Thread: Do you shave rich or do you shave poor? (Long)

I definitely am "on the cheap"... in fact, my whole reason for starting this "hobby" was to "rebel" against the outlandish prices Shick and Gillette were charging for cartridge blades! I, in fact, have a life history of rebelling against unreasonable pricing... eg, I quit smoking when cigarettes reached $1/pack in vending machines, I bought a motorcycle when gas prices got outta hand in the '70s, I stopped buying anything from Sears when they wouldn't reduce a late fee which far exceeded the amount I owed them, etc. That is not to say any of these actions was EVER truly economical, but I've always felt better for doing them, LOL.

My str8 history goes something like this...

• My initial investment was under $40 (razor, strop, Surrey boars hair brush & soap).
• Then a barber hone (from Tilly)...
• Then a better razor (from Lynn)...
• Then a HandAmerican leather hone...
• Then eBay mania for a gaggle of razors (mostly under $10, which was doable a year ago)...
• Then Bill's CD, a Norton 4/8K stone, Maas, various Dremmel wheels & discs, etc...

Total spent to date is something like $400... admittedly equivalent to 3-4 year's of cartridge blades. Knowing that the resale value of my restored razors is likely more than $400 (and that the resale value of used cartridges is zero!) keeps me sane... at least in my own mind, LOL

BTW,

• The eBay specials are in various states of redemption... some are in my rotation as good shavers while others have unique issues (ie, $$$) needed to complete a restoration to their original elegance...
• I still use the original brush and strop...
• A Tuckmar Silver Steel is essentially my daily shaver... a Puma, a Bismarck, and a Boker round out the "most often used" list in my set of shavers...
• I started making my own soap... a $25 investment (M&P Olive Oil base, Castor oil, Coconut oil, clay, some essential oils, etc) should yield soap for several years to come...

I guess I'm both. I like the cheap route, using Williams soap, burma shave brush and my straight, and I like the English creams like Trumpers, Taylor, etc with my Feather.

I do like the fact that I can shave for pennies a day, but do enjoy the luxuries of a fine shave using expensive shave creams as well.

I must have a 5 year supply of soaps and creams though....not so cheap after all. Perhaps in the long run it will be

Originally Posted by azjoe

[*]I started making my own soap... a $25 investment (M&P Olive Oil base, Castor oil, Coconut oil, clay, some essential oils, etc) should yield soap for several years to come...[/list]

Joe, how about posting that recipe???

thanx...
Nenad

Originally Posted by superfly

Joe, how about posting that recipe???

Nenad -- I'm still "experimenting" with proportions, but here's what I've done so far and the results...

I started with

• 4-oz of M&P base,
• 2-tbl of Castor Oil,
• 2-tbl of coconut oil (76-degree ),
• 1/4-tsp of clay, and
• 12-drops of Sandlewood essential oil.

I nuked the M&P and other oils in my shaving mug (using 10-sec bursts on high) until everything was completely melted, stirring between bursts to mix everything well. I then added the clay (slightly damp) and mixed it in well, then continued stirring it occasionally until it started to thicken slightly. I then added the essential oil, stirring it in well and then left everything sit to solidify.

The result is a soap that's too "hard"... it requires VERY hot water to get enough soap wetted to make lather. But, it makes lots of lather which is rich, creamy, and doesn't "dry out" on my face. I suspect I used too much coconut oil, or perhaps the coconut oil doesn't really melt at 76-degrees as it's label states.

Unfortunately, the above recipe filled my shaving mug half-full so I'll need to shave for awhile to use that up before I make a new batch with different proportions. (I made this before Thanksgiving and it's only 1/4 used up so far, so maybe by Spring I'll be ready to try another batch ... for sure, my next batch will be scaled to use 1-oz of M&P, etc. so the result can be used up more quickly and thus speed up the interative process.)

I can't compare what I made to the "high priced spread" soaps since I've only used two other soaps... Surrey 's (non-glycerin) and an eBay M&P-based shaving soap, both costing less than $2 a cake. Compared to the Surrey I like the lather mine makes better... it's richer/denser. Mine's 100X better than the eBay soap (which was too soft, the lather was wimpy, and it dried out on my face annoyingly fast... I used it, but would never buy any more).

Thanx Joe, I will try that...

My only try with the DIY soap was superfatting one extra quality handmade bath soap, and I used Castor oil, Olive oil and some almond oil. I added green clay too. Since it was not M&P, i think it didn't trace well, and the lather was so-so, so now it is only very good bath soap instead of shaving soap...

Nenad

Hope you have good success Nenad. FWIW I used bentonite clay (actually, based on info in this thread I pulverized some kitty litter in an old kitchen blender I had). Is "Melt & Pour" soap base readily available to you? It's common in the hobby/craft stores here... usually adjacent to the candle making supplies. I think I paid something like $7 for a 32-oz package. If you can't find the M&P olive oil base I'd try using plain Glycerin M&P base and add olive oil to it.

I would say I'm definitely doing it on the cheap. Although my spending is growing at an alarming rate, its things that hopefully I wont have to buy again for a while although I would like a real nice razor like a dubl duck or one of the other ones you guys go on about. I have never been in the army but when I was a [proper] student I used to make a four pack of M3 blades last a semester (on my heavy thick beard). And I rarely used shaving foam of any kind. So its not just straight shaving thats a novelty for me, its actually being clean shaven. Other than the approximation of that you get from a brand new M3 every four months.

I shave rich and poor. On any given day, I may use the SRP razor and my SR-241 Badger brush...$250 in equipment right there. Or, I may use my Omega Boar brush and Williams shave soap with a Bic Metal, less than $16 there. I plan my shaves in advance most of the time.

Randy

Originally Posted by azjoe

Hope you have good success Nenad. FWIW I used bentonite clay (actually, based on info in this thread I pulverized some kitty litter in an old kitchen blender I had). Is "Melt & Pour" soap base readily available to you? It's common in the hobby/craft stores here... usually adjacent to the candle making supplies. I think I paid something like $7 for a 32-oz package. If you can't find the M&P olive oil base I'd try using plain Glycerin M&P base and add olive oil to it.

we'll see... I think I read somewhere the bentonite clay is not necessity, although is the clay of choice. I substituted with sicilian green clay (for face masks) and it works fine. Melt&Pour is not available to me (hell, nothig's available where I live, it's hell for DIY enthusiasts ) But I think I can score some in Greece. I will write with my results.

Nenad