Best shave

prawny

Inspired by AT employment problems, I want to discuss shaving (faces only GregT).

I have sensitive skin and the best shave I've found so far is a 60's gilette double edged razor with old fashioned shaving soap, problem is it takes a while and not my son is getting cheeky I don't want razor blades around the house.

Now I've upgraded to a sensor excell, it's nearly as good and much better on my skin than a fusion or mach 3.

Ladies can get involved with leg shaving discussions if they so desire, I will not be held accountable for anything that DDD asks.

mrc1

1. Hot shower

2. King of Shaves Gel

3. Wilkinson Sword Quattro regularly rinse under hot tap throughout the shave

4. Rinse face

5. Dry face

6. Apply Tend Skin

7. Apply Clinique M-Gel

Perfect shave 8)

Wallace1492

Soap up face, I find most soap does, as long as you have hot water.
Shave with Mach 4, relatively new blade.
Wash face. Dry with towel. Splash on choice of after shave.

Done.

Wryneck

Go Electric

Cychologist

Shaving is for girls

el_presidente

I prefer Sensor Excel to any of the new ones also

amnezia

Wryneck wrote:

Go Electric

Electric razors tear up my skin for some reason.

I prefer wet shave with a Mach 5

KOS is the best gel.

mickbrown

Ideally - Taylor's Sandlewood Shaving Cream applied with badger brush, Merkur razor with Derby blade.

It's the business but takes a while so most mornings its the Sandlewood cream and an old fashioned Sensor or a Wilkinson Sword disposable which is just as good.

These 4 or 5 blade monstrosities wreck my skin. Used to use King of Shaves, but this cream stuff is miles better. Like night and day.

lastant

Anything but the King of Shaves Azor. Worst. Razor. Ever!

Started wet shaving a while back as I found it quicker in the mornings and tend to stick with Mach 3's and simple shaving foam - anything more than three blades I just don't get on with for some reason. Have also started using a post-shave balm from Bulldog which I'm not sure really does anything but does smell nice.

Did used to use an electric one, probably about five years ago. It was one of those Philips and Nivea Coolskin partnership ones, which was alright I guess - tempted to go back to electric actually, but not sure I could face the two weeks of transition!

UndercoverElephant

I'm hardly clearing a thicket off my chin each morning, but I go with the good, hot shower to soak the stubble, I then use shaving oil (Real Shaving Co.) and a three-blade razor. I found the King of Shaves oil too stingy to use just oil, but the RSC stuff is excellent so I use just that. Seems to work better for me than any foam/gel.

prawny

lastant wrote:

Anything but the King of Shaves Azor. Worst. Razor. Ever!

Agreed, I really wanted to like it but the wife didn;t like me getting that much blood on the towels.

I used to go electric, but it takes ages and leaves my neck red for about 2 hours. I tried my dad's nivea filled one which was better, but still not great.

ballspondroad

I stopped using shaving soap/foam/gel/oil years ago. Just wet stubble and shave with standard Gillette double bladed disposable.

Wryneck

Amnezia wrote:

Electric razors tear up my skin for some reason.

I prefer wet shave with a Mach 5

KOS is the best gel.

I wet shaved for years and would get frequent rashes and spots, tried various gels, foams and lotions didnt help, switched to electric and it stopped so never went back. Currently use Braun Tri3 foil.

I guess shaving methods are a bit like saddles, keep trying until you find the best for you

Harry182

The best shave I've had is while in the shower. I have a travel mirror that sticks to the wall with a suction cup to make it easy.

Kieran_Burns

Mach 3 blade and Sensitive skin gel (much prefer Gel to foam)... Always with the water as hot as I can stand and rinse after every swipe.

The BEST shave is always in a hot bath. I always shower after a bath anyway, so you REALLY get a close and clean shave.

I've started using Avon face stuff afterwards as the cold wind recently has played havoc and I look like a dried prune at the moment.

CiB

Adrian Chiles. Say no more.

shouldbeinbed

Gilette sensor excel and cool wave sensitive gel

I have an old toothbrush on hand to clean mid blade every few strokes too. I grow stubble think and fast.

I'm currently trying one of the Azor razors I got given as a freebie when they came out, and Tesco were out of sensor blades, I didn't like it at all at first but its not that bad with a bit of practice and if you shave every day. No good after a few days growth tho.

singlespeedexplosif

Sensor excel and water. That's for the legs, btw. The face doesn't get touched.
(if we are talking faces only, then the best shave is performed with a cutthroat razor, Geo Trumper shaving soap, (following steaming with flannels) and performed by a stunning naked woman. One of the greatest experiences ever.)

