Cut-throat shaving

CiB

Underscore wrote:

Buy a 50p stick of Palmolive from Tesco*, slice it up and press into a ramekin or similar bowl.

Or just rub the wet brush round the wetted stick for a few seconds and then whip the lather up in the bowl, or the palm of your hand if you're feeling flash.

graeme_s-2

Magibob wrote:

Quick update.

Been using the Cheap Wilkinson Sword DE for 2 weeks now. http://www.boots.com/en/Wilkinson-Sword ... 20niioCjCC

Blades seem to last a week or so.

Day to day, just shaving with the grain, no problems.

Tried yesterday the double shave, Once with the grain, once against the grain. Right side of face looks great, and is the smoothest shave I've ever had. Left side, very smooth, but in places, looked like a pound of badly wrapped mince.:shock: Rash cleared up after a few hours though.

I'll give it another week of "with the grain," and try it again, 'cos where it's good, it's REALLY good.

Andy

I've never shaved with a DE, but if your skin's a bit sensitive you might be better going with the grain, and then across the grain (at right angles to the grain) rather than against. I certainly used to get terrible razor burn from shaving against the grain until I had a professional wet shave and the guy advised me to go across rather than against.

I find I don't get quite as close a shave as I did with against, but my skin looks so much better that it's a worthwhile trade off.

flimflam_machine

Stanley222 wrote:

pastryboy wrote:

Once you've got the hang of the WS, definitely go for an EJ which, aside from being a great razor, means you're supporting British manufacturing. The EJ post shave moisturiser is great too and a bottle lasts ages.

Thanks for this. I too use the WS and was going to ask if I'd notice a difference or whether I was just paying for a fancy handle!

I tried out my EJ DE89L for the first time this morning and it's just lovely! It's effective without being aggressive and the weight of it really gives you the confidence to go for it without hacking your face to bits. I used a Derby blade which seems to do the trick nicely for me, not draggy or scratchy and gave me a good shave in 2 passes.

All in all, I reckon that's its the best £22 I've spent in a while and, unless I do something stupid, I could still be using it in 50 years time. Ridiculous bargain!

UndercoverElephant

flimflam_machine wrote:

Stanley222 wrote:

pastryboy wrote:

Once you've got the hang of the WS, definitely go for an EJ which, aside from being a great razor, means you're supporting British manufacturing. The EJ post shave moisturiser is great too and a bottle lasts ages.

Thanks for this. I too use the WS and was going to ask if I'd notice a difference or whether I was just paying for a fancy handle!

I tried out my EJ DE89L for the first time this morning and it's just lovely! It's effective without being aggressive and the weight of it really gives you the confidence to go for it without hacking your face to bits. I used a Derby blade which seems to do the trick nicely for me, not draggy or scratchy and gave me a good shave in 2 passes.

All in all, I reckon that's its the best £22 I've spent in a while and, unless I do something stupid, I could still be using it in 50 years time. Ridiculous bargain!

Even the sceptics shall be converted.

alfablue

Well done for persevering FlimFlam!

I can thoroughly recommend this soap

Hand made, foams readily, just melt in microwave into your shaving mug. Only £3! I started with Palmolive at 50p, which I liked, but this is nicer.

p.s. I'm nothing to do with this seller, I just liked the soap

CiB

Better soap? I really can't believe that people will spend money on unnecessary marginal improvements in the belief that it will somehow make the experience somehow better... Oh hold on. Yeah. Soap upgrades. Obvious...

UndercoverElephant

CiB wrote:

Better soap? I really can't believe that people will spend money on unnecessary marginal improvements in the belief that it will somehow make the experience somehow better... Oh hold on. Yeah. Soap upgrades. Obvious...

That soap looks heavy. I recommend Mitchell's wool fat, it's made of merino wool and makes you go faster.

flimflam_machine

UndercoverElephant wrote:

Even the sceptics shall be converted.

Hallelujah! Testify brother!

I've also got some Mitchell's Wool Fat soap to try out (soap N+1 :roll: ). I'm looking forward to that. I've also got a whole sampler pack of about 50 blades to try, so I don't need to buy any more shaving kit for a year.

Edit: I'm not a fan of "cooling" shaving soaps/creams since I find that the feeling of cold makes my face tense up.

walkingbootweather

I've been born again too. I was a sinner that has been shaved.

Only thing is, I wet my face with hot water, wet the brush in same hot water, but because the cream is cold, my face is cooled again by the time I come to shave. My bathroom isn't especially cold. Should I / could I try and warm the cream a little before applying. If I gave it a quick blast in the microwave is it likely to end in tears?

I'm using this cream btw.

flimflam_machine

walkingbootweather wrote:

I've been born again too. I was a sinner that has been shaved.

Only thing is, I wet my face with hot water, wet the brush in same hot water, but because the cream is cold, my face is cooled again by the time I come to shave. My bathroom isn't especially cold. Should I / could I try and warm the cream a little before applying. If I gave it a quick blast in the microwave is it likely to end in tears?

That sound dodgy to me. If you put a bit of elbow grease into whipping up a lather you don't need a lot of cream. I get 2-3 passes worth from a roughly almond-sized amount. That volume of cold cream shouldn't really cool things down too much. You could try giving your brush a longer soak in hot water and if you use a metal shaving bowl to lather in you could float that in the sink to warm it up.

MrSweary

My beard laughs in the face of you over complicated and expensive shaving habits... +1 FCN though

walkingbootweather

flimflam_machine wrote:

I get 2-3 passes worth from a roughly almond-sized amount.

