Brushes, Creams, and Soaps

Grain direction shaving

By now you have gotten a good start on mapping the direction of your beard growth and should be seeing improvements in the finish product. It's really not all that difficult but once learned, you will find that shaving is more enjoyable and conquering "the beast" a victory every time you shave. Keep at it. Once you learn the general direction of your growth, you will begin to find the little areas that seem to go against the norm. It takes a lot of practice and attention while you are shaving, but it is worth it every time you get a little better shave!

You don't have to spend much

If you have taken the time to start exploring items on various websites, you can see that prices range to just a few dollars to over $200 or even $300 dollars! In all actuality you do not need to spend that much to get started, For what you currently spend just buying a package of the cartridge razors, you can get set up with an inexpensive razor, blades, soap, and brush. You just have to know where to shop, what to expect and what you are willing to call acceptable.  I really is subjective. Acceptability is not having the best money can buy, but rather what can give you a good, comfortable shave. In the end, that's what it is all about.

Purchasing Starter sets

There are several pros and cons with buying starter sets. These sets and generally put together with the intent of helping the new wet shaver to get started without getting stressed out over what to buy. There are a lot of products out there and user reviews are just a diverse. All of this just leaves the prospective buyer at a loss of what to get. Purchasing individual items can take time to research and the temptation to buy a starter set is tempting.

When I first got started, I purchased the Van der Hagen Premium shave set. This came with a small bowl, a 2.5oz puck of their deluxe soap, and a 22mm knot boar brush. All of this for around ten dollars at my local grocery store. It really wasn't a bad deal. I like the small bowl as it fits my hand nicely as I build up the lather, and their deluxe soap is easy to lather and stays thick during the shave. not quite as slick as I like my soaps and creams, but I have a remedy for that. I'll share that in another post.

Van Der Hagen Premium Shave Set

The brush however is not quite as nice as some that cost a little bit more. It is a boar hair brush that required a good cleaning before use, and it took it about a week to get rid of the smell. Probably the thing that bothered me the most was that it shed bristles like a shaggy dog. I was constantly having to pluck them from the cream on my face and from the soap puck for about four months. It did eventually settle down and became a nice soft brush. After about six months of daily use it became a pleasure to use. Not very stiff, but soft. So if you are willing to put up with loose bristles for a while, I would recommend spending the ten dollars.

Keeping it simple

Semogue 1305

There are other options if you decide not to go with one of those pre-packaged starter sets. You can do very good by spending a little extra on the brush and skimp by purchasing a small pudding dish at Wal-Mart or other type of store and then pick up a puck of VDH Deluxe soap or a tube of Derby shave cream. Here would be my recommendations:

For a nice brush that has a good backbone, bristles with very low animal smell, and becomes a sheer pleasure to use once it is broke in (about 15 to 20 shaves,) is the Semogue 1305. It is an 18mm knot brush that lathers pucks, soap sticks and creams wonderfully. It builds a great lather and holds it until you are ready for it. This was my third brush and my favorite. I think I have only lost 4 or 5 bristles out of mine since I have started using it. To me, choosing a good brush is of more value than an all in one kit!

Nordic Ware Prep Bowl

I went cheap on a lather bowl! For the most part I just face lather because it saves time and is less messy. However I do soak my brush for a couple of minutes before use and sometime I do bowl lather. The bowl I chose was the Nordic Ware Mini Prep bowl I found at Wal-Mart. It is about as small as I would like to go with a bowl, and it doesn't take up a lot of room in the drawer. But then for $1.00 I couldn't pass it up. Besides if it didn't work out It would wind up in the kitchen! One nice thing about this bowl is that if you do purchase the VDH Premium set above, this bowl provides a nice cover over the top of the ceramic one in the VDH set.

Soufflé Dish

And then finally I bought a ceramic dish for my soap puck. It is a simple 9oz.  Soufflé Dish that I picked up at Wal-Mart for $1.50. It is ceramic and looks similar to this one.  It holds a 2.5oz soap puck without any problem and has plenty of room to load a brush. It didn't come with a lid, but I found that a lid from a can of peanuts worked just fine!

