Budget Shave

I think if you asked 9 out of 10 experienced wetshavers $10 for MWF or $5 for Ogallala , those who experienced both are going to say the MWF quality is worth a lot more than the $5 difference by comparison in price and donate the O to charity.

If a person who is lurking and has no experience with gear and is looking for a budget shave comes to believe from this thread that a Yuma, puck of VDH , and Indian made can cut razor blade is a quality wet shave for less,that this is what the all the talk is about , we have done them a disservice and misled them. Would't it be better to stress quality at an inexpensive price point , Iridium or Gillette sharpedge blades , Cadet 3 piece, $15 , Speick cream , $6.50, a $10 Omega brush? Decent quality, low price , not sacrificing quality to stay cheap and easily acquired.

 

Many would agree that MWF is a better value than Ogallala, I am not one of them...and that is OK. The fact that not everyone sees the products that you attack as being the poor values that you claim them to be seems to have eluded you. You may see Iridium blades as being the best of the best, someone else may see Astras or Kais the same way. For me SuperMax Titanium are the tops. You may see MWF as the best relatively inexpensive soap, but that doesn't mean everyone agrees with you. I personally think Vitos is the best, but that does not stop me from enjoying VDH or Ogallala and seeing them as being good values. Individual tastes will vary. A newbie who is reading this may take a chance on some Ogallala, a #6 brush, and an "Indian made" blade and come out of the experience quite happy, or they may hate all of it, but just because YOU do not like those products and do not see them as a good value does not mean that no one does.

 

Years ago I was part of the militant faction of the penny pinchers shaving club so I can appreciate cheap items but wetshaving has changed and I have as well. I believe there is a qualitative difference between many inexpensive shaving products and the cheapest products and the difference is worth noticing, the price differences have lessened but the quality gulf is still there . Its not a matter of opinion that Speick is a richer better quality cream than Arko cream at about the same price these days, not all are going to agree absolutely but its probable using the products side by side some will see a difference.

We can learn to lather any shave cream or soap on the market and make them work and shave with them but that does not make them all equally good or worthy some are better than the others , its not hard to discover that.

 

My first instinct was to fire back a response rebutting your previous post, but I am not going to do that, there's just no point to it. As I have said repeatedly, this thread was intended for folks to share their experiences with gear that they consider to be good quality, low cost gear. It was not meant as a target range where folks attack the choices of others, simply because they disagree with them. If you would like to share your experiences with products that you found to be well priced and excellent in performance, without putting down other people's choice of products in the process, then I would love to hear about it. If you want to continue to argue against the merits of products that I (and others) have brought up thus far then I would be willing to hear your thoughts via PM, but I would like to ask that we return to the original topic (which, again, is sharing your experiences with good quality, low cost gear) and cease the endless argument. Neither one of us will be able to change the other's mind, so why not let it go and get back on topic?

 

I agree to disagree and certainly meant no malice toward you personally . I can disagree with my brother and sister shavers but we still are shaving family.

 

I really like my Turkish no 6 brush. It is extremely effective, lathers great, feels awesome etc. will it last 10 years? I don't know, ask me in ten years. I can tell you this though, at $2.45 a brush, I don't give a crap if it lasts ten years, I will buy 20 of them if I want and I'm not out all that much money. Yeah it ain't a Simpson or a Shavemac or whatever. I don't know if I will ever spring for one of those. It is actually better than the Omega brush I have now at about 10% of the cost. That is value, and value has...well value, does it not? Perhaps value isn't your primary focus, it isn't always mine, but for a person with finite resources, value is important.

 

According to some the brush might not even be horse hair but boar, which because its produced in a muslim country is only called horse. How can a brush produced in a shed in Turkey probably by one man be compared with an Omega, a brush from one of the premier brush makers in the world who because they are professional can give you quality for a little, so which is the real value , not the $3 brush you have to send to all the way to Turkey for , that might get lost by Turkey post and that Best shave says clearly they aren't responsible for, there you 've lost $3. . One of our mods some years back did a test of the no. 6 , passing the samples of the brush to various other members. As I remember from the picture evidence , the brush didn't cover itself in even $3 glory , the brushes just fell apart in use over a short time. In fairness I think they have improved the quality since then but only because the originals were so bad.