Thanks ffm, I do tend to lather straight from the bowl Not a lot of call for almonds up here - could you translate into say dry roasted peanuts?
:?

flimflam_machine

walkingbootweather wrote:

flimflam_machine wrote:

I get 2-3 passes worth from a roughly almond-sized amount.

Thanks ffm, I do tend to lather straight from the bowl Not a lot of call for almonds up here - could you translate into say dry roasted peanuts?
:?

Definitely not! But it's about 1/17 of a Duchy Originals Sicilian Lemon All Butter Shortbread (Organic naturally!)

UndercoverElephant

flimflam_machine wrote:

walkingbootweather wrote:

flimflam_machine wrote:

I get 2-3 passes worth from a roughly almond-sized amount.

Thanks ffm, I do tend to lather straight from the bowl Not a lot of call for almonds up here - could you translate into say dry roasted peanuts?
:?

Definitely not! But it's about 1/17 of a Duchy Originals Sicilian Lemon All Butter Shortbread (Organic naturally!)

If you're using a solid soap, just rub a wet brush around it for about 3-4 seconds, then whip up the lather as normal.

Anonymous

So the list is coming on slowly, but keen to make sure I get everything I need.
So far:
Edwin Jagger DE89 with the 5 free blades. I'll see how my face looks after that and possibly come back for advice.
The big blue bar of soap from above from eBay - are there other recommendations for a soap?
Styptic pencil (I can see this getting messy on the odd occasion!)

I guess I need to look at a brush. I don't think I would trust myself to trim my own, so anything pre-shaped, gives a good lather, nice and soft. A good badger hair one?

Any essential pre-post shave balms? I currently use a Loreal after shave gel, but I imagine there must be something better.

Anything else I am missing? A good mixing bowl? Stand to help it dry? Different creams/soaps?

alfablue

I got a nice Muhle Synthetic brush - it works really well. Soft springy tapered bristles.

For a mug I use a coffee cup (is fairly wide), works fine, but I would like one from Steve Woodhead Studio Pottery.

Don't forget a stand for your brush, it needs to dry out with the bristles facing down.

alfablue

Oh, and I have found http://www.manmachine.co to be a great shop, things arrive rapidly and packed like they are gifts!

They are currently offering 50 free Derby's with any DE razor (they sell EJ and several other brands).

CiB

coriordan wrote:

Anything else I am missing? A good mixing bowl? Stand to help it dry? Different creams/soaps?

I mentioned it earlier but the bowl isn't necessary. Rub the brush round the soap for a few seconds then lather it up in your open upturned palm. The soap stays in the brush and without much practice you soon learn how much is needed to do 2 or 3 passes.

I used a Styptic pencil once or twice with the cut-throat but since switching to a DE haven't had as much as a nick. For a couple of quid you might as well buy it just in case.

cyclingprop

What is the best site for all this gumpf?

CiB

Just search the internet for shaving - something interesting will pop up.

Alt there are links on pages 9 & 10 that are quite useful.

Anonymous

I'm on manmachine.mo where they are offering 50 blades for free if you buy a razor.

walkingbootweather

cyclingprop wrote:

What is the best site for all this gumpf?

Ckeck out The Shaving Room which is kind of the shaving equivalent of Bike Radar.

they have a link to UK shops and online vendors

alfablue

coriordan wrote:

I'm on manmachine.mo where they are offering 50 blades for free if you buy a razor.

and free shaving cream if you buy a £30 brush. Very good shop. There are lots of video reviews.

Ian.B

walkingbootweather wrote:

Ckeck out The Shaving Room

How weird is that? People spending their time on an arcane site, posting excited reports of their mundane daily activities, full of strange acronyms and specialised terminology. What's that you say? SCR? ........oh

flimflam_machine

The shaving shack delivered my stuff quite quickly. They give away some free blades with every order and seem to have a wide stock at decent prices.

UndercoverElephant

Ian.B wrote:

walkingbootweather wrote:

Ckeck out The Shaving Room

How weird is that? People spending their time on an arcane site, posting excited reports of their mundane daily activities, full of strange acronyms and specialised terminology. What's that you say? SCR? ........oh

You know, that was one of my fears when I started real shaving. I already have one slightly hoardy, kind of boring hobby that saps all of my cash in order to "save" me money. When I looked at that site, these guys seem to have kit galore in "rotation", I was genuinely worried I may spend what little I have left on razors.

Luckily, I bought one decent one and am happy with that. Phew.

walkingbootweather

Sounds like you had a close shave there then...

flimflam_machine

walkingbootweather wrote:

Sounds like you had a close shave there then...

But not close enough! If it's not BBS then he needs another razor for an ATG pass!

Yup, wet-shaving has its own daft lingo too. Now why does that sound familiar?

CiB

Love the idea of a whole section devoted to Shave Of The Day. Superb. And the acronyms... Where do I sign up?

EKE_38BPM

You lot are a bunch of shavengers.
If shaving was cycling, you'd be riding SS instead of fixed. You have derailled this thread and I seem to be the only person 'keeping it real'.

I am EKE_38bpm and I shave with a cut-throat razor, none of this new-fangled DE razors for me.

I'm getting better with it and feeling much more comfortable shaving left handed (famous last words before I cut my own throat left handed). The shaves are nice and close, my skin is in much better condition (less ingrowing hairs and shaving bumps) than when I used a Mach 3.

It is still a slow shave though.
After all I said earlier, I may get a DE for times when I need to have a quick(er) shave.

If cut-throat is the equivalent of riding fixed and DE is equivalent to SS, would that make someone who uses both like having a flip-flop wheel?