first de shave experience. economicAL QUestion

[richqwert7]

I had a great first shave today and I loved it! Question, I use Aos brand and I love it but I want something more economical. What are cheap pre shave oil cream etc do people use to keep the price down. I love shaving now but can't afford Aos products all the time any suggestions. Also nicked my lower neck part. What should I get for that. Thanks so much everybody

[rklement]

hey there! Fellow noob here... I just started last week. I bought the AoS lavender set for my Mach 3 (I hadn't heard of DE shaving yet) and tried them out. They were a SIGNIFICANT improvement over the standard edge gel in a can. After doing some research on fusion vs. mach 3, my eyes opened to this whole other world of DE shaving. I ditched the cartridge razors, and picked up a Edwin Jagger DE89L. Great razor, highly recommend. I have been shaving every day, and nicked myself up rrreal good the first day, and I think I had been opening up each of those battle wounds the next few days leading to more irritation/continuous cuts. I gave my face a break yesterday, and shaved again today. And WOW. I was a little skeptical after all those cuts, but I didn't even come close to cutting myself or irritating today. Unbelieveable. Now - a few things to note. I know people say not to change things up, but I changed a lllot. I went from a Shark blade to a Feather blade today, changed from AoS pre shave oil to Proraso sensitive skin pre shave cream, and lathered with a mix of Proraso sensitive skin shave soap and AoS lavender cream (and had an awesome lather). Not sure exactly which exactly led to the great shave, but I will tell you this. I have been reading around here that AoS pre shave oil sucks. So I tried hte proraso today, and I think that may be some of the reason my shave was much better. It had a smoother/slipperier feel; the AoS pre shave is verrrry thick. As far as answering your question , the Proraso products are highly recommended around the forum and are definitely cheaper than AoS products. Read around a little bit and youll see plenty of brand names being thrown around. All seem to work great. When I bought the AoS creams I thought they were the only thing of its kind (until I came across this forum). So just read around a little bit, and hopefully other people will recommend more than I can (I'm just a rookie too!) and not type an essay.

[rklement]

- also, for the cut:

A lot of people use Alum blocks and many use Witch Hazel. You can also buy a Styptic Pencil, they are all worth checking out. I picked up an alum block and witch hazel, the alum block definitely works (and should probably be used on more serious cuts/nicks). I used the witch hazel today as a soothing agent, as I had no cuts! I then applied the AoS after shave balm over it. But check them all out, I dont think you can go wrong with any of them. The alum block dries some people's skin out, and the witch hazel probably can too, but I bought mine without alcohol in it so its not a problem then. (some like the alcohol to help clean up cuts/close pores)

[Topgumby]

If you're talking about the AoS soaps, when you break it down to price per shave they really aren't that bad.

If you want to avoid the initial outlay of cash, but still get a good, easy to lather soap, I can suggest Arko as a nice performer for the cheapskate.

If you are talking about creams, The Real Shaving Company makes a very serviceable cream at a decent price.

Shaving cheap doesn't have to mean giving up on quality shaves, and spending a little extra for luxury doesn't mean you are throwing money away.

For your nick, try a Clubman styptic pencil or an alum block.

Cheers!

[Eric V]

AOS is kinda pricy for the quality. I don't use preshave oil, but some shavers mix their own. Soaps might be more economical than creams. Check our vendors section and look for inexpensive soaps or shave sticks. Some reasonably priced brands of soaps/creams/sticks are Palmolive, Speick, Musgo, Cella, Omega, Wilkinson Sword, etc. I've seen lightly used or new soaps and creams offered in our BST forum at good prices.

I use an alum block for nicks ... or for light razor burn when that happens.

Have fun shaving!

[msc8127]

I'm a newbie too, so I haven't tried a plethora of soaps by any means yet. Actually, I've only used colonel conk glycerine soap, and proraso cream so far. I've been hit or miss on the conk's soap. This is a user problem though, not a product problem. I tend to catch myself not using enough water.

Anyhow, last night I ordered some edwin jagger sandlewood soap that i'm looking forward to trying, along with some conk's lime soap that i'm going to try combining with the proraso cream.

The edwin jagger soap can be had for around $8.50 per round, and the conk's stuff is half of that price, so both are rather economical. Even the rounds that are in the $15-$20 range are (as noted above) fairly inexpensive over the number of shaves you get out of them.

