Pre-Newbie with Questions

[BaylorGator]

OK, this whole thing started when my wife gave me a membership to Dollar Shave Club. Prior to that, I hadn't thought about my Gillette Mach 2 (or shaving, for that matter) in at least 20+ years. With the membership, I decided to compare the DSC 4x and 6x DSC blades others, so I lined up Harrys, Gillette Mach 3, Gillette Fusion and a Safety Razor (I bought a Merkur 23c based on reviews on Amazon). My wife bought me a $20 cremo (horse hair) brush for lathering, which seems to work well (I really don't have a reference point), and I bought a brush hanger/stand for $15 that comes with a Fento badger brush (which I'm guessing will be very low quality, but who knows). Right now I'm narrowing down to what cartridge I like best and then going to compare it to the safety razor. I'm also narrowing down my product of choice in terms of cream/gel/shave butter/cremo/etc.

My guess is that I may end up using a cartridge during the week (for convenience) and a wet shave on the weekend and see how it goes. Either way, I found B&B, this week and spent a couple nights reading endlessly for hours (my wife now thinks I'm nuts), and have ended up down the rabbit hole. So many questions...

To start, any opinions about my starting gear mentioned above? After reading, I wonder what the difference between the 23c and the 34c would be in performance (I'm guessing negligible) or a better brush (I'm also guessing negligible). I'm also kind of geeked out about buying one of the old vintage gillette super shavers but aren't sure if my birth year (66) would give a different shave than the 40's/50's models that are so highly regarded here. Thoughts?

 

[BaylorGator]

Oh, I also forgot that I ordered a blade sampler that came with a puck of GBS soap. Based on what I'm reading here I should probably just get a 5 pack of a decent razor and work on technique before launching into comparing blades in the sampler. Any suggestions on decent blades to pick up at Walgreens to start, and is the GBS soap decent, or should I toss it and use something else as my first soap?

 

[ackvil]

Welcome to B&B. Walgreens has some blades they sell in their own house name. I believe they are made by Personna. However, you will have more variety to choose from - and at better prices - if you look at what Vendors on 'B&B offer.

I can't offer an opinion on your brush since I have never tried it. However, for me, a better brush can make making lather very easy. You don't have to spend a lot of money on a brush. Omega, for example, makes some reasoanbly priced boar brushes.

 

[WarriorMonk]

Welcome to B&B!! You have come to the right place!

 

[BaylorGator]

Thanks for the suggestion of the Omega Boar Brush. Lots of people seem to reference that brush as a good one, so maybe I'll pick one up and use it as a good reference point and see if I like the others better or worse. Thanks!

 

[Cumberland Sausage]

Welcome to B&B. I'd reckon your razor is fine, and the brush will do what it's meant to, but I would recommend using it on a good soap or cream; the creams from Taylors of Old Bond Street are easy to use and lather very well. As for blades, I've found the ones available on the high street which are made in Israel (sold under numerous brands) tend to be quite good, but the Korean ones fairly poor.
I would stick to one razor as you hone your shaving technique; but if you really want to get a vintage model, my recommendation from 1966 would be a Gillette Slim, which is a bit of an iconic product and a very good shaver to boot.
Talking of improving your technique, it might be better to just use a DE razor for a while if you can make the time, rather than chop and change with a cart. The techniques required differ between the two, particularly as regards applying pressure; with a DE razor, the secret is not to.

 

[BaylorGator]

I did get some TOBS peppermint which allowed me to toss out some "in the can" products and the DSC shave butter. Is the GBS a decent "reference" soap, or should I use something else as a reference? At this point, I'm trying to make sure my beginning setup equipment & products are at least "good", so I don't have to question if a bad shave was because of me or because of the product/equipment. Kind of like golf.. back in the day I tried to learn on old fasioned "blade" clubs and wasted a lot of time until I got decent gear. Having said that, I didn't need to worry about if Callaway or Taylor Made was a better club, as I wasn't good enough to know the difference yet. I still have some mid-priced Golfsmith clubs made by a local pro and I know when I score poorly it has nothing to do with the clubs. It's all me.

