Stop right there, don't buy that! or Shave goods best avoided...

For straight razor guys

These "Razors" are being sold by a reputable company Alabama Damascus and it has all the right specs except they are not razors they are designed as a knife...


Alabama Damascus Razor / ADS0073-DKG

I will send them an e-mail soon to explain, this company has very good feed back for their steel and blades so perhaps they can correct the geometry and make a nice razor blank... I am not sure if the steel will take a shaving edge I never got that far, under the loupe I have my doubts but can't say for sure

But as they are now it just won't work...

 

I have to disagree with you here. I find Sputnik to be a fantastic blade. For me they are on par with Voskhod. The only reason I don’t buy a few hundred is because they're twice as expensive as Voskhod.

 

Classic Brand shave soap may be the only product so far that I could not honorably use up. I believe its sits in relatively low regard in shave site reviews as well.

 

I have no idea how old they were, they were given to me as a PIF and I did not try enough to dispute any QC issues.

I guess if you consider the experience of one person, with a single box of blades, to be conclusive evidence of a general trend, then I guess you're right.

 

The Cade (L'Occitane) shaving cream may have to be taken off the list. Reports are that it was reformulated (again) a few months ago and this latest version works quite well. At $28/tube, however, I won't be finding out first hand.

 

I never even knew this thread was here until yesterday, I need to look through it a little closer

I just saw the latest post and had just finished trying out that particular razor the day before...

 

Summary for ya... forget about: Herban Cowboy, Burts Bees, possibly l"occitane cream, and possibly Alba.

 

Alba hehehe to late, I tried that about 5 years ago

 

I've gotten good shaves from 7AM. I do remember there was some inconsistency between blades, but they were usable. Herban Cowboy was not usable at all.

 

This is the worst soap I've ever used. I think I could get more protective and better lather from dish soap,

 

I agree that the in-house soap from classicshaving is not great. It does work, though, and given how YMMV soap can be, we could probably find someone who loves it and uses it every day.

Products like the Herban Cowboy shaving soap don't work. I have yet to read anyone who tried it who could make it work.

 

The L'Occitane CADE cream has been reformulated and is by all accounts much better. I never used the old stuff, but the new lathers great and smells even better.

 

I ended up picking up a tube of this after all and I can confirm that this latest incarnation is fantastic!

 

Classic Brand Wool Fat Soap.

 

I like the idea of this thread, but I honestly can't see how it can be had without leaking onto YMMV. As for me, I've already spent a few hundred dollars discovering what works for me. I have some thing I like and some things I will never use again (probably trade or pif them). I don't have anything to add to this thread because for every product I have that I hate, I've seen at least two people swear by it. To each his/her own.

 

True. Products only make it to market if folks have done their research right and there is a sizable profit to make. That means someone has to like the product.

That being said, I believe the intent of this thread is to simply show where the majority of folks lie with their opinion on a product. If I'm looking to try a new product and I see only two people out of 100 like it, odds are I won't try it unless it's dirt cheap. I'll take the word of the 98 who say it's worthless.

 

Fair point. I could have taken that advice before buying the Merkur blades but nooooooooo......!

 

The Van Der Hagen shave set. (specifically the brush)

I thought I'd try the cheaper end.

Only recently have I realized the wonders of good cream, brush and blades, I used the VDH set for for some time and I had a hell of a time making a lather, usually I would get frusterated and switch over to modern shaving cream in the aerosol. I thought the brush was ok, but it was taking way too long to "break in" and it still hasn't gotten much softer. It never made a good lather with the soap provided in the kit. 4 months later - a bit better results, but a new badger brush out preforms it any day, even with the soap in the kit.

All in all - this kit is usable, but its difficult, time consuming and the payoff little to nothing.

On the plus side, its got a good bowl, not stylish or special, just a good bowl, and the soap isn't that bad with a good brush, I still prefer Proaso cream.