Hi to all my Shaving Den friends. I live in Mumbai, India. I want to get some information about shaving products. Here is a list of queries I have, I will be very thankful for your support. 1)I want to use a disposable blade straight razor, the one which is common in many hair cutting saloons in India. So, please mention some good brands and their product. 2)Confused between a shaving gel or cream, please tell me which one is better and name some good brands. I have a sensitive skin. 3)Good quality double edged blades and their brands. 4)An after shave, whats the whole fuss about the alcohol based ones. 5)A good shaving brush. I have heard that badger brush are the best you can get. So please name a few brands which I can get in India. I know its a long list, but I am looking for the right tools and I'll be very glad if you guys can please help me. Also mention the price of the products. Have a great day. (If I have violated the terms of the forums, then I'm sorry please let me know. I'm new here). I posted the above same message in the forum category shaving creams by mistake and couldn't find the delete button, so the same message is there in two categories. not a spam:ashamed001
it's a lot of questions but Ill see what I can do to answer as best I can. welcome to the forum again. 1. Many people dislike the disposable blade straights and others love them. I have only used a regular straight razor. Just know that you'll have to be really careful and that it won't be entirely like a real straight shave.Dovo makes a shavette that takes DE blades snapped in half. I believe another popular shavette is the KAI. A member Larry Andro sells refurbished vintage straight razors for about the same price as these. Although not sure how shipping would be for you in India. A shavette or cheap straight can be had for about 30 dollars. 2. Shaving Gel is what most guys are talking about when they say canned goop. It's gel in a can that turns into foam when you rub it into your skin. What you are looking for is soap or cream. Basically shave soap is a puck of soap specifically designed to be lathered with a brush for shaving. Same thing with shave creams. I am not sure if there are any that are particularly good for sensitive skin. I have pretty sensitive skin and have yet to find anything that has really bothered my face. prices vary wildly. you can get cheap stuff like Arko shave sticks for as low as 50 cents. Or get penhaligons or castle forbes for thirty or fourty each. There is stuff at whatever price you wish to pay. 3. Blades are the ultimate YMMV (your mileage may vary) some blades work well for some guys and not at all for others. They make blade sampler packs with the top five most common blades that you can buy. Blades like Feather, Red and Crystal Personnas, Astra SP, and Derby are common choices though. Sampler packs run about ten dollars. Single 5-10 blade packs about two dollars average. 100 blade packs are 10-30 dollars depending on the blade type. 4. Aftershave comes in many forms. Some guys just rub an alum block on their face Others just use Witch Hazel. And then there are all sorts of Balms and Splashes. I just use whatever is cheap and does the job. Alcohol based aftershaves can be a little drying, but most have other ingredients to counter this. Also menthol aftershaves give a nice kick of cool after your shave read some reviews and you can find some good stuff. Alum blocks are cheap, under five. You can usually find a decent grocery store aftershave for two or three dollars. Something popular like Aqua Velva or Barbasol Brisk is cheap and readily available here. not sure what your equivalents are. 5. Brushes again are too huge to cover in one short blurb. you can get a quality Omega boar brush that will feel as nice as many badger brushes. You can pay hundreds for a quality silvertip badger brush. Or you can lather just as well with an under ten dollars supermarket brush (I'm thinking of your shea butter brush Dridecker). There are many. threads about this topic. Just search the brush forum prices can be between 9 dollars for a drug store badger or boar. Around 20 for an excellent Omega boar. And up to 200 for a luxury Badger. Although they can be had for much less than that rest assured. Posted before I had finished! I hadn't. put any prices in yet. Hope this all helps though. Searching specific forums will yield much better results. especiallly since. I don't know what is available to you locally in India. Best of luck in your wetshaving journey.
To The Flying Frenchman Thank you very much. I really appreciate that you took time and answered my queries in a very good way. I was expecting an answer from some guys in India as they are much familiar with the local markets here. But, your words really helped me to get some picture. And by the way what you mean by "Les temps sont durs pour les rêveurs".
