Thread: Hello from Adelaide, Australia

Hi there, looking to get into straight razoring and seeing a bunch of like minded people decided to join this forum.

Im looking at getting a 5/8 Doro razor, a strop and a brush.

Now where my main question lies is with shaving creams. There are that many I have looked up and seen some mind boggling amounts, I just have no idea on where to start with a good, budget friendly lather for my baby steps into straight razoring.

I offer warm hello's and eagerness to learn the way of the straight razor.

Hello and welcome,
I just wrote a post about this under soaps/creams but I really like the Taylor of Old Bond Street cream that I just bought. They have several scents, my cream is Avocado. I really like it and it lathers like a champ. They aren't to expensive for a descent amount and a higher quality product. You'll use very little. I would say 1 tub will last months possibly close to year. In general I have really liked AoS sandlewood. But I'm trying to venture out.

G'day Parkway91, welcome to the forum. A 5/8 Dovo is a good size and razor to start with. With regards to shave cream, yes you have heaps of choices out there, as well as price points. Price does not have to mean better in this case either. You'll get a heap of recommendations as to what to try, and I'll offer a few suggestions of my own.

For a low to medium budget you have Fauldings Shave cream, Palmolive shave cream and Gaia for Men shave cream in tubes and usually available from the supermarket. I would go with Gaia for Men out of those. It's the pick of them, but the other two are just fine for the few bucks you pay.

Moving up in the world Crabtree and Evenlyn produce some nice shave creams and soaps. I like the Sandelwood, but I also like the Nomad and Sienna in that order as well.
Mama Bears also have a great range of must trys in soaps.

For some luxury in shave creams, and at about $60 a 50 oz tube, Penhaligons have some of the nicest shave creams I've tried.

Hope that gives you a starting point anyway mate.


Mick

Thanks guys, does getting it in a tube or a pot have any positives or negatives??

Any help with strops and brushes would be great too.

Would like to order from Australian sites to cut down on shipping and shipping time, so any recommendations on sites to order from would be great, been looking at mensbiz.com.au

Cheers

Parkway91 have a look in the Down under forum. We have a thread on Aussie and Kiwi places to buy from. Himage.com and Shaveshack.com are other online sources as well.

Strops are a bit limited here, but for something out of the norm from other places Shaveshack might be the best bet.

What sort of brush are you looking at? Boar or Badger. Or possibly a synthetic. Semogue put out a range of Boar and a couple of badger brushes, and Simpson bring out a great range of Badger. Vulfix have a range of brushes as well and they carry a synthetic in their lineup.


Mick

I would most likely be looking at badger, just because I've heard its superior to buffalo and synthetic. But I am open to advice on any type of brush, looking for a good start off to straight razoring and if the gear I get outright lasts me a long time, if not a life time, fantastic.

Thanks for the awesome help thus far

G'day from Melbourne. Plenty of good sources for shaving cream in Australia. Shaving Shack is good as is Mensbiz. I can highly recommend both. Wherever you source the Dovo from, just make sure it comes shave ready as the factory edge is not.

Originally Posted by Parkway91

I would most likely be looking at badger, just because I've heard its superior to buffalo and synthetic. But I am open to advice on any type of brush, looking for a good start off to straight razoring and if the gear I get outright lasts me a long time, if not a life time, fantastic.

Thanks for the awesome help thus far

Boar is stiffer, but breaks in a bit and softens a little as it does. Badger is softer from the outset and doesn't change drastically throughout it's use. A low end brush will either be too limp and or shed hair. Neither are good things. Avoid Cyril R Salter brand brushes and those found in the supermarket for a start. A good brush should be nice and thickly packed. Loft will add to how stiff or soft the bristles feel. A short loft is stiffer. A higher loft is softer and it all depends on personal preference. Semogue and Simpson are both good brands and there are others as well, bt those two seem readily available within Australia.


Mick

Welcome to the Place .
You could try Cella as well. It is a soft soap rather than a cream but it is cheap & cheerful & works well. Omega is another good brush brand but whatever you get it'll be pretty stinky at first. A couple of shampoos may be in order.

Hi Parkway91,

apart from the online sources already mentioned above, there are also some other options.
As you are in Adelaide, the Shavershop has a store in the Rundle Mall archade. While generally they have some good stock I have found that some items are on the pricey side, their small selection of soaps and creams are reasonably priced. They have a small collection of brushes as well and are willing to let you look at them to help you get an idea on what grade of badger you might like. (NB, not all brands of badger hair are the same in quality across the board in each bracket. Check out the wiki page to look into the different types of badger e.g. pure, super and silvertip)

In the same arcade, crabtree and evelyn also have a shop with shaving soaps/creams available and also some brushes hidden in the back corner. Don't know about their brushes but I really wanna try their Nomad soap!

Another place you can pick up a few things is a little barbers shop just down from the Belgium Beer Cafe (I know, preferences right :P), he has some DE blades and also some Wahl shaving cream. I haven't tried this one yet but if you do a search (top right hand corner) you should be able to find some that info on it here. I know I have seen someone who has used it here...

There are some other barbers kicking around the place that have some things as well, just a matter of looking around.

A place to get you started with an inexpensive, no frills strop (while not Australian), is a place called whipped dog. I cant really comment about the other items he stocks as I have had no experience with them but I did get my strop from here and have found it to be quite beginner friendly but YMMV. If you are looking to only buy one that will last you a while, there are many many more options as with everything to do with wet shaving that you can consider. Just have a look around and find what fits both your expectations and your pocket.



Nick.