Greetings! With Questions

Discussion in 'Welcome Center' started by toothpastedog, Apr 21, 2014.

  1. toothpastedog

    toothpastedog New Member

    Hello all!

    [Very] Brief Bio: Late 20's, grad student, living in the foothills of Los Angeles, CA. Live in very small studio, and a lot of time indoors as well as outdoors, often in the sun. Prefer cold weather to warm or hot weather. Miss living in New England. Single, but I'm working on that with a lady friend. Teach mindfulness and meditation classes. Harm reduction and mental health advocate. Today I have quit smoking, so wish me luck. This is it, I'm pretty certain.

    On a break from college, way back when, I remember trying out my dad's DE safety razor. No idea what model razor or blade, or even how old the blade was. I remember it worked out well enough, no better but no worse than multiblade/cartridge razors.

    Recently I decided to make the switch to full time DE razors. What made me get interest in DE shaving recently was that a friend mentioned making his own bay rum aftershave. He included a link to a thread to this forum on someone's experience making their own, and after talking with my buddy a bit more, I was hooked. The main thing was, first of all, ongoing high cost of cat cartridge razors and, possibly more so, how they TEAR up my face. Well, really just my neck. Made it so that I really only shaved once every 4-7 days.

    These days I find myself wanting, and more importantly needing, to shave daily. The promise of a closer shave that results in less irritation once I get my technique down is the clicker for me. I've spent a while now lurking soaking up all I can from TSD and other interweb resources. Here's what I ordered for my starting kit:

    Razor: EJ DE89L
    Blades: Red Personna
    Brush: Parker Black Bristle Badger Blue Wood Handle
    Soap: Trumpers Extract of Limes Cream Tube
    Post-Shave Cream: Nivea for Men
    Aftershave: Clubman/Pinaud
    Shaving Stand

    In the near future, as I only bought 10 Personna and the razor comes with 5 Derby blades, I'm going to be purchasing a large blade sampler pack. Given low cost and the awesome lather I've heard of, I'll get a tube of Arko and a stick of Arko around that time. And finally, I'll be getting myself an Alum block (Osma).

    After I've found my favorite blade in the sampler I get, I'll get a bunch of those and begin the 30-day rule. Around that time, when I get a bunch of the blade I find I'm good with, I'll probably also consider getting another brush in the $40 range, probably an Omega badger I've been looking at. Way down the road I'll treat myself to a Futur, or possibly a slant first. But that's a ways off - who knows what will change before then.

    I'm basically torn between TSD shoppe blade sampler pack, the WestCoastShaving blade sampler and the ItalianBarber sampler. I'm learning toward the ItalianBarber kit as I can get the Arko soaps from them at the same time as well, and seems to be priced just fine and includes enough variety of the blades I've become most interested in. The WestCoastShaving sampler seems to offer more choices, but I don't want to have to pay for separate shipping on the Arko soaps. And I just noticed that the TSD shop has Arko stick soap so I might end up getting the blade sampler there with the Arko stick and possibly some TDS aftershave splash...

    I'm working on mapping my face, which is actually pretty fun. Using the hands of a clock for direction whiskers growing in (i.e. 12=north, 3=east, 6=south & 9=west). So far it seems like there are about nine different definite areas of whisker growth on my face.

    Your thoughts?

    (1) What do you think of my starting kit?
    (2) Given I'm most interested right now in face lathering, do you think getting the Arko tube and stick is a good idea, considering together they'll cost only like $8?
    (3) What are your thoughts on the Trumpers Extract of Limes cream?
    (4) Which blade sampler pack would you get, considering only the ItalianBarber and TSD shop also sell Arko?
    (5) What are some other good places to get shaving gear online?
    (6) Anyone know of good brick and mortar shave shops in the Los Angeles area?
    (7) Are there any good diagrams of the face/chin/neck out there for mapping the face?

    I'm thinking TSD shop's blade sampler and the Arko stick soap will be what I go with considering the low cost. The more I think about it the better I like the sound of a cheap blade sampler pack with only three of each type as opposed to the five or ten offered in the other ones. $15 sounds a lot better considering this is just a tool to figure out what blade(s) I like than $32-43 the others would cost (before shipping, including the cost of Arko soap). Only issue is that there are fewer varieties of blade in TSD sampler, so I'll have to pick up five or ten feathers to try after I complete the 30-day rule when I get a new brush. No rush to get those considering their sharpness, I guess.

    As a note, regarding shipping costs, I live in the Southern California/Los Angeles area. Also to note, I've actually been a big fan of the J-curve, G-slide and a few other "advanced" shaving methods, but with my old cartridge razors. I don't plan on learning these techniques with my new DE razor until I get the basic technique down and have first followed the 30-day rule (genius as far as this ocd freak is concerned).

    Thank you very much in advance for your time and help!

    Can't wait to spend more time around here as a real member :D SO pleased with my new obsession ;)
     
    Last edited: Apr 21, 2014
    Slow Joe and GDCarrington like this.
  2. RaZorBurn123

    RaZorBurn123 waiting hardily...............

    Welcome to the Den! You've got a very nice start. Happy Shaving!
     
  3. Tdmsu

    Tdmsu Well-Known Member

    Welcome!
    I think you have a fine setup and an excellent plan! You can also get Arko and build your own blade sampler at http://www.maggardrazors.com
    I mention them because they feature excellent customer service and fast shipping. You might save on shipping a bit with West Coast, though, since IB is in Canada, and Maggard is here in MI.
     
