I’m on WestCoastShaving website and thinking about getting some post shave balms and aftershave . I only have OldSpice and Proraso Pre/Post at the moment since I am still fairly young to traditional WetShaving. Shout out goes to Terry for helping to get me started he really helped me out a lot! So if you gents could help me I would appreciate your insight. I would get a bowl too but I’m a full time student and can’t afford it and using smooth bowls or mugs does not work at all for me and it’s frustrating . I wish I had something with ridges inside!!! Till then... I will continue to face lather!! ✌️
Here's a low cost options. If you have small hands a 4 inch diameter X 1-1/2 deep ceramic Suribachi listing at $11.95 / free shipping BIN -->HERE. For bigger action a 6 inch diameter works better. I liked the small one until I got the bigger but I wear XL gloves.
No, I meant I have large hands. The small bowl was so much better than a coffee mug, or an Old Spice mug. Those are OK to hold a soap puck but didn't work for making lather. I arranged to swap some gear with member Jack @Sparrow who lives in Japan. He sent me several beautiful authentic ceramic suribachi bowls that were larger than the one I linked. Maybe you can gauge the size of the larger dish with the tub of Proraso Red. The soap tub is 3-1/2" wide, the dish at 6" wide by 2-1/4" deep. As to being messy? Nope. The more open bowl shape doesn't let brush handles bang against the ceramic. I rarely spill out any lather.
Haven't tried either of those balms but the pre de provence used to be very popular and widely recommended For artisan balms it's hard to find better value for the money than Stirling. For drug store brands, Nivea Sensitive.
Arko comfort is a great budget balm. L'occitane Cade is at the other end of the price spectrum but is magnificent. Specialist bowls are really a fancy luxury tbh. Any bowl will do and if you are face latherer, you might not use one much anyway....
I'm looking into ordering a copper hammered Turkish shave bowl off of the Bay for 6 dollars and change. That price also includes shipping. From the research I've done. It sounds like they work really well too. I know your tight on $$. But maybe this could be in your budget?
I love my Captains Choice shaving bowl, with ridges in the bottom. It’s not cheap, but when I got it they threw in a full size sample of their “North” aftershave balm which is absolutely marvelous. It may be my favorite balm now. They threw in a bunch of genuine sample sized items too (one soap, one AS, one cream and another balm, all different scents) so a veritable goodie bag from Captains Choice. I never really considered Captains Choice for anything besides their bowls, but I learned they make some great stuff. Some fantastic smelling product. I’ll buy more balm from them for sure. You may want to call them and ask if that’s customary to throw in a full sized balm (as a loss leader) with a bowl order, and if so, pull the trigger on one of their bowls, which work great. Of course I’ve learned that I prefer to face lather, so I only used the bowl creams and soap samples (of which I have many!). Lol. I also agree with many here that Nivea shave balms are probably the best bang for the buck. And their at the local store too! In fact Nivea sensitive is as good as anything I’ve ever used. It’s just so... boring!
I’ll need to try that one! I love the names they choose for their scents My favorite scents so far are “North” and “Venture”. Hmmm, just checked their website, and North isn’t even available. I wonder if they were just clearing out old stock? Too bad if they never make it again. It’s a fantastic, clean, cool scent that won’t interfere with any other scent you put on after. I just noticed their balms are $20 too! Yikes. That’s a lot. So pretty generous of them throwing one in for free. A little goes a long way though. I’ll have this balm for a long time. I know Stirling balm is very popular, and inexpensive. But I don’t like it as much as others I’ve tried. It’s on the heavy, creamy side. Something you massage into your face as opposed to a light goop that kinda glides over your face and is absorbed. Stirling does last a long time too, though, and they have a ton of great scents.
In fact, Mike, since it sounds like $ is a little tight, if you message me your address I’ll PIF you a full sized, practically full Stirling balm: Margaritas in the Arctic. My wife just doesn’t abide by the smell - I like the smell, and it’s nicely mentholated - but’s it’s gotta go.
You can get a bowl with ridges in the bottom at any beauty supply. They have many styles and mine even has a comb on one side. Best part, that are dirt cheap, less than 4 bucks. They are plastic, therefore unbreakable, and are designed for hair color. Most have a handle on one side and textured bottoms. Perfect for what we want. Google tint bowls, shop away . I picked up mine at Sally, or steal them from the wife's bathroom.