Please help me get started

T

Talley1013

Joined
Oct 15, 2010
Messages
414
Hey guys. I'm sure you get this all the time but here it goes anyway. I'm not real sure about the proper shaving terminology so bear with me. After hacking at my face(and wasting $!!) with POS drug store shaving products for 15 years I am finally ready to try my hand at wet shaving. I am ready to pull the trigger and order a DE razor, soap and brush but the choices available seem endless. I need you guys to recommend a good wet shaving starter kit and a reputable online dealer. I am assume that there are different styles of razors/blades that perform differently and I am reluctant to make my first purchase without a recommendation from you guys. I guess I am looking for a good quality set-up that will be relatively easy to use for a beginner. Thanks for the help guys. I am sooooo ready to say adios to crappy overpriced razors and chemicals in a can.

ET
 
I am not sure where you are located, but I will assume that you are in the USA. One of the first places I would look if I were you would be West Coast Shaving. there are two good quality brands that are often suggested to a new wet shaver Merkur and Edwin Jagger. When I started I went with the Edwin Jagger 89L DE razor, not overly aggressive and very easy to learn with. Don't rule out vintage Gillettes though, the Tech line is a mild razor and can be picked up cheap at flea markets and at online auctions.
The next big one is blades. Everyone's face and skin is different so it is best to buy a sample package. It will contain a number of different blades to try, usually 5-10 of each brand. from West Coast shaving I would suggest this one you get a package of every blade they offer totaling 120 blades for $32, not much more than a package of 5 cartridge blades. There are literally 100s of blades out there so you will be able to find the one that works for you if you take the time to try them all.

Brush time. I would steer you towards a decent badger brush. Look at best badger or better and expect to pay $40 or more. You could go with a boar brush, and they are good, they just need to get broken in first to soften up. In the boar line look towards the Omega line, they are cheap and great performers for the price.

Finally soaps, it is hard to suggest a soap to someone because there are so many factors to look at, scent, moisturizing ease of lather, and so on. Creams are the same way. If pressed to give a soap or cream suggestion I would have to go with Proraso. It is a good performer and easy to make a good lather with so a great starting point to hone your skills. The scent isn't perfumey and makes me think of the barber shop I use to go to as a kid, but it isn't for everyone.

So that should give you a hand wading into the wet shaving world. there will be someone along shortly to praise the Merkur razors, I don't have any experience with them so I can't say good or bad about them. Enough people like them so they can't be bad.

If I am wrong about where you are located and you are in Canada like my self there are 2 players up here in the wet shaving world, Fendrihan and Rasage Poulin

I forgot to mention my standby answer to new wet shavers, go to youtube and search the user Mantic59, you will get all the information you need to have a good experience wet shaving from his videos. He covers techniques as razors, blades, lather, pretty much everything you would need to know.:thumbup:
 
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Unky gave comprehensive advice there:thumbup:

But, it won't stop at that :D Once you get hooked on this thing you will be endlessly searching for additional materials. The shock of choice is intoxicating!

I'd suggest trying a soap and a cream, they're different and the use of them, in my case at least, is governed by mood from shave to shave. Proraso works very well indeed but I'm not that keen on its smell. Taylor of Old Bond Street make first rate creams in the Old School English style. Ones I favour are Lavender, Eton College and Almond. Extremely rich thick lubricating lather.a little goes a long way for sure. Colonel Conk makes reasonably priced and very pleasant soaps as an alternative.

The range is vast, fortunately. Welcome to real and effective shaving(cost included) with less waste and very satisfying results. shaving becomes a skill art and a pleasure from now on:thumbup:
 
Guess I should have stated that I am a shaving addict:o, never was till I started wet shaving with a DE razor. I also have a vintage razor habit that I am trying to curb, but those old razors just keep calling to me:D
 
I personally recommend the Merkur Futur
http://www.westcoastshaving.com/Merkur-Futur-Safety-Razor-Matte-Chrome_p_51.html

Is it expensive? That depends on how you look at it. DE Shaving can literally save you about one dollar per day over multi-blade cartridges. (A package of 100 excellent DE Blades costs about $20. That's twenty cents per blade. Each blade will give 4-8 shaves depending on blade brand, your beard, and your techniques. So, that's 2.5 to 5 cents per shave. A package of four Gillette Fusion blades costs $19.95, about five bucks each. Each of those cartridges will give five or six shaves by most reports. That's about a dollar per shave. So, you can literally save upwards of a dollar per day on blades alone.) So, this razor -- as expensive as it is -- literally pays for itself in about ten weeks. Once you see this, you realize that yes, you can afford even a top-of-the-line DE razor.

In fact, here http://www.westcoastshaving.com/Merkur-3-Piece-Futur-Shaving-Set-Polished-Chrome_p_128.html is a beautiful, deluxe, top-of-the-line set with the razor, matching brush, and a stand for $190! A HUNDRED AND NINTY DOLLARS! But it will pay for itself in blade costs alone in about seven months. And, there's a strong secondary market for good DE razors and brushes too, so if you decide you don't like it, you can sell it and get probably a hundred dollars of that back. Now you just need to commit to yourself that you will stick with this for about four months and this becomes a "safe" purchase.

If you don't want the stand, you can get that same brush, the same brush I use and love, for $88. http://www.westcoastshaving.com/Mer...dger-Shaving-Brush-Polished-Chrome_p_410.html

I strongly recommend a stand for at least your brush, even if not the fancy one in the set. A brush stand helps your brush dry properly.

A blade sampler kit is a good start, but one of the big ones may be overwhelming. I tried a lot of different blades my first year. Think the four that everyone needs to try are Dorco ST-301, Derby Extra, BIC Chrome Platinum, and Feather. And I recommend at least five of each blade, better yet ten. I suggest using one blade type daily for at least three weeks unless you find it completely insufferable. This gives you time to dial in your technique on that blade and get a good sense of it. This will require four to six blades. Then, once you've been through four or five blade types for three weeks each, go back and do it again for about two weeks on each type. So, you are going to want eight or ten of each blade type. After you've been through those four types, then you'll have a good foundation to start exploring other types.
 
Lots of great advice given already.

I started with an old Gillette Tech razor that I found to be very good. I think a vintage tech or superspeed would both be great starter razors and can be picked up pretty cheaply on ebay. I haven't used any new DEs so I can't comment.

I would also second the advice about either getting an omega boar or a badger with at least best grade hair. You don't want to start with a brush that is so scratchy that it irritates your skin before you even get started shaving.

Also I have found that taking a shower before shaving helps a lot in reducing irritation. It softens up your whiskers and makes the hairs easier to cut.
 
Gollnick,

I really like the looks of the Mercur Futur. Is that a good choice for me as a beginner?
 
cool then I will go head and place the order. I am also getting the sample pack of razors and some soap. I have a brush already. Not sure about the quality of it but I will give it a shot. Thanks for the help guys
 
unky_gumbi said:
go to youtube and search the user Mantic59, you will get all the information you need to have a good experience wet shaving from his videos. He covers techniques as razors, blades, lather, pretty much everything you would need to know.:thumbup:
Click to expand...

This is the best bit of advice. That Mantic guy is a huge gateway enabler to wetshaving. Most of his videos are extra helpful for beginners. Good luck!
 
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