Recomend a shaving set

CyberJuice

Hey guys

Im gonna start shaving with safety razors as im not happy with the disposable razors ive been using the past few years

ive been lookin around shaving.ie website but theres so much products and im lost and have no idea whats good for beginners like me

I need the cost to be as low as possible.i need the following

1 - Razor
2 - Some beginer friendly blades
3 - A brush
4 - Some kind of cream/gel for a lather
5 - Something for my skin after the save to moisturise and reduce irritation


they have 2 starter kits on the site for under 50 euro. my budget is around 50 euro,maybe this is too low to get everything i need?

http://www.shaving.ie/products/The-Basic-Essentials-Safety-Razor-Starter-Kit.html

and

http://www.shaving.ie/products/Edwin-Jagger-DE89L-Shave-Set.html

Ive added up the cost to buy all the items individually and by buying the set you dont really make much of a saving,so i think maybe by making my own set by mixing different items together it might be better?

Id really appreciate any help from the veterans

hitemfrank

If you are after a starter kit to get the feel for shaving with a safety razor without spending lots of money here are some ideas;

Go to Boots and pick up one of the safety razors they sell. I cant remember how much they are over here so lets say about €10.

Go to Tesco and pick up a Palmolive shave stick (€0.65) and a tube of Palmolove shave cream (€1.65). The shave stick despite being so cheap should last a few months and really is excellent. You just wet the stick, rub it on your stubble then use the brush to make lather on your face.

You'll need something to generate lather from the cream in so any bowl or mug should do just fine.

You'll need some blades too so pick up a sampler pack online such as this one. You will find that some blades will feel better for you when you are shaving with them compared to others. Or if you do pick up a safety razor send me a PM with your address and I'll send you some blades to try out.

So thats a razor, blades, a soap and a cream for about €20 (without shipping for the blades and if you dont take up my offer for blades)

So onto a brush. I prefer boar brushes to badger but wouldn't necessarily recommend one to a beginner. They require some breaking in and they can be a bit finicky to begin with. After they break in though they can be excellent brushes and are generally fairly cheap compared to badger brushes.

This is the brush I started with and it did the job very nicely for about 5 months until I decided I wanted an upgrade. It's €18 so your total would end up being about €40.

If you want something for after the shave you should be able to pick up some Nivea Sensitive Balm from Boots/Tesco/Dunnes.



I have noticed that this isn't really much cheaper than the starter kits on Shaving.ie but hopefully it's of some use to you. If anything at least it shows you that there are plenty of options available.

CyberJuice

Thank you for the reply,i will get one of them cheap razors during the week and ill order some blades online,ill get that tesco stick also. do they sell that in boots to save me goin to 2 stores?

also i dont think ill buy a brush right away at that price,ill try save some money.is it ok to make up a lather with just my fingers in a bowl for a couple weeks to see if i like shaving with a safety razor,is there an effective way to make a lather without a brush just to tide me over.

oscarBravo

I've seen cheap brushes in Tesco and some pharmacies. You should be able to pick one up for a fiver. It won't be a particularly great brush for that price, but I can't imagine shaving without a brush anymore.

hitemfrank

No, so far I've only seen the Palmolive stick in Tesco. Boots will have their own brand shave stick and a shave soap but I haven't used the stick so can't say how good it is.

Boot's will have a shave brush (if they don't Tesco should). It will probably be a Men-u pure bristle (boar) brush. It probably wont be great, as OscarBravo says, but it will be easier than using your fingers. Instead of getting the Men-u shave brush I would recommend this. It is probably about the same price as the Men-u shave brush but I would guess it's of much better quality (Semogue make some really excellent boar brushes). I have one and although it's not as nice as my other boar brushes it really is a good brush, especially considering how much it costs..

Send me a PM with your address and I'll send you some blades. It will save you some money that you can put elsewhere.

MadsL

Shaving.ie have a boar brush for less than €9 if budget is a major issue. Payback after the amount of time it would take you to get through 3 cans of Gillette 'sensitive' goop.

http://www.shaving.ie/products/Semogue-1470-Shaving-Brush.html

CyberJuice

Just got home from the city centre.. I was able to find that wilkinson sword classic razor after about an hour and a half of searching various chemists.it cost me 4 euro 15 cent,not bad..the lady in boots claims they do not stock them anymore,3 boots stores did not have them,nor do tescos stock them..found them for sale on a chemist beside O Connel bridge..I also got a palmolive shaving stick for under a euro and got a tube of palmolive cream for around 3 euro from some chemist,probably over priced but what the hell..