Soap or Cream?

Van Der Hagen

You don't really need to make a decision on this. I use both and rotate them around to change up my shave. Soaps can run you less than $2.00 for Van der Hagen Deluxe and around $3.00 for a 100ml tube of Derby cream. These are the cheap ones and do an excellent job of giving you a good close shave. I will say that starting out with a cream may be easier than the puck. Getting the water to soap ratio can sometimes be difficult when starting out. The creams just seem to lather easier and have a good slickness to them. And, if you don't want to purchase a bowl, you can just load the brush and go straight to a face lather. Most days, I just leave my bowl in the drawer!

Derby Lavender Shave Cream

So as you can see it doesn't take much to get started (at least with the soaps.) The brush being the most important and expensive piece of hardware we've talked about today. A simple investment of $10 to $25 dollars can get you set up nicely with the soap side of the equipment that will last you for many, many years.

 

Getting Started

Ready to take the plunge?

When you get ready to lay down your hard cold cash for supplies, you really want to make the best decision and get the right things. My problem was getting bit by the shaving bug pretty bad. After watching so many YouTube review videos, I just had to have everything! I spent money on things that I thought I needed and things that will never be used. What you have to be careful of are the reviews on places like Amazon. Some people would rave about a product and it did not work for me. Another would give it a low rating and classify it as a very poor product only to find it was perfect for me. Everybody's shaving needs are different. In the shaving world it's a matter of finding the right things that suit your needs and budget and give you the best results. But above all give you satisfaction during and after the shave! So be cautious with online reviews.

Make one change at a time

I can't emphasize enough to only make one change at a time. This was one of the first mistakes that I made. I changed my shaving cream, razor and blade all at once. It was a mental struggle every shave trying to remember how to create the lather, how to hold the razor at the right angle, how to keep the pressure at a minimum, which direction to shave, what blade to use, how to deal with razor burn. And then I was changing up products every other day! With  so many changes, it was difficult to keep track of what was working and what was not and then to remember all of that the next day. Take small steps and work your way into it.  Remember, Rome wasn't built in a day!

Be a thrifty shopper

Just because it cost a lot does not make it the right product for you. I've bought several soaps and creams that cost up to fifteen to twenty dollars each, and for me, they could not perform as well as the cheap $1.69 soap I buy at the local supermarket. My $12.88 razor performs just as well as my $35.00 razor. Cost does not always dictate what works best for you. Skin type, sensitivity, beard growth and the shape of your face has everything to do with what you need to use. Just because it is popular among the DE shaving community, or expensive does not mean it will work for you. Finding that perfect shave can be frustrating and expensive. Just remember, It will be worth the effort once you find that right combination!

My first two investments

Before you venture any further into DE shaving I would recommend that you make two purchases up front. The first would be a styptic pencil and the second would be a bottle of witch hazel. Both can be purchased at your local drugstore, supermarket, or even Wal-Mart.




I picked up my styptic pencil at Wal-Mart for a couple of dollars. The only one they had was made by Pinaud Clubman. It is quite large but does the job nicely and comes in a plastic tube for storage and traveling. I'm sure it will last me the rest of my life!

You can also pick up a bottle of witch hazel at Wal-Mart. I found it in the pharmacy section. You can opt for the Wal-Mart brand or like me spend an extra dollar and get a bottle made by Dickenson. I opted for the Dickenson because of the cap (and the pretty label!)

The reason for these two items is important. The styptic pencil will take care of any cuts and nicks you will get and the witch hazel works wonders at reducing razor burn with the redness and puffiness that comes along with it. I religiously use witch hazel after every shave. If you are still using cartridge razors, go ahead and start the witch hazel right after every shave. You will see and feel a difference. It will become a more noticeable once you make the change to DE shaving!