Iwan

After the recent razor threads, I decided to do a bit of research into the ultimate shave. Interestingly I kept coming across websites advocating cut throat razors and double edge safety razors.

Anyway after doing a bit of reading up, I decided to order one of these to give it a try.

http://www.gentlemans-shop.com/acata...razor.html#a42

Along with a good quality shaving soap bowl, badger hair brush, and a quality post-shave moisturiser. It all arrived this afternoon so I gave it a whirl just now.

Anyway now I've managed to stop most of the bleeding.

My thoughts. Unbelievably close shave from traditional razor blades, you can feel every hair being cut as you shave. You have to use virtually no pressure or you cut yourself bigtime, and the blade angle is critical. I took a big chunk out of my lip quite early on (probably nerves and too much pressure), but then got the hang of it and the results are better then any shave I've had before - including the new Gillette Fusion.

Really glad I bought it now, I think it's going to take a bit of practice to get it second nature but that's ok as the results are worth it. What's more the replacement blades are really cheap, even the best quality ones

A mate was trying to talk me into getting a cut-throat, I did think about it but I'd quite like to get a barber to teach me how to use one first - or I dread to think what would happen!

Jaydee5

Was this additional...and from where please

Iwan

From the same company as the razor, they have masses to choose from. I went for an AOS Lavender soap bowl, and just about the cheapest real badger hair brush (there's one for £255!! ), and American Crew post-shave lotion.

Came to a fair bit, but it should last quite a while compared to modern stuff.



Edit:

This soap bowl
http://www.gentlemans-shop.com/acata...soap.html#a103

This brush
http://www.gentlemans-shop.com/acata...brush.html#a22

This after shave lotion (they recommend it as that's what they use in their barbers shop)
http://www.gentlemans-shop.com/acata...iser.html#a178

Jaydee5

Thanks for that

I feel a Christmas pressie coming on

kevbo10

I've been using a Merkur Futur razor for about a year now. It takes a few weeks to get used to double edged shaving, different blades & creams give you a completely different shave. It can take a while experimenting to get the best combination to suit you.

Here's some links for some more advice.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6886845/

http://www.badgerandblade.com/vb/

http://groups.msn.com/thewetshaversgroup

If your buying a futur razor or some products you can buy from mankind and use the 10% discount voucher, follow the link below.

http://www.hotukdeals.com/deal/634/1...d-co-uk-men-s-

cheers

Kevbo

Iwan

Superb links, many thanks!

kingofturds

iTrader: (1)

shaves a bit too close for my liking

Iwan

Lol that's what I thought I'd end up looking like!

kingofturds

iTrader: (1)

You ever tried a cut throat razor? I was left a set complete with foam brush. apart from sevral nicks It must be the closest shave I have had. Not one to use half cut before a night out on the **** though

Tam the bam

No thanx I'll stick to my Gillette nuclear with it's 20 odd blades and vibo motion, the radiation produced from it means I now look like a male version of Gail Porter

Iwan

I'm going to try a straight razor (cut throat) at some point, but I think I'm going to stick with the double edge for now.

It's very odd, I learned to shave with disposable razors and adopted a really sloppy technique. I always assumed I had weird skin/stubble as could never get a perfect shave no matter how hard I tried. I'm having to learn how to shave again from scratch now, but the results are so much better. I look at the Gillette Fusion I bought last week and wonder why the hell it costs so much for such an average shave, and my electric - well the less said about that the better.

That forum above is great, loads of info and also some instructional videos which were very helpful to me.

Iwan

Thought I'd update this thread. I now have 3 DE safety razors in my collection, a Merkur Futur, a 1940's Gillette Superspeed and a 1960's Gillette Superspeed.

I also just had my first straight razor delivered, a bone handled Dovo Bismarck.

I'm a bit scared to try it now, even though I've read several books and have watched a couple of instructional DVDs. I have a straight razor shaving lesson booked at Trumpers in London next week, but I might just give it a go sometime before then - and see how I get on. Hopefully I won't lose an ear or a nose or something.

It's like this one but with a square point (end).

Rage!

It'll end in tears!


Ray Winstone as Sweeney Todd

MattW

LMAO....seriously what's wrong with a BIC

Says he with Blonde hair

Iwan

You have hair, it looked like it had all fallen out last time I saw you?

mart360

So the old wilkinson sword razor packs will be making a resurgence then.

I remember a friend on mines dad many years ago left some blades in the bottom of a bag, and couldnt understand why his daughter had cut herself when rummaging through the bag.. stupid sod had only left the loose blades in there,

cant honestly see the point with them, or the cut throat type, How many of us have time in the mornings to apply damp hot towels, and then the lathering up and shaving routine?

i use a disposable, plenty of gel, hot water and thats it.

oh and no poncy preshave or moisturiser afterwards just whack on the old aftershave and go

Mart

MattW

It grew back

Iwan

From what I've found doing research over the last few weeks, traditional wet shaving (brush, soap, single blade razor) is starting to make a big comeback. A lot of people have finally started to click on that Gillette and Wilkinson are taking the p1ss with their marketing and pricing.

If you practice and are careful, the best shave you can get can come from a single bladed razor with a blade costing maybe less than 10p. The blade will easily last 4 days shaving but who cares, it's so cheap! I bought 100x top quality "Derby Extra" platinum coated blades off Ebay last week for £10.80. You can't even buy an 8 pack of the new Gillette Fusion blades for that!

You get an amazingly close shave with a decent razor and a good quality blade, it doesn't clog like a Mach3 or Fusion, and you don't get ingrowing hairs on your neck as the single blade isn't lifting and cutting.

It's just marketing spin, making people think that if a 3 or 4 bladed razor is "good" - then how much better is a 5 or 6 bladed razor going to be? Fact is Gillette/Wilkinson make a fortune out of these cartridges, and unless you're a shareholder they aren't the best you can get.

If you're interested have a look at these sites.

http://www.badgerandblade.com/vb/
http://www.shavemyface.com/forum/index.php
http://www.straightrazorplace.com/forums/index.php

Some good demo videos here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F5u28JfnCM
http://tinyurl.com/ap7tg