 

[matwho]

The horse hair brush you have is a good brush, it's made by Vie-long and they make great brushes. The 34c is a great razor for a beginner because it's not real aggressive but it will give you great shaves. I have not used the 23c so I can't comment on it.

 

[wgn!]

Stick with what you've got for a while. Work on your technique. If you can produce lather using the brush and puck you've got, and the lather provides enough lubrication then it's good enough for now. Once you can make your current setup work consistently, then it's time to consider other options.

Other than stuff that just doesn't work, almost everything is personal preference, which is why you see YMMV sooo much. You might like a brush with more backbone. You might like a softer brush. You may prefer hard soaps, or soft soaps, or creams. You may like the smell of Arko. Or not. You may want a more aggressive razor. Or sharper blades.

All we can offer are OUR opinions based on OUR likes/dislikes and experiences. So get used to your gear. And then start thinking about what you like and dislike about it. Then we can give you some better ideas based on what you think you want to try.

Sign up for the blade PIF for newbies (see matwho's signature above). Look into some of the passarounds on here. It's a good way to try some things to see if you like them before spending the money.

 

[xxvaleria]

Welcome to the club. Glad to have you aboard.

 

[adamchur]

Hi, welcome to B&B

 

[NickCutlip]

Welcome to the forum !!

 

[sandstone]

Welcome! You've gotten some great advice above and it sounds like you are off to a solid start.

 

[maybe smith]

Hello and welcome aboard B&B........

 

[BSAGuy]

Hello and welcome. Great to have you here on B&B. Wander on over to the Hall of Fame and introduce yourself.

Plenty of good advice above.

 

[OtterLunacy]

Canned stuff gets a lot of hate around here, but Barbasol with a little bit of water mixed in actually does a better job than some of the soap pucks I've tried. It's not the best lather I've ever used, but it is fast and dead simple, especially if you're doing a single, quick pass. You might want to keep using the carts for now and focus on building up good lather with a brush, since switching cream and razor at the same time can be rough. I can't comment on the razor, horse hair brush, or GBS soap. Assuming the badger brush starts with enough hairs in it, it should do a pretty good job of building lather, though I don't care for the scratchy feel of the cheap hairs, and mine (no idea on brand) sheds like crazy. Boar or synthetic are good options for replacements. Keep an eye out for Kiss My Face shaving cream. I don't know if walgreens carries it, but it's good, inexpensive stuff that works with or without a brush. I got a real bargain for my bottle on Amazon: less than $5 for an 11 oz pump-bottle! It wasn't during a special sale, that specific scent just happened to be on sale for 50% off or something. You heard me, not all KMF shaving creams, not all in that size bottle, but only that one size in one particular scent.

 

[BaylorGator]

Thanks for the welcome and the info, guys! I got the delivery of the cheap brush and a lathering bowl today to replace my mug. Both lather like a champ with the TOBS, so I think I'll take the advice given here and start practicing. Hopefully I can exercise the self-discipline not to buy too many goodies yet (other than maybe the TOBS sampler pack)!

 

[OtterLunacy]

Both lather like a champ with the TOBS, so I think I'll take the advice given here and start practicing.

Oops, totally missed that you got TOBS. I just tried it for the first time today (Jermyn St) and it seems like it'll live up to the reputation. The scent is a nice, clean, atypical woodsy one that's obviously hard for me to describe. Not too strong but not overly faint either. Overall, it's probably a great product to use as that reference you are looking for. Just remember that soaps take more time to load and need a little more water than the TOBS. Note that if you get a cooling feeling from the mint it'll be absent in products that aren't mint/eucalyptus scented, unless said product contains menthol.

 

[GlazedBoker]

Welcome aboard amigo...... Fine advice above.

 

[Zipslack]

Rabbit hole? What rabbit ho.....