I've gone hairy a few times earlier in life, but really much prefer being shaved, even though I hate shaving. Been a cartridge user from day one. I liked the introduction of twin blades, and settled on the Gillette Sensor Excel shortly after it was introduced. The Mach 3 does a bit better job, but costs a lot more and I don't like the additional width of the cartridge. Some time ago I started buying cartridges in bulk on ebay, getting down to about a buck a cartridge. This last batch from ebay came from Hong Kong and I suspect might be counterfeit. They just don't last near as long as the last batch. Looking over the current crop of cartridge razors, things are just getting out of hand with 'feature creep' as well as pricing. Oh, did I mention I'm a friggin tightwad over stuff like this? (yeah, I also gripe a lot about ink cartridges for similar reasons) I've become a shower shaver, something that will have to change I suppose. I shave last, letting the hot water soften the stubble. Don't use a mirror and mostly shave with my eyes closed. Nick myself maybe once every couple of months, almost always when in a hurry. Saw the Save-a-Blade thing on TV when they came out, but wasn't until I saw one at the local Grocery Outlet for $4.99 that I gave it a try. I -thought- my razor shaved a bit better, but hadn't really been able to give it much of a try when my Australian wife wanted me to get several more for family there, cartridges are terribly expensive in Oz. Grocery Outlet had no more, so went to Amazon, where I found the top negative review gave high marks for DE safety razors and mentioned how cheap they can be. Bingo, I'm interested! BTW, I investigated the Save-a-Blade myself, being a machinist and having a decent microscope. I could see NO evidence that the sandpaper was even touching the blade, let alone 'honing' it... So after a few hours research, a fair bit of it here, I bought a Weishi Gunmetal razor on ebay, and some Israeli Personna blades. I have my grandfather's old shaving mug, but the brush seems to have gotten lost. So, I still need a brush, soap cake, spend some time watching some excellent instructional videos on YouTube, and... what else? Is aftershave really something I need? In an Amazon review on something, barber alum was highly recommended as a post shave skin treatment. I think a basic brush for starters should do, looking at Proraso shaving soap with Aloe. Open to recommendations on these and the alum block. If I really take to this, will of course look at upgrading, but for now just want good basic building blocks to give this a good try. BTW, chose the Weishi for it's forgiving nature. don't like bleeding and will approach the aggressive razors with caution. Jon
Welcome to TSD! For a good, inexpensive starter brush I'd recommend one of two option: 1) Tweezerman badger brush. If you spend less no a badger don't expect it to last. 2) Quality boar from Omega or Vulfix. Should be $10-20 (US$'s) depending on which model you select. These take two or three weeks to break in, but IMHO perform better than entry level badger brushes for the same or lower cost. On the alum, I love it. But, everyone with dry skin I know whose tried one was very irritated by it. So, if you don't have dry skin problems it's a good idea. I hope you have a good Weishi, they've had some QC problems recently. I have one that's good and it's a good but very mild shaver. Shave soap options are numerous. I notice you're rather frugal, so if you like the scent of citronella I'll recommend the Arko shave stick. The performance is way above the ~$2 price point. I'm not a big fan of the scent (matter of personal preference), but it makes great lather and the price can't be beat.
Welcome to The Shave Den! A great community of guys and gals that enjoy wet shaving, I hope you enjoy your stay! Be sure to sign up for the March Newbie Give-Away for a chance to win some great shave gear!
Welcome to TSD! A Tweezerman badger brush, available on Amazon, is a good one to start with. Also you can get a decent Omega boar brush for less than $15 from Bullgoose shaving, or Shoebox Shave shop. I've never used alum, so can't help you there. Aftershave isn't necessary, IMHO, but a lot of people like it. Actually, it just sunk in that you at least implied that you're in Australia, so you may need other sources for the above, don't know.
Thanks all for the welcome. The Weishi showed up today. Hearing about recent quality problems, I gave it a good looking over. Yup, this one isn't perfect, but then, perhaps not everyone has a microscope available for nit picking. I noticed the blade on one side looked a tiny bit wavy, and it is. This is due to the underside of the 'door' being uneven. The blade on the other side is fine. Because it's such a mild razor, I don't foresee any issues with this, but will ask for opinions on my next razor choice BEFORE I buy... So, just waiting for the rest of my stuff to show up and give this a go!
Welcome to the Den! Enjoy your shaves...it sounds like you're getting some good advice here. Go for it!
