Thread: Is a brush and shaving soap necessary?

My straight razor came in today and I'm really excited to use it, but my shaving soap and brush hasn't come in yet. Could I just use a normal aerosol shaving cream for the time being or will I slit my throat?

I think a good shaving soap/cream is more important than the instrument you use to remove the hair....

I'd wait. I tried using aerosol once and didn't enjoy it. But other guys have used it with no problems. No harm in waiting though.

Good things come to those who wait... For me the brush and shave soap and working it in is an important part of the process. My goal is to shave only with a straight razor but if I ever need to rush and shave with my gillette excel I will be using the wet shave system with my brush and soap. Read the beginner guide it really is developing a life long skill... learn to do it properly, follow the system, you'll be glad you did. Last thing I would want to see is you having a bad experience early on. It's your first shave with a straight you should make it a memorable experience. Just my 2 cents.

it is completly up to you, there are some people on here who acutally prep their beards with aerosol foams such as barbasol and noxema. I would wait for the soap and brush, but thats just me. If you are dying to try your straight, grab a can of barbasol or Proraso and go at it. If you live in canada I know the shoppers drug mart carries proraso in a can. It is the only can I will ever use if I have no time for a soap cake and a brush. Then again, You will probably have a much better experience with your beard prepped properly by a brush and good soap!

First shave with a straight usually takes much longer than usual. I think it'd be a real punishment for your face if you left the canned goop on your face too long. Unless there is a good aerosol shaving cream, maybe proraso?

Anyway, I'd wait.

Welcome to SRP. For best results on your first SR shave read this tutorial by Lynn here . As far as the soap, if you cannot wait make sure that you vigorously wash your shave area a couple of times with pressure. Punish those whiskers before you use the canned goo. That might make a positive difference. One of the pure pleasures of shaving is the puck, or cream and brush though, so you might be better off waiting.

Yea you can shave fine. The world won't come to an end. As a matter of fact you could shave with just cold water however I wouldn't recommend that to a rookie. I think patience is a virtue and waiting for the brush and proper soap is the way to go. I think the end result with an experienced shaver would be the same but the comfort is where the real difference lies.

So I said two opposing things here eh? As a rookie you need all the help you can get so without the proper prep you have at least 1 strike against you and for most the first shave is a crummy experience anyway so would the brush and soap change that? maybe yes and maybe no.

Depending on where you are you could always make a trip to your local Walgreens, CVS, or Wal-Mart and get a cheap brush and soap there for under $15.00 total and you'd have a good travel brush that way. The soap you would find would either be Williams of VanDerHagen (VDH). The VDH soap is easy to lather and a good soap. Williams is very good soap, BUT there is a trick to getting good lather out of it, so I'd recommend VDH for beginners.

I've been able to get decent shaves with hand soap applied by my hands. I'd rather use a brush, but when I go on vacation the brush gets left behind.