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

Or its spirit brother, Escali.

Nowadays, if you just want to stick a toe in the water, much better synthetic brushes can be had for less.

 

oh OK @crackstar

 

There are so many brands that people hate or it don't work well for them, But are well loved and works great for others. Example: Gave my nephew a sample of my Cella soap (kilo) he can't make a decent lather with it, no matter how he tries and not wild about the scent, but loves VDH, But for me Cella gives me a fantastic lather and I love the cherry almond scent, It's my main go to soap. VDH is an just an ok soap, use it on occasion.

 

cella is great soap, but not a big almond scent guy, i do use it and love the shaves..

 

I bet there is a lot of variability in quality, but my biggest issue with the Burma shave brush was the knot density- it was just too thin. The rest of my story is that after getting a Van Der Hagan brush I really liked I got a second that I chunked-I think something was off with the process on the boar hair. It never would splay correctly.

 

If this thread is for newbies, then I would focus on the first part:

Stop right there, don't buy that!

So, my two cents would be, "stop right there, don't buy" anything more than 3-5 basic, well-reviewed items until you get the hang of things. When I started, I got carried away with the shaving "wants" rather than "needs" because I was too new to tell the difference. I am still trying to use up unwise and extra quantity soap and post-shave products that I bought early on when I should have waited until I really knew what I liked. Since I prefer to use what I have before buying more (SAD does win at times, though!), my early purchases limited my later purchases. This is ymmv territory for sure, but I do wish I made a few less purchases early on.

Cherrs

 

Marvy Shave Brush from Sally's Beauty. Was the 1st brush i tried and between this brush and the cheap DE i bought there, i almost gave up on wet shaving.

The Marvy brush sheds hair like crazy. The whole knot eventually fell out in full handfulls of hairs. Completely unacceptable how low quality these brushes are, especially since Razorock and Yaqi are both inexpensive and are a world of difference.

The off brand DE razor has terrible blade gap issues. Might be due to the very thin cheap metal construction, but this razor is certainly not for "beginners" or anyone first starting out. Would reccomend a Wilkinson Sword Classic or a RR DE1 as both can be found for around the same price as the off brand razor, but provide incredible shaves and have become den favorites (especially the WS Classic).

 

I went with a Tweezerman brush after years of frustration with shedding VDH brushes. I used that Tweezerman brush happily for 5 or so years before buying better quality brushes. I tried it again recently and was very unhappy with it. For those 5 or so years I thought it was great but I didn’t know at the time what I was missing.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

i may have got a dud one..

 

Cremo Sandlewoood!!!!!!!
I wanted so badly for it to work. It does well as a brush less cream, but when advertised as a cream for brushes, you should be able to get a later with a brush!!!
I feel bad even trying to PIF it, don't want soneoso else to get stuck with it.

 

I have a Burma Shave brush and actually prefer it over my silvertip badger brush. It has springiness with a soft touch. The badger one is just floppy.

 

The worst shaving product I ever encountered: Meijer store-brand SE blades made by Dorco. I had the misfortune of tying one in an open-comb Micromatic and was so badly butchered that I wasn't able to shave again for about four days. At least they worked in my paint scraper.

Other dishonourable mentions:

• Van der Hagen DE blades: Uncomfortable, rough shaves.
• Burt's Bees shaving cream: I actually like some brushless creams, but this gunk just clogs up razors and is more sticky than slick. It's a time-consuming chore to rinse off of your face and hands, and you will have to remove the blade from your razor to get all the residue off the blade. The aroma reminds me of Earl Grey tea mixed with GoJo hand cleaner--yuck.
• Van der Hagen boar brush: My c. 2010 example has a sort-of misshapen knot. I've conditioned it a couple times with overnight applications of Pantene leave-in conditioner, which helped it out tremendously. Still, it just doesn't lather as efficiently as I think it should. My new Razorock Snowman takes about 1/4 of the work to get better lather than the VdH is even capable of.

 

Items I would strongly recommend avoiding at all costs are the following.
Marvy shave brush: this was my first brush ever and the worst. Shedded like crazy even though it was a synthetic brush. The bristles were not comfortable to use at all.
Scalpmaster shave soap: early in my wet shaving journey I found this in Sally Beauty Supply (same as the god awful Marvy brush). I could not get this thing to lather and within a week or two I junked it as 1: it was a big disappointment and 2: the soap wore down to nothing in 2 weeks.
Regular VDH shave soap: a little better than the Scalpmaster but if you’re going to use a Van Der Hagen shave soap go for the Luxury model As that’s far better than the regular version. It ran out in 2-3 weeks of use.

 

VDH brushes, both Badger and Boar brushes. It's a hit or miss. I have a VDH Badger brush finally stopped shedding but then it's like lathering with a mop, Boar brush knot fell out, they replaced it with one that lost most of its hair. Still have the Badger mop.
Otherwise I'm a happy camper, all settled in on gear I like to use. no need of exploring new stuff. Unlesssss I find something in a store or thrift shop yelling buy me, buy me, buy me.

 

I say "Don't follow the crowd with deep pockets"

This isn't to insult those that can afford or can not, but to bring in a reality check. Money doesn't make the shave better.

Razor ..... You can get a great shaving razor for less than $10 shipped and sometimes free!
Blades ..... Very nice 100 pack of blades shouldn't cost much more than $10 - $15 shipped.
Brush ...... A nice quality synthetic or boar at ~$8 and a very nice badger (depending how fussy you are) at $25 to $35 shipped.
Soap ...... Very simple Don't pay more than $3.50 an ounce; much beyond that, it's silly. Try Stirling .... nuff said.
Aftershave ....... Avon can still found cheap sometimes free. Clubman is great stuff. I've never paid more than $5 an ounce for any AS.
Witch hazel ...... great stuff and cheap .... use it.

Just my thoughts .......

 

Shux, I was going to look into the Herban Cowboy setup.

 

• Wilkinson sword boar brush. Garbage. The only brush to ever knot up on me.
• Erasmic Shave stick. A challenge i have yet to master.
• DR Harris Soap/Bowl. Rubbish everything.
• Cade Bowl: Not fit for purpose as it rusts. The soap isn't a star performer either.
• Body shop's latest shaving brush. Zero splay.

 

For the most part, I agree. I wouldn't buy any soap that is 35 per puck, no matter how good it is. GeneraIly, wouldn't pay more than 25 dollars on an aftershave and $50 on a cologne. Now, once in a blue moon, it is ok to treat yourself to a high end product, but I stick to what works within my budget. I have spent over hundred dollars on new and vintage straight razors, but that isn't absurd to me. I justify it by buying a number of shave ready vintage straights between 25 and 30 dollars. Bottom line, be smart about your purchases and keep within your means.

 

One of my favorite shaves is:

Razor: YUMA $0.50
Blades: Rapira SS $0.50/5
Soap: Arko Cream $1.50
Brush: Star Boar: $1.00

When i say favorite, i mean best.

 

I agree that the Yuma is a great shave, but now they run $8.00 on the Bay. However, you can still get one in Turkey for the equivalent of $2US.