I like lists and ranking things. Especially when I'm getting a shopping list together. So I'm curious. Soap, razor, brush, blades, aftershave, lather bowl, etc, anything for shaving, what's your top 5? List them all or just 1.
Soaps: 1 arko shave stick (Turkey) 2 reitzers perfect shave(South African) 3 bundubeard coffee (South African) 4 col conk lime (US) 5 the gentlemans groom room malt n myrtle (Scotland) Razors: 1) Fatip piccolo (Italy) 2) gillette aristocrat 1948 (UK) 3) gillette super speed (UK) 4) gillette super speed (US) 5) Lion DE(South Africa) Aftershaves: 1)Daves home made menthol (South Africa) 2) brut by faberge (still for sale new is South Africa) 3) old spice whitewater (made in Italy) 4) Status for men (unknown) 5) Revlon pub(UK) Blades: 1) feather hi-stainless (Japan) 2) gillette 7 oclock Sharp edge (Russia) 3) lion super stainless (South Africa) I have plenty of different blades, but since i use a blade for a month or more i havent tried many of the ones ive received in my 9 months of wetshaving, but eventually ill use them all!!! Sent from my Redmi S2 using Tapatalk
Top Five Soaps: (No particular order) Tallow Art of Shaving Tallow Williams Noble Otter Eufros Tabac Brushes: Rooney Morris & Forndran (pre-Sears) Simpson Grey Box era (boar) Mondial Omega Blades (I am a straight guy) Personna 74 Gillette Spoilers Wilkinson Light Brigades Personna Med Prep Polsilver SI Aftershaves: (This is REALLY Subjective) Vintage Old Spice Vintage AoS YSL Rive Gauche Pour Homme Czech & Speake Cuba Hemingway Accoutrements DE Razors: Gillette Old Type 2011 R41 1941 Ranger Tech 1958 Gillette Adjustable Bowl: Aesop Stainless
Soaps: Murphy and McNeil Chiseled Face Wet Shaving Products Captain’s Choice Stirling Razors: Blackland Blackbird Timeless Safety Bar Rockwell 6C Gillette Super Speed Adjustable Blades: Gillette Platinum Gillette Nacet Astra SP Personna Lab Blue After Shave: Chiseled Face Sherlock Wet Shaving Products Olympus Wet Shaving Products Gaelic Tweed Captain’s Choice Cat O’ Nine Tails Chiseled Face Ghost Town Barber
i like lists, however difficult to narrow down to 5 Soaps: Williams Arko Tabac Poraso Green Simpsons Lavender Vetiver Razors: Dovo Sunday Shaver Genco Easy Aces Vintage Henckels Dovo Special Genco Master Barber Gillette Old Style: Gillette Tech Merkur 38m Feather Popular Focus R48 Aftershaves: Clubman Pinaud Clubman Special Reserve Clubman Veg Ogallala Bay rum Murray & Lanman Florida Water Blades: Feather hi-stainless Voskhod Rapira Lux Platinum Astra SP Lord Platinum class
Ok. My top 5 lists are limited to stuff I've actually used. Which is not totally exhaustive. No order to the lists either. Soaps/Creams: Stirling Barbershop West Coast Shaving Gatsby No. 1 Moon Soaps Old School Fat 'As (50% MWF and 50% Haslinger Schafmilch (tallow version)) Wet Shaving Products T-Formula Barbershop Razors: Gillette New Deluxe Gillette Single Ring Gillette Old Type Schone Open Comb Gillette Slim Adjustable Aftershaves: Pinaud Clubman Pinaud Clubman Lime Sec Pinaud Clubman Citrus Musk Aqua Velva Ice Blue Murray and Lanman Florida Water Balms (only in winter): Taylor of Old Bond Street Mr. Taylor's Luxury Aftershave Balm Nivea Men Sensitive Post Shave Balm Proraso White Balm Oil of Olay Complete All Day Moisturizer Blades: Gillette Silver Blue Voskhod Polsilver SI Feather Brushes: Envy Shave Luxury Silvertip in Alpha T-400 handle Connaught Omega boar w/ faux jade handle Razorock 400 w/ butterscotch handle and noir knot Razorock Beehive Razorock Plissoft Bruce (regular size) Lather Bowls: Creek Road Pottery hand thrown Creek Road Pottery hand thrown with brush rest and swirl on bottom Aesop Turkish hand hammered copper and tin lined mug Crown King Travel Scuttle
top 5 .. soaps- arianna and evans. barrister and mann, stirling, saponificio varesino, pre de provence.. creams -saponificio bignoli, proraso single edge series, jm fraser's, truefitt and hill, cyril r salter.. razors- british gillette-new rfb any,flat bottom tech, flat bottom new,#66 aristocrat, new sc.. blades -gsb, nacet, spoilers,astra sp, polsilver.. brushes- semogue 830, opal 2 band badger,razorock silvertip synthetic, omega 10005 boar. ap shave tuxedo.. aftershaves- fine,proraso, nivea deep,speick..clubman.. balms--,proraso,,nivea..rarely use ,winter only.. bowls- captains choice heavy copper..stone field shaving blue ceramic, 50s british sugar bowl,stainless finger bowl, 1950s fire king chili bowl.. subject to change..
