Thread: Greetings From Long island, NY ~ New Member

Originally Posted by tcrideshd

There won't be any comparison between the smolder and Castle Forbes, most artisanal soaps are lacking, some are good but never in the range of the established company's who have been doing this for ages.

Now having said that, my friend Bobh, believes and i do too. Most any shave soap will give a good shave if you do your job producing the lather, but after skin care is going to be in the better soaps. And scent has a great deal to do with you liking it or not. Know a couple guys who didn't care that t left their skin dry and didn't Glide worth a darn, as long as they liked the smell.

Best Buy for the money is a dozen tubes of Arko, less than a dollar bought in bulk and it is one of the better performing soaps but to me it smells like a urinal cake. So try a few, don't be swayed by a cool name but try the established soaps for your own benefit, from MDC to Arko. Tc

Damn good advise, Tc

Greetings All
I tried out the shaving soap "Smolder: by The Blades Grim. It was definitely an improvement from the Van Der Hagen! I like the tin it came in, I enjoyed the smell very much, it smelled to me like a deep rich vanilla and a pleasant BBQ smoke mixed together. That is the best way I can describe it. It lathered up very nicely and it gave me a gliding feel while I shaved. Again I don't have much to compare it to as I am new to using soaps and have only used the Van Der Hagen. I did order the Baume be. today and look forward to comparing that to the Smolder.

Greetings Again All
I just finished shaving with "Baume be" for the first time. As I said I would write my feelings on this product once I tried it. Well the Van Der Hagen just went right into the trash can!!! I must say I just had the best shave I have had yet! I can not fathom that there is a better shave soap out there but according to many, Castle Forbes is a must try? I will give it a shot but for right now I am more then happy with Baume be and very pleased with the Smolder. I will say I like the Baume Be the best so far and again I have only now tried 3 different soaps.

The performance of CF is top-tier like Baume.be, so feel free to hold off (if you can) on the purchase until you've used up a bit of what you already have. Presently, I'm switching back and forth between Xpec and CF Lime. Both creams give me an excellent base for a close shave, and the most noticeable difference is simply the scent.

I'm hesitant to try out MdC because I'm not too intrigued by their scent descriptions. Maybe I will look into getting samples some day.

Thanks Speedster. I will hold off for now. I want to enjoy the 2 soaps I have for a while before venturing on to the next.

You are most welcome, DD. It's always satisfying helping other guys ditch the disposables and jump into a real man's sport.

Wise to hold off on further SAD. There are so many other goodies to add to your wish-list. For instance, you'll likely want another razor. Or, you will find yourself looking at another strop...or, gasp, hones!

Oh, I just thought of something. Once you get good enough shaving with your dominant hand, try working in the other hand as well in areas where it's easier that way. You may appreciate the ambidexterity in the long run so you don't have to contort yourself into great shave.

So I noticed during my last shave that my new Union Razor Cutlery Co seemed to be pulling a bit instead of cutting right threw. I kind of had an idea why, being I had not stropped the razor since receiving it as shave ready. So I stropped for the first time tonight (never had to do that with a shavette) I think I did exceptionally well for the first time and the proof was in the shave (and no cuts on the strop). Not only was my new cream part of the experience but my stropping and having a great shave just fueled this new addiction.
So I got a little careless around the mustache and GOTCHA! Well I just had to smile because that was an every shave ordeal with the shavette just a matter of when GOTCHA! was going to happen.
A Story to share: Now I had to laugh cause once a month I would treat myself to the barbers chair for a shave and I always told the barber, if he cut me, "You get 2 cuts! any more then that, I cut you!" and if he happen to cut me a second time I would unsheathe my knife and lay my hand on top of the barber sheet in my lap where he could see what I was holding. Rest a sure I never had to cut a barber nor did I get cut a third time! Well would you know... GOTCHA! A second time tonight! Which made me think of this story to share with you. You know that I looked myself in the mirror and said "Don't make me cut you!!!" HAhaha... well there was no third cut on the evening. Well thanks for reading my story. Have a good weekend all.

Shavettes scare me big time. I would prefer to do something death-defying rather than shave or be shaved by one. They make NO sense to me.

Funny story, brother. I get most nervous shaving the area under my nose, either XTG or ATG. I hope that I can perform those moves in a few years without sweat pouring down my back. LOL

Originally Posted by Speedster

You are most welcome, DD. It's always satisfying helping other guys ditch the disposables and jump into a real man's sport.

Wise to hold off on further SAD. There are so many other goodies to add to your wish-list. For instance, you'll likely want another razor. Or, you will find yourself looking at another strop...or, gasp, hones!

Oh, I just thought of something. Once you get good enough shaving with your dominant hand, try working in the other hand as well in areas where it's easier that way. You may appreciate the ambidexterity in the long run so you don't have to contort yourself into great shave.

now you have me laughing because I almost bought another razor tonight! Thankfully it was out of my budget. I do already shave with both hands like I said in earlier post I was using a shavette for 25 years. I sure do appreciate the comfort of an actual straight razor now. And yes I have been looking at different strops and hones and getting new ideas. Just what I didn't need... another obsession.

Right, I forgot the shavette fact. I can't believe they've had those torture devices around for more than 25 years, yet folks find us nutty for using bona-fide straight razors. I'm sure there's no comparison in terms of a comfortable shave.