  4. fram773

    fram773 Well-Known Member

    Welcome
    (1) What do you think of my starting kit?
    Id rather use something else but it works for many.

    (2) Given I'm most interested right now in face lathering, do you think getting the Arko tube and stick is a good idea, considering together they'll cost only like $8?
    I use Arko. Used it for years. I was too cheap to try anything else but after trying much more expensive soaps I realize I was right after all. It outperforms many more expensive soaps. Some match it and have fancy scents but they're much more expensive and I learned my face gets irritated by most scents. I used to use it in a stick but now I grate it and mash it in a cappuccino mug and I get a more concentrated lather.

    (5) What are some other good places to get shaving gear online?
    Definitely http://connaughtshaving.com They are based out of the UK but shipping is low (and fast) and their prices are often MUCH better than US/Canadian vendors. We don't even have to pay VAT tax so it can be even cheaper for us Americans than Brits that order from there. For Arko $15 for a 12 pack from Amazon can not be beat.
     
  5. toothpastedog

    toothpastedog New Member

    What kind of brush(es) did/do you use fram? Just curious.

    Thanks for all the suggestions and kind words folks!
     
    Last edited: Apr 21, 2014
  6. swarden43

    swarden43 "It's your shave. Enjoy it your way."©

    Hi! Welcome to the Den.

    May I suggest shopping at The Shave Den Store ---> *click*

    All $$$ goes to support TSD.
     
  7. fram773

    fram773 Well-Known Member

    I use a Semogue 830 (boar). I've used a HIS Synthethic, Tweezerman pure badger, Parker synthetic (terrible don't get).
     
  8. GDCarrington

    GDCarrington Burma Shave

    I think once you get sampler pack you should be under way.

    P.S. You have got the 30 day rule! :D
     
  9. Badger-Face

    Badger-Face Well-Known Member

  10. Dridecker

    Dridecker Sherlock

    Welcome to The Shave Den, I hope you enjoy your stay! :)
     
  11. zec668

    zec668 Well-Known Member

    Welcome sir! You started with a setup very similar to what I rely on as my go to these days. You must've done some research before hand ;) By the way, Clubman is AMAZING!
     
  12. Mr. Shaverman

    Mr. Shaverman Well-Known Member

    Welcome!

    I'm not going to answer your questions directly, other than to say that what you've got there will work fine. The reason I'm not saying more is that as you use these products, learn your technique, and read more online you'll try things, branch out, and what you've got going now probably won't be what it is 3 months from now. That's just how it works. My actual advice is to have fun, remain open minded, and try everything you can.
     
  13. toothpastedog

    toothpastedog New Member

    Thanks! I admit I did a bit of research ;) I ordered the vanilla, can't wait to try it, only one more day :) I also have the original already if I don't like the vanilla, but I'm betting that I do

    Thanks for the advice Mr Shaverman, this, I think, if what I'll do. Hard to go anywhere without first mastering the basics.
     
  14. toothpastedog

    toothpastedog New Member

    Yyyyiii! :hooray:

    My DE gear just arrived! So I was wrong, I won't have to wait another day until I get to give myself a real shave. In fact, I only have six or seven hours! :)
     
  15. figment714

    figment714 Well-Known Member

    ... and the adventure begins. Congrats, enjoy it all! :cool:
     
  16. Troy M

    Troy M Prep: Mephitis mephitis musk

    Welcome and please tell us how it turns out!
     
  17. toothpastedog

    toothpastedog New Member

    Great! Certainly room for improvement, but using the a Personna blade and everything else listed above, it went really well. I think a big part of that was having shaved with my old cartridge [for the last time :)] yesterday morning, so there wasn't too much whisker growth to deal with this evening when I used the DE. Awesome shave too! I whether it's my face, or the razor, or blade or whatever, I can't get enough of that sound of whiskers getting mowed down! Such a glorious sound! :cool:

    Only one pass on the neck, two on the face, and considering I didn't get any razor burn, nicks or weepers, I'm pretty darn satisfied. It's like my face and neck were made for this. Did have a bit of touching up to do, but it still didn't take more than 30 minutes from start to finish. I can't tell the HOT shower helped a lot, but I am looking forward to trying a hot towel or two this weekend :happy069:

    I'll say, I think the most important thing I did for myself to ensure success here, was to use literally no forced while shaving. Really I just pulled the razor across my skin, no pressure whatsoever required. I can totally see what you guys mean when you say you'll need more than one pass to get everything. But yea. All in all, couldn't be more pleased.

    I won't have anything to worry about when it comes to impressing the girlfriend when she gets back in town tomorrow :D
     
  18. Welcome to the Den and the world of wet shaving. Jeepers, you don't ask much with all your questions do ya? lol. You should be fine with what you've started out with until you find out what blade works best for you. As far as Arko goes, you can't go wrong...just used mine the other night and for the price of it anyone would be silly not to try it. And Clubman, well that should be a staple in anyones shave den if you ask me :)
     
  19. toothpastedog

    toothpastedog New Member

    Yup, you got me. Succinct most definitely is not my middle name :rolleyes:
     
  20. denshaver

    denshaver Member

    Wow! That's a great post and a very good start. Hello and welcome to The Shave Den .
     

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