Can't do a "top five" because these choices demolish my other gear by a wide margin. Actually, just making this list has brought me some real clarity about what I'd be willing to part with in the future. (Stay tuned). DE's: Gillette Old Type with ball end handle Gillette NEW Long Comb with ball end handle Merkur 34G - equal to or better than my safety bar Gillettes (Techs, Super Speeds) Feather ASD2 Blades: Derby Extra Stainless Astra SP Unless it's a real junker, most blade brands work fine for me. Soap/Creams: Tabac Cella Brick Proraso Green Nivea Men shaving cream tube Aftershaves: Proraso Green Menthol and Eucalyptus Splash Occasional use of Aqua Velva Blue and then wondering why I didn't stay with P-Green. To me, Proraso is "fresher" and less sweet and synthetic. AV is nice once in a while though. Nivea Men "Cooling" After Shave Balm (often mixed with a few drops of whatever cologne is on deck). Brushes: Plisson "La Maison du Barbier" Synthetic with faux ivory handle. The best brush I own. Period. Better than my SOC Boar, Semogue 610, and Omega 10005.
Razors: Weber PH w. Classic Handle Gillette Adjustable's Star DE Gem Micromatic OC Gem/ER/Star 1912 Blades: Astra SP Wilkinson Sword Cristal Israeli Reds Shark Soaps: Arko Cells (kilo) Williams Williams/ Dove mix Brushes: Vie-Long Cachurro Omega Many Vintage After Shave: Clubman Bay Rum Lucky Tiger Bay Rum Home Made Old Spice
SOAP- Sara’s Creations Lavender-Mint Sara’s Creations Lavender Razors- Ming Shih adjustable Gillette Super Adjustable/long handle Parker 29L Brushes- Wild West Brush Works Badger Spalted Maple handle (made by a TSD member) with Badger knot
I have quietly become more and more of a minimalist. I still like some variety in soaps and creams and occasionally I just swap out my primary setup- razor & brush etc. Razor heads OSS clone on a Muhle handle Maggard’s V3A on a Muhle handle Lord L6 head on a Lord tech handle Brushes One Blade tuxedo synthetic Van Der Hagan Boar Omega 40033 Boar (well broken in) Soaps & Creams —-Palmolive stick would be 1st if they hadn’t DC’d it, but it is now disqualified Col Conk( I wish they made a high menthol) VDH Derby cream( preferably with menthol) LEA cream Ingram’s Aftershaves I like witch hazels especially with menthol in them I use a “repair” lotion( in small doses),that I use for my hands in winter, as a balm from time to time. I have an off brand Van Der Hagan bowl that I got in a pass around and it works for everything.
I appreciate high quality things, but I appreciate good value more. Razors: Edwin Jagger DE89 Razorock Quick-change and Old-type Soaps: Stirling, Fine, TOBS, Cella, Proraso, Tabac Blades: Gillette, Voskhod, Personna Platinum, Wilkinson Sword, Astra SP Aftershaves: Razorock Santa Maria Del Fiore, Puros, Tuscan Oud, Blue Barbershop Floid Vigoroso Captain's Choice Bayrum, Lime Q-shave scuttle Razo-Rock synthetic brushes
Razors: 1. Merkur Progress 2. Edwin Jagger DE89 3. Merkur 38C 4. Merkur Futur 5. Baili BT131 Soaps: 1. Cella 2. TOBS 3. Proraso Green 4. Haslinger 5. Dr. Harris Brushes: 1. Semogue Owners Club (SOC) Boar 2. Semogue 830 Boar 3. Omega Pro 49 Boar 4. Frank Shaving Finest Badger 5. Yaqi Silvertip Badger Blades: 1. Personna lab blue 2. Polsilver SI 3. Gillette Silver Blue 4. Gillette 7 o'clock yellow pack 5. Astra Green AS: 1. Proraso Green AS Lotion 2. Geo F Trumper Coral Skin Food 3. Sebamed ASB 4. Proraso White Balm 5. Pitralon Pre Shave: Noxzema and Proraso White/ Green Pre Shave creams. Dream Team: Merkur Progress Cella SOC Boar Personna lab blue Proraso Green AS Lotion
No particular order on these babies: Soaps Chiseled Face Ghost Town Barber Stoylin Sandpiper Central Texas Soaps-Grandpa's Barbershop The Soap Exchange-Lumberjack Stoylin Barbershop Aftershaves Clubman Original Aqua Velva Classic Ice Blue Stoylin Sandpiper Chiseled Face Ghost Town Barber Clubman Special Reserve.
@Rob206, I made a change on #5 of the aftershaves...I have WSP Mahogony SOAP, not the A.S. But I imagine the A.S. would be pretty great, too.
Top five products: Gillette Silver Blue Parker SRX Plissoft or Tuxedo synthetic bristles Fatip Grande Lilac Vegetal
I'm with you on the Tuxedo brush and the Fatip Grande! I've yet to try GSB blades though! Sent from my EML-L09 using Tapatalk
GSB is about as good as blades get. Never had any issues with them, whatsoever. Besides Boots and Tesco, what are other stores in the UK that sell mass-market shave products? I'll be in London and Manchester, England--and then Edinburgh/Glasgow, Scotland soon. I plan on bringing back some cheap fun stuff for the Americans to experience. I bought lots of Ingram and Boots house stuff last trip, as I am a fan of the drugstore type products.
Superdrug sells Ingram's stuff. My local Morrison's sells Wilkinson Sword and Sainsbury's has their 'own' brand of shaving stuff. You'll need to go to the bigger stores and not the small 'local' branches. Do you have Body Shop in the US? They are a good shop for men's shaving/skincare. Of course there is the TOBS shop in London Unfortunately my local Asda now no longer stocks Palmolive shave sticks, so that's a bit a of a sad one! Oh, and Bodycare is another highstreet shop that sells shaving stuff! You can get Erasmic products there, as well as a few other shaving goodies. I must say that virtually all of my shaving purchases have been off the internet. There's not that much knocking about in shops in my area! I hope the information helps, Chris! Sent from my EML-L09 using Tapatalk