Shaving, Skin, and Body Care

Shaving with a Merkur safety razor, different brands (Astra, Feather, Kai, Gillette) blades, Muehle silvertip badger shaving brush and Castle Forbes lime shaving cream.
 
Shaving with a Merkur safety razor, different brands (Astra, Feather, Kai, Gillette) blades, Muehle silvertip badger shaving brush and Castle Forbes lime shaving cream.
I use the Philips S9000 electric razor, most definitely as close as a blade. In the shower with a Dutch branded shaving foam, De Vergulde Hand, lasts forever.
Today I went for Floris N°89 Aftershave, such a classy, understated scent.
It's a great scent, especially good when layered with the balm too. As you know, Ian Fleming's aftershave of choice.
 
A nice, rather bitter lavender scented Eau de Cologne from Portuguese Ach Brito.

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I've given up on finding a Gillette Super Speed on B&B. They seem to fly out of there 5 minutes after they're listed.

Anyone have recs on a good off the shelf razor that I can just buy?
I still have couple of the old Gillette butterfly razors(slim twist blue handle) that they used to give away free with blades. Very easy to use mild shave. When they ignored counterfeiters and you got a poor shave I switched to the two blade cartridges. I never changed to the cartridges with more blades, though I did try a Wilkinson Sword effort that was too big to shave comfortably under my nose.

Edwin Jagger gives a decent shave, but the three piece heads can become difficult after a while as they can get clogged and difficult to remove. Merkur long handle is a well constructed two piece which might be good if you are used to the handles on cartridge razors, or even those on old freebie Gillette butterfly razors.

Just noticed this is a zombie thread with a recent post so I did not notice. I really like Mitchell’s Wool fat soap and Tabac aftershave so you can ignore what I say anyway.
 
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I use the Philips S9000 electric razor, most definitely as close as a blade. In the shower with a Dutch branded shaving foam, De Vergulde Hand, lasts forever.

It's a great scent, especially good when layered with the balm too. As you know, Ian Fleming's aftershave of choice.
I was on Jermyn Street and bought it because of the James Bond connection. Over rated in my opinion, though I don’t know many aftershaves. I am closer to the generation that used to smell of Brylcreem and Players Navy Cut.
 
I was on Jermyn Street and bought it because of the James Bond connection. Over rated in my opinion, though I don’t know many aftershaves. I am closer to the generation that used to smell of Brylcreem and Players Navy Cut.
My father was the first to put me onto it, but I was unimpressed. I like it now though, a companion to the Elite. Those two will keep you keep you going for several months.

I like a bit of splash it on aftershave, but protected with a balm.
 
Today after the shaving a great classic, Penhaligon's Blenheim Bouquet Aftershave. Very distinguished and restrained.

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Always have a bottle Blenheim Bouquet in. In fact I should splash some on Saturday morning. Since the late 1980's, it's like a perennial friend. They use to market it as being made for Winston Churchill, they don't now, maybe it wasn't true, or they don't want to lose the eternally woke demographic. Great stuff. Even better when they have runs of the aftershave balm.
 
A classic in the toiletry, the 4711 Eau de Cologne, sometimes described as a woman scent, to me it's a perfect mens fragrance. Unfortunately it's very volatile, so better used as an after shave, especially in the splash bottle.

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Good alternative is Ferrari Bright Neroli.

A far better one and a monster on the skin is Canvas Neroli of al Haramain. Mind you is 3 times the price .
 
No, sorry. Neither of them can be used as an after shave. I was mentioning them because of the smell.
 
I love the whole Geo F. Trumper range of soaps. I mostly use Eucris and GFT for shaving - such timeless and manly scents.

As for the hardware, I think Merkur 34C with Astra/ Feather blades is hard to beat.
 
I love the whole Geo F. Trumper range of soaps. I mostly use Eucris and GFT for shaving - such timeless and manly scents.

As for the hardware, I think Merkur 34C with Astra/ Feather blades is hard to beat.
I want that new Trumper Havana scent, but the website doesn't let me make a payment for some reason. But there's a shop in The Hague that has most of their range in. So will try the next week.

The Floris soaps are good too.
One of the best shaving creams available on the market is this Castle Forbes with lime scent.

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I saw their products being advertised on a Dutch shaving website. Certainly well packaged.
 
I've never used a safety razor before and I'm a 50 years of age. It was the Gillette cartridges, sometime Wilkinson Sword from when I started shaving. I've ditched Gillette as a brand for being a bit too woke for my liking. The Philips S9000 is a good electric shaver, but it always misses the lower neck around the adam's apple and once they get to 2.5/3 years the power starts to go.

So I had the first shave with the Edwin Jagger double edge safety razor and feather blade yesterday. Very impressive - shaved with the growth then across and job was done. Lower neck area spot-on. I didn't nick myself, but I did get red rash around the lower neck, but with some Floris Elite balm it was gone in a couple of hours. I wouldn't risk shaving my head with it, not yet anyway. Those blades are sharp.
 
I've never used a safety razor before and I'm a 50 years of age. It was the Gillette cartridges, sometime Wilkinson Sword from when I started shaving. I've ditched Gillette as a brand for being a bit too woke for my liking. The Philips S9000 is a good electric shaver, but it always misses the lower neck around the adam's apple and once they get to 2.5/3 years the power starts to go.

So I had the first shave with the Edwin Jagger double edge safety razor and feather blade yesterday. Very impressive - shaved with the growth then across and job was done. Lower neck area spot-on. I didn't nick myself, but I did get red rash around the lower neck, but with some Floris Elite balm it was gone in a couple of hours. I wouldn't risk shaving my head with it, not yet anyway. Those blades are sharp.
Being new to the safety razor, I would have gone for something milder than a Feather, but, as you reported, it went all good. Basically it's all about finding the right measure of pressure sliding the razor, strong enough to have