Good luck finding the product that works best for you!

[Neo_Barbarius]

How many shaves can you typically expect to get from a 100g round of shave soap?

[Alec79]

Erasmic bowl soap is my favourite cheap soap. Others to consider are Palmolive (works well but I find it a little drying) and Wilkinson Sword blue bowl.

[BrianK]

Rich, VDH soap is a low priced soap that performs way above it's pay grade. It's available somewhere near you. CVS and Wal-Mart carry it, so do supermarkets here in the NE. You don't have a location shown, so that limits the help that can be given there. I'd suggest Williams but lots of folks don't like it, it's even less expansive than VDH, but IMO not nearly as good, but it is useable.

Not all of the products used by others are required, and some can be made in your own kitchen. Preshave for example can be made from cooking oils and carriers from the market. (Do a search here)

Witch hazel works fine for an AS an is inexpensive (the real WH, not Thayers), and you can also make your own Bay Rum. It doesn't get any less expensive than that, it's very inexpensive, and it smells great! For under $10 dollars you can make a gallon, for a better BR the price goes up, but it's still far less per unit than buying it premade. Moisturizer can be incorporated into the BR and that's an expense you won't have. I mentioned Bay Rum, but there's no reason you can't come up with a completely unique scent using essential oils and formulating your own. An online search will yield the information needed for doing this.

[franstjohn]

Welcome, Rich!

One of the nice things about DE wetshaving is that you can be as economical or indulgent as you want with your software and still get an excellent shave. I have over a dozen different soaps, creams and sticks and I believe the most expensive is Tabac at a little over $10. I truly enjoy the experience of rotating them at will depending on nothing more than what I feel like using that day. The products seem to me to last a really long time and I have the luxury of choice to look forward to for each day's shave.

My best guess is that you could build an software arsenal for yourself for about what you would pay for two or three jars of AOS soap.

[nortac]

+1 on VDH Deluxe soap $1.54 @ Wally World. Generic Witch Hazel $1.99 at the grocery store. You can improve the smell of VDH by adding a splash of cologne and melting the puck in the microwave for 30 seconds.

[richqwert7]

Thanks a lot everybody!!! you guys are really helpful.. It is nice that i actualyl look forward to going home and shaving and enjoying the actual art! I'm gonna go check out a couple of things at Walgreens to see what they have.. Brian, thanks for the homemade advice.. im gonna go get some VDH soap and check it out.. im not trying to go "cheap" per se, i was jsut buying this stuff bc i thought it would make shaving easier, but now thati realized what it was and now im jsut re evaulating all the "stuff" i have.. i def do have an aresnal of shaving stuff from thruoghout the years! lol

[Gmarcheryguy]

Forgive me but there is a difference in "cheap" and "economical". I fully understand starting out you don't want to spend a lot of $'s trying different products. Opinions are eaisly found on this site, and there is nothing wrong with that. But sometimes you have to try a few different things to find what is right for you.

For what it is worth: I started with a VDH brush and soap puck. Brush was OK, didn't like the soap. Got some Col.Conk soap and tried, same thing it was OK but I was not impressed. I was contemplating giving up the wet shaving thing then I decided to try CO Bigelow shave cream. WOW it was great.

Next I changed my brush, then blades, then razor........ Long story short I've now purchased many soaps, razors, blades, and etc... you get the picture.

Good luck, don't get discouraged. Members here are GREAT. I will bet if you are willing to hang in there and wait someone will have a PIF or a good deal in the BST section and you can score a great item free or "economically".

Welcome

[saliavin]

Welcome to B&B. I am new also, and I have to say that the folks here are great, they can answer any question!

[Akarui]

Rich, VDH soap is a low priced soap that performs way above it's pay grade. It's available somewhere near you. CVS and Wal-Mart carry it, so do supermarkets here in the NE. You don't have a location shown, so that limits the help that can be given there. I'd suggest Williams but lots of folks don't like it, it's even less expansive than VDH, but IMO not nearly as good, but it is useable.

Not all of the products used by others are required, and some can be made in your own kitchen. Preshave for example can be made from cooking oils and carriers from the market. (Do a search here)

Witch hazel works fine for an AS an is inexpensive (the real WH, not Thayers), and you can also make your own Bay Rum. It doesn't get any less expensive than that, it's very inexpensive, and it smells great! For under $10 dollars you can make a gallon, for a better BR the price goes up, but it's still far less per unit than buying it premade. Moisturizer can be incorporated into the BR and that's an expense you won't have. I mentioned Bay Rum, but there's no reason you can't come up with a completely unique scent using essential oils and formulating your own. An online search will yield the information needed for doing this.