I can see someone comparing Omega boar with Semogue and speaking about value ,/quality etc. but the No. 6 with Omega no comparison, its like comparing a home made bike crafted in the back yard to an Italian racing bike, yes you saved by making the bike yourself but its not racer and you won't win any races with yours.

 

How can someone compare them? By owning both and comparing them. I regularly lose hairs in the Omega. I rarely lose hairs in the no 6. They both lather about the same. The no 6 feels better on my face than the Omega. Perhaps the Omega isn't broken in all the way yet, but I have used it more than the no 6. If the no 6 is bristle, it should be less broken n than the Omega, yet it feels more broken in. It also smelled exactly like horse when I wet it the first time. I suppose bestshave may have some Eau De Equine or something but I highly doubt it. What I am telling you is that currently, for me, a guy who OWNS and USES both a no 6 and an Omega bristle brush. I like the no 6 better. I don't dislike the Omega, I just like the no 6 better. And value counts, for me.

 

After doing the math to come up with a cost per shave earlier, it occurred to me that the most expensive part of that shave is the soap. After that, blades and witch hazel. The cost of the razor and brush were minuscule when spread out over their lifetimes. So it makes sense to me to buy a razor and brush you like even if they cost a little more initially. By my rough math, you could spend $100 on a razor that will last you the rest of your life and easily come out under a penny per shave. A brush that lasts 10 years? Spend $35 and you're still under a penny per shave.

Soap and blades are important to a good shave so when I think about value, I want things that work well for me and aren't ridiculously expensive. Luckily Astras seem good for me and they're about as cheap as blades get. VDH sets a baseline for me on soaps. It's a good performer and I like it. It's also pretty cheap. I'm not going to spend more on something unless I think it's better. Just as an example, I've been using TSD soap for the past week. It's better than VDH but also probably costs about 3x more per shave (just as a rough guess). I still think it's a good value because the quality is there and $0.20 or $0.25 per shave (total) really isn't outrageous in my opinion. Especially when you consider shaving with my old Fusion probably cost me $0.75 per shave just for blades, and that was stretching them way longer than I should have.

I think almost everyone enjoys finding things that are inexpensive but perform like they're not. Luckily almost everything we use is like that compared to the stuff most people buy.

 

I'll tell you the Yuma is cheap cheap looking and feeling..However that said it did shave quite well..
I was looking for a travel razor that could literaly be used and then left behind without feeling an economic loss and the Yuma fits the bill...) I'm going to have to buy a Sodial and compare the two cheapies side by side..A plus about a cheapy is I can afford to do that with them. Much as I'd like to also try out Weber,iKon,Tradere,UFO and ATT side by side, that not going to happen...

This thread seems to have stired up a bit of a hornets nest. I think I see what your talking about however. It's not about using the cheapest or most expensive product, its about using the product,whatever the cost, that works best for the individual. If I'm reading you correctly, all your saying is "give cheap a chance" In fact I.M.O. "starting" cheap is the way to go, then you can easily move upwards if your not happy. Example a friend of mine started with and basically continues using only AOS products. Certainly good products, definately "Expensive" and I.M.O. works no better than "for me at least" my cheaper stuff...
Another example: I've used Jack Black and Proraso preshave. I've also used Corn Huskers Lotion as a preshave. I find all three work well, basically the same for me, the difference being Jack Black and Proraso at the time cost about $13 for 3oz, Corn Huskers cost about $3 for 7 oz. So for me the "deal" is obvious "assuming Corn Huskers works for the individual". The "BEST" thing about Corn Huskers is its cheap to try it out and available locally.... If it doesn't work for you, you can always"pay more" and get the other stuff....

 

Well, here is today's budget shave.

