Thread: What place to buy the xtras?

Hello all, I am a noob at SR Shaving. Just received my Dovo Best Quality razor last night and had my first shave with it this morning. i am happy to report that no blood was drawn in the least. Beats the meat cleaver shavette any day. however I do have some razor burn on the neck. Could be because of poor shave preparation or poor razor angle or both.

Anyway I am in the market for a quality soap and after shave balm. where do you purchase such items. I have never been one for after shave lotions etc. so dont know much about them. I am specifically looking for local stores that may carry such items stores like Macy's or Kohls or whatever, not internet purchases.
I do see a love affair starting with SR shaving. Is there a need for a second razor? Regardless of a need, I forsee a future purchase of several. just to experience different razors and to home in on a favorite.

I'm sure you will receive many good recommendations, but here are mine that should be relatively easily available:
1. Shaving cream: C.O. Bigelow (relabelled Proraso) available at Bath & Body Works
2. Aftershave Balm: the ASB's from Body Shop work very well for me ( I have used the Maca Root only)
You can probably hit both shops in the same mall.

Good luck!

Welcome to SRP CBrown,

I noticed you are in NJ so if you are ever up in NYC you can check out Pasteur Drug Store either on 34th St. Between Park & Mad or the 62nd Street on Lexington location.

I just came back from there and got a puck of Mitchell's Wool Fat Shaving Soap and some Proraso White AS Balm. They have an excellent variety of creams, soaps and everything in between. They also have some brushes and some SR.

Definitely felt like a kid inside a candy store.

If you have an India Store around, you may want to stop in to see what soaps and shave supplies(alum, etc) that they may stick. A lot of Indian products are quite good and reasonably priced.

Last time I was in lord and Taylor at the garden state mall there was a bunch of nice stuff.

Art of shaving has good creams/soaps/aftershaves

Pretty much any store with toiletries in the mall seems to have some men's shaving stuff Crabtree, Kiel's, etc.

Even drugstores have some good aftershave. I like Nivea lotion, and the balm is good too.

Michael

Be wary of the love my friend. She's a pricey broad who cuts you when not looking...and yes you will buy more of everything online. Accept and love it-it's the way to shave/be.

Thanks for the reply Shooter,
My current rig was bought from Straight Razor Designs. The Razor and Strop pack. I upgraded the strop to a 3". the bowl, brush and soap are from Amazon in a one package deal. It is not a question of limiting myself. i like to do a true window shop. If nothing else feel and see the container and hopefully get a sniff of the contents and maybe, maybe, maybe, talk with a knowledgeable sales person. There are many helpful, knowledgeable, people here, but how do you truly describe a lather, oder, and smooth shave especially to someone new? My wife did pick up a tube of Proraso from Bath and Body Works at Matts suggestion. (Thanks Matt it lathers nicely) So limiting myself? not really. Just want more options other than the net. which seems to be the only place for a variety of "extras" Anyway thanks for answering my post. This is a great forum and I will be in touch if it is needed.

Originally Posted by Ochavez

Welcome to SRP CBrown,

I noticed you are in NJ so if you are ever up in NYC you can check out Pasteur Drug Store either on 34th St. Between Park & Mad or the 62nd Street on Lexington location.

I just came back from there and got a puck of Mitchell's Wool Fat Shaving Soap and some Proraso White AS Balm. They have an excellent variety of creams, soaps and everything in between. They also have some brushes and some SR.

Definitely felt like a kid inside a candy store.

Ochavez, thankyou for the heads up. My wife travels there pretty often and knows the city fairly well. I will definately go with her next time and check it out. Maybe a " honey want to go into the city today for lunch today?

for my extras I've mostly used amazon. Proraso, Taylor of Old Bond Street (TOBS) work well (especially TOBS) in my (hard) water. The VDH soap I scored at Wally World - not as well. You can pick up a tweezerman brush for $10. Pinaud Clubman is great classic aftershave (provided you are ok with that "old man" scent), I got my bottle of it for $8 at CVS pharmacy - appears to be enough to last many months.

Thanks for the info Griff199, I will check it out. After reading again the articles on stropping I found that my razor burn was due to improper stropping. Did not strop enough and did not use the linen first. So I stropped 25 times on the linen and 50 to 60 on the leather and what a difference it made in the shave. Lessons learned the hard way. Guess the school of hard knocks will always be my classroom.