My first shaving equip :P

Sup there mates; just wanted to share with you the first shaving stuff I got... Maybe not the best but it helped me to get the hang of it :)


*Zwilling J. A. Henckels 5/8 Friodur Straight Razor
(my father went to Germany last year and bought it with the idea that straight razor shaving would be a simple task... He only tried once; 3 months ago I asked if he would lend it to me and said "If you're gonna use it, its yours" made me the happiest man alive)
*Strop
(this one required a pretty long process of breaking in, it used to be extremely rough, I used some pumice stone, 100 and 320 sandpaper, plus some DOVO yellow paste for the leather side and white paste for the linen side)
*Naniwa 12k
(Can you manage to get a bevel with this hone? Yes, but it takes A LOT of time... I had to check with a microscope to make sure that I managed to get to the edge; damn, I need another hone before my razor needs to be honed again)
*Maca Root Shave Cream
(Excellent performance for my first wet shaving experience, I was looking for a Crabtree store, but the only place where I managed to get anything related to wet shaving, was TBS)
*Maca Root After Shave
(An abysmal difference between this one and the Gillete aftershave... nice improvement IMO)
*Synthetic Shaving Brush
(The only decent thing I came across in my odyssey to find wet shaving stuff, did the job for me in my first shaves, from TBS too; I made the stand from a clothing hanger)
*Coffee Cup!
(Though it would be nice to have a nice cup of strong coffee just before a shave I use this provisional item to build up lather, until I can manage to get my hands on an actual mug)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3503/...2875a6c5_b.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2657/...148a2a3783.jpghttp://farm4.static.flickr.com/3515/...bc06dce7ff.jpg

You have some good stuff there. That brand of razor is well liked by many people here. The Body Shop shave cream is fantastic stuff. I still use it. The Naniwa 12k is more for keeping a razor shave ready rather than making it shave ready. But if you are able to shave with that razor the Naniwa 12k will do a fantastic job. I've never tried a synthetic brush, but I've heard they are a good place to start.
If you want to upgrade any of your gear I would suggest you look in the classifieds here. You can find almost anything you need and plenty of stuff you didn't know you needed.
You are well on your way to having a plethora of shaving gear.

Looks like you're off to a killer start! Good stuff all around, man!

Oh yeah, thats the stuff I've been using for the past 3 months. On sunday I went to the only Crabtree & Evelyn I know about in Mexico, and got me some really nice stuff :) but that's gonna be another post when I have some more time. I'll be checking to see what else I am missing...

Thanks, it has taken me quite some time to get all these stuff; but I guess thats the beauty of it... Plus, I seem to have a pretty steady hand when it comes to fine movements :D


Edit: LMAO thinking about my steady hands when it comes to Origami and my practice surgery on rabbits made me a bit overconfident; today I kinda cut myself just under my nose...

I used to have one of those razors, back in the days when I was trying to get a collection like Lynn. It was one of the best ones I had the pleasure to own, and definitely one that I regret selling.

Good luck with your learning journey, it'll be worth it in the end!

All your equipment looks nice. I'm another newbie as well and was wondering if you could show some more pics of that brush stand. I would like to try and make one as well.
Thanks.