+1 I also use the Van Der Hagen its a very good soap for the price lathers well with a little effort and doesn't dry out too fast. There are few soaps in its price range that perform anywhere near it. You can get it at Walgreens for about 2.50 a cake or 2 for 4 bucks. I'd suggest starting there and then as you find specials picking up some of the other brands.

[Go West Young Man]

You can probably skip the preshave oil entirely, that's a mostly superfluous product. If you do absolutely need it, Walmart sells one for about $3 that works just as well. You can also make your own for pennies - there are lots of recipes floating around on the board.

For creams, it depends what you want. Real Shaving Co from Rite Aid is made by the same people that make AoS - it's like 90% the exact same product. You only get one choice of scent, but it's also only about $6. The Body Shop and Bath+Body Works also sell high quality creams in the $10 range.

For soaps, don't be fooled - that $26 puck of AoS will last you the better part of a year! If you're price shopping, you need to know what kind of soap you're looking at. Soft soaps like VdH might blow through a puck every 6 weeks or so, some of the mid-grade stuff like Cade (from L'Occitane) probably 3 or months. Triple milled soaps are very hard and compact, you get a lot of mileage out of them.

Aftershaves are a completely personal matter. Price has no corelation at all to quality, it all depends on how your skin reacts to the product, and whether your wife likes the smell! A $5 drugstore bottle may or may not be as good as a $30 AoS balm.

[T_M]

I love all of the AOS products. I think they are all a reasonable value too (a little bit goes a long, long way)....with the exception of the pre-shave oil. Unlike some others, I do think it improves my shave quite a bit but their recipe (for the unscented, anyway) is just castor oil and olive oil. That's it - the scented versions add the indicated essential oil to the mix - but that's all - $22.00 for 2 ounces.

A mix of 2/3 castor oil from the drug store or (better) the whole foods store and 1/3 olive oil from the kitchen will give you the exact same thing as far as I can tell. Total cost is maybe $4.00 for 2 ounces, tops. As mentioned above, there are many other recipes floating around here as well.

Of the other alternatives mentioned, I do like the Real Shaving Company products. The price is excellent, and the performance is very good. The scents are ok - just a generic modern men's fragrance. The ingredients list is longer than AOS's and has more artificial ingredients. I think AOS's scents are a lot classier, but RSC is 1/6 the price, so that's hard to beat.

Good luck with your quest!

-------T_M

[bassmanlarry]

+1 on the VDH. It was my first soap and I thought it had to be low grade for the low price until I tried Williams (just kidding, I'm not a Williams hater, I just prefer VDH.) Alum block works very well for stopping weepers and cuts. If you don't want to pay $5-$20 for it from online, find an Indian or other ethnic grocery store and you might can find a block for less than $2. Also, a styptic pencil can be purchased for not much from Walgreens or Walmart.

[richqwert7]

I love all of the AOS products. I think they are all a reasonable value too (a little bit goes a long, long way)....with the exception of the pre-shave oil. Unlike some others, I do think it improves my shave quite a bit but their recipe (for the unscented, anyway) is just castor oil and olive oil. That's it - the scented versions add the indicated essential oil to the mix - but that's all - $22.00 for 2 ounces.

A mix of 2/3 castor oil from the drug store or (better) the whole foods store and 1/3 olive oil from the kitchen will give you the exact same thing as far as I can tell. Total cost is maybe $4.00 for 2 ounces, tops. As mentioned above, there are many other recipes floating around here as well.

Of the other alternatives mentioned, I do like the Real Shaving Company products. The price is excellent, and the performance is very good. The scents are ok - just a generic modern men's fragrance. The ingredients list is longer than AOS's and has more artificial ingredients. I think AOS's scents are a lot classier, but RSC is 1/6 the price, so that's hard to beat.

Good luck with your quest!

-------T_M

thanks a lot!! thats what i was primarily looking for is the preshave oil. I do like using it, but i just thought there is a way to just make it.. Everything i use is unscented due to sensitive of any colognes. I will have to try that too!