Thread: Introduction!

Here are a few pointers...
1) Crabtree and Evelyn, in any mall (Sherway and SQ1 for sure) -- $55 best badger grade brush. Great starter. That's what I'm using. They also have decent creams but the soaps are crap. You'd be better off ordering from Colleen or Giovanni.
2) Shoppers -- Proraso pre/after shave cream. That stuff used as an aftershave gives you a minty blast that totally rocks. Not a big fan of Proroaso creams/soap though. They should also have boar bristled brushes in the same area as Proraso stuff, but I'd go with C&E
3) WM -- Williams soap (cheap, decent performer) and styptics
4) Lee Valley -- NORTON!!!!!, they also have some cheap paddle strops (haven't tried one on a razor as my homemade bench hone's working just fine), some restoration supplies like project wood, CA and brass shim stock.
5) Crappy Tire -- the autobody section has very fine grit sandpaper
Any of our major malls should have AOS or a store peddling AOS junk. Don't buy razors or strops in our malls.. They let any bum off the street handle that stuff with greasy grubby fingers and those small pieces of scrap leather can't compare in quality with what you'd get from Tony or Glen or Keith for a lot less even when you factor in the duties.

Welcome Will! J.

I'd hit Ilija (FiReSTaRT) up for an in town honing lesson if he's got the time. If not, you can send that Dovo to me for prep. I'm on the left coast.

X

Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT

Here are a few pointers...
4) Lee Valley -- NORTON!!!!!, they also have some cheap paddle strops (haven't tried one on a razor as my homemade bench hone's working just fine), some restoration supplies like project wood, CA and brass shim stock.

Lee Valley here I come!

Thanks for the tips. I will be taking a trip there unless I manage to find one in Munich, Germany where I will be next week.

I have a pretty nice brush already and I use Kent shaving soap from England in a wood bowl. (Anyone's thoughts on this?). I have a Dovo strop from Germany (leather and fabric) although it has taken some water splashes and a few cuts on the leather. Might replace it.

I use Clinique for Men stuff for pre-shave facewash and post-shave moisturiser. I also use the "Art of Shaving" pre-shave oils.

-W.

Originally Posted by xman

I'd hit Ilija (FiReSTaRT) up for an in town honing lesson if he's got the time. If not, you can send that Dovo to me for prep. I'm on the left coast.

X

lol. I try not to "hit people up" however an in town lesson would be pretty cool, also thanks for the offer, I may need to take you up on it!

-W.

I'm sure we'll be able to arrange something as soon as I get well. Caught a nasty bug and it just won't let go.
The brush and the soap should be fine, but once you start running out, I'll recommend Colleen or Giovanni once again. Colleen's the queen of the glide and has some very nice strong scents. If you're into more subtle scents and the best lather in the biz, then it's time to give Gio a pm.
As for the strop, DOVO's quality is up there but the models locally available are those dinky mini-strips. If that's what you've got, time to check out www.thewellshavedgentleman.com.
The pre/after shave routine is a personal thing. Most times I just lather up after taking a shower so no other prep is neded. On those rare occasions when I do it mid-day, I wash my face with a regular soap, lather up, strop, rinse the lather off, re-lather and go. For "after", I either use Old Spice followed up by Neutrogena Razor Defense (very nice combination of scents and I love the alcohol) or just the Proraso pre/after shave because of the blast.

Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT

I'm sure we'll be able to arrange something as soon as I get well. Caught a nasty bug and it just won't let go.
The brush and the soap should be fine, but once you start running out, I'll recommend Colleen or Giovanni once again. Colleen's the queen of the glide and has some very nice strong scents. If you're into more subtle scents and the best lather in the biz, then it's time to give Gio a pm.
As for the strop, DOVO's quality is up there but the models locally available are those dinky mini-strips. If that's what you've got, time to check out www.thewellshavedgentleman.com.
The pre/after shave routine is a personal thing. Most times I just lather up after taking a shower so no other prep is neded. On those rare occasions when I do it mid-day, I wash my face with a regular soap, lather up, strop, rinse the lather off, re-lather and go. For "after", I either use Old Spice followed up by Neutrogena Razor Defense (very nice combination of scents and I love the alcohol) or just the Proraso pre/after shave because of the blast.

Get well soon!

I'll definately check out those as my soaps decline .

I picked the strop up when I lived in Germany so should be ok, mind you I'm not sure what a mini-strop looks like

-W.

Go to any Knife Shop in any major CDN mall and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Ok, so just to confirm what I want to pick up from Lee Valley is this, correct?

Norton 4000x/8000x Combo. Water Stone

-W.

Welcome

And yes - this is correct, the ubiquitous Norton 4K/8K combo.

A honing / stropping sessions should be great, Ilija is a great guy!

That soap you have is supposed to be really top notch, actually the same soap as Mitchell Wool Fat, and it's not cheap either, iirc...

Even if the strop has a few cuts it can still work. At least you can use it to perfect your technique. Then getting one of the strops recommended here will be a treat that won't go sour (as it would if you sliced your new strop due to bad technique)

Cheers
Ivo