Tomorrow i will order one of them 12 euro brushes and a smaple pack of blades from shaving.ie and see how it goes..

Thank you for all the replies guys,really appreciated

Insect Overlord

The Wilkinson Sword Classic Shaving Brush is an absolute bargain, if you can find it. It took a fortnight or so to break in, but the lather I got with it today was fantastic. (Using the Palmolive shave stick soap, btw).

I got mine in Tesco in Limerick, after a few weeks of getting nowhere with the men-u brush from Boots. That may have been due to my inexperience though. I'll experiment with that brush again during the week to see if I can do any better with it now that my lathering technique has come on.

CyberJuice

Are you rubbing the wet stick onto your face overlord and then brusing your face to create the lather??

ive got the palmolive cream in the tube and also the hard shaving stick.can anyone tell me what are the differences between the 2 other then 1 you lather up in a mug and the other stick you do on your face somehow..

I saw 2 of them men u brushes in boots,one was just under 8 euro and the other was around 13 euro,i was tempted to buy one but ill buy one from shaving.ie as it seems to be better..


the cost of the blades and the cost of the shave stick,i shoulda been using this stuff years ago,i would have saved a fotune.i dont know why more people dont do it,ill certainly be tellin my mates to stop buying mach 3s and similar razors

hitemfrank

Wet the tip of the shave stick and it will soften a little bit. Then rub that on your face and it will leave soap on your face. Keep rubbing until there is plenty of soap on your face.

Then just rub you brush on your face and it will generate the lather on your face. Using a damp brush will probably work best. So soak the brush for a minute then squeeze it gentley to get rid of most of the water trapped in the hair. If the lather doesn't generate too well just wet the tips of the brush and go back to your face with the brush.

Insect Overlord

hitemfrank wrote: »

Wet the tip of the shave stick and it will soften a little bit. Then rub that on your face and it will leave soap on your face. Keep rubbing until there is plenty of soap on your face.

Then just rub you brush on your face and it will generate the lather on your face. Using a damp brush will probably work best. So soak the brush for a minute then squeeze it gentley to get rid of most of the water trapped in the hair. If the lather doesn't generate too well just wet the tips of the brush and go back to your face with the brush.

This works quite well. Soaking the brush in hot water seems to be making a big difference, for me anyway.

CyberJuice wrote: »

Are you rubbing the wet stick onto your face overlord and then brusing your face to create the lather??

I do that when I'm in a hurry, but it works just as effectively for me as mixing it in a bowl. Prepare your face with a few splashes of hot water, rub on the soap stick, massage into a lather. The mantic59 videos on Youtube are great as well. This one goes through a few different lathering techniques, if you have 10 minutes to spare.

CyberJuice wrote: »

ive got the palmolive cream in the tube and also the hard shaving stick.can anyone tell me what are the differences between the 2 other then 1 you lather up in a mug and the other stick you do on your face somehow..

I've used the men-u cream a few times. I'd assume the Palmolive cream works in the same way. I've only been shaving with a DE razor since the start of the summer though, so I've no real expertise here. Most of what I've been able to gather suggests personal preference is one of the main differences. Obviously there are creams and soaps of all kinds and prices around, so there are other differences too, but I can't say what they are yet!

CyberJuice

Here is an update on the products ive got,roughly 30 euro worth of products so far and ive enough to last me 5 - 6 months. definately gonna be a money saver over disposable razors.id like to thank everyone for the info and all the replies,it has really helped me

hitemfrank

That's definitely a good set up to get used to and become comfortable DE shaving. I've heard good things about that brush you've picked up.

It certainly can be a big money saver over disposable razors if you manage to stick with the products you like and not do as many of us have done and buy massive amounts of things. I probably have enough soaps and creams to last me 5 years (and that's not an exaggeration unfortunately).


Your Palmolive shave stick is different to the ones I have so I'm wondering if it's a different formula in that box. Could you check the ingredients on the box and see if the first ingredient is Potassium Hydrogenated Tallowate?

nc6000

I know it wasn't a question for me but seeing as I have a Palmolive Shave Stick handy.....yes, that is the first ingredient listed on the box.

