Newbie advice

This isn't a plug of certain techniques or products, rather a philosophical outlook for the novice. It's easy to look at he incredible shave dens of some of our members, or lust after the esoteric and hard to find products they use. There is an extraordinary amount of amazing products available in this field, far more than I would have ever suspected, but don't for a moment think that it's necessary to spend big bucks for a great shave.

Case in point: today's shave-
30's Gillette thick handled Tech, near mint off ebay- $5
blade- 10 cent Derby
Proraso green tube cream, purchase for <$10 two years ago and going strong
Thayer's rose witch hazel- $4 for a year's supply
Aqua Velva- $3

This is one of my least expensive setups, and I got a world class shave. The bargains of the shave world are every bit as impressive as the glories of Penhaligons, Castle Forbes, and Coates.

Been sayin it for a while now.

I get the same shave with Williams Mug and Aqua Velva that I get with D.R. Harris.

Not knocking the Luxury factor but you can get a BBS shave under 10 bucks.

You can get fifty bbs shave for ten bucks.

I absolutely agree. The bargains are still out there for razors if you wan to hunt around on Ebay. And if you don't want to buy vintage a Merkur classic is still pretty darned cheap to purchase new.

Aqua Velva is my go to aftershave most days.

Putting up a little bit of coin for a good brush is worth some thought. But with the the C&E BBB or better yet the B&B Essential even that becomes a very affordable "luxury", especially if you dollar cost it over the many years of use you'll get out of it.

I get all jiggy and bored and like to rotate soaps and sometimes aftershaves to vary things up but I have a lot of respect for people who like to keep it simple and stick with one rig....... One razor, one brush one beer, er, soap.

Technique (what you do) is more important than 'stuff' (what you use).

HTH.

-- John Gehman

Great thread Jay. I think the same way. You don't need to spend big bucks on all the fancy goodies out there. Some of my best shaves have been and still remain some of my cheapest set ups. Expensive is nice but not always better. Like John said, It's about how you do it that counts.

I like lobster but I eat tuna sandwiches a lot more and when I am done, I am equally as full and happy.

Everyone should have a low cost set up for the daily shave. It makes the pricey stuff that much more enjoyable. After I burned through my first AOS cream I have decided to milk out the really good expensive stuff, so I can enjoy it longer.

OldSaw said:

Everyone should have a low cost set up for the daily shave. It makes the pricey stuff that much more enjoyable. After I burned through my first AOS cream I have decided to milk out the really good expensive stuff, so I can enjoy it longer.

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I agree. When I had more stuff, I saved the more expensive stuff for the weekend when I went out.

OldSaw said:

Everyone should have a low cost set up for the daily shave. It makes the pricey stuff that much more enjoyable. After I burned through my first AOS cream I have decided to milk out the really good expensive stuff, so I can enjoy it longer.

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I agree with this one! Now to get some of that luxury stuff so I can enjoy it

Good post Ouch.

While I certainly have amassed a collection of stuff, I routinely use and get great shaves from the cheap stuff.

I'm not a fan of the Gillette tech or superspeeds, but my low cost shave set up is as follows:

Merkur Classic $25 (the cheapest razor Merkur makes)
Wilkinson boar brush $6
JM Fraser Cream $10 for a huge tub (I can buy it locally)
Derby or Crystal blades $0.10 each
AV $3.50 or Booster $9 for a massive tub

In fact, before I joined B&B, my shave set up consisted of my Merkur (which I've had for a decade), Proraso cream, Proraso splash and the Proraso/Omega boar brush - all of which I could get locally.

Even with my now expanded collection, the "drugstore" products get lots of play - the Frasers, AV, Palmolive sticks and my Merkur classic all see regular duty.