Worst Shave Ever.

[sofauxboho]

I bought some Caswell-Massey soap on eBay without reading the reviews. Last night I brought it home and whipped up what seemed to be a decent test lather, though I did not shave with it. (I shave in the mornings.)

Today I looked around for reviews of the humble Kent VS80 brush, which I personally adore. It also seems to be hated.

So, I thought, why not try and put together the Worst Shave Ever?

Brush: Kent VS80
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=78125

Soap: Caswell-Massey Sandalwood
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=129906

Blade: Merkur
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=89655

Aftershave: Pinaud Lilac Vegetal
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?p=92279

But which razor to use? What relatively available, widely known razor is almost universally hated?

 

[baba]

I bought some Caswell-Massey soap on eBay without reading the reviews. Last night I brought it home and whipped up what seemed to be a decent test lather, though I did not shave with it. (I shave in the mornings.)

Today I looked around for reviews of the humble Kent VS80 brush, which I personally adore. It also seems to be hated.

So, I thought, why not try and put together the Worst Shave Ever?

But which razor to use? What relatively available, widely known razor is almost universally hated?

I like your line of thinking. Why mess around with " not very good" "pretty average" or "kinda OK" when you can have the very worst?


For WORST RAZOR, I nominate the "Big Wig - RF 998"...it even sounds bad, mentioned in a post here some time ago. I don't know that it's hated, but it seems a prime candidate for giving bad shaves, so why not?

 

[Alfredo Becerra]

For worst cream I nominate Burt's Bees shaving cream. It leaves a layer of wax on your face that makes the razor drag. It'd be best to shave dry.

 

[sofauxboho]

For worst cream I nominate Burt's Bees shaving cream. It leaves a layer of wax on your face that makes the razor drag. It'd be best to shave dry.

Well, see, the point here isn't so much that I actually want to make myself entirely miserable and / or lacerated, it's more that I've found I actually enjoy a couple of horribly reviled products and feel I might even be able to get a good shave from them.

Or at least, that is the question.

The only thing stopping me is that there just don't seem to be many widely available, widely disliked razors!

There are a few that some people don't like, and some horrible failed vintage products, but it sounds like Schick, Gillette, and Merkur never really put out a bad product.

At least as far as DE razors are concerned, that is.

I suppose I could just use a Mach3. But then I must give up the Merkur blade...

 

[40boy]

Use a Fusion

 

[kingfisher]

An older Parker TTO or a Gillette Fusion.

 

[yuppiejr]

How about the Yuma knockoff of the Merkur 1904 that shows up in starter kits or on it's own for less than $7 shipped via eBay?

(from Jeep's review in the wiki page here)

Issues with blade alignment, horrible finish - what's not to love?

 

[Monkeydad]

Derby + LV

 

[bradyarz]

a dull rolls.

 

[Dpflaum]

The modern TTO parkers pretty well suck too. I bought one when I started (August '08) and thought it did a decent job until I picked up an old tech for 1/5 the price at an antique store.

 

[BentonClay]

...I suppose I could just use a Mach3....

How about a BIC disposable?

 

[sofauxboho]

How about a BIC disposable?

Those actually seem to be fairly highly regarded!
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=80911

And I would use a Fusion, but... Then I'd have to buy one! I've never tried the thing.

Sounds like a Parker may be the one to use.

 

[wlminter]

I would have to agree with the Parker razors. They seem like your best bet for a widely available and widely disliked razor. But I warn you, my very first DE shave was with a Parker 91r and Merkur blades. After that, I decided to grow a beard for a while.

 

[milwaukeemadass]

Ouch. I've two out of four there.

Kent VS80 Brush
Last year I got the Napa Soap gift set primarily because of the mug - it's pretty much what I had in mind to hold my soap and it looked cool. I'll admit that I really haven't long-term tested the Kent VS80 that came with it mainly because of the wet dog smell it gives off and because it sheds like a mo-fo. Last night I cleaned it with Dawn, soaked it for a while and then lathered it up with Prosaro and let it sit overnight. I didn't use it this morning because I was in a rush (no shave) but it seemed like the wet dog smell was gone. Something tells me it still sucks though.

Caswell-Massey Almond Shave Soap
A few months back I got a Caswell-Massey gift set (medium badger/bristle brush, brush stand and the almond shave soap w/ wood bowl). For the most part the brush isn't too bad and it whips up a good lather but I haven't even touched the C-M soap yet and from the reviews it looks like I'm in for a hell of a treat. Now I'm thinking I won't even bother with the soap.

Looks like I need to start shopping around for some different shave soap to replace the C-M, which was next in the rotation once the Napa soap is used up. ***?

(The brush in the pic below isn't the infamous VS80 so maybe it's worth a damn. Maybe)

 

[buyandhold2018]

How about a BIC disposable?

or a dollar store disposable.

maybe even a butter knife