Gran Hermano

I avoided shaving sticks initially as rubbing them across my damp face and then trying to face lather never worked for me.

Now I have several in my rotation that I would not be without, including the Palmolive one. What I do is make a fist around the soap stick and have the
stick protude slightly above the top of the fist in my left hand. Hold wet shaving brush in right hand and run it back across the shaving stick and top of left hand fist. Works great for me.

hitemfrank

nc6000 wrote: »

I know it wasn't a question for me but seeing as I have a Palmolive Shave Stick handy.....yes, that is the first ingredient listed on the box.

Is your Palmolive stick the same as the one in Cyberjuices' picture or is it the same as the one in this pic (they have diffferent boxes which I think is different ingredients or at least there were different at one point)?



And yes I like the Palmolive shave stick. I think I have 6 of them in total at the moment

CyberJuice

why do you need 6 at one time

they last a couple months each dont they

hitemfrank

The palmolive sticks are only the tip of the iceberg.....




So if you really want to save money with DE shave, don't do what I did. Although in my defence 2 of the creams have been finished since the pictures were taken.

CyberJuice

hitemfrank wrote: »

Although in my defence 2 of the creams have been finished since the pictures were taken.

Thats no defence,you have a problem with buying products

I know that within the next fe wmonths il lend up the same,im allready lookin at loads of different soaps and brushes i want to try,i also want to get a nice razor for about 60 euro


i guess ill wait till the new year

nc6000

hitemfrank, I have the one in the green and white box. Same as in your pic.

hitemfrank

CyberJuice wrote: »

Thats no defence,you have a problem with buying products

I know that within the next fe wmonths il lend up the same,im allready lookin at loads of different soaps and brushes i want to try,i also want to get a nice razor for about 60 euro


i guess ill wait till the new year

Yeah I know I have a problem. It's not a coincidence that since I stopped buying creams and soaps I've picked up more brushes and straight razors. However I don't think there is anything I want anymore that I'm not prepared to wait for (or don't have coming in the post )

nc6000 wrote: »

hitemfrank, I have the one in the green and white box. Same as in your pic.

Right, I think the one Cyberjuice has is a different formula then. Not a bad formula though apparently.

CyberJuice

the smell of that praraso lasts long enough,i can still smell it on my hands up to 2 hours after ive used it..think ill have to get meself a few different soaps for christmas.i wana check out that speick stuff and get some alum block and loads of other stuff..

wait a minute,wasnt this meant to be less expensive then mach 3s lmao

Smokeyskelton

I'm fairly new to DE shaving myself, but I think the other guys have given a lot of good advice.

In my opinion trying different blades is one of the most important factors in getting into DE shaving. Everyone seems to have different preferences, so you will have to find your favourite.

I'm a big fan of all the Gillette 7 o'clock range, whereas I don't like the Derby blades, and I'm not a fan of the Wilkinson Sword blades either. However, you may feel the complete opposite. (One of the reasons I decided to give DE shaving a go was to escape the evil clutches of Gillette, and ironically I like their blades best of all the ones I have tried so far ).

If you don't really enjoy DE shaving at first it may just be that you have a blade that does not suit you. When you are finished your stash of new blades maybe try something different. Just my 2 cents worth.

MadsL

(One of the reasons I decided to give DE shaving a go was to escape the evil clutches of Gillette, and ironically I like their blades best of all the ones I have tried so far ).

Stock up, they may not be produced forever...

Smokeyskelton

MadsL wrote: »

Stock up, they may not be produced forever...

Really, are they trying to force us all to use their "cartridge" systems, or are they losing money on the DE blades? Ok, must stock up so.

Thanks for the tip.

MadsL

Google "shavepocalypse"

....buy canned goods, blades and ammo people

hitemfrank

MadsL wrote: »

Google "shavepocalypse"

....buy canned goods, blades and ammo people

Do you think that would work as an excuse for me having so many soaps and creams?

CyberJuice

i was in town earlier in one of them irish tourist stores lookin around to pick something up for a friend and i saw they had a nice soup mug for sale,immediately i thought that this would make a great shaving mug.i have previously been using a rectangular tupperware container for my lathering so i needed a mug of some sort.it cost me 6 euro,bargain i reckon. just had my first shave using this mug and allready my lather has gotten better,if anyone is lookin for a nice cheap shaving mug you cant go wrong with this beauty