Ask Aaron Q/A: Can you recommend me a decent razor, shave cream & badger shaving brush?
Philip Morgan, from the UK, asks:
“I am thinking of starting to use a DE razor after a lifetime of overpriced Gillettes and not very good Azors. However, I am utterly bewildered by the choices on offer, from pre-shaves to post-shave products, especially brushes, razors, and blades. Re the razor I would like one razor, instead of several different razors for different levels of “aggression”. I have a beard that is quite tough in places, and currently have to shave against the grain to get a decent result - shaving with the grain leaves my face only half shaved. Any advice you can give me across the whole board of shaving products would be greatly appreciated.”
AARON SAYS
“Mr. Morgan,
Thank you very much for your question! As wet shaving becomes ever more popular the number of choices and options grows exponentially! Confusion is easy, and I hope to help with that. Regarding your razor choice, I highly suggest going with the Merkur Progress. It is one of the most popular adjustable razors on the market right now, and is well loved by anyone that I’ve talked to that has used it. Another thing that will greatly affect this end of your shave is the blade. Buying a blade sampler is a very good way to find out which blade works best for your skin and hair type.
Regarding a brush go with a badger hair brush around 20mm in diameter. This will give you the all around best general application brush that you can use for now, and you can choose the grade of hair (Pure, Best, Finest, Silver tip) that suits your budget.
Any of the other products are really kind of up to you. Many of the top brands have complete lines of products that go from pre-shave to post-shave with everything in between. My suggestion is to go with a well known brand such as Bluebeard’s Revenge, Art of Shaving, Geo. F. Trumper’s, Taylor of Old Bond Street, Truefitt & Hill, Proraso, Speick or another of many numerous others and pick the scent that you like the best. This will give you great products to use and in a scent that you will enjoy!
Smooth Shaving!
Aaron ”
Do you have any burning questions you would like ask our wet shaving expert Aaron Wolfenbarger? CLICK HERE TO ASK AARON YOUR QUESTION
Ask Aaron Q&A: Turning razor blades around at periodic intervals
Gary Whittles, from the UK, asks:
“I enjoy double edge razor shaving, preferring the Israeli blades to the Derby blades. However, I have noticed that the Derby blades have numbers 1 and 2 o one side with 3 and 4 on the other. What is the significance of these numbers and should I be turning my blades around at periodic intervals.”
AARON SAYS
“Mr. Whittles,
I too have seen those numbers and wondered what they were there for. After doing some reading and exploring I eventually found that they have only to do with the manufacturing side of the process. Turning or flipping your blade does not increase it’s lifespan (although some will swear it does) or maintain its sharpness. Thanks very much for your question!
Smooth shaving!
Aaron”
Do you have any burning questions you would like ask our wet shaving expert Aaron Wolfenbarger? CLICK HERE TO ASK AARON YOUR QUESTION
Guest post by Straight Razor Place founder Lynn Abrams
We recently sent a tub of The Bluebeards Revenge shaving cream to William Ewin, or Jockeys41 as he is also known, so he could test it with a cutthroat or straight razor.
Jockeys41, who praised the cream very highly, posted a link to his YouTube review on the very impressive wet shaving forum, The Straight Razor Place (www.straightrazorplace.com).
This review was seen by the forum’s founder, Lynn Abrams, who then Tweeted us, asking for a sample of the cream so he could see first hand what all the fuss was about.
Here at the Shaving Shack, we are very keen to promote every method of traditional wet shaving and thought it would be an excellent idea to ask Lynn to submit a guest post on the growing popularity of The Straight Razor Place forum, and his love for the art of straight shaving.
Here goes:
“
Hello, my name is Lynn Abrams and I am the founder of The Straight Razor Place (SRP), the first and original straight razor forum on the internet. I would like to thank Mark for the opportunity to participate in his blog and share what has been an amazing 10 years in the development of wet shaving and straight razor shaving.
