NEW DE SHAVERS - What to buy to get started...

Wow. I'm not sure that I was ever into it for the cost. (may be if I stop buying now and live an other 20 yrs I'll break even). It's fun. It's fun to look for them, it's fun to try to buy them in the best condition at the best price, it's fun to use them and not cut yourself that 1st time. And it's fun to read the web sites.
It's learning a Skill that you can use 2X a day; 7 days a week; 365 days a year, and have immediate gratification doing it.
Johnus
 
If you have an ASDA near you they sell Groomed shaving products at around £1.50 for shaving cream, pre shave scrub and post shave balm. These are made by The real Shaving Co. They're good for starting out with.
 
Costs are everything!

For whatever reason one decides to switch from cartridge to DE shaving, upfront costs are important! On the "throw enough money at it, I'm bound to get a close shave eventually" principle, one simply needs to find a justification for 'enough money'. Because I'm worth it only got me so far - then came the calculations.

Given that we can't know how long we have left to DE shave, calculations are a bit open-ended - so I prefer to think about how much money I will save using DE blades over cartridges. I use all the money I will thus save to buy new razors, which always seem to come with 'free' blades. Free blades drive the savings up infinately - the more razors I buy, the more I save to spend on razors with free blades, ad infinitum.

Over my anticipated life time, I've saved so much already I bought a silver tip brush and a very shiny Jagger Chatsworth last week, unthinkably expensive when I started out two weeks ago. I'll admit, forgotten about cash-back from a credit card made those decisions a bunch easier. I've not saved enough for a Feather razor yet, but I might have by my birthday in July, who knows? I might even be able to use one by then!
 
Hi - thanks for this excellent post - it confirms my route as pretty typical:

"buy cheap DE razor from boots to see if I can still shave without maiming myself, following anti-capitalist rant in supermarket at cost of sensor cartidges"

"bore wife to death with potential savings following successful shave"

"discover new world of expensive manliness online"

"purchase EJ DE89 Razer, Man-U brush and RSC Shaving cream"

"embark on blade selection journey, as Derby blades drag a little too much"

:)
 
If you would like,I just so happen to be using both of these DE razors in my post if you would like I love to give them to you free of charge, but that would mean my post would end early ( shame about that, gutted ) I've got blades, Palmolive shaving cream wilkinson sword brush all completely free of charge how about it?..
 
John said:
If you would like,I just so happen to be using both of these DE razors in my post if you would like I love to give them to you free of charge, but that would mean my post would end early ( shame about that, gutted ) I've got blades, Palmolive shaving cream wilkinson sword brush all completely free of charge how about it?..

Hi John - many thanks for the offer - but I've been unclear in my posting ! I've got my 89L already, having tried out the Boots one pretty much along the same lines as your post - my thinking being "I'm not going to drop a minimum of 40 quid on gear to find I can't be doing with it".

Fortunately, the handle on the Boots razor didn't put me off too much, and the blade-so-exposed-its-practically-a-knife aspect of the head probably would have troubled me had I noticed before I started.

I had a Wilkinson Sword DE razor many years ago, and I do remember the handle, although plastic-coated, was a better weight than the empty plastic drinking straw on the Boots one. So right now I am loving a proper razor, and going through blade selection trial and error.

Thanks for your entertaining post !
 
monkfiish said:
John said:
If you would like,I just so happen to be using both of these DE razors in my post if you would like I love to give them to you free of charge, but that would mean my post would end early ( shame about that, gutted ) I've got blades, Palmolive shaving cream wilkinson sword brush all completely free of charge how about it?..

Hi John - many thanks for the offer - but I've been unclear in my posting ! I've got my 89L already, having tried out the Boots one pretty much along the same lines as your post - my thinking being "I'm not going to drop a minimum of 40 quid on gear to find I can't be doing with it".

Fortunately, the handle on the Boots razor didn't put me off too much, and the blade-so-exposed-its-practically-a-knife aspect of the head probably would have troubled me had I noticed before I started.

I had a Wilkinson Sword DE razor many years ago, and I do remember the handle, although plastic-coated, was a better weight than the empty plastic drinking straw on the Boots one. So right now I am loving a proper razor, and going through blade selection trial and error.

Thanks for your entertaining post !

Glad your moving up in the world,and thank you for looking at my posts it makes it worth while knowing people are reading them.
 
Little help on technique having been on cans for years, I have been lathering a squeeze of palmolive cream in a small bowl with good results. What's the best way of using a stick?. Rub the stick in the bowl, on the brush or face rub and lather. Don't fancy three face latherings for a 3 pass shave. Hints?
 
Thanks for the tips, will give both those methods a try this week (while waiting for the next blade sample pack and alum block to arrive-great fun this DE lark)
 
Back
Top Bottom