Thread: Hello, my name is Marcos, and I own a straight razor.

Welcome aboard! Once you try one of the higher end soaps/creams, you'll be amazed by the amount and quality of lather you get. I'd suggest Proraso, or anything by Truefitt & Hill or St. Charles Shave.

Hi Marcos;
As a relative newbie myself, I say welcome. If your soap isn't doing as well as you'd like, try Van Der Hagen. I use it and like it. Granted it's the only one I've used but...for the money it's a good product and readily available. Rich.

^the above poster speaks the truth. You can purchase VdH at WalGreens, CVS, and even some Wal*Marts. And, it's less than $3 a puck, with a decent aroma and a pretty rich lather (again, ONLY one I've used, but it's done alright by me for 4 years now).

Marcos,

Welcome to SRP...You should find a wealth of information here to help you get back in the swing of things with respect to straight razor shaving.

As for shaving soaps...May I recommend Valobra soft shaving soap? It comes in two varieties--almond and menthol. It costs a bit more than Van Der Hagen, but I think you will be pleased with it.

Take care--and smooth shving.

I've read somewhere on here that you can put VdH in the microwave and add your fragrance of choice...so...I tried it...and it works...so, now I have my "daily" use of bay rum scented, I use my Clubman scented on Saturday and on Sunday is my Joop scented...you can just run the soap in a microwave for 10-20 seconds at a pop until it is liquified then add as much fragance as you want...let it solidify and presto, scented shaving soap...plus, you don't experience the maddening phenomenon of chasing the puck around in your cup/bowl/scuttle with your brush...it hardens and sticks to the sides and bottom...lathers up good too, although at my present location, we have crazy hard water so it takes a good bit more work to get the lather going...be warned though that Tabac doesn't melt in the microwave...I tried it and made a mess...all it does is bubble over the cup and immediately solidify, then you have some clean up to do and...to me it doesn't smell very good...but...if you like it, go for it...again, welcome aboard...I'll echo the post above...you'll find alot of real knowledgeable and friendly people on here who seem to be very willing to share their knowledge for free...a really good bunch of people...