I started shaving with a straight razor in 1973 after my grandfather took me to a barber for a straight razor shave. The shave was so smooth and close that I didn’t have to shave for two days. I was so hooked that I purchased a straight razor within a week. It was a Cutlery World razor, probably made by Dovo and I still have it today. During this time, the only known places to purchase straight razors, brushes, strops or soaps was from either Cutlery stores or Knife shops. So for the next 25 years or so I shaved with that straight razor on and off, depending on whether I could get it sharpened properly. I was using a cheap shaving soap in a coffee mug and an old boar’s hair brush. I used to send the razor off to various cutlery shops for honing and about 50 percent of the time, the razor came back with an edge fit for shaving. During this time, I was also in business and like most people; I was absorbed in the day to day pace of a busy job and family. Shaving was a necessary evil and definitely looked at as a chore. I was out of the house after waking up in 30 minutes and on the road to a busy day of work.
It seems like yesterday, but in 1999, I began looking on the internet for information on how to hone/sharpen and maintain my straight razor. At this time, I was on a mission to back off of the hectic daily pace of life and enjoy my straight razor complete with a hot towel treatment whenever I could. All that I can tell you is that it was very frustrating to search the web every day only to find an occasional question and answer on a knife forum or to hit the mother lode at the time and find Arthur Boon’s article which contained some great information about straight razors, their use and care. There just was no place where you could discuss straight razors or wetshaving or ask questions to. Information was extremely limited.
So I had this idea. Yahoo had a function called groups and I figured that if I started a straight razor group, there would be a place to preserve knowledge about the art of straight razor shaving. This turned out to be one of the more fun ventures that I have undertaken in my life. SRP Yahoo was started in November of 2000. When the group started, I asked my 3 sons to join so that we could have a few members and began soliciting people buying and selling razor on ebay to join as well. It started out very slow, but by the end of the 1st year, we began putting together some great information and discussion regarding the use of straight razors, identification of them, their care and of course, how to sharpen one. I realized that my quest was taking shape, but I really had a long way to go. I began purchasing every ebay razor I could get my hands on and with the help of a gentleman named Don Walters; I started to learn how to hone my own straight razors. I can’t begin to tell you the level of excitement I had when I was able to shave with the first straight razor I sharpened. It was like catching a fish on the very first fly I ever tied. Well that was many thousands of razors ago and to this day, I have not lost the enjoyment that comes from making straight razors shave ready for myself and other people. It is the basis from which we decided that every new razor sold would be honed at no expense to the buyer at my shop so that people would have every opportunity at success when using a straight razor.
If you ever get the chance, check out the old yahoo group Straight Razor Place and start reading from the beginning. You will quickly recognize just how far we have come. You can see where we had the assistance of John West, a thirty year collector of straight razors who enlightened us about which razors barbers liked best, razor values and razor history. We had people like Ray DuPont, deceased, who was the founder of Classic Shaving show up as an early ebay vendor when he first started the business. Ray was one of the first people to offer a full variety of products channeled directly to the wet shaving population. It has been amazing to see the variety of people from all walks of life that have come into this environment and many are still around today. The membership has now grown to almost 30,000 members on the .com site and the Yahoo site remains in operation. The mission remains to spread the world and share the art of wetshaving and straight razor shaving. It is all about changing the chore of shaving daily into a pleasure that people can look forward to.
One of the things that I am most proud of is that Straight Razor Place has not only grown from its humble origin into the most credible source of straight razor information, but it is a place that has a pay it forward mentality. The membership is without question, one of the most helpful and generous groups of people on the planet. SRP does not allow any vendor or individual to be trashed. They also do not allow any selling or special interests in the forum other than the vendor section. There is a great Wiki there for people to research and help build information. It is just an amazing collection of people and after 10 years, it remains a place that I like to visit every day.