Hi, I am in India and can assure you that Indian Shaving creams are some of the best stuff going around in the DE shaving world. In fact the humble Godrej Shave Round is also an amazing product. Unfortunately India is not well stocked on the DE Razors and Shaving Brushes front. I for one had to order all my premium DE razors and Badger brush from online vendors in the US. Also I am privileged to have a friend who runs a store in Dubai. She obliges me with feather blades and Omega Boar Brushes whenever I have the need. It is OK to order from online US vendors. Befriend the local postman, tell him you are expecting a package and you are all set once you promise him some chai/pani when he delivers it to you. I have ordered a lot of stuff including feather portables from member Pauldog, vintage gillettes from many forum members and they have all arrived. Why - just last month I got a beautiful Slim Adjustable. Browse my shave den to see what all I have ordered. There are many many more razors which I have come across and have now stocked. On your need for a shavette used in local barbershops, I have often befriended my barber shop wallas and asked them the source for those shiny brass shavettes. They will always tell you. You can see a quaility shavette when you will see it - so there you go. I hope to have answered your questions as best as I can. Regards Manish
I think the gentleman above spent some quality time in answering your questions with a great perspective. BTW since you have sensitive skin trying using creams like Godrej Rich Foam, or even the Godrej Shave round, Other brands are Old Spice. For aftershave try Nivea, Gatsby if you can catch hold of it. Its from Mandom Japan. You will get a shaving alum at the local grocers. The most important piece is a good DE razor. Try going to the BST threads and look for a good super speed or a Tech to start with. Gillette India Permasharp or Super-Max Sunrise / Tiger blades are just right to start. The Gillette 7OC Super Platinum black package are super sharp and will cause you irritation since you are new. Get some experience before you try your hand at them....
+1 on the Godrej Rich. I have a tube of it that I ordered online. It is my favorite non menthol cream that I have tried so far. I got a tube of Nivea cream from my local Indian grocer here in the states and it was also a good cream. Beyboo is absolutely correct, India produces some of the best creams in the world. And the blades are the best outside of those manufactured in St. Petersburg Russia. Good luck finding all you need locally hopefully its easier than it is here. Also anything in a post that is under the black line is the users signature that will appear under every post in the forum. Mine happens to be a quote that I like. Translated to English it means "The times are hard for dreamers"
Thanks Thank you very much for your help. I'll get some of the products. But I already got a Gillette Series shaving gel so I gonna finish it first and then I'll try the Godrej brand. I have one disposable straight razor which I got through a shop in Parel, Mumbai; it cost me 75 Rs. the brand name is "Single sons Taiwan", it is an indian one. This was the best they had. I have shaved before using a usual double edge safety razor(very less used but I have one), Gillette presto and mach3. But, I wasn't satisfied. I got a pack of wilkinson blades for Rs. 10 but, the shave was not smooth I guess the problem was with blades. But, what I find strange is that the people in the barber shop use cheap blades but still they get so good smooth glide. So, I'm just wondering I should try some more sharp blades like feather or 7oc platinum black. I can get the 7oc ones easily but I don't know about the feather ones. So, please advice on it. Which one would be better Feather or 7oc platinum black. Whats the price of feather blades. And Beyboo I guess your name is Manish, even mine is Manish. Thank you.
Did the description in point two answer your question, or were you wondering about another part of it?
The green packs of 7 Oclocks are the best DE blades I ever used. they are really smooth and sharp. The only ones out of about 15-20 different blades that I actually liked.
I was asking about the difference between shaving creams and shaving gel. Which one is better and why?
India is home to MANY great shaving products. Matter of fact, most of the better "cheap" creams are being made there.
Shaving creams are a thick almost paste like cream that you use a brush to lather. Shave gels are either canned aerosol gel. You rub the gel on your face and it makes foam. Or it's a non lathering gel that you apply to your face. Shaving cream is definitely superior in lather production and scent. However upfront cost is usually (but not always) a little higher. Lathering creams also take a little bit of practice to master. Hope this helps
"Les temps sont durs pour les rêveurs" means times are hard for dreamers. I am a francophone, although I do speak fairly decent English.
By the way, India has some of the finest creams I ever had the pleasure of using. Godrej Menthol Mist, as well as Old Spice Original and Fresh Lime are delightful, and so are the Vi John creams.
