Badgers? We don't need no steenkin' badgers!

[wholesnocone]

Hi. I found this forum the day after ordering my first "real" shaving accoutrements, so I've not been able to make use of all of your apparently vast knowledge. Regardless, hi there. Allow myself to introduce...myself.

I've before last week, I have owned but two razors in my 17 years of shaving: a Gillette Sensor that the good folks at Gillette sent me for my 16th birthday (what a fantastic example of loss-leader...), and the Mach3 I upgraded to when Costco had an amazing deal on it + a buncha cartidges. I'd been using standard gels up until 6 months ago, when my brother-in-law introduced me to The Body Shop's shave cream. Holy crap! Angels came down from on high, seraphim sang, human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together - mass hysteria. Hooray Close Shave!

So, while perusing Amazon looking for a refill on my tub o' shaving cream, I stumbled upon the foreign-to-me concept of DE shaving. Looked exciting. Read more. Looked more exciting. Decided to give it a shot. Decided to stop using pronouns.

I looked around a bunch (pronouns came back), and decided on a Merkur Progress with Merkur blades, which I purchased from BestGroomingTools.com for no particular reason, other than price, I guess...and the fact that they had a cheap styptic pen. Within 2 hours of my placing the order, I got an email saying that the order had shipped. More angels, seraphim, etc.

So today, the day finally came when I broke out the new gear. Set the Progress to 3 (the lowest I could get was 1 1/4), set my phasers to Stun, and got crackin'. Interesting, and a bit scary at first. I ended up doing three passes -- with, across, and against the grain (the last being real light), re-lathering each time. Oh, incidentally, I'm using a Body Shop brush. Not sure what kind of hair it has, but it sure was cheap ($8), and I wanted to make sure I really wanted to go this route before investing in a good brush. I ended up with a pretty damn nice shave -- almost as good as what I've been getting with the Mach3 -- with no bloodletting. So, yay. My face was a bit more raw-feeling than normal, but it went away after a bit...and after applying some Nivea ASB.

And that's my ridiculously-long story. Congratulations for getting this far. You deserve a prize. But I don't have any to give you.

Now I have some questions:

1. One thing that was less-than-great about the shave was that after one pass (after the cream was off), the Progress didn't go so smoothly...it seemed to want to stick on my face. Think this a technique issue, or do I need some other pre-shave whatever?

2. I know about the blade sampler pack, which I will certainly purchase after a few weeks of this, but are there soap/cream sampler packs anywhere? I'd like to try different ones, but would hate to buy a puck/tub/bar and hate any of them. Same question with after-shave stuff.

3. Anyone know what the Body Shop brush is made of?

Thanks...looking forward to participating here...

-benjy

[elveeskee]

Now I have some questions:

1. One thing that was less-than-great about the shave was that after one pass (after the cream was off), the Progress didn't go so smoothly...it seemed to want to stick on my face. Think this a technique issue, or do I need some other pre-shave whatever?

-benjy

You need to re-apply lather after every pass. Don't put that blade against your naked face without lather, dude.

I love my Progress! Kinda love/hate with the fellas here.

Great start and Welcome!!

[letterk]

Welcome to B&B Benjy! Sounds like you're off to a great start. As to your first question, regarding residual lubricity (my term of choice ), some soaps/creams are better than others. Another factor may be your lather, as too little water, or too much water can result in what you experienced. Try playing around with the lather to see what you can get. Do you have hard water?

[boboakalfb]

Welcome to B&B, Benjy!

[SmoovD]

Welcome aboard.

Make sure that you check out mantic's videos on youtube and leisureguy's blog. They are nice resources for the wet shaver.

[ltlsuz]

check out the vendor section, many of them have samplers or 3 or 6 packs of soap or cream - so you have a choice. If you come across something you don't like, there may be someone who would want to trade with you. So lots and lots of choices. Welcome!
Susie

[bjrn]

Anyone know what the Body Shop brush is made of?

The Body Shop has at least in the past had several suppliers of brushes and you could get either a synthetic or a boar brush. Unless you got a animal smell off the brush when you first made it wet, you most likely have a synthetic brush. I don't know exactly what kind of material it is, but I'd guess nylon or similar.

[wholesnocone]

Residual Lubricity? Love it! That could be the new name for my band. Yes, we have hard water...lotsa chlorine (mmm, tasty).

