Thread: Help, please

Hi All,
I've been looking at this site for an hour and a half and my head is still spinning. In short, I want to not buy any more razor blades (mach 3). I want to keep my purchase to a bare minimum, both in terms of stuff to store (small bathroom) and cost (I'm a graduate student). Can I get by with just a pre-honed razor and a strop? Do I really need the soap, brush, mug, etc? Can anyone recommend any good deals?

Thanks much,
Paulson

Well, kinda. If you don't get the soap, what will you use, the canned goo? If so, you will not be prepping your skin well for the mechanics of straight shaving to work. Real shaving cream or soap does a MUCH better job of hydrating and lubricating. So, that is kinda neccesary. There are some that are quite inexpensive. WIth them, though, a brish does become more neccesary. There are, again, very affordable boar brishes available, I know I've read about them, but do not have any direct experience. I'm sure another member can point you to them. There are brishless cerams, such as Nancy Boy, that I do use on occassion, though I do use a brush most times.

I would say you do "need" at least :shave ready razor, functioning strop, brush (boar is fine if it's the right one), and some form of decent cream or soap (COl. Conk, or Fraser's shaving cream would be my recomendations). You can face lather and get a very nice start with this set up. If you can get an inexpensive strop that has CrOX on the backside for the occassional touch up, you could go MONTHS or more before you need anything else.

Check out the classifieds here for great deals on shave ready razors.
Good luck, and WELCOME!

Well, a large coffee mug or small bowl works just as well as a shaving mug. Got anything like that? As for soap, well it's certainly better than the canned goo that is currently sold.

Really though, take a looks at this:

Amazon.com: Van Der Hagen Premium Shave Set (Soap, Bowl, Brush): Health & Personal Care


Just my $ .02

Welcome to SRP,

You will find this article useful: Buying a beginner's set on a budget - Straight Razor Place Wiki.

Regards,
Robin

The brush & cream/soap are very important in my opinion. A brush and good soap/cream would improve your mach 3 shaves even.

With that said, you do not need to spend a fortune.

I have some handy dandy links in my sig line that answer a lot of beginner questions and a list of what you need to start out.

Hi All,
Thanks for the feedback. I found the FAQ page immediately after I posted the question. I think I'll take the plunge, probably after just a little more waffeling.

Thanks,
Paulson

You could pick up a Double Edge Razor. Then you only have to buy soap and a brush. Or you stick with the goo and all you need is the razor. That way your not tossing out the plastic.

Hello Paulson: where are you? Wherever you live there's bound to be some good products which will work well without breaking the bank, for instance in the UK Palmolive shave sticks are about £0.40 and a Vulfix 404 mixed badger and boar brush goes for £7.60 or so, getting you off to a very good start and stretching your budget for the bit where money counts: the razor and strop. You could do with some geographically specific recommendations.

Hi Paulson,

From my experience, unless you get the dreaded "aquisition disorders" most people have here, you do not need to buy really high end anything to get started.

But its like this. For each part of the following:

1. Razor
2. Strop
3. Beard Prep Treatment
4. Shaving
5. Post Shave Treatment
6. Razor Maintenance

whenever you incrementally improve what you are doing or using, it results in either a better shave or a better shaving experience.

The "doing" part is free. That is just practice and experience. The "using" part is where you can really get that "aquisition disorder" trying to find the ever elusive "BBS". And, though the equipment is important, really good equipment and poor technique = terrible shave.

So, the short answer is yes, you can get by with just a strop and razor. The long answer is you will be disapointed with the results and probably not learn good technique before you stop.

Others here have suggested just the right thing. Col. Conk soap, cheapo brush and the coffee mug your girlfriend left when she moved out. That will be a good use for it.

Do not cheap out on the razor and strop. Look at the classifieds for a shave ready razor to get started. Good luck.

David

Hi, Paulson;

I'm a new guy to SRP and straight razor shaving, but I can echo what the more experienced guys here have said: Basics are necessary, but spending a ton of cash isn't. I bought my starter gear at knifecenter.com and got a good deal on my brush, soap & strop. I paid $19.95 for a Col. Conk pure badger brush, $4 for a puck of Col. Conk lime glycerin soap, and $28 for an Illinois strop. Keep in mind that the initial outlay of cash will be a savings in the long run, since you'll not be spending that same money on the M3 & canned goo garbage. I use a cool old mug for my soap, so no $ there.

Welcome and have fun!

Larry