Greetings From Long island, NY ~ New Member

Just wanted to be proper and introduce myself. I just signed on last night. I have been shaving with a shavette for some 25years with edge gel out of a can. All along I thought I was using a straight razor. I must say every shave was an adventure. I used to shave my head with it as well, glad I grew out of that habit! Just recently I acquired a new job that requires me to shave daily which is something I kind of got away from due to sensitive skin and rashes I would get after a shave. I have been using clippers and a Wahl 4000 for my shaves and doing touch ups with the shavette but not shaving daily. Once a month I would treat myself to the barber's chair for a nice shave and always wondered why I didn't get razor burn when I went there. Hmmm... aftershave? Never used it, ever! Amazing stuff!!! I learned a lot from reading these forums. A shave at the barber's shop now runs aprox $30 plus a tip! I finally reached out to Larry at whipped dog razors and purchased a site unseen razor for almost the same cost. Well I'm happy to say I am enjoying my Union Razor Cutlery Company straight razor. It is a very pleasant shave. I am venturing into different soaps and brushes and have been browsing for a nice scuttle. I am enjoying my new found pleasure of wet shaving and am thankful for all of the posts you guys have put on these sites to help me along.
I had read a few conflicting stories about Union Razor Cutlery Company and am definitely interested in the history behind the company but there is not much on line to find. That is how I found this site actually.
Well that's about all my rambling for now. I have plenty of questions but so far I have been able to answer most of them on this forum. Im sure I will be back ask questions tho but if anyone has any info on Union Razor Cutlery Co. that they would like to share, I will be happy to read it.
I was also thinking of purchasing "Baume BE" soap and "Smolder" from Grim Blades to try out. Any opinions on either of these. I am using Van Der Hagen soap now not to crazy about it.
Thanks for reading my intro and for having me on this site!
The Big Guy

Hi and welcome aboard. The Buame.be soap is great. Big tub and a nice scent which produces a top notch lather. Maybe check out Obie's top tier soaps and creams thread. Plenty of good information. Good luck with your shaves and any questions feel free to ask

Welcome to SRP, sounds like your having fun with the straight.
Baum Be is a very nice soap from what I've been told, very slick. VDH is a great performer, for the money.
The list could go forever, it'll ultimately depend on your own personal wants from a soap or cream.

Welcome to SRP. Glad you are finally enjoying shaving. Keep looking around and asking questions. Good luck.

Hello and welcome, you will find that getting rid of the gunk in a can will help and a straight razor is more forgiving than a shavette.

As your skill improves so will your shaves.

Good luck with your journey and enjoy.

Welcome to SRP!
A lot of great folks and info here, enjoy and have fun

Good Morning Gentleman
Thank you all for responding. I did get rid of can gel and already feel the difference. I will be giving the Baume BE a shot with all of the rave reviews I've heard.
Learned something new this morning... I will be removing my razor from the bathroom to a dryer storage area. Never even crossed my mind. I do dry it well and coat the blade after use but never thought of the humidity. That will be today's project being we are getting snowed in right now!

Just a tip, be careful oiling your blade too soon, if there's any moisture it traps it under the oil and does it's evil magic. After drying your blade leave it out in he open position for a few hours, this ensures it's now dry. I don't even oil mine. Only when going up for extended periods of time. Try that before your oiling and good idea to keep out of the bathroom. Tc

yes, thank you. I have been doing just that.

Hello and welcome to SRP!
Choosing your soap is a very personal thing. What works for you performance and scent wise may not be the next guy's cup of tea. You just have to experiment and find what works for you.
I was at the meet up at Straight Razor Designs in November. They have BaumBe in stock and speak very highly of it. Do check out Obie's top tier list. Remember that some soaps will seem very expensive but as a rule you get what you pay for. For example, I use Martin de Candre soap. Pretty expensive at around fifty dollars a jar. However it is one of the best soaps out there and a jar will last about a year.
Good luck on your shaving journey!
Ask questions and have fun!

Pete <:-}

Welcome to the forum. :)

Welcome to the forum. I sure hope you survived the thundersnow blizzard we've been hearing about; how ironic that you got a tease of spring weather the day before.

As for your soaps, I have not tried them myself. Baume.be seems to be a winner based on Obie's Top Tier soaps/creams thread, but as with anything personal, the scents can make or break one for you. Good thing Baume.be is affordably priced so you can experiment with that one and see if it suits you. As for Grim Blades, that brand is unfamiliar to me. Good luck!