So where are we today? There are hundreds of specialty vendors offering great products to the wet shaving population. We know about great brushes and strops and sharpening stones that were not available years ago. We have more available information and assistance to new people than ever in history. The amount of soaps and aftershaves and colognes available today is staggering. We have people all over the world making custom straight razors and restoring vintage razors. We have razor manufacturers coming back into the business. Where there were a few hundred listings on ebay 10 years ago, there are now thousands. We have people recognizing the positive effect of not having to throw out plastic disposables every week and helping the environment. We have many bloggers out there helping to spread the word and aiding in the introduction and evaluation of new products. We see straight razor use showing up in news stories all over the country. If you look on YouTube, you will find hundreds of videos from people sharing their experiences and providing help in using all wet shaving tools. In addition, there are now wetshaving and straight razor forums that have started in many countries and quite a few here in the US. It has been most gratifying to see this kind of growth and especially in the last several years. A lot of the people who started forums had their beginnings at SRP. We may never get to mainstream, but there are millions of people enjoying the benefits of all kinds of wetshaving today and happily spreading the word.
This is all a dream come true for me and considering where we have come from, I can say mission accomplished. To me, it will never be about the vendors or individual recognition. It will always be about sharing the information and helping people to enjoy shaving and grooming along with providing them answers to all their questions. Let’s continue to make this a world where people look forward to the next shave.
Thank you to all the wonderful people I have met over the last 10 years and let’s look forward to the legacy we have created. We all continue to learn something about this sport every day and it is a journey well worth experiencing.
Sincerely,
Lynn
“
This article first appeared on Mantic 59′s Shaving Journal. He kindly gave us permission to post it here.
The Progress Vulfix 404 “Grosvenor” Mixed Badger and Bristle Brush lands at the Shack!
The Progress Vulfix 404 “Grosvenor” Mixed Badger and Bristle Brush is a firm favourite amongst wetshavers looking for a bargain brush. The badger/boar bristle mix provides that rare combination to give a stiff backbone, ideal for lathering soaps, yet not at the cost of being too scratchy like a pure bristle brush can be.
The handle itself is substantial and feels very much fit for purpose. It does a fantastic job of whipping up a lather from soap or cream in no time at all. So, at £10.99 this brush is a real bargain - and don’t forget that it will make your order eligible for our free razor blade selection too!
Ask Aaron Q&A: How do you achieve the best possible shave?
Darren Edwards, from the UK, asks:
“I recently enjoyed a professional wet shave and have decided to ditch the Gillette M3 Power razor and cheap foams for a decent shave. I’ve just bought a Wilkinson Sword DE razor from boots and some Men-U shaving cream, as well as some balms. What would YOUR recommendation be to achieve the best shave? I’m looking to get the Parker 89R.”
AARON SAYS
“Mr Edwards,
We are so glad you’re taking the plunge into traditional shaving! I like to reduce getting a great shave into three easy steps: Prepare, Shave, Protect. Prepare your face for shaving by taking a shower beforehand and use a good face wash or scrub. Also once you step out of the shower apply a good pre-shave oil. Shave your face by using a good balanced razor, a sharp blade, and a good shaving cream applied with a brush (i.e. Bluebeard’s Revenge, Coates, Trumper’s etc.). Shave in three passes going with, across, and against the grain for a close smooth shave. Remember we are just reducing the beard, not trying to remove it, so just let the razor glide across your face, don’t bear down or put any pressure on it. Protect by rinsing your face first in warm water then cold water. Afterward apply a good after shave balm to help protect and keep your skin smooth and hydrated.
If you will follow this three easy steps you will have some of the best shaves ever in no time!.
Smooth shaving! Aaron”
Do you have any burning questions you would like ask our wet shaving expert Aaron Wolfenbarger? CLICK HERE TO ASK AARON YOUR QUESTION
Jockeys41, from StraightRazorPlace.com, video reviews Bluebeards Revenge
I have just been reading The Bluebeards Revenge blog and it seems they have been targeting the Youtube shaving community.
HERE IS THEIR LATEST BLOG POST:
“A few weeks ago Youtube sensation Geo Fat Boy proved to the world that The Bluebeards Revenge shaving cream could be used with both a double edge razor and a straight razor.
