Welcome to B&B and to the art of wet shaving!
Houston guy here
- Thread starter Koolhaas
- Start date
Welcome!! Right now you don't know what you don't know so just start. Get a razor and brush that fit your budget, a blade sample pack and decent soap or two. There are multiple good recommendations on all of these. Don't worry about which is 'best', they are all good and will serve you well. Once you really learn to lather and shave (this takes weeks, not days), then you can start to experiment with other equipment and soaps on that slippery slope of finding 'best' 
. IMHO the difference between 'good' and 'best' is simply personal preference.
. IMHO the difference between 'good' and 'best' is simply personal preference.
What's in the jar is cream. You use the cream (or soap) to build a lather. There's a sticky at the top of the cream subforum with guides on lathering creams. The soap subforum has its counterpart as well.
Select one of the commonly suggested DE's (EJ DE89, Merkur 34C, vintage of your choice, etc) and a blade sample pack. It's very difficult to give recommendations to novices with no experience. Once you have some experience under your belt you'll be better equipped to ask questions for others to guide you. First hand experience is how you'll determine what's best suited to you whether it's the DE itself, blade, brush, cream/soap, aftershave, prep, etc. Once you get your basic technique down you may want to switch to a more aggressive DE/open comb/slant as some who have thick/coarse beards do but you probably don't want to start out with one.
Nitpicking but the M3's and Hydros are safety razors as well.
Kuhl-Linscomb (Alabama near Kirby) stocks some AoS stuff if you like AoS and don't want to wait until you travel or drive to the boonies (Woodlands, IIRC) to hit an AoS store.
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- Thread starter
- #24
Takeshi, thanks for chiming in! Nice to hear from a local. AoS stuff is sold in almost every store in the Galleria. I had a gift card from macy's and bought some lemon scented lather.
Do you know where in Houston to buy Safety razor's? Besides British Isle
where do people typically find vintage razors, besides online? Pawn shops, antique shops?
Do you know where in Houston to buy Safety razor's? Besides British Isle
where do people typically find vintage razors, besides online? Pawn shops, antique shops?
Welcome to B&B friend. Sit back, relax and enjoy the ride!
There an antique store in the heights called Yale diner on Yale and 21st... They had a lot of vintage ones in a glass case.. But new ones?? Not sure... Also if you want to try Portland general store whiskey soap go to "reserve supply" in the heights...they sell great boots, shoes, and heritage style jeans and clothing.. Owners name is Jason... Great dude
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- #27
Welcome to Badger and Blade.
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- #29
Nice the owner there is nice too... Yeah Jason is cool buy all my tellason jeans and red wings from him..
welcome to the forums you should have no trouble finding all the info you need on what your looking for... picking a favorite is another issue lol
- Thread starter
- #32
So, had my first wet shave with my EJ. I was a bit nervous i'd nik myself, but it only happened once on a mole below my lip. I never felt it, but it did bleed a tiny bit.
The shave was fantastic. Much better than my Hydro5. I only did two passes, with the grain and across the grain. I was too nervous about going against the grain. (that's when i usually cut myself or get bad razor burn)
what do you guys use in the ways of AfterShave? I have some Art of Shaving aftershave balm. It's Shea butter i think? I want to ensure that when I shave against the grain, I don't get razor burn. Can I protect myself against that by using some kind of aftershave treatment?
The shave was fantastic. Much better than my Hydro5. I only did two passes, with the grain and across the grain. I was too nervous about going against the grain. (that's when i usually cut myself or get bad razor burn)
what do you guys use in the ways of AfterShave? I have some Art of Shaving aftershave balm. It's Shea butter i think? I want to ensure that when I shave against the grain, I don't get razor burn. Can I protect myself against that by using some kind of aftershave treatment?
Hey alright, always good to see another Texan (I'm in Richmond myself). Been lurking for forever, but I just registered here yesterday, so this is technically my first post. Fancy that?
In any case, as for where to get stuff, I haven't found many good local places around here. So far I've been buying my stuff from Amazon and West Coast Shaving online. As for aftershaves, I've been using Nivea Sensitive Aftershave Balm with a styptic pencil for weepers, but I also have an Alum Block and a bottle of Captain's Choice Bay Rum on the way from WCS that's supposed to arrive on my door today. I'll have to report back how that goes.
In any case, as for where to get stuff, I haven't found many good local places around here. So far I've been buying my stuff from Amazon and West Coast Shaving online. As for aftershaves, I've been using Nivea Sensitive Aftershave Balm with a styptic pencil for weepers, but I also have an Alum Block and a bottle of Captain's Choice Bay Rum on the way from WCS that's supposed to arrive on my door today. I'll have to report back how that goes.
- Thread starter
- #34
Good to hear from you. If you ever come into Houston. Drop in Rice Village at British Isles. They have a pretty good selection. Life Check Drugs (near Rice Epicurean) on San Felipe and Post Oak has a lot of brushes and products, but no razors (besides a throwaway). Also, in Galleria any of the big stores have stuff. (nordstroms, macy's, neimans...)
Welcome to B&B enjoy
what do you guys use in the ways of AfterShave? I have some Art of Shaving aftershave balm. It's Shea butter i think? I want to ensure that when I shave against the grain, I don't get razor burn. Can I protect myself against that by using some kind of aftershave treatment?[/QUOTE]
My post shave regimen: wash off residue of soap with warm water, then cold water rinse, towel dry face, apply WH (witch hazel ), while face is still damp with WH apply AS balm ( I use Proraso ), allow face to air dry. Works for me. YMMV.
My post shave regimen: wash off residue of soap with warm water, then cold water rinse, towel dry face, apply WH (witch hazel ), while face is still damp with WH apply AS balm ( I use Proraso ), allow face to air dry. Works for me. YMMV.
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- #37
Any generic will do for me. I am currently using Dickinson's purchased at CVS. I have a bottle of Thayer's in the cabinet when I run out of Dickinson's. Dickinson's has some alcohol in it, I believe 14%, but it does not burn like a generic AS with alcohol and feels soothing. Thayer's WH, both with and w/o alcohol, is highly praised on this site. For the variety of Thayers WH available, go to www.thayers.com.
Welcome to B&B
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- #40
