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Your Regrettable Purchases?

This was Years ago. But I bought a SR, honing stone, leather strop, spent a ton of money on it. Finally decided SR is not my schtick. Sold it all.
I hear what you are saying 😁

There was a time when I was like "OH WOW", this is so cool and all, but then I realized - damn, I can't put a decent edge on a kitchen knife, there's no way I'm gonna make this work. I'd probably damage that super-delicate SR edge by merely looking at it, let alone strop and hone and whatnot... so (THANKFULLY!) I never took the plunge.

I still sometimes daydream about it and maybe... who knows... when I retire... I might give it a shot... but then I wake up, glance at my Timeless and Vector and go like "no way".
 
I have the exact same regret! I wanted to LOVE the ambassador so much - for it's look, it's simplicity, it's handle grip, the length, the covered blade tabs, the stand - topnotch across the board. BUT on my face it was just useless. Not useless, but IF I could manage a DFS (never managed a BBS) with it it came with razor burn.
In the end I went back to my Timeless .95 after trying out the Ti Slim for a bit, and think that's where I'll stay.
I have the timeless 68 need to get the 95 ! I also love my GC 68
interesting I am not the only one with the same feel after that :)
it is a beauty anyone who can use it has a WOW shaver on their hands though :) so again not for me but its amazing which is what makes me sad I cant get it to work for me :)
 
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steveclarkus

Goose Poop Connoisseur
We've all done it. Maybe you saw a piece of shaving equipment that you didn't need, but it was half price.
Maybe the advertising suckered you in.
Maybe you even bought it just to see how bad it was.
Maybe you bought it on a bet.
Perhaps, just maybe, you bought it online after a few too many drinks.

But it's BAD.

Let's see your little bundles of shame.
A couple of synthetic brushes.
 
I regret almost everything I have bought and I wish I could go back in time with the knowledge I got now. I have been going through about 30 razors, which might be by B&B standard a small amount, but I no longer rotate, so I have one razor for my normal shaves and another one I could argue for to keep. The rest I no longer use.
 
I don't think I'd call it regrettable, as at least now I know they're no good for me, but I bought a 100 pack of Shaverboy blades and after 1 tuck I can definitively say I will never use the rest. Might PIF them at some point if there's any interest.
 
From recent memory - Proraso Green Pre-Shave Cream. I use and enjoy their shaving cream, but the pre-shave cream wrecked my face. Left me looking like I fell asleep next to a camp fire. I've been really good about bringing new products into my den for a few years now so I should have known better.
 
I’m still pretty new so not much to regret other than buying too many razors too soon. I should have just stuck it out with one good one.

Also, Cella smells nothing like almonds or Christmas cookies or cherries or whatever else people have said. Absolutely vile fake smell, like a terrible spray air freshener or something. At least it’s cheap I guess.
 
Also, Cella smells nothing like almonds or Christmas cookies or cherries or whatever else people have said. Absolutely vile fake smell, like a terrible spray air freshener or something. At least it’s cheap I guess.

What? Cella is so clearly almond-scented. It's like smelling that semi-warm marzipan pastry you just got from the bakers' on a sunday morning.

MY worst purchases so far are (like srqshaver's opinion about Cella, very personal):

- Extro Cosmesi Bay Rum Aftershave...I just got clove and I really, really don't like clove. Thankfully the store let me return it.
- Proraso Cypress & Vetyver aftershave balm...I detest it, it smells tacky & hangs around all day. I tossed it in the trash (yes I did).
- Geo F Trumper Sandalwood cream...smells like an ashtray. And I really can't stomache the scent of tobacco straight out of bed. This cream makes me particularly unhappy.
- Derby Extra blades, cause they're about as sharp as a tablespoon (returned them).

MAYBE, just MAYBE I regret buying the Rockwell T2 adjustable as I found a beautiful 1975 adjustable Soviet copy of the Aristocrat but then again I enjoy shaving with both of them and what's done is done. At least they don't smell like a horse's behind.
 
I’m still pretty new so not much to regret other than buying too many razors too soon. I should have just stuck it out with one good one.

