Having read many posts here, it seems as though I am one of the few who started down the B&B road by buying a DE razor and then proceeding to use it with some "goo from a can". So, I thought I'd share my experience thus far.
If you're not into long stories, I'll summarize quickly:
I've gone from unsatisfied with a Mach3 and no preferred canned goo to satisfied with a Merkur 23C (armed with Wilkinson Swords) and Gillette Series Shave Gel 'Moisturizing'. I've also tried Personna and Merkur blades and VDH soap whipped with a boar brush.
For the past few years, the M3 had been my razor of choice, along with a long list of canned creams and gels (had trouble finding one that I liked). Historically, I've been a 2-pass shaver: down then up. My road to a DE began when I did the math one day in the grocery aisle: I was paying on the order of $2.50 per cartridge. Worse, due to the greater discomfort by the 2nd or 3rd use, I was discarding the cartridges after just 1 or 2 shaves. I decided that I was paying too much for what really weren't good shaves.
My search for a less expensive shave led me to B&B, and I've now read most of the posts in the 'Tutorials' section of the 'Shave Clinic & Newbie Check In' forum and watched many of Mantic's videos.
The first changes I made came after reading Kyle's pre-shave prep tutorial. Not yet ready to explain such new tools to my wife, instead of getting a brush, bowl, and soap/cream, I toured the canned goods at my grocery armed with the list of shave soap ingredients in Kyle's post. For some reason, I'd decided that glycerin was my target ingredient, and I came away with the 'Moisturizing' variety of the Gillette Series Shave Gels, whose first two ingredients are water and glycerin.
Following Kyle's prep instructions but with the canned goo instead of handmade lather (hot wet towel, goo massaged in with the fingers, etc), I had a great shave with the M3, substantially better than before. I continued with this for a while, and with the new goo and prep routine, I could get 4 or 5 shaves out of each M3 cartridge.
My new goo was, I feel, a big part of the improvement (along with the new prep routine): it protects quite well. Rubbing it into my face, I can feel a barrier between my fingers and face. It's got some slickness to it, but it's also got a thickness that prevents me from really feeling my face at my fingertips without a conscious application of pressure. It rinses easy enough with warm water (perhaps easier than the VDH soap I tried later).
My primary goal is to get a good shave at a reasonable price. Now that I was getting better shaves with a new prep routine, I turned my attention to cost. With the M3 cartridges still at the top of my list, I bought a Merkur 23C. A few weeks of shaving later (still with the canned goo), I was getting good 3-pass shaves: as smooth or more so than with the M3 but with much less post-shave discomfort.
Given the praise of the brush on B&B, I decided to give it shot. But, in the interest of cost and not wanting to wait for delivery, I went to a Wal-Mart and picked up the VDH shave kit: boar brush, ceramic bowl, VDH deluxe soap. Not the best I guess, but B&B reading suggested that I should be able to get a good shave with this setup.
My first and second shaves with the brush were poor, with lots of post-shave discomfort. I had read the tutorials and watched the videos, and I guessed I wasn't getting the lather right, so I practiced. Finally, I was able to get lather that would protect my face as well as the canned goo. But, it took a lot of brush work to get that lather, and I found that I preferred the time saved by the button on the can.
Also, and this may be a shortcoming of the boar, I didn't get much out of whatever face pampering the brush may have done. I think that I'm not that interested in facial 'luxury'.
An added benefit (to me at least) of the Swords and Gillette Shave Gel is that they are available locally as well as at most of my travel destinations.
If you're not into long stories, I'll summarize quickly:
I've gone from unsatisfied with a Mach3 and no preferred canned goo to satisfied with a Merkur 23C (armed with Wilkinson Swords) and Gillette Series Shave Gel 'Moisturizing'. I've also tried Personna and Merkur blades and VDH soap whipped with a boar brush.
For the past few years, the M3 had been my razor of choice, along with a long list of canned creams and gels (had trouble finding one that I liked). Historically, I've been a 2-pass shaver: down then up. My road to a DE began when I did the math one day in the grocery aisle: I was paying on the order of $2.50 per cartridge. Worse, due to the greater discomfort by the 2nd or 3rd use, I was discarding the cartridges after just 1 or 2 shaves. I decided that I was paying too much for what really weren't good shaves.
My search for a less expensive shave led me to B&B, and I've now read most of the posts in the 'Tutorials' section of the 'Shave Clinic & Newbie Check In' forum and watched many of Mantic's videos.
The first changes I made came after reading Kyle's pre-shave prep tutorial. Not yet ready to explain such new tools to my wife, instead of getting a brush, bowl, and soap/cream, I toured the canned goods at my grocery armed with the list of shave soap ingredients in Kyle's post. For some reason, I'd decided that glycerin was my target ingredient, and I came away with the 'Moisturizing' variety of the Gillette Series Shave Gels, whose first two ingredients are water and glycerin.
Following Kyle's prep instructions but with the canned goo instead of handmade lather (hot wet towel, goo massaged in with the fingers, etc), I had a great shave with the M3, substantially better than before. I continued with this for a while, and with the new goo and prep routine, I could get 4 or 5 shaves out of each M3 cartridge.
My new goo was, I feel, a big part of the improvement (along with the new prep routine): it protects quite well. Rubbing it into my face, I can feel a barrier between my fingers and face. It's got some slickness to it, but it's also got a thickness that prevents me from really feeling my face at my fingertips without a conscious application of pressure. It rinses easy enough with warm water (perhaps easier than the VDH soap I tried later).
My primary goal is to get a good shave at a reasonable price. Now that I was getting better shaves with a new prep routine, I turned my attention to cost. With the M3 cartridges still at the top of my list, I bought a Merkur 23C. A few weeks of shaving later (still with the canned goo), I was getting good 3-pass shaves: as smooth or more so than with the M3 but with much less post-shave discomfort.
Given the praise of the brush on B&B, I decided to give it shot. But, in the interest of cost and not wanting to wait for delivery, I went to a Wal-Mart and picked up the VDH shave kit: boar brush, ceramic bowl, VDH deluxe soap. Not the best I guess, but B&B reading suggested that I should be able to get a good shave with this setup.
My first and second shaves with the brush were poor, with lots of post-shave discomfort. I had read the tutorials and watched the videos, and I guessed I wasn't getting the lather right, so I practiced. Finally, I was able to get lather that would protect my face as well as the canned goo. But, it took a lot of brush work to get that lather, and I found that I preferred the time saved by the button on the can.
Also, and this may be a shortcoming of the boar, I didn't get much out of whatever face pampering the brush may have done. I think that I'm not that interested in facial 'luxury'.
An added benefit (to me at least) of the Swords and Gillette Shave Gel is that they are available locally as well as at most of my travel destinations.