Shaving Products to Avoid

Which shave-related products - that includes everything we talk about on this forum (razors, blades, creams, soaps, aftershaves, lotions, fragrances, etc.) - do you like the least?

I'm going to cite a few that readily come to mind.

1.) Trumper's Skin Foods - absolute waste of money.
2.) "All-Natural" Lines: AOS, KMF, TGR.
3.) Shave gels (from can) & but more so products like King of Shaves.
4.) Preshaves, particularly oils.

 

I've got nothing but good to say about 'em...except that Coral stinks like old lady.

 

I know I've probably posted this before, but I haven't been too thrilled with Col. Conk's shave soap. It makes my skin feel strange and I end up getting serious skin irritation after the shave is done. The almond smells nice, but it's just not worth a damn.

 

I disagree about KMF. IMHO Kiss My Face is good for almost anyone and great for beginers. It produces a quality lather that is slick and protective. It is the most forgiving of poor lathering technique of anything I've used, which makes it great for the beginners. All this and it's one of the cheapest quality creams available.

Now, on topic: Avoid the painful wrath that is Tiger blades. I'm guessing when Gillette has a run of another blade go bad, they mark the blades with the Tiger logo. This is by far the roughest blade I've used. Only positive is that it's really sharp, which I don't really view as positive in this case.

 

Experience (personal) has taught me to avoid Feather blades. If I want to avoid destroying my skin. Also, for me, NOTHING in a can.

 

Arko-unless you've lost the ability to smell.

 

I agree with you there, Erik. I have recommended KMF to other newbies. I have had good success with the product and it out-performs it's price. Easy to practice lathering skills with and provides good lubrication.

AVOID Burt's Bees....smells nice, and that's where any good to it ends!

 

CARTRIDGE RAZORS.. of any make and model.

I also did not like the whatever you call it Cade SC.. did not do anything for me.

 

Dorco blades, they are (for me) the worst little pieces of metal in the world. Just looking at them makes my face cringe.

OTH, KMF is very nice, easy to lather and does a fine job at a low cost. What more could you ask for??

 

My list

Burts Bees Bay Rum Shaving Soap (the aftershave is very nice)

Derby Creams

American Personas (blades, I think they have them at Wal Mart)

 

Good topic!

Gillette (US) DE blades
Bic disposables
canned Old Spice shave cream
stainless steel ASR double edge blades
Burt's Bee's stuff
Lucky Tiger aftershaves
Arko soap
Kiss my Face stuff
Colgate soap
ASR/Personna Sensor/Tri-Flexxx carts
Supermax anything
Barbasol
Black Magic aftershaves
basically any brushless cream

 

AOS shaving soaps, though expensive, are among the best out there. Finishing off a puck takes forever. However, I wasn't impressed with their creams.

 

Honeybee Sue Soaps: Though they're wonderful soaps, more often than not I get an allergic reaction to them. I'm not alone.

Caswell-Massey: Don't even waste your time or money.

Trumper Skin Food: I think it's overpriced and none of the scents smell good. I can get a much better result from Hydrolast Conditioner, which lasts longer.

DR Harris shave creams: Their original formulations were excellent. My favorite cream was the Harris Lavender, in fact. However, this new stuff is very underwhelming. I even emailed Harris about it. They said that they took considerable measures to ensure that they had made a great product.

This might get me tarred and feathered but.. Proraso Green: I've never liked the smell. I don't think it's moisturizing. Menthol doesn't cover its weaknesses. This includes the soap and the cream.

 

I agree with Telly 100% on all choices. C&E soaps I can tolerate with the addition of 10-12 drops of glycerine. I love the scent of the Sienna so I wont toss it out. HBS do not work for me at all. Skin Food? I love the smell of the sandalwood but thats it. What a waste of money. Derby creams blow. Wasnt impressed with Arko creams.

 

A mod should merge this with the other "products that suckkkk" thread.

 

Oh, I totally forgot about Caswell-M. Terrible line for shaving.

Cade's SS is killer but the splash AS is awful.

C&E is very thumbs-down with respect to everything it sells - save for its brushes, superb. Sienna's scent is nice but not worth buying a bad soap over and the EdT goes nowhere.

Williams Soap is a big tease. It costs nothing, works well and is available everywhere - but its fragrance is putrid.

I don't like KMF because of its name - heard it's a commendable product, but I don't like "all-natural" and its bottle and so forth.

Super-Max makes the worst disposables razors I've ever encountered; that is, they're the only ones whose blades are dull out of the box...

But I like its DE blades.

 

I wrote a few reviews on some creams such a Power, Confident, etc. Do NOT buy them--they are horrible.

 

Anything from Caswell Massey.

Regards.

J

 

Caswell-E's Bath Soaps are nothing to write home about either. Catch 'em at Marshalls/TJ Maxx.

Wilkinson Sword SS rocks, J.! My current fav.

 

How surprising! You condemn a product without even touching it!

Death, Taxes, and Kaveh...