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Newbie Question

Hello all,
I introduced myself a couple of days ago and I wish to thank those who welcomed me to the forums. My rook question is in regards to those of us who are getting started with wet shaving. Is it better to purchase a kit or purchase all of the pieces separately. I see kits available on line and in certain stores. But, with all the info on brushes I wonder if it is not better to buy all of the materials separately. This is, indeed, a rook question, but you don't know until you ask. Sorry mods if this is in the wrong forum. Thanks!
 
First of all, welcome. As far as your question goes, I personally would suggest pieceing it together individually. When I started, I bought an HD from Lee's Razors, the blade sampler from Westcoastshaving.com, creams and soaps from mama bears, bath and body works, body shop, ebay, and just about everywhere in between. As far as brushes, I picked up a boar brush from ulta (men-u), then a tweezerman on ebay for $15, and I got a vulfux for Christmas, but you can buy them at many retailers and online. The kits are easy becasue they have most of the stuff you need right away, but it might suit you better to piece it together and get what you want. Also, there are plenty of people here on the buy/sell forum who might have things you are looking for at a better price than you can get it new and/or in a kit. YMMV Though.....
 
If you want to go with a DE, purchase seperately. General recommendation is a Merkur HD ( model 34 ), a blade pack from West Coast Shaving ( see sticky at top of B/S/T ) and a brush. Your choice E&C BB, Vulfix, Tweezerman. Check out the reviews section.
 
The one advantage to buying everything together, especially if you're buying from an online retailer is that you'll only pay for shipping one time.

That being said, i was able to put together my kit from various sources and still get pretty good deals. For me, it was easier to go to a B&M store to pick out shave cream and aftershave in order to get the wife's approval on the scent. I also picked up the brush at C&E. Then I ordered the HD from classicshaving and the westcoastshaving blade sampler. The shipping that John @ westcoastshaving charges is fair (only a dollar and change), so it wasn't much of a factor to order from the second online retailer. I probably spent more on gas driving to C&E at the mall.

I didn't find too many places that had a prepared set that included all the things that I wanted.
 
You might want to check out vendors like: Classicshaving, QED, Leesrazors, Emsplace and Vintage Blades to see if they offer starter kits with a good razor, brush and shaving soap/cream. They are all good vendors and I'm pretty sure some or all of them offer decent kits. If you find something that looks interesting at one of these sites let us know and we can give some thoughts on it.

You can also call any one of these vendors and thay'll help you piece a good kit together.

I would try to get everything you need to start out as one order, from one vendor. This will simplify and save on shipping. Good luck!
 
When I started wet shaving, I bought a set that included a stand, a brush, a bowl, and a mach 3 razor. The only piece I'm still using is the stand. I guess it was a good way to have something right away, but if you can piece it together, it's probably better.
 
While putting it together piecemeal will get you your dream kit (ok, many with all sorts of ADs will scoff at the notion that there is such a thing), if you're in a hurry and want a serviceable kit, there are some good ones out there. I got a Merkur HD kit from VintageBlades. about $70. came with an HD, a vulfix pure badger brush, a drying stand, a col conk mug and soap, a pack of blades and they threw in a styptic pencil. that's enough to keep you going for a long while. Similar deals are available from the other reputable dealers who get talked about here. The big advantage is getting started with quality stuff that is not much of a compromise right away. Ideally I would have a fancier brush, etc, and someday I will, but for now, the kit did me fine. (I have already bought better soap, but there was no need)
 
i think you'll do just fine with purchasing all the items seperately so that you'll be able to customize it to your needs
 
When I started out (like 6 months ago) I ordered everything separately...my reasoning was that if I am going to stick with this, I might as well get the better quality stuff right away, since most items last a lifetime...
 
Thanks for the feedback guys. It seems that murkurs are fairly popular and I will look into purchasing one. Proraso seems to be a good preshave cream as well. The soap, as I understand, makes a big difference in a shave and that will require some research. I hear that tabac is a good soap. Again, thanks for the info. Oh yeah, a good brush is a must from what I have read.
 
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