Now another Youtube shaving celebrity has tested our beard reducing cream with a cutthroat razor and he was not left disappointed.
William Ewin, or Jockeys41 as he likes to be called, put The Bluebeards Revenge through its paces with a very manly looking ‘Perfect Wizard’ 4/8 square point straight razor with barbers notch and stub tail (see video below).
The straight shaving guru had already put together a comprehensive written review of our shaving cream, which you can read by clicking here.
William, 29, from Texas, regularly contributes to the leading Internet shaving forum, StraightRazorPlace.com.
He has now been shaving with an open razor for nearly five years, making him an official bad ass in our book.
Keep up the good work William.
GEO FAT BOY’S BLUEBEARDS REVENGE REVIEW
“
Ask Aaron Q&A: Problems shaving under the nose
Christopher McClure, from the UK, asks:
“I’ve been using a double-edge safety razor for a couple of months and have largely mastered my morning shave. The one area where I still struggle to get a really close shave is under my nose. I shave in three passes, but everytime I try to shave against the grain, on the third pass, under my nose I end up cutting myself - do you have any advice? I’m using a Merkur 34C, Feather blades, King of Shaves oil and Shaving Shack soap.”
AARON SAYS
“Mr. McClure,
The mustache is truly a hard area to shave and your problem is common to many men. Thank you for asking! From your list it seems you have great products behind your shave, so don’t change anything there. Because the nose gets in the way and it’s so hard to maintain a proper angle. If you could live with it, try going without the against the grain pass. If you want a closer shave try going across the grain again in the opposite direction. Another solution would be to go against the grain, just not with as full on an angle. If the direction South was with the direction of growth, and West/East is across, then try going Northeast and Northwest instead of fully north. Shaving in the slightly altered direction will provide a slicing motion as well going against the grain. This action is often called the “Gillette slide” and can be helpful along with other advanced shaving techniques such as “Blade buffing” and “J-hooking”.
Smooth shaving! Aaron”
Do you have any burning questions you would like ask our wet shaving expert Aaron Wolfenbarger? CLICK HERE TO ASK AARON YOUR QUESTION
Special April Offer – Free leather case with every Parker DE razor
Buy any Parker Double Edge Razor (shavettes not included) and we will give you a free Parker Leather Case (worth £7.19).
This fine leather case, manufactured by Parker, is ideal for travel or for simply storing your razor.
It is primarily designed for the Parker range of razors however, it will hold a similar size and smaller razors - e.g. Merkur 34C up to a 38C.
To get your free leather case, simply follow these 3 steps:
1. Add your chosen Parker double edge razor to the basket
2. Add the Parker Leather Case (code SHPCASE) to your basket
3. On your basket page use code: PCASE to deduct the price of the case from your basket.
Please note that hits coupon code cannot be used in conjunction with any other discount code.
Ask Aaron Q&A: Shaving Those Problem Areas
Graham Beattie, from the UK, asks:
“Hi, I have a real problem in two areas. First, the corners of my mouth, if I don’t shave close enough it still feels stubly, but if I shave it smooth, I often end up bleeding. Second, my addams apple area, it doesn’t matter how many times I go over this, it still feels stubly. Any ideas?”
AARON SAYS
“Mr. Beattie,
These areas often cause problems for many men, so take heart you are not alone! What I suggest is stretching the skin to create a flatter surface. This will cause the hairs to strand more erect allowing them to be more easily cut. For the corners of your mouth, try opening your mouth in a very long “0″ shape. For your Adams Apple pull the skin away from the apple and shave on the side that you are pulling. Also, pay attention to the direction of hair growth. To get a closer shave to against the grain and that will also help the feeling of stubble.
Smooth Shaving!
Aaron”
Do you have any burning questions you would like ask our wet shaving expert Aaron Wolfenbarger? CLICK HERE TO ASK AARON YOUR QUESTION
-
Stay connected:
-
Keep up to date
-
-
