to expand my options. Now, I have (or will have soon once they arrive) a handful of vintage Gillette options and a few newer options. I love shaving with vintage gear, and candidly, I can get a good shave with most razors I have tried. But, with my tried-and-true Above the Tie razors, the weight is appealing. I am drawn to a heavy, stainless steel razor. However, my recent acquisition of a Blackland Vector SS, a light razor, has been very enjoyable. Again, I can usually make any razor work, even though I am trying something now that I am struggling to enjoy. I guess there are limits.

While many of the options I have chosen are mid to high-priced, they last so long that the money seems irrelevant on a cost-per-shave basis. However, starting on February 1, I am on GRUME, which I plan to extend through year-end. Not a moment too soon, as my Acquisition Disorder has been slightly unmanageable lately!

 

[Frito Ray]

Examples of controversial products?

The Veg.
Arko.
Tabac soap (ten years ago a lot here said it smelled way too strong).
Blades manufacturing switching locations…they’re now better/no they are worse.
New vegan recipe of formally tallow soaps… ” ” ” ” ” ” ”

 

[mcee_sharp]

You are not far off. Have another look at the soap threads such as Tabac and MWF. All it takes for controversy is the removal of the potasium or sodium tallowate.

I can get that, I really appreciate my tallow soaps.

HF is much too exfoliating though!

 

[Lane101]

I can get that, I really appreciate my tallow soaps.

HF is much too exfoliating though!

Last person who used HF for shaving in the photo below.

Believe the better manufacturers decided to put the tallow back in place of it after this result

 

[blethenstrom]

Good product that does the job and that is affordable.

 

[Dtownvino]

I like to support local mfg and artisans but I will buy products made globally that outperform.

Artisans who are in it for the hobby and making money over just making money will always get my support first.

I’m lucky to happen to have a personal relationship with all of the artisans I support.

I still prefer my blades from Gillette (Russia) and Personna (US, Israel, and DE). No relationship here, just proven performance.