R_T_A

I could shave again by 18:00, so I used to scrape my face too much. It's not just the razor but the prep that works for me:

1) Shower (softens skin)
2) Somerset shaving oil (doesn't wash off as easily as gel)
3) Plenty of hot water, and stretch the skin before cutting
4) Wilkinson quattro titanium blade
5) Some kind of moisturiser

mickbrown

singlespeedexplosif - I wanna go to your barbers, I wanna go to your barbers, I wanna go to your barbers

UndercoverElephant

mickbrown wrote:

singlespeedexplosif - I wanna go to your barbers, I wanna go to your barbers, I wanna go to your barbers

Quite. My barber is a small, hairy Turkish bloke. It's just not the same when he's naked.

Christophe3967

+1 to shaving in the shower. Who cares if your sideburns aren't exactly the same length :roll:

DonDaddyD

I shave (my chin along with getting a hair cut) once every two weeks any sooner and its not worth it. I also suffer from razor bumps.

1). Trim the hair with shears.

2). Hot, hot shower, wash face with tea tree oil.

3). Gillette fusion razor (or phillips nivea rotary razor that squirts cream onto the blade) supported with gillette shaving foam (can't use gel, gives me bumps). Also soak the blade under the hottest water possible, I'm talking near boiling so it feels slightly uncomfortable against the skin.

4). Dampen face with hot water, tea tree oil if necessary and then dry

5). moisturise face with cooling gel or baby lotion (I moisturise anyway)

6). Apply aftershave, if going out

- I am thinking about going back to the Mach 3 or a different razor. Fusion blades are extortionate and the mach 3 was/is a great razor.

artaxerxes

I use Gillette Mach 3 + Gillette Fusion gel.
Don't use after - shave, but I do put on sun lotion on my face after shaving (they come in big bottles that last for years).

mrc1

DonDaddyD wrote:

I also suffer from razor bumps.

Buy some of this:

http://www.mankind.co.uk/Tend-Skin-In-Growing-Hair-Solution-118ml-PRODTSPS1/

It cures them and a bottle lasts ages

greg66_tri_v2.0

For best results:

- start with > 1 day's growth
- hot water on the face
- shaving brush and a good shaving soap
- Mach 5 with a new(-ish) blade
- slow and careful. Some patches require multiple passes because the hairs grow in different directions.
- shaving "against the grain" is fine is the blade is sharp
- hot shower *after* shaving.
- moisturise.

Then put on dress, badly fitting comedy wig, apply make up without care, and you're good to go.

lae

I use a classic style single-blade 3-piece safety razor, the kind that comes in a nice little box and you screw it together before you use it. I don't know how old it is, but as I found it when clearing out my granddad's house, it may well be from the 1950s or 60s (judging by the design). It's surprisingly weighty, which I like.

Works better on long-ish stubble (as I often don't shave for days at a time) than any modern plastic razor, even the multi-bladed ones. I think this is probably because my stubble is too long to get between the tight spaces on modern ones - on my one the blade protudes quite a bit more.

As for how and when - always after a shower, and I use shaving oil rather than gel or foam. Gives as good a shave as any modern multi-bladed thing.

Also the blades don't cost an absolute fortune. A box of ten is less than a quid and lasts 3-4 months. I was looking at prices for those multibladed things the other day and some of them were fifteen quid!

I also have a cut-throat which I very rarely use. It's entertaining, and gives a VERY close shave, but it takes a while, so not practical for every day use.

---

I really dislike the way that razors are advertised. Call me a design snob (which I think is fair enough given my chosen career path), but 99% of razors for sale look like they were designed for use by the Power Rangers. And instead of moisturising your face after you shave, men apparently 'refuel' their face, like they refuel their manly car. Stupid. I don't need some macho reassurance from a can covered in stickers to tell me that I'm a man, I'm fairly confident in my gender by the fact that I have to shave my face in the first place.

Bikes (and motorbikes, and also trainers, and also watches) have that problem too. Most bikes for sale these days are absolutely plastered in stickers and swoopy lines emphasizing speed. I know when a bike is fast, it weighs less than my turds. Just make the frame a nice shape, and paint it a nice colour, and leave all the adolescent styling crap off, please.

Bikerbaboon

if you are wanting to look smart, and your face is not taking kindly to haveing a blade dragged across it on a daily bout of abuse what not try a well trimmed beard.




(hat optional)



http://www.worldbeardchampionships.com/

prawny

I love beards, my wife is a pagonophobe. Thanks Bill!

wgwarburton

Hi,
I'm in the well-trimmed-beard camp, too. Never had any negative comment.
Very practical for winter cycling, too. Even a minimal stubble helps to keep the wind off.
Cheers,
W.

d21dga

lastant wrote:

Anything but the King of Shaves Azor. Worst. Razor. Ever!

I disagree. Although the shape is a bit odd and it felt funny holding it at first, IMO the blades on this are waaaay sharper than anything Gilette make.