I know this is a verrrrry open-ended question, and I know everyone has different experiences, but....

Soap or Cream? Why?

In the same vane, can y'all recommend a few good "starter" soaps/creams

The Body Shop brush must be synthetic, as I never smelled dead animal...or I just figured it was the hot dog I ate.

-benjy

[Isaias]

Many guys seem to prefer soaps rather than creams. The first will lather more easily while the latter gives, in my opinion a more luxurious experience. They also have a different consistency (Some claim soaps give a better lather). I am a newbie myself, so I would recommend starting with soaps as they are more forgiving and easier to manage. You can’t go wrong with them. I still have problems figuring out the water/cream ratio as different brushes hold more water and therefore will require more cream: Sometimes, I add too much water or not enough cream.

There are two kinds of soaps, hard milled and those with a glycerine base.
Almost all the English companies sell hard milled soaps, while tabac (german) seems to be one of the most popular and favorited (I recommend it).

MamaBear and HoneyBee Spa (haven’t tried these ones) are good examples of glycerine soaps. http://www.bear-haven.com/default.asp (For MB)

Some people also like Arko, I have not used it but it is the cheapest soap so you may want to give it a try.

As for creams, my personal favorites are Taylor’s avocado and rose. Proraso is good too, but I could be too strong for some people. Both are very cheap I think.

Finally, If you are getting serious, and at risk of falling for Acquisition Disorder (AD), I would recommend buying the best badger hair shaving brush from Crabtree & Evelyn. It’s $35 but it’s worth it.

If you are looking for a scent of AS, this link could be helpful but pricey. http://www.scentmonkey.com/try-before-buy.php

There is another cool term around this forum which I personally like and practice in plain sight without any moral considerations: facerbation.

[Chase-p]

If you are rinsing your face after every pass, re-applying lather, and still experiencing a sticking razor, the water/cream consistency may be off. Because my brush doesn't hold much lather, I have to add tiny amounts of cream as I go, or else there isn't enough lubrication in the lather, and the blade skips. Also try using your face or hand to build lather, as sometimes mugs and bowls tend to put too much air into the mix.

[OldSaw]

1. One thing that was less-than-great about the shave was that after one pass (after the cream was off), the Progress didn't go so smoothly...it seemed to want to stick on my face. Think this a technique issue, or do I need some other pre-shave whatever?

Hi Benjy,

This is a problem that I really hate as well. This is one of those YMMV, (your mileage may vary), things. There are technique issues as well as product issues here. Body Shop cream is pretty good stuff, but maybe your lather is too dry. Try rinsing your razor before going for the next stroke. If you are backing up to take another shot at an area you just shaved, try keeping the razor head on your face to re-deposit some lather before going forward again. If you are just overlapping strokes, maybe you are overlapping too much. Experiment and eventually you will find the right techniques that work for you.

Of course there is always another lathering product to try which, I warn you now, may lead to ridiculous behaviors. Take this road very slowly, especially if you are married. I am very conservative and I still have a few more products than I can use this year. Fortunately, I share mine with my wife and keep my son supplied as well, so I can justify my purchases a little more easily.

And finally remember to have fun.

[wholesnocone]

Thanks, y'all, for the advice...we'll give 'er a shot tomorrow morn.

[Duggo]

Hi Benjy,

Welcome to B&B!

I found a page at Classicshaving that describes - step by step - how to make lather really easy.

Check out Kyle's Sticky at the top of this forum. It has a lot of great information in it.

Michael/Leisureguy has a great Blog that is filled with great information.

This post by AFDavis11 put me on the fast track. It will teach you how to find the angle, and how to tell when you've found it.

You may want to consider not running the water while you shave, (if you do). Doing so, will give you a better ability to hear what's going on. Meaning: The scraping sound sounds like a zipper running along it's path. The cutting sound is much more refined than that.

Use a light touch.

Let the blade do all the work.

(Once you find the angle) - keep your wrist locked. Consistency is the key.

I hope this helps.

[Doc4]

Soap or Cream? Why?

-benjy

Yes! Because.

But seriously ... welcome! Some people prefer soaps, some creams. Maybe the soaps give more lubrication and moisturisation, maybe the creams give more buffering and protection during the shave ... I dunno. Try each and see what you prefer.

