Don't Understand...

[Popeyeguy]

Hey all! I have been thinking about something that puzzles me. I know I'm new to all this so maybe I'm missing something.

I see that guys are shaving with $150 brushes, $100 razors, and $30 shaving soaps. Why after shaving with so many luxurious products do some finish off their shave with an aftershave like Brut, Old Spice, and Aqua Velva? To me anyways it seems like a bad way to finish off a wonderful shave that almost defeats the purpose of using such wonderful products. Please enlighten me!!

[garyg]

Hey all! I have been thinking about something that puzzles me. I know I'm new to all this so maybe I'm missing something.

I see that guys are shaving with $150 brushes, $100 razors, and $30 shaving soaps. Why after shaving with so many luxurious products do some finish off their shave with an aftershave like Brut, Old Spice, and Aqua Velva? To me anyways it seems like a bad way to finish off a wonderful shave that almost defeats the purpose of using such wonderful products. Please enlighten me!!

After going swimmin with bowlegged wimmin you mean? Or, some Vegetal, the After Shave that tastes like Spinach?

Sorry, not sure why, I do it too, spend $$$ on a razor I'll use four times a year, can't count soaps & creams, but splash with Old Spice from the Dollar Store. Or Floid, Clubman, or Ogalla Bay Rum., et al. At my age, I think "happening" colognes are something I use to keep squirrels off my lawn .

[my19]

I see that guys are shaving with $150 brushes, $100 razors, and $30 shaving soaps. Why after shaving with so many luxurious products do some finish off their shave with an aftershave like Brut, Old Spice, and Aqua Velva? To me anyways it seems like a bad way to finish off a wonderful shave that almost defeats the purpose of using such wonderful products. Please enlighten me!!

The main reason I use stuff like Clubman and Pacific Rush is they work great, and I like the scent. PR's scent is fleeting on me, but hey, I have colognes, too. Clubman is just great stuff, and I probably reach for it a couple of times a week.

Then again, I lean toward quality budget items. My razors are all vintage Gillettes and none cost more than $20. My stash of Bigelow shave cream was bought on sale. I've used a puck of Tabac for a year and it has a lot of life left. And my recent TOBS shave cream purchase was about $15.

Man, maybe I'm just cheap, or easily satisfied. But I get really good shaves!

[Popeyeguy]

Thanks for your input guys. I'm not saying anything is wrong with these products but I just find it funny I buy equip from overseas but finish it all off with aftershave from my local dollar store. ;)

[kadett]

Hey all! I have been thinking about something that puzzles me. I know I'm new to all this so maybe I'm missing something.

I see that guys are shaving with $150 brushes, $100 razors, and $30 shaving soaps. Why after shaving with so many luxurious products do some finish off their shave with an aftershave like Brut, Old Spice, and Aqua Velva? To me anyways it seems like a bad way to finish off a wonderful shave that almost defeats the purpose of using such wonderful products. Please enlighten me!!

Personally, I think that your prices are way off for many members of this forum. Take my last shave and the cost to buy each item as an example:

Cella: $11
Schick Adjustable Injector: $26
Current production Chinese-made Schick blades (7-pack): $5
Semogue 1305 Brush: $20

Finished off with English Leather AS: $16 for the 8 fl oz size.

I think this probably typical. If people are using something like Arko or Palmolive sticks or Williams (shudder!!...) then the costs are even less. As for using Old Spice and Aqua Velva, I use these all the time because they are quality products and classic to boot.

[Topgumby]

Why after shaving with so many luxurious products do some finish off their shave with an aftershave like Brut, Old Spice, and Aqua Velva? ... Please enlighten me!!

Sure!

They like them.

[inkcoffee]

Gem Junior: $6
ASR Gem blade: $0.30 (15 shaves) $0.02 a shave
Arko: ~ $2 for an amount that will take forever to use
Razorock: $6
Ivy Club Spice $1.60/7 oz.
Omega 11575 boar $12 shipped

Wetshaving can be cheap.

