Want to try DE shaving, what do I need?

[Shootist]

Im ready to try shaving with a safety razor. Can someone suggest somewhere good starter products? What do I need to get started?

[elderberry99]

I started with a visit to my local CVS pharmacy where I bought a Van Der Hagen brush for a few dollars. A VDH puck of soap for a couple dollars.
Keep an eye on the B/S/T for a super speed for not much cash and you are ready to rock.
Once you get started with that, you can expand. The moon is the limit as to what you can use and buy.
Hang out and ask all kinds of questions. Everyone is more then willing to help get you going.
A good reference would be look up Mantic59 videos. He will show you the way.
Good luck and welcome to the family.

[Texas]

Welcome, Shootist. It depends on how much money you want to spend. A good start on a budget would be an EJ89 razor ( EJ= Edwin Jagger ). And a Van Der Hagen starter kit which has a brush and soap. These are for sale at Walmart, Walgreen's, or CVS; maybe all three. And after shave. If you like an alcohol splash, the choices are endless. If you are sensitve to alcohol, maybe some witch hazel and an after shave balm. Good to have you on the forum. Enjoy your shaves.

[mmn3js]

I started with a visit to my local CVS pharmacy where I bought a Van Der Hagen brush for a few dollars. A VDH puck of soap for a couple dollars.
Keep an eye on the B/S/T for a super speed for not much cash and you are ready to rock.
Once you get started with that, you can expand. The moon is the limit as to what you can use and buy.
Hang out and ask all kinds of questions. Everyone is more then willing to help get you going.
A good reference would be look up Mantic59 videos. He will show you the way.
Good luck and welcome to the family.

I agree with this if you are looking for the cheapest option to get started with quality products!

[incucrash]

CELLA

the hair will just fall off :)

[lt114]

A Super Speed or Tech off the B/S/T is a good way to start. The VDH kits are also just fine.
If you want to invest a bit more to start out, I suggest a Merkur HD or EJ for a razor, a Rooney 3/1 from Vintage Blades n Super, and some Cella or Tabac for a soap.
You can get all that for about $110 give or take and the those products (except for the soap) could last you pretty much the rest of your life and give you fantastic shaves.

[Link8382]

I just bought an Edwin Jagger Barley from Best Grooming Tools for a little over 40.00. It is a very easy de to shave with and a real work of art to boot. I have 3 shaves in now and its as easy to use as a cartridge razor with no nicks and a better shave. I am only using the blades that came with it. I believe the blades are Derby, could be Darby.

Good luck.

[elderberry99]

The DE89 is a great razor. Very smooth shaver.

[Go West Young Man]

Target has a brush for $10 that's top notch (buy it separately, not in the kit with the soap - that's a lower grade brush.)
Soap or cream can be bought just about anywhere, check the reviews here for suggestions.
A razor off the B/S/T or any of our good vendors.


That's all you NEED. Everything after that is WANT :)

[Shootist]

What do you guys think about long handled razors? Advantages/disadvatntages?

[elderberry99]

3 1/2" or 4" is tops for me. anything longer would be getting in my way or weird feeling to shave with.

[Predict]

Do yourself a favor get the omega boar brush. 13$ face lather with it. A lather bowl will just complicate things for a beginner.
Also don't go crazy buying de razors. After you get a good de start saving for the straight that you will inevitibly want to try.

[huntingdan]

I agree with everything that has been posted before. I started off a little more expensive. EJ89L, EJ medium best badger brush, blade sampler, and C.O. Bigelow cream (available at Bath and Body Works) One of my best friends started off with the VDH kit and he loves that too. As they say on the forum YMMV (your mileage may vary).

I love the EJ89, but finding my love for the vintage Gillettes (red tip and 40's super speed) growing even greater. You won't go wrong with either way, but the vintage Gillettes can be had cheap on the BST.

Good luck! Welcome to B&B!

[jazzguy]

Another vote for the Edwin Jagger DE89. I have a half dozen razors but I think this is the best one to start with. A nice badger brush is a wonderful thing too. If you're on a budget you can get started with a good cream that you can use without a brush like Musgo. Welcome to B&B!

[VANCE723]

DE89L
blade sampler
badger brush
i use truefitt&hill shaving creme

[Wildalaska]

For less about $100 you can get a new DE89, a Jagger best badger brush, a pack of feathers and a tube of quality cream like Trumpers Violet or a T&H. You dont need a bowl as you should face lather, its better. Enjoy

[shakin_jake]

What do you guys think about long handled razors? Advantages/disadvatntages?

~~~you mean like a straight razor?


that's all I ever shave with anymore

or are you talking about long handled DE and SE safety razors?...if so, if you have small hands and short fingers, a long handled safety might feel too cumbersome in your hand. Just the opposite, if you have large hands long fingers, a short handle safety will feel like it's, well...too short

if you're just starting out, wanting to try safety razors, wanting to save a few bucks, buy vintage off the BST here, and if you want a long handled vintage DE safety razor, I suggest you try a Schick Krona...they have fairly long handles. Gillette superspeeds on the other hand are fairly short handled


Best,


Jake
Reddick Fla.

[kiwi_Tom]

+1 for the EJ89 razor, I began with a Parker 60R and subsequently purchased an EJ89, Both razors give a similar shave however the EJ has much nicer plating and feels better built.

[rebos]

i'd say that a good start would entail the following:

one DE razor: gillette superspeed or something of a like degree of beginner forgiving-ness - a number of above-mentioned razors should do the trick.

if you go to the Buy/Sell/Trade forum you will likely find great deals for razors and even whole newbie starter kits for the best prices you'll find probably
find anywhere, aside from amazing flea market deals.

one brush: most will say to go with Badger - I can only say from my experience -- using a cheap ($8) synthetic brush so far -- that it has fared me well
for many a day while I hone in on technique learning and product knowledge. I have taken the approach of slow accumulation of knowledge of products
before dropping dollars. This approach has meant that the things I have picked up have been for excellent prices, as I didn't just rush in. All of this, of
course depends on your budget. I'm giving you the cheapo ideas here -- because I'm a broke student.

some shaving cream/soap: there is a colossal world of shaving software out there. You could go bonkers just studying the ingredients. My best advice would be
to explore the forum, write down what sounds interesting to you and search around on websites like westcoastshaving.com for prices. I started with proraso ($8 a tub)

some blades: you might be able to score some cheap ones or even free ones as bonuses when you buy from B/S/T, or as part of a newbie kit, or even as sold
by themselves. Try a bunch of different ones if you like, and stick to what works for you. I started with Derbies - a fine blade, but not for me.

Probably, if you enjoy your new-found shaving experience, you'll get hooked on buying stuff ( and get "RAD" - or "Razor Acquisition Disorder" which equally applies to soaps, brushes, all of this shaving business)

Whence it won't really matter what you start with because you'll have so much stuff piling up that the experiments will lead from one thing to another and another . . .

You could get away with spending under $40 for a solid starter set IMHO.

[Prof. Moriarty]

Welcome to B&B.
Great information from the others, don't really know what to add...
Post if you have any more questions