I'd say try a cream ... Taylor of Old Bond Street is a great place to start. Pick one of their flavours, maybe avocado. And try a glycerine soap ... Mama Bear is a great choice, as are many others, but she has a superlative choice of flavours ... so pick what sounds best to you. And try a triple-milled soap ... Taylor again is a good starting point, but really Tabac is a great choice, and less expensive. Okay, I just missed out on several hundred superlative other options, but you gotta start somewhere, and this is as good a place as any (and better than many!)

[Duggo]

I would recommend that you start with a cream.

Creams are easier to generate a lather from. Soaps can be tricky, esp. the glycerine ones, according to letterk/john in a post to the thread I started the other day.

I thought, that a cream will provide you with a little bit better cushion, and a soap, because of its nature, will provide you with a closer shave.

But when you are just starting out, a soap may not be the easiest thing to learn how to make a lather from.

Creams I'd recommend:

C&E Sweet Almond Oil...because it comes with a device that you're supposed to use to roll up the tube to get every last drop of shave cream out of the tube.

But in reality, (what I use it for) is a "spat-u-lette". I put as much shaving cream on the handle that it will hold, and in the bowl it goes. Works like a charm. And if that weren't enough, it's really really good.

Nancy Boy. Another really good shave cream. Really easy to make and provides an excellent shave.

If you would like to try a soap: One word. Tabac. Save some money and buy the puck.

[fritz]

Welcome to the B&B, Benjy; you're gonna' like it here!

If you have hard water, creams will probably be easier to work with. And there are other reasons given in the posts above that would suggest creams for you at this point.

If your brush is synthetic, which it seems to be, then it may not hold enough water, making your lather dry and causing the skipping/dragging, especially on the later passes. (And don't forget to rinse the face well with warm water just before each lathering pass.) Even the least expensive Badger brush should be a big improvement here.

You might consider buying distilled water (like for steam irons) at the grocery store. Depending on your brush size, you only need about a cupful to do the lathering. It's certainly worth a try.

If you don't like the taste of the water as well, you might consider getting a cooler with a 5-gallon bottle for drinking, and using that for shaving. I have this, and it's fairly inexpensive IF you go to a place that just sells you the water in your own 5-gallon bottles, as opposed to the delivery services.

[wholesnocone]

If your brush is synthetic, which it seems to be, then it may not hold enough water, making your lather dry and causing the skipping/dragging, especially on the later passes. (And don't forget to rinse the face well with warm water just before each lathering pass.) Even the least expensive Badger brush should be a big improvement here.

Yeah...that'll be the next thing. Gotta take it slow, though.

Got what I think is a decently meringue-y lather this morning with the Body Shop cream. Grabbed a short mug from high up in the cabinet to whip in (sorry...in which to whip). Probably too much air and/or water, though, as it started to dissipate by the second & third pass. No razor skippage, which was nice.

End result -- best so far with the DE gear. Getting the hang of it. My face seems to be tolerating it well -- no nicks! -- it's certainly more chafed afterwards than with the Mach3, but not much. Not getting quite as perfectly smooth yet, either. I guess the Mach3 made it easier to go back and make those quick hits in those small trouble spots. I'll get there, I'm sure.

So I guess I should invest in a better brush -- read lots of hurrahs about the E&J Best Badger (the $35 dealio), as well as good things about an inexpensive Tweezerman (memory fails me now...or maybe it's the delectible double Jack Daniels I'm sipping). Any thoughts from the gallery?

I'm also trying to sift through the bevy of soap options -- I know creams were recommended, but I don't think i can resist the aromatic options available in glycerinicity. Besides, I already have a cream.

Oy, who'd'a thought?

-benjy

[Ishidan]

The Body Shop has at least in the past had several suppliers of brushes and you could get either a synthetic or a boar brush. Unless you got a animal smell off the brush when you first made it wet, you most likely have a synthetic brush. I don't know exactly what kind of material it is, but I'd guess nylon or similar.

I asked them once, they were quite proud of saying that they had NO animal products whatsoever in their store, including the bristles on the brush. Thus, synthetic-probably nylon is right.

[fritz]

I asked them once, they were quite proud of saying that they had NO animal products whatsoever in their store, including the bristles on the brush. Thus, synthetic-probably nylon is right.

Lemme see, now. Nylon. How do they make that. Oh yeah, it's made from oil. OooooK, so where does oil come from? The ground? But special ground, which includes some verrry old plants and, well, animals. Uh-oh, looks like they have animal products after all...