Thread: Hello from Valencia, ca

I am compleatly new to straight razors, I have always used my Mach 3 until the other day I walked into a the art of shaving store. The idea of getting a super close shave that seemed like a nice "manly" ritual appealed to me, so herer I am I have been lurking on this forum for a week now. I am looking at eBay for a used razor but I am also open to buying one on the classified section here

Valencia My old Stomping grounds! Welcome and enjoy the journey..

Welcome to SRP!
My suggestion would be to start with the classifieds here, that way you can get a truely shave ready razor to learn with rather than a questionable bit of metal from e-bay. Lots of the people here restore e-bay razors, I've not seen many of them suggest shaving with one when you get it.

Welcome to SRP. +1 on going with the classifieds for a razor over the bay. You may also want to check out the different vendors here too. We recommend staying away from ebay razors until you gain some knowledge of what to look for before bidding and winning a useless blade. The Library/wiki has a section that list razor brands to avoid, so you may want to check that out as well. Basically, do a little research and you'll end up saving money and frustration in the end. Post any questions you have and enjoy.

Why not join the Southern California community?

I just bought a dovo best quality 6/8 from straight edge designs, I went to my barber about a strop and he gave me free of charge an Illinois strop no. 361 and said welcome to shaving like a man haha. I have a brush from art of shaving I bought 4 years ago dors not lather up the soap like I would want it to, any ideas?

Lebois I joined the SoCal group thanks for the heads up

Originally Posted by arch

. . I am looking at eBay for a used razor but I am also open to buying one on the classified section here

Avoid eBay for your first razor.

If you want an inexpensive razor, I suggest either:

. . . the Classifieds on this website, or

. . . Larry at WhippedDog.com

With either of those sources, you'll know that you have a properly-honed ("shave-ready") edge when the razor arrives in the mail.

And you'll need a strop.

I would guess that any Art of Shaving brush is capable of producing good lather, given decent soap and the right amount of water. So the questions I'll ask are:

1. What kind of soap are you using? How hot is the water? How hard is the water?

2. Are you building the lather in a separate bowl, or on top of the soap?

3. What, exactly, is wrong with your lather?

4. Have you tried "uberlather" -- a mixture of lather with a bit of glycerin? If you don't have glycerin, "Astroglide" will work.

Charles