Ok, for a complete rookie at wet shaving, which of the following soaps would you recommend, taking into account I have very sensitive skin.

Taylor of Old Bond Street

Proraso Shaving Soap in a Bowl

I picked out a razor and a brush, now I need to research which blades to try first.

I prefer shave soap with tallow, rendered animal fat. I have sensitive skin and avoid natural menthol like eucalyptus (poraso). The ToOBS is also shave cream not a hard soap puck so it is intended to place a small amount in a shave bowl and whip into a lather.

I suggest

https://www.amazon.com/RazoRoc...-1&keywords=razorock

https://www.amazon.com/Fine-Cl...%2Bshave%2Bsoap&th=1

for blades it like Astra, Persona Med Prep, If you have very sensitive skin avoid Feather (IMHO) they are very sharp and can cause razor burn especially if you are new to using a safety razor.

Also what brush did you pick out (sounds like you haven't purchased it yet), some are better than other for sensitive skin.

Which soaps, creams, blades work best comes down to personal preference.

I prefer soaps, usually w/ tallow.
Palmolive, Tabac, and D.R. Harris Marlboro shave sticks.
Razo Rock, Mama Bears(non-tallow, highly scented, not always best for sensative skin),
Someone recently turned me on to Sterling Shave Soaps and really liked my first shave w/ them.
I have the Proraso shaving soap and cream and they are nice when I want to change things up.

For Blades I like Personna Reds, Crystal blues, Sharks, Astras, Gillette Silver Blue(made in Russia, so double the evil).

quote:

now I need to research which blades to try first.

If you send me an email, I'll send you a sampler.

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Originally posted by dsiets:
If you send me an email, I'll send you a sampler.

You have mail, and thank you.

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Originally posted by bigdeal:

quote:

Originally posted by dsiets:
If you send me an email, I'll send you a sampler.

You have mail, and thank you.

I'm not seeing any email so I sent one your way.

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:
Ok, for a complete rookie at wet shaving, which of the following soaps would you recommend, taking into account I have very sensitive skin.

Taylor of Old Bond Street

Proraso Shaving Soap in a Bowl

I picked out a razor and a brush, now I need to research which blades to try first.

TOBS and Proraso both make very fine soap, and a cream is easier to lather than most hard soaps. Some people have sensitivity to sandalwood, so Proraso may be less likely to cause a reaction, but either should provide a first rate shave. More important is the prep (hot water or shower before shaving), some like a pre-shave (Proraso makes several, oil or just glycerin soap), and a good after shave with or without a witch hazel splash. Good blades to start out are Astra, Nacet, Silver Blue, or if you want to avoid Gillette, Derby or Personna.

You guys just cost me $100!

I ordered a Merkur 34C, Perfecto Badger Brush, Perfecto Stand, Williams Soap, and a sampler pack of blades.

Which brand of gauze and sutures do y'all recommend?

I really like Proraso. It produces a very dense, rich lather very easily. The only soap I've tried that can make a better lather is D. R. Harris, but it takes literally at least 2-3 times as much time spent loading the brush and building the lather. Less than a minute vs. several.

The D. R. Harris soaps do smell really nice.

My favorite Proraso is the one that has a ton of menthol. It makes my face pleasantly tingly.

Another shaving product that I absolutely love is Baxter After Shave Balm. It smells amazing, feels good, and really calms razor burn and itching. https://www.baxterofcalifornia...BOC838364002299.html

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Originally posted by Outnumbered:
You guys just cost me $100!

I ordered a Merkur 34C, Perfecto Badger Brush, Perfecto Stand, Williams Soap, and a sampler pack of blades.

Which brand of gauze and sutures do y'all recommend?

Just this or something like it:

Styptic Stick Amazon

Nice slow short light strokes with razor and you will be fine.

I've been using the Dorco pace 6 razors for well over a year since a buddy gave me a several year supply of them for free. They're very good, but a touch below the Mach 3's in closeness of shave.

I have a really nice Badger brush, but I actually prefer my Boar brushes instead. They offer a little more “scrub” while lathering up.

Badger is almost too soft.

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Originally posted by jsbcody:

quote:

Originally posted by Outnumbered:
You guys just cost me $100!

I ordered a Merkur 34C, Perfecto Badger Brush, Perfecto Stand, Williams Soap, and a sampler pack of blades.

Which brand of gauze and sutures do y'all recommend?

Just this or something like it:

Styptic Stick Amazon

Nice slow short light strokes with razor and you will be fine.

Also good to keep handy...

My Nik Is Sealed

Got my latest toys from Amazon yesterday, a cheap Clubman brush and a Brush and Razor Stand.

I used the cheap Williams Shaving Soap and the cheap brush this morning, and got one of the best shaves of my life! I had to be satisfied with bubbles rather than a rich lather since I'm inexperienced, but it will get better, I'm sure.

Not so much as a single nick, either, using the Parker 99r battleaxe! I'd been thinking of buying a Merkur, but this setup seems to work just fine!

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Originally posted by newtoSig765:
I used the cheap Williams Shaving Soap and the cheap brush this morning, and got one of the best shaves of my life! I had to be satisfied with bubbles rather than a rich lather since I'm inexperienced, but it will get better, I'm sure.

You get bubbles instead of lather when you have too much water or not enough soap.

Try shaking more water out of the brush before loading it with soap, or try spending longer loading the brush, or both. (And if you're adding water after loading the brush, don't - depending on brush and soap and technique, some people need to, but if you're getting bubbles, you don't.)

^^^^^^
Thanks, I'll try that tomorrow.

By the way, I assume I should thoroughly rinse the brush after shaving, and at least get rid of excess lather in the cup?

TOBS Sandalwood. Get a Gentlman John Alum Bar and some Thayers Witch Hazel Astringent (Lemon). All available on Amazon.

By the way, if you’re looking for some good advice on wet shaving look these folks up on You Tube:

KenSurfs
Michael Freedburg
Shave The Man
Mantic59

There other ones but the above are a wide variety of instruction and knowledge..

^^^^
Good to know. So far, the vids I found were amateurish, excessively long, and for some reason the guys making them held pre-existing opinions on the products.

Another observation on my new toys is that I may get more shaves out of the Williams than the two foams I used. Williams seems to lubricate better. I was only getting two shaves out of the better of the foams, but I may get more. Starting a new blade tomorrow, hoping for three or more. Not that I'm trying for a record since blades are so darned cheap, but just two shaves seemed like not enough.

I only have one, a Merkur 180 (23C)long Handle and I have been very happy with it using Shark blades IIRC.

quote:

Originally posted by newtoSig765:
^^^^^^
Thanks, I'll try that tomorrow.

By the way, I assume I should thoroughly rinse the brush after shaving, and at least get rid of excess lather in the cup?

Yes, you should thoroughly rinse the brush after each use, and then shake it out well. Ideally, you also want to hang it handle up, bristles down to dry so that water doesn't collect in the handle.

It's not AS important if you use a synthetic brush, but natural bristle brushes do degrade over time and leaving them wet or especially wet and soapy will make that happen a lot faster.

I will say, the very expensive badger brush I've used for the last couple of years is starting to fall apart, so I bought a cheap synthetic brush off Amazon to tide me over until I figured out what to get as a replacement. I've actually been pretty impressed with the synthetic brush. The bristles don't hold water worth a darn, but the brush loads with soap and lathers REALLY well, maybe better than the high-end badger and boar brushes I've tried before. I'm going to try a nice synthetic brush and then decide whether I actually want another badger brush.