Wanna get this right

Samples from Garry's Sample Shop arrived today: 4711, Lucky Tiger, Superior 70 Menthol, and Clubman. I've since stopped by CVS and smelled Clubman; I'll give it a try, but don't think it'll be a keeper.

Used 4711 after squash today at lunch. That stuff burns more than I've ever imagined. I have the fake Aqua Velva from RiteAid and its burns a bit, but this stuff is a whole new level. And the smell is VERY overpowering for about 5 seconds. Not sure what the first smell is, alcohol maybe? After that it turns into a very strong alcohol/ fruit smell and fades to a fruit smell. 15 minutes later, I can still smell it a little and it's very candy fruit smelling: PEZ maybe? My face feels good, but I really like the idea of a menthol. I'll give this a try at home so my wife can smell it and if she likes it, I may keep some around for times I don't want menthol.

A couple hours later, I can still faintly smell it, but it's not bad at all. I'd prefer it disappeared completely, but it's not bad.
Scent 95% gone after about 4 hours.

Switched to a Gillette 7OC Green yesterday and used it again today. I had some extra irritation yesterday due to pressure and angle, but today was pretty great. DFS+. These aren't as sharp as a Feather for me, but are at least as smooth. I'll compare to an Astra SP when I get more. I may keep a pack of these around.

Used the Superior 70 Menthol aftershave today as well. Good stuff, very menthol. Lots of burn, but felt good after. Smells like Vick's Vaporub, but fades in 10-15 minutes. I'm happy enough with it.

I've ordered from shaveabuck.com a couple times now and have been happy with the prices and shipping. Plus, Joe's here in NJ, so I wanted to give him business when I can. This time I ordered four packs of blades I hadn't tried: Bic CP, Asco SS (blue w/red), Astra SS, Perma-Sharp. Box arrives and what do I find? All those plus 3 other packs: Treet, Super-Max, Flying Eagle. Oh, and a small tube of Lea aftershave balsam and a Bea soap stick. Great work, Joe.

Day 3 on Gillette 7OC Green with Arko. Had two weepers on XTG, but was in a bit of a hurry, so it may be my fault. If this blade can make it through a 4th day, I'll be very happy. DFS+

Chose to skip the witch hazel and opted for Adidas Dynamic Pulse I picked up 2-for-1 yesterday. Splashed it on my face to a terrible burn that just grew and grew until I was about to rinse it off. After about 30 seconds it started to slow and my upper lip started to tingle and go sort of numb. I was under the impression this was a cooling splash, but it never turned cool. Pretty sure I'm allergic with that burn and numbness. Sad because I like the smell. It doesn't fade as much as I'd prefer, but it's far from strong and most probably wouldn't notice it after an hour. The ingredients list is very long and does not match the list I find online nor do the packages match. Not sure what to think about that.

Weleda Aftershave Balm & Nivea Sensitive Lotion. The 1st is pricey but worth it and the second is reasonable and widely available, e.g. CVS if in the US. I don't fit your profile but I have very sensitive skin and can tolerate only mild scent naturally derived. These work well for me. Good luck!

Woke late and had to rush the shave. 2 1/2 passes. First was XTG on all but lower neck; second was oblique ATG with XTG on my lower neck; finished with oblique ATG on lower neck and two small touch-ups. Not a great shave, but even and SAS. Not bad for quick. No irritation. Finished with LEA aftershave balsam. Felt good, not greasy, VERY strong menthol, seemed to work very well, especially for skipping WH today. Not a full 4th shave on the Gillette 7OC Green, but this little blade sure outlasts a Feather, albeit with a little pulling from shave 1. At about 1/4 the price of the Feather, I'll certainly buy another pack or two to do further testing. More on promising blades later, but for now I'm going to keep Feathers around and will compare the following again for price, performance and longevity. By no means is this a complete list as I still haven't tried all my blades once. Even so, those heading to longer trials are: Labs/Meds, Gillette 7OC Green (Russian), Astra SP.

Still don't know what's up with that Adidas AS, but I posted about it in a thread over here.

I am pretty much repeating what everyone else has said. Stick with the fundamentals, a good beginning razor such as the edwin jagger DE89, a blade sample back, and a good quality brush such as a rooney.

