The VDH is just not near as good a soap to me. But it is good that you like it.

Fuzzy

VDH soap and a VDH boar brush were my staples for many years, starting when they were sold under the Surrey name. I never had the desire to use a badger brush until I found one in my fathers cabinet after he died. If it weren't for that, I'd still be swishing a boar-generated lather.

Nothing wrong with the inexpensive stuff. If it works, it works.

IMHO Van Der Hagen is every bit as good as Tabac and Institut Karite, but at a fraction of the cost. I could hardly believe it - a $2 soap that is as good as $15 soaps. Unfortunately, the local Longs Drugs got sold to CVS so no more Van Der Hagens there. They do have the Williams shave soap. Seems like some of you guys have a pretty high opinion of it, so I will give that a try.

New To Wet Shaving, On A Budget, Looking For Bang For The Buck

Hello everyone. I am new to this forum and new to this style of shaving. I have been reading and looking around and have some questions. What are some good bang for the buck products to look for and to start with? I need a razor, soap/cream, brush, aftershave, you know the deal. I am interested in value not image or brand name. If I could get a good result with a $2 soap then why spend $20 for a designer soap? I am not looking for cheap as in poor quality but rather value products, bang for the buck and easy to get so when it comes time to replace them I do not have to wait a week to get them. Thanks for the help and advice.

welcome to TSD! as for high value low cost products, everyone has different standards and cost thresholds. Here's mine:

soap: Williams Mug or Van Der Hagen. I prefer Williams. You can find them on the shelves at drugstores, Walmarts, and grocery stores across the US.

brush: in time you might want to spend some money on a brush, but until you figure out what you like you could start with the Van Der Hagen boar brush, which is also sold at drugstores, Walmart, and grocery stores for approx. 7 bucks.

razor: you'll have to order this one, unless there's an antique store near you or you live near one of the few specialty stores that carries Merkur razors. If you post in the classifieds with a Want to Buy (WTB) and state you're a complete newbie someone might give you a basic double edge razor for free. At the very least someone will probably offer you a deal.

aftershave: go to the shave section of the grocery store/ walmart/ drugstore and go crazy. Don't forget to check out dollar stores as well. I like the Barbasol line, which sells for a little over a dollar a bottle at a local store.

Good post.
Bang for the buck means different things to different people. As you rightly imply, it does not mean spending as little money as possible if you can spend a little more money and do either a far better job, or, do it for a lot longer.

For soap I would suggest a puck of Mitchell's Woolfat. This might set you back $15, but it will last a year, and that's a lot of bang for the buck. If you're looking at only spending a couple of dollars on soap, I'd say Arko, Van Der Hagen, or Conk. If you must buy this from a storefront, I say skip soap and move to cream.

For cream, that Kiss My Face is only $3 a tube at Vitacost or $5 in a store; also, the Arko creams are excellent, but a pot of Taylor's Rose is only $15 and will last 3-4 months if used daily. Finally, the Real Shave Co. makes good stuff you can buy in a store.

For the razor, if you're new to wet shaving, I would recommend you purchase a Gillette Tech on eBay or on the forum's classified section; this is a mild and easy to use razor that's a great starter. If you want to buy a new razor, and are new to wet shaving, a Weishi from China is very mild and easy to learn with. I think that any Merkur razor, while they are wonderful razors, especially the 1904 model, is too aggressive for learning with. The Schick Krona and the regular TTO Gillette Superspeeds are great first razors too.
You won't need to replace this so not buying it in a store is not a big deal.

For aftershave, I have found nothing that works better than simple rose water and glycerin, which you can get for under $5 at Vitacost, search for Heritage Products Rosewater. If you must buy it in a store, get some Nivea AS balm or some Brut AS balm. If you like alcohol, you have a lot of choices in a store; all good.

For the brush, buy a Semogue boar from Vintage Scent.
If you want something locally available, buy an Omega #49.

Welcome and good luck!

Drop me a PM. I have a Tech (needs cleaned), Golden Nib synthetic brush, a small blade sampler and a couple of soaps if you're interested.

Thank you all for the great ideas. I was out today in a local thrift store looking around and did not find any shaving gear, but hey it was worth looking.

Mike are you sure we are not brothers.....

I agree with brother Mike on this one also. All good advise.

Fuzzy

I left out one detail: blades. You're going to have to order blades if you want to use anything other than American Personnas or maybe Wilkinson Swords. Both of these are fine blades. I'd recommend using American Personnas. They're found at any drugstore, walmart, or grocery store. Avoid buying them at walgreens or CVS, though, because they overcharge. You should expect to pay in the $2 range for a 10 pack of personna blades, not $7 which is what they charge at my local walgreens.

