Thread: 5 years of Straight shaving favorites!

For sure I remember my first shave the way my grand grandfather shaved. That special feeling of mastering a very sharp knife cutting hairs in your one and only face is one to remember. My mother remember dates like a computer, I don`t. But I have a feeling it is around five years since my first straight razor shave these days, and I wanted to share some favorites with you.

We all know how men are when they discover a new hobby and everything is new and all should have been tested yesterday. I was hit quite hard by the straight shaving experience. I bought brushes, razors, scuttles, soaps, creams, aftershave balms, strops, stones, diamond pastes, DE razors, DE blades and so on. I spent thousends of dollars over the years, and I think I have tried a lot of the finest available.

The question I ask myself now and then is what do you choose if you had to shave with one knife, one brush, one cream and so on for the rest of your straight shaving days? This is not an easy desicion as you probably know. How can I choose Phenhaligons Blenheim Boquet over Dr. Harris Arlington. Can I leave my custom made two band Shavemac behind? Can a low dollar Proraso be more valuable to me than the $$$$ pre shave produc? Will I actually leave my custom made straight razor behind for a rather mass produced razor?

Well, lot of questions, and here are my honest answers. If I should pick one favorite pre shave product it has to be the Proroaso green. I don`t actually care if my beard get`s any softer with this stuff, I just know I love the freezing feeling my skin get in the morning when I apply the Proraso green. It wakes you up in a black cup of coffe way for sure.

I literally cry if I think to hard on how much money I have spent on shaving brushes. The cruel thing is that my very first brush, a Simpson Tulip 3 in Super Badger is my all time favorite, and I would use it every day of my life with a huge smile on my face. The Tulip is like Pink Floyd`s Dark Side of The Moon. I have had that record for a generation, I play it every week, and it still give me the ultimate pleasure. This brush is fantastic, it just makes the finest lather I have experienced in a few seconds, and makes love to my skin every time we touch. No doubt, this is the brush for me. Yes I have tried almost all of the finest brushes out there including other Simpsons, Shavemac`s, Thater`s, Rooney`s, Plisson`s and others.

Trying different soaps and creams are one of the finest pleasures in life. Buying a natural product made by hand with love is a feeling every man should give himself. My all time favorite could have been the G. F. Trumpers GFT, probably the best smelling shaving soap/cream I have tried. It could have been the Fitjarsoap Folgefonn cream. My favorite cooling shaving cream out there. Using this fantastic cream after the Proraso green really kick your eyes wide open. The smooth shave and fresh skin is a lovely bonus for sure.
It could have been Penhaligons fantastic Blenheim Bouquet, but it is not.

My all time favorite shaving soap or cream is the Castle Forbes Lime. Just a fantastic product, try it if you don`t belive me. We use the word amazing on everything these days. Amazing should describe something in it`s own class, something beeing over the others. This shaving cream is just that for me.

My straight razor on a desert island is my Thiers-Issard in the picture. It is not perfectly made, but that is almost like a little bonus for me in a hand made product. Most importantly this 7/8 razor blade is so incredibly sharp, smooth and easy to hone. Every shave with my Rams horn baby is a pleasure up there and can be compared with drinking a 40 year old Krug champagne, smoking a classic Cuban cigar or just doing what you love most in life. I must admit that I have not shaved with a Tim Zowada or Mastro Livi custom razor yet. Perhaps those are at an even higher level of shaving heaven, you are lucky if you know!

So after such a wonderful shave, what could bring the experience to an even higher level of pleasure? The aftershave cream of course. This was the easy one. Of everything I have tried, one aftershave cream stand out in it`s own league. The Fitjarsoap Neroli Aftershave cream. Made by Jorunn at Fitjarsoap with love and care in every single drop of cream. The Neroli scent is so incredibly good you have to experience it to belive it. I understand why this scent was reserved for kings and queens back in time. Just like the Tokay Esencia wine was as well. Incredibly rare and expencive both of them, and you will understand why when you smell and try:-)

This was a few personal thoughts at my 5 year straight shave birthday, who knows what I would write in another five years? That is the best part of it all, living is trying and enjoying new fantastic hand made products!

Thanks for a very interesting post. I like the honesty.

Great post. Love the honest opinion!

Gotta say thank you for being a man and still express yourself in an open and honest fashion.

An interesting read, thank you. Does this mean your journey if acquisitions is over? Just out of interest, have you kept all of your purchases, or do you keep a rolling inventory of just your favourite few of each item?

Originally Posted by edhewitt

An interesting read, thank you. Does this mean your journey if acquisitions is over? Just out of interest, have you kept all of your purchases, or do you keep a rolling inventory of just your favourite few of each item?

I still try new things, and probably always will. The products I wrote about are my favorites so far, but I use different soaps, creams, aftershaves evey day. But I feel uncomfortable if I see some favorites are almost empty, just like a smoker with one cigarette left, lol!