[michiganlover]

The other thing to consider, is that for a lot of Aftershave splashes, they are basically the same. Water/Menthol/Glycerin/Alcohol/Scent is a basic recipe for an aftershave splash.

So the more expensive aftershaves cost more, less due to performance, and more-so due to the brand name and a unique scent.

More money often doesn't equate to a better quality product in the wet shaving world.

[Hagbardr]

My cheapie setup:

Body Shop synthetic brush - $10, bought on sale for $5
Gillette Permasharp $1.50 for 5
VdH soap - $1.50
1979 Gillette Super Adjustable - $1 at flea market
Ivy Club Spice - $1.50

[Go West Young Man]

I think the $100+ products get a lot more discussion on the boards than they do actual use in real life.

[mblakele]

An expensive brush might be more like an investment. It should last for a decade or so, and the handle could last forever with a series of new knots. Likewise a razor is durable, and might even be worth re-plating. I haven't spent more than about $20 on an actual soap (without the bowl). But soaps last quite a while, and the MWF bowl will last until I drop it on the floor.

Meanwhile an aftershave is a consumable good: if I still have a bottle after 20 years, something is wrong. Either I don't like it, or it has been discontinued and I am rationing it. Parenthetically, some folks will pay a fancy price for an AS product that is no longer made.

Finally the aftershaves we use are chosen for performance, not price. The one pricey AS that I have tried was basically just alcohol and scent. It didn't sooth skin damage like Speick does. In fact it actively dried out my skin, exacerbating any damage from the shave.

[BCatl]

Why do you relate the quality of a product to it's price? Sometimes they are related, and sometimes they're not.

Some folks may need a boost to their own deficient ego which they think they can get from an expensive product. However, these people don't have a "product" need, they have an emotional need they are trying to fill through the product.

[kg0mz]

Feather All Stainless razor
Rooney brush
G5 Scuttle
DR Harris soap or Cyril Salter cream

After a typical shave with this type of toolbox (with variations here and there) I can follow with Proraso or Musgo or Creed or Castle Forbes or...

Like most anything else, I believe you do get what you pay for in AS or cologne, that DR Harris kicks drug store AS or cologne butt, but YMMV.

Having said that, I can sure appreciate a head-to-toe dousing in Osage Rub after working in the hot sun all day.

[hometownhero]

While we are all posting the cost of our last shave i want to play as well lol.

Cade soap $30 with bowl.
R.V Shaving custom brush $75
Fatboy $4
Aqua velva ice blue $4

[RF1963]

Why after shaving with so many luxurious products do some finish off their shave with an aftershave like Brut, Old Spice, and Aqua Velva?

Nostalgia perhaps?

[Ceri]

For my part, when you wear less expensive, more popular scents other people know what you've got on, and you know better how they'll react.

Brut always gets me a seat on the bus to myself.

[htownmmm]

Hey all! I have been thinking about something that puzzles me. I know I'm new to all this so maybe I'm missing something.

I see that guys are shaving with $150 brushes, $100 razors, and $30 shaving soaps. Why after shaving with so many luxurious products do some finish off their shave with an aftershave like Brut, Old Spice, and Aqua Velva? To me anyways it seems like a bad way to finish off a wonderful shave that almost defeats the purpose of using such wonderful products. Please enlighten me!!

See, you answered your own question.


marty

[Popeyeguy]

I would have to agree with others that you do get what you pay for most of the time. Sure there are some products that aren't worth their price, but others definitely are. Each to their own, but I won't be using any dollar store aftershaves. That you can bank on!

[michiganlover]

but I won't be using any dollar store aftershaves. That you can bank on!

Your loss. There are some really great dollar store aftershaves.

[Den]

Since he's in Canada chances are he only has a Dollarama nearby. They only carry one brand of AS and it has a very high alcohol content and chemical smell. For us Canadians, our main Dollar Store chain really has nothing to offer in terms of decent shaving products.