Disposable Straight Razors

I am, but I cut the shit out of my chin the other day so I've just been using the DE. Completely my fault, of course. I'm also not yet confident enough in my ability to quickly and consistently produce a result adequate for work, so this is just a weekend thing. Other than that cut, though, I'm pretty happy with the results.

Yep, I'm working through a 100-pack of Astras for the same reason. They aren't quite as great as Feathers, but for the money they're hard to beat.

I'm pretty sure I've seen a 100-pack of Feathers for like $35. Have you looked?

100 pack of the AC blades? I've seen 100 packs of the DE blades but that doesn't help me, I don't actually have a DE razor, other than my Dovo Shavette.

Thought I replied to this yesterday. Whoops.

No, you're right, I misread. I seem to be doing a fair bit of that lately.

So daemion was far too kind and included a few soaps with my shaving stand, one of which was a shaving soap. I realized I had never used an actual shaving soap before but I didn't think too much about it. I soaked my brush and then starter swirling around on the soap, after a few seconds I looked at it, didn't appear to be doing much so I wen back and swirled around some more, and more and more. It seemed to have a decent amount on the brush so I took it to my mug and tried to work it into a lather. I couldn't get a good lather from it, it was more like bubble bath foam. I figure I just didn't get enough soap on my brush even though I had ran it over the soap for a few minutes. Being accustomed creams that's never really been a problem, getting too much is more frequent than not enough. I had read that putting a very small amount of water on the soap for a few minutes to help soften it up can help. Any other suggestions for lathing a shaving soap?

This thread may help. Of course, there's also the possibility that he just doesn't make a very good shaving soap.

Yeah, my brush didn't look like that when I stopped with the soap and I couldn't get the lather past the first picture of the bowl and soap. I'll try following that next time (tomorrow morning if I have the time).

I'm only just seeing this. What kind of soap is it? They aren't all created equal.

For hard soaps like Trumpers, I usually put a thin layer of hot water on top of the soap when I soak my brush, and dump it out when I dump out the water in my shaving mug. I shake some of the water out of the brush, how much depends on the soap and takes practice. I swirl for quite a long time, probably longer than you're thinking, pressing my brush into it and getting the sides covered as well. Sometimes there is excess water you can dump out again. After a minute or two of this, I face lather, again pressing in pretty good.

For soft soaps like Cella, I soak the brush, then I hold it above the sink til it stops dripping -- you want a fair bit of water for this. Lately I've shaken a little bit out, but not much. I swirl 50-60 times, not pressing in, dump out any excess water in the soap (you can do this earlier too if there's too much water still), and then another 50-60 times. Then I face lather, now pressing in on my face.

So I ordered a few items last weekend and I got them a couple of days ago. I got a DE razor, my first. It's a RazoRock razor and was only $20 and seems well worth it. I'd definitely recommend it for a new DE shaver. I also got some RazoRock cream soap as they call it. It's firmer than a cream but softer than a soap. I got the Fresco scent which is a very mild citrus scent and was only $6 for a 150g tub. I also got Speick aftershave balm which is quite thick, it's more of a hand cream consistency and has a scent similar to the aftershave lotion. Not sure how I feel about the balm yet. I put some on this morning and I can still feel it on my face. Though I think I put on a fair bit more than I should have.

I had my first DE shave this morning. For some reason I was a little nervous about it, more nervous than I was about my first straight shave. I used the RazoRock soap, which lathered up easily, it wasn't as thick and creamy a lather as I get with the Body Shop or TOBS creams but was still pretty good. I started my first pass going with the grain of my hair. This pas wasn't nearly as close as I get with my straight razor or my cartridge. I was starting to be a little disappointed. I followed it with an across the grain pass and this didn't reduce it much more than the first pass. I was nervous about the against the grain, particularly on my neck and chin but it turned out great. The shave was very comfortable more comfortable than my cartridge after the against the grain pass and about as close. My Feather razor gives a closer shave than either though. I was surprised at how easy the shave went, I was expecting I'd have much more difficulty than I did. It turned out to be more forgiving than I thought in the tight spots, much more forgiving than my straight.

My plan now is to use the DE razor when I'm away from home, traveling or at the gym.

So,

Those Wilkinson Sword 'best quality bristles' $8 brushes I see at the drugstore - legit?

Meaning what exactly? They're a cheap boar hair brush. If you're looking for a cheap shaving brush I'd recommend the Body Shop brush, $12 I believe.

The DE shaving thread on OO got me into using a DE razor. I went out and got the Merkur 34C and sample blades along with a boar brush (I cheaped out there but I figured I can always buy a better one once I get used to it) and some Tabac soap. Only tried the Merkur blade that came with the razor and it did a decent job but I'm still learning. It feels a bit dull after three uses though. I'm going to try one of the others and see if it lasts a bit longer. If I can get 6 shaves out of it then that would probably last me 2 weeks which means only 2 blades per month. It's certainly a fun way to shave!

How long a blade lasts depends on many factors. The brand, your beard thickness, heaviness and coarseness, how many passes you do, etc. 3 is a bit on the low end but not that unusual. 3-5 shaves is probably a good estimate for most cases. There are also ways you can extend the life of the blades, like stropping them.

If you liked the Merkur blades try Derbys I find they're similar but the Derbys are cheaper.