Unbelievably (to me, anyway) my Green blade lasted to a fifth shave. That was the end, but I'm very impressed. Not as sharp as I'd prefer, but I'll certainly keep evaluating it compared to some of my other favorite non-feathers to see if I can find a good compromise between price and comfort.

Next up is an Astra SS. Was gone this weekend, so I'm posting a couple catch-ups. Shaved with it yesterday and today. I was very happy with it yesterday and it was very sharp, but the ATG is like all sharp, but non-Feather blades to me. It cuts, but takes extra work in dense areas. That said, today I achieved 90% BBS after 3 passes plus quite a bit of touch-up. I'm mildly irritated, but I was a little anxious and over-ambitious this morning. I did notice the same problem I have with most blades: I tend to use pressure on certain difficult areas as it's the only way to keep them on my face and cutting. The good news is it's not much pressure and I don't get irritated in those areas most off the time. I'll give this blade until it starts to dull perceptively and will come back to it again in the near future to compare it to SPs and some other prospects.

Day 3 on Astra SS. Took a little more work than expected to get a decent shave. I'll try the blade tomorrow in hopes it was just me. If not, binned and I'll call the number of shaves I got from it. Feels good all but some of the areas ATG.

Finished up with some of the Lucido ASL sample rxonmymind. Wow. This stuff is exactly as I was informed: basically unscented with menthol. It burns a bit and cools. The menthol is strong and lasts quite a while. The scent is pretty much a menthol and clears up immediately to nothing. In fact, after 3 rinses and Lucido, I can still smell the Arko soap. Next time I'll rinse better, but this is exactly what I wanted in an unscented ASL with menthol. Thanks again, rxonmymind.

Wow, great thread!

I started DE wet shaving last week after using cartridges and electrics for sometime. Your detailed explanations and accounts of what you are experiencing were helpful for me. I can relate to many of them. I am currently using Merkur HD with Astra SP's and Proraso cream. I have a package of Feathers at home that I would like to try as I find my growth somewhat tough. I haven't had the courage yet as I am still working on my technique, but hopefully soon.

How did you like the scent TOBS sandlewood? I have smelled this scent from AOS and liked it. I really need to pick up some TOBS sandlewood to give a try.

haloj said:

Wow, great thread!

I started DE wet shaving last week after using cartridges and electrics for sometime. Your detailed explanations and accounts of what you are experiencing were helpful for me. I can relate to many of them. I am currently using Merkur HD with Astra SP's and Proraso cream. I have a package of Feathers at home that I would like to try as I find my growth somewhat tough. I haven't had the courage yet as I am still working on my technique, but hopefully soon.

How did you like the scent TOBS sandlewood? I have smelled this scent from AOS and liked it. I really need to pick up some TOBS sandlewood to give a try.

Click to expand...

Glad you find it helpful. I still refer back to earlier posts as I circle back to products to see my first impressions. I'm erring to adding too much info in case anyone might find it helpful; glad you are.

TOBS sandalwood is my favorite scent so far. I've only smelled the TOBS sandalwood cream and soap. But, I have both a new and old formula TOBS and was VERY disappointing in the smell of both the old and the soap after having smelled the new. The old forumula and soap are similar. Sorry I can't be of more help there.

Lately I've been using soap sticks exclusively. I find the Palmolive and Arko sticks to be much better at their job than the other products I've tried. I do plan to try the TOBS cream again soon though. That Arko has a reputation for a reason.

Feel free to PM me if you have questions. Sounds like you're off to a great start, but if you haven't picked up some witch hazel I recommend trying it.

Thanks, I have been having trouble finding WH locally, but I will continue the pursuit!

I noticed the Astra SS took extra work yesterday and I was irritated all day. I realized again today that with a blade that doesn't cut extremely well I use pressure to keep it from skipping. Today I resolved to use no pressure at all, no matter the closeness. After four passes and buffing, I'm left with only borderline DFS; no irritation though. Don't think this is the blade for me, but will try once coming weeks.

Finished with some 4711 -- great stuff. I didn't want menthol today, but did want alcohol. I think I'll pick some up when my sample runs out and I find it on sale.