Hello,
25 years of shavette! It's a kind of world record. You are like a kid getting his first bicycle after years of tricycle. More sensations, more fun, a totally new expérience. So, welcome in this new world.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by YoWan

Hello,
25 years of shavette! It's a kind of world record. You are like a kid getting his first bicycle after years of tricycle. More sensations, more fun, a totally new expérience. So, welcome in this new world.

---

YES! hahaha... now if I could just get rid of this 8 track cassette player I hear they are making records now!
But I am enjoying my new shave thanks.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Speedster

Welcome to the forum. I sure hope you survived the thundersnow blizzard we've been hearing about; how ironic that you got a tease of spring weather the day before.

As for your soaps, I have not tried them myself. Baume.be seems to be a winner based on Obie's Top Tier soaps/creams thread, but as with anything personal, the scents can make or break one for you. Good thing Baume.be is affordably priced so you can experiment with that one and see if it suits you. As for Grim Blades, that brand is unfamiliar to me. Good luck!

---

Baume Be will be my next soap. I did order the Grim Blades Smolder yesterday during the storm. I will post after I use it. I dont have much to compare it to I have only used Van Der Hagen and am not to thrilled with it.
Heading out to do some more snow shoveling!

Wait.!!! Don't go shoveling snow. Its supposed to be close to 60° tomorrow. [emoji38]

From what I've read here, DD, almost any soap except for Williams will be a step up from Van der Hagen. So you most likely have nowhere to go but up from where you are at now. ;)

Don't work your back too hard shoveling! Depending on the size of your drive/walk, you may easily wind up shoveling more than a ton of the white stuff! C'mon spring. :)

Forgot to mention that Castle Forbes shave cream is one of THE top performers, especially for glide, closeness of shave, and skin treatment. I saw an Amazon seller today pricing it at $31 with free shipping (and this isn't a Amazon Prime deal either). I've tried the Lime version and love it! They also have Lavender and Cedarwood/Sandalwood scents. Their after-shave balm is excellent stuff, too.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Speedster

Forgot to mention that Castle Forbes shave cream is one of THE top performers, especially for glide, closeness of shave, and skin treatment. I saw an Amazon seller today pricing it at $31 with free shipping (and this isn't a Amazon Prime deal either). I've tried the Lime version and love it! They also have Lavender and Cedarwood/Sandalwood scents. Their after-shave balm is excellent stuff, too.

---

Thank You Mark. I just wrote it down on my "wish list" as I call it. The Smolder should be here today, I hope. Looking forward to it.

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

Quote:

---

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.
Attachment 256841

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.
Attachment 257085

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. :shrug:

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

Quote:

---

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.

ok so in post #23 I said I had the best shave ever... well I stand corrected! I recently purchased a Dovo Bergisher Lowe from one of the gentlemen on this site and the razor was so beautiful that I have been looking at it for the last 4 days and not shaving with it. Well I just finished shaving with the Dovo BL and the Baume be shaving cream... absolutely amazing shave!!! The Best Shave I ever had! I want to go back in and shave again right now! I really enjoy my Union Razor but this Dovo is the Cadillac DeVille of razors. Well worth the investment.

Pics..!!!
Where's the pics. [emoji33]

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by outback

Pics..!!!
Where's the pics. [emoji33]

---

ok I just seen your post and took these pics! hold please...

Here is the Union Razor Cutlery Co straight with a boars hair brush, smolder shaving soap, Axe Apollo Body Wash, Coty Musk after shave, Coty Musk Cologne. Attachment 258202

Here is the Dovo Bergisher Lowe straight, Baume be shaving cream, boars hair brush, Axe "Excite" Body Wash, Axe "Excite" After Shave, Axe "Excite" Cologne.
Attachment 258203

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DupreesDiamond

Here is the Union Razor Cutlery Co straight with a boars hair brush, smolder shaving soap, Axe Apollo Body Wash, Coty Musk after shave, Coty Musk Cologne. Attachment 258202

---

Very nice, never seen a Dovo like that.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by outback

Very nice, never seen a Dovo like that.

---

ummm... the other one is the Dovo...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DupreesDiamond

ummm... the other one is the Dovo...

---

I know, I was meaning both razors

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by outback

I know, I was meaning both razors

---

all in good fun Mike. Yes, the Dovo is quite a site but the shave... amazing.