I was so impressed with the Sik Bay plastic three piece razor that I let my trust Edwin Jagger DE86 sit out another inning and grabbed up el plastico for another go. I used the same lather bowl as before, it is really an amazingly useful little bowl, it has feet to keep it nice and stable and a textured surface for easy lathering. I also stuck with the #6 Turkish Horsehair brush. I can't say if this is real horse hair or not and I can't speak to the quality of the first generation versions of these brushes, but I can say that mine is well put together, looks quite nice, performs very well, AND smells exactly like horse (I dated a horse trainer once upon a time, and I remember their smell quite well). I am using the same blade as before too, a SuperMax Titanium on shave number 6! I normally replace my blades every three or four shaves, but this one just keeps going. I see no reduction in the quality yet, which is just unbelievable. If you are looking for value, then any blade that lasts 6+ shaves without degrading in quality is definitely an amazing value. I decided to use some of my midrange soap today rather than the budget stuff, so today I went with a superlather of Pre De Provence and eShave White Tea. I did this to show that 1) I actually do like some stuff that costs a bit more, 2) you can use budget gear and higher cost gear in the same shave and no one will start a riot...it is ok to enjoy a cheaper product and a more expensive one, and 3) quality is in the eye of the beholder. There are people who refuse to use more expensive products because they are more expensive and people who refuse to use less expensive products because they are less expensive. What we SHOULD be doing is finding the products that perform well without pushing them aside simply because of their MSRP. As a previous poster said, I want folks to "give cheap a chance" but I also want them to know that it doesn't have to be all one way or the other. You can own a $200 razor and STILL enjoy using VDH Deluxe, or you can own a $2 razor and not mind shelling out $50 for AoS soap. In other words, until you've actually tried the product, don't blow it off just because of it's perceived lack value. Get a sample or borrow the gear, try it out, and then decide. You may find that the #6 horsehair brush is actually pretty good or that the $30 soap that you scoff at really is worth the higher price.

Enough preaching, on to the shave. I did another typical three pass shave with a cold water rinse and have to say that this razor and this blade continue to astound me. The razor did another fine job with no issues what so ever. Even the lightness of the plastic seemed to lend itself well to the overall results, gliding along without any difficulties and guiding my SuperMax Titanium blade onto glory. The blade must be made of some super alien steel, because it just won't stop performing. I got another irritation free amazing shave with no tugging or nicks. I fully expect that I will be able to get at least one more shave out of this blade before retiring it to the blade bank. The brush did an outstanding job of creating and applying lather and the superlather combo not only smelled fantastic but also performed well and left my skin feeling soft. All together I would rank this shave as being equal to yesterday's. I would say that, in a general sense, the PdP/eShave performed no better than the Ogallala, but smelled a whole lot nicer (I am just not a big fan of bay rum scents) and created a bit more lather. I walked away from my shave happy and clean shaven without having to use any of that vile styptic, so I will call this one a win.

 

I have a Hackett Diamond SR that I picked up for $10 (minty) that I'll never need blades for, Tabac SC for $4.60 a tube and a Muhle synthetic knot I bartered services for. I'll never get a better shave at any price. This works for me but maybe not for the next person. I could use Williams but then I'd have to use something post shave.

 

How does the Tabac work for you? It's one of the products that I have been interested in, but reluctant to try.

 

I'm one of the oddballs, I prefer the cream to the soap. The scent is polarizing but the quality of the shaves (for me) is as good as it gets. I find it a bit ironic but this cream gets some pretty mediocre reviews.

 

I've found good deals on both the shaving cream and the shave stick, so maybe I'll pick up one of each, that way if I don't like one I've got the other to play with. Tabac and the Real Shave Co. creams have both been on my to try list for a while now. Connaught Shaving has the Tabac stick and the Real Shave Co. creams for excellent prices, but not the Tabac cream, it would be nice if I could find all three in one place and priced well.

 

Do you guys still have Rite Aid around your parts? If you can find one, they generally have RSC cream at a pretty great price.

 

I don't. My choices of local shaving products are Williams and VDH. Honestly, I want my shaves to be luxurious and have no problems spending a little coin to make it so.

 

I've heard that TJ Maxx also has Real Shave Co. Shaving cream for about $4 from time to time.

 

I don't care for the scent of the RSC "un scented" cream. I only use it to punch up underperforming soap. (more likely underperforming guy lathering the soap). As far as cream goes, my favorite has been the TOBS stuff.

 

I like TOBS too, but my wife always abducts the tubs.