What is your worst ever shaving purchase?

[Ad Astra]

+2 for Herban Cowboy - but that at least got used in the shower.

Dr. Bronner's Loathsome Lavender "shave soap" - a dark, horrible sugary liquid, got thrown in the trash, along with its hippy-dippy messages on the tube. Yuck.


AA

 

[Chango]

Lilac Vegetal

'nuff said

 

[davent]

100 Voskhod blades. My initial tuck they seemed very good and i saw a great deal on 100 so bought. I get maybe 4 mediocre shaves per blade and then they're dead where i can get 20-30 shaves from blades i've discovered since. To use a new Voskhod after 20-30 shaves with one of the others is not much better then a step sideways.

A close second Arko, vile. I'll use up the blades but never touch this soap again.

dave

 

[Macfrommichigan]

I should add for any who may not remember: the old stuff was really nice smelling.

English Leather and Tabac AS smell like 1968 to moi.

 

[Merle]

The buy was a "lost buy" if you could say that. Long story short I had to pack up my parents house very quickly and with concern for making two families equipage fit into a single household. The drawer I opened had been in their use since the mid 70s when the evil "They" came up with chip board furniture. There was a layer of dust and powder and many years of disuse in the area I found some of his shave gear. IN it was a Fatboy which had a thick corrosion layer of Green and tackiness to it. I looked at it for about 10 seconds and dismissed it out of hand. (I'll offer, in my defense, this was nearly a decade before I discovered I liked DE safety razors.) Gone with tonnes of other stuff and perhaps too many memories to dwell on. But then, that's how I got here. so, mebbie, anyway...

I'm pretty sure, even with the corrosion, just that Razor would have been really special to see in my shave den. Something I could talk with my Dad through once in a while.

 

[weekly]

For me a MR8 Maggard handle is my
Most regrettable purchase, it is well made
High quality and is a fine handle, I just can't get comfortable with it , I do like heavy handles but not this one , I'll be selling or
Trading it for a MR5 or something else I can use.

 

[JeffJ]

A case of Van der Hagen shave soap when it was the best soap I had ever used. It was also at the time the only soap I had ever used. The kind gentlemen of this forum tried to gently warn me off. I ended up PIFing 10 of the 12 pucks.

 

[DCRIII]

My worst purchase was buying two tubs of Yetti Snot shaving soap. It's quite literally just a melt and pour glycerin soap that they added coloring and an obnoxious amount of menthol. Modern Williams Mug soap is a billion times better, and I don't care for Williams Mug soap.

 

[Toothpick]

Any of the latherless cream I've tried.

 

[Brutus]

While I had on occasion bought some truly disappointing soap, the most regrettable purchase was some rather expensive artisan straight razor that never shaved properly, could not be honed properly and caused a lot of frustration besides the loss of money that I should have better spent on some known quality straight razors instead.
The most frustrating aspect was the contentious interaction with the manufacturer.

B

 

[Nate B]

For me a MR8 Maggard handle is my
Most regrettable purchase.

I second this, the chrome plating on mine started peeling off within the first week. This is the reason for my distaste of chrome plating and my love of stainless steel. It's home is in my dopp kit for travel.

 

[Pepin]

It would be one of my soap purchases; I ordered six samples of Stirling shaving soap.
For me they have been the worst soap I have tried.

 

[bberg100]

Herban Cowboy shaving soap.

+1
And Spinster Sisters soap, nearly as bad

 

[Highspeedlane]

+1
And Spinster Sisters soap, nearly as bad

I think the name of that soap alone doomed it

 

[dpm802]

My worst purchase was The Real Shaving Company's Self Heating Pre-Shave ... this was supposed to warm up and soften the whiskers prior to applying lather.

The stuff was very greasy and did not spread around very well. It did not dilute well with water. The heat only lasted about 1 second. Instead of warming my beard, it tended to burn my skin and caused a lot of itching and irritation. And it would clog the razor, necessitating a complete strip down and cleaning after each shave, and it ruined the DE blade so it would have to be thrown away after just one shave.

Reading the ingredients, I found lots of chemicals that I couldn't pronounce and didn't recognize from other saving software.

I used this horrible goop 2 or 3 times just to be sure I was giving it a fair chance, but I got the same results every time.

This stuff is so bad that I'd be embarrassed to give it away for free.

 

[adamchur]

I've bought some things that weren't as good as others in all categories, but worst case scenario they were at least useable - EXCEPT
Certain blades that I bought to try out, usually as part of a sampler
I don't think they were duds or fakes, it was just a case of YMMV so I either sold them on or included them as free gifts for eBay buyers so at least they didn't get wasted

Some people will probably say these blades are among their favourites........

Derby Extra (Turkey)
Feather Hi Stainless (Japan)
Gillette 365 (India)
Gillette 7 O'Clock Super Platinum (India)
Gillette Rubie Platinum (Russia)
Gillette Wilkinson Sword (India)
Laser Stainless (India)
Laser Ultra (India)
Super-Max Super Stainless (India)
Topaz Stainless (India)
Vidyut Super-Max Stainless (India)
Voskhod Teflon Coated (Russia)
Wilkinson Sword Economie (Italy)
Zorrik Super Stainless (India)
Zorrik Talvar (India)

But none of these blades float my boat

 

[BigJ]

My most useless purchase was pre-shave oils. Tried a couple. Simply no difference for me.

 

[Graybeard57]

Master's Bay Rum AS. For me, it dried to a tacky state, like contact cement. Only AS I've ever dumped down the drain.

 

[Invicta]

50 Vidyut Supermax razor blades was my worst purchase. Mind you I can get a couple of shaves from each blade so there is some consolation in that.

 

[azwetshaver]

Portland General Store Whiskey aftershave.

I love a nice whiskey but this scent is horrible. My wife did not like it. I didn't like it. Last straw was when my mother came over and offered to take my infant for the day since I just sprayed for bugs. Needless to say it wasn't an insecticide she was smelling.