Newbie question here. Sticking with the value for the money theme, what warrents the price of a "high end" shave soap or cream? Why is XYZ brand better than Walmart soap? I have looked around a bit and see shave brushes $50 and up, why? Are you paying for a name? Look at a Ford truck and a Lincoln truck...they are the exact same thing you are just paying for a name, image, and some extra blind....yet both are made by Ford on the same chasis and use the same parts. I am not knocking anything just trying to learn and understand.

I guess I'm cheap now too:

I decided to go buy some Nivea Ultra Sensitive ASB. Its normally close to 10 bucks, but today it was 2 for $9

some high end creams/ soaps deliver, some don't. which is which depends on you. Ex: I find that low end creams (Arko, Derby) are functional but don't deliver as much cushion and skin care as higher end creams (salters, c&e). I really like C&E but can't afford it. Also, while I find that there is a difference, I don't think it's a big enough difference to buy the high end stuff all the time. C&E is a nice luxury every now and then. Note- the TSD creams are a good combination of both price and luxury. I find they perform like some of the high end creams but don't come at the high end price. Oh, and you are buying the name with some of the high end English creams, but some of those creams are good.

as for brushes: brushes are complicated. I put $35 into the brush I use now and every penny was worth it. Some folks spend triple that and feel the same way. The brush knot (the bristles) is the key to a good brush and it can cost. But then, there are folks who love those VDH boar brushes. That's why I recommend you start with low cost and work your way up.

as for razors: modern razors are pretty consistent in terms of price. between 30 and 40 dollars USD will get you a quality two or three piece. You can get vintage razors for less if all you want is a functional razor. If you're looking to collect or to find an unused vintage you're going to have to pay. It's good to know the seller somewhat before you buy a vintage razor if you're buying online. I'd recommend you stay away from ebay unless you're buying a cheap vintage razor because folks sometimes bid way too much on razors, or the razors listed wrong, etc...

To some it is, to some it's not. It depends on what aspects of soap or brush or blade are important to you, and new aspects are introduced by different products.
The only way for you to know what works for you, and what you like, is to try it.
You can ask opinions but they're just that, what someone else thinks. This may or this may not be how you feel. You won't know how you feel until you know.

I like your thouights.....

Razor --- Gillette Super Speed $10.00 on ebay

Blades --- Derby $15 for 100 (or less)

Brush --- Badger (I paid $20 for mine)

Soaps/Cremes --- This is where I spend my money, and its worth it. For $15.00 you can get an AMAZING soap that will last 6 months. But today I used Arko Commando and loved it. L'Occitane is only $10 on sale.
After Shave -- Nivea is a bargain, and I'm using a sample of Trumpers Skin Food and can see how a bottle could last a lifetime.

This is a hobby, and I don't mind spending money on my hobby. And with all I've spent, it's really a pretty inexpensive hobby.

Oh, BTW, VDH is a great soap for the money... Williams... not so good.

And finally.....

YMMV

There is some great info here. This is going to be a fun hobby. I am looking forward to my first shave.

Good to hear.

Fuzzy

One of the most interesting threads on this forum.Im moving to Utah this 28th and Im exiting to find all those americans products.Thanks to Omegapd(Eric) I have tried Col. Conk,Williams and VDH de luxe.I really liked the Williams with boar.Also Kiss My face creams.I find that Arko shavestick is the best value ever,2 50 dollars for a tallow based soap with a great skin care(but the scent is a love-hate thing I know).Ill try a VDH boar brush too since I love boar.Thanks for all the good ideas.

I'm not cheap. I'll spend more for quality if I can afford it.

But I'll tell you what I am: Flippin' broke! (For the time being, anyway.) So I make do with what I have.

What do I have? An $8 Van Der Hagen boar brush that I picked up at the local Walgreens yesterday. I didn't even know what I had at the time because the store tag had it labeled as a Surrey brush (same thing, apparently) and the packaging had no name on it apart from the vHd logo, which I didn't know stood for "Van Der Hagen". I also have a bottle of HeadSlick shaving cream that I've had forever and a comically large coffee mug that will now serve as my shaving mug, since I don't drink coffee anymore.

And then I combined these three elemants, the end result of which you can read about [URL="http://www.theshaveden.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16067"http://www.theshaveden.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16067]here[/URL], if you are so inclined.

Did the VDH brush shed? Sure, but only a couple hairs. Will it get worse? No idea, but it works for now. At some point I'd love to step up to a nicer badger brush, something that I know should last a long time. But, for the time being, it's what I have and I'm still super excited to really get the ball rolling when my Weishi arrives in the mail!

Chris,
When the Weishi comes in you'll be set except maybe for some blades which you can also get at Walgreens or Walmart. Don't discount the VDH soap which is likely available at those places as well (but not in my town for some reason).

You can then concentrate on your technique without changing any of the variables. When you're ready and able you can begin testing different blades to find out which ones serve you best. There is no need to dump piles of cash into this process unless you choose to do so to treat yourself. I did it like you for decades with inexpensive brush and soap but cartridges till I could no longer get even that here. Then I found TSD and experienced the glorious awakening.