EDIT: small update: it was rather dry this morning and my face felt dry. I put on some Nivea Arctic Freeze balm and that helped a lot. I need to realize when the air is dry I need a moisturizer. Getting the hang of this though.

Last two days were with a Feather, but weren't as comfortable as normal and day two it faded before the end of the shave. Bad blade, maybe? I'll figure it out.

Odd day today. Was going to skip shaving altogether, but my 5 year old daughter really wanted to shave with me. So, I decided to do 2x WTG and call it good so I can get a great shave tomorrow with a little extra healing time. But, as I climbed out of the shower, I had to take a phone call that lasted about 10 minutes. Of course, my face dried so I face lathered my Palmolive and let it sit extra long. Then I wiped some of it off and re-applied. The Lab pulled quite a bit- somewhere around a Derby level. It wasn't bad enough to make my eyes water on my upper lip like some blades, but it was right on that edge. I ended up with 2-3 weepers on my first pass and another 1-2 on my second which is really odd. A little styptic on two left after the rinse. Nowhere near SAS, though I rinsed a lot of stubble down the drain - this did VERY little for me.

Decided to try the Clubman ASL I have a sample of, even though I think it smells awful from the bottle. Don't know why I put it all over, should have put just a dab. Terrible, terrible smell that won't go away. More on that here. I'll send the sample along with a PIF someday. Blech.

Really curious about that lab tomorrow. If it tugs, I'll bin it and try one other to be sure it's not that blade. Most report the Meds and Labs are the same blade, but some state a similar experience to what I'm seeing.

Night and day. I'm happy to chalk it up to my face having dried; today the lab cut very well. Shower with conditioner as normal, straight to face latherin Arko ( the lemon scent is largely faded, now it smells like Ivory soap). Blade cut very well all but ATG on my chin. 3.5 passes touch- ups in the normal places to a DFS+ shave. This is the most even shave I've had yet. Had a few weepers due to pressing some ATG, but they were small and didn't have much burn from the 4711 ASL. sadly, I only have about two more uses of the 4711 - can't wait to find it in sale sometime.

Not a good shave. Razor burned, etc. Binned the blade at the end, but will certainly try another to see if my first day dulled the blade too much.

On another note, I'm now left with a strong soap scent on my face from the Arko each time I use it. The lemon has faded a lot, but now it's ivory soap and just hangs around. As much as I like the way it works, I plan to finish off this stick over time, but my 9 remaining Palmolive sticks are going to become my primary.

That should go away w/ a more thorough rinse. I found that I was getting some lather on my shoulders or upper chest because of the order in which I was shaving the various parts of my face. Then it wouldn't get rinsed as thoroughly, leaving me with the smell of whatever it was coming from the upper reaches of my chest hair/collar bones/etc.

Needed to clean my finest brush, so I shampooed it in the shower. Also, instead of conditioner on my face, I put some Palmolive soap on my face and lathered it after cleaning the brush, leaving it for the remainder of the shower.

New Personna Lab and I decided to give my first brush a go. It's a Conk Pure. It can't face lather as it's all cut ends and scratches like crazy, so I bowl lathered my TOBS old formula cream. (I loved my new formula stuff, but this doesn't smell like it - it's more like the soap - and doesn't really protect like Palmolive or Arko)That little brush is passable in a bowl, but nothing special; it doesn't make or hold much lather and is scratchy. Bit loser of a brush (need to update my Amazon review). Lather was alright, but not great. Not a good shave. Stopped after two passes as the TOBS wasn't protecting me. I think I'm going to put together a trade of a bunch of stuff I'm not using.

Blade cut fine, but the lather wasn't protecting me so I gave up. Could have switched up the brush and soap, but decided to call it a day and settle for an almost-CAS. Probably best in the end.

Tomorrow's another day, and it will be a better shave.

A hearty meh. Seems a lot like a Gillette 7OC Yellow to me - not a blade I enjoy, but passable. I'm giving it one more shot and have a few more I'll keep around to try in other razors, but I think the Labs are off my short list. Was an alright shave, but a lot of work to get close and still had mild irritation.