Also, Cella smells nothing like almonds or Christmas cookies or cherries or whatever else people have said. Absolutely vile fake smell, like a terrible spray air freshener or something. At least it’s cheap I guess.
Different strokes for different folks. I don't get the fake smell with my tub of Cella. i do get the scent of almonds and marzipan others have reported, though.

I guess it's like how @Owen Bawn doesn't get the urinal cake scent when he smells Arko but many of the rest of us do. 😁
 
G

Guest2023

I regret having spent so much on 'artisan soaps'. I'd emptied 3 GD, 2 B&M, 2 Dr. Jones, 1 GD, 1 Sterling, 1 M&M, 1ADP, 1P&B, 1PAA and 1 MDC for 3 years. If I had stuck to some good oldies like Arko or Tabac instead of them, which I think is not inferior at all, I could have saved a lot of money and spent it on razors more.

But it is not regrettable in some way because it is the very experience that direct me toward today's reasonable purchase.
 
RazoRock The Stallion AS. Overpoweringly strong, vile, and it lasts FAR longer than others (12+ hours of nastiness). All my top tier artisan soaps, when Cella and Tabac are just as slick (it's usually the post-shave where the top tier soaps excel, but that's what aftershave's for!) while costing a fraction of the price (and Tabac lasts 4x as long)
 
Derby Extra blades, cause they're about as sharp as a tablespoon (returned them).

I agree. Apparently, they actually work for some people. After having the same experience as you and with great trepidation, I bought some Derby Premium blades and rather like them. Sharp enough and quite smooth.

Just to be clear, the Derby Premiums are not as sharp as say a Personna Platinum - one of my favorites.
 
What? Cella is so clearly almond-scented. It's like smelling that semi-warm marzipan pastry you just got from the bakers' on a sunday morning.

Cross my heart, when I got it and opened it I was so disappointed. I shaved with it three or four times and then put it away. That was about three months ago. After your reply, I pulled it back out and smelled it again and now it does smell like almonds (and hence, good). I have no idea why it hit me so wrong when I first got it. Maybe something was off with my sense of smell at the time. Very odd but I'm glad I said something. I wonder if anyone else has had this happen with their soaps?
 
Cross my heart, when I got it and opened it I was so disappointed. I shaved with it three or four times and then put it away. That was about three months ago. After your reply, I pulled it back out and smelled it again and now it does smell like almonds (and hence, good). I have no idea why it hit me so wrong when I first got it. Maybe something was off with my sense of smell at the time. Very odd but I'm glad I said something. I wonder if anyone else has had this happen with their soaps?
Glad it is working out for you. One thing to keep in mind though, Cella will go rancid over time if left at room temperature. To preserve Cella for long term use, some forum members store kilo blocks of their Cella in the freezer. I've taken to storing my Cella (in the tub) in the refrigerator.
 
I regret having spent so much on 'artisan soaps'.

Completely agree. I spent so much money on these when I first started out. Some of them even trashed my face and were wasted or sold for a loss. All of them are no better or worse than shaving soaps and creams that are considered "cheap". I appreciate the novelty of such products but I originally got into traditional wet shaving to save money. I get just as good a shaves from a so called "cheap" lather as I do with something referred to as artisan and costs 3x as much.
 
I bought a Saponificio Varesino pre-shave thing. It was called Pure Monoï de Tahiti Butter. Apparently natural butter made from frangipani flowers. Sounds like it would be worth the €24 price for sure, right? Like a week lying in a hammock in Bora Bora sipping cocktails and being given the best shave you’ve ever had.

In reality the stuff arrived as kind of a wax, but what I hadn’t noticed was that at room temperature it becomes liquid and is extremely oily. So I unscrewed the lid on the wide glass jar - it was very stiff so I have to use some force - and it spilled out. I spent several weeks washing the jar to get this oily stuff off enough to be able to grip the lid to open and use the product. It is the slipperiest and most tenacious substance in the world. Gave up in the end.

The good news is that this frangipani “butter” had such a nasty scent that I had no compunction over tossing it in the bin. Even if I had been able to use it I would surely have regretted putting something that smelled like that anywhere near my face. Maybe it would be good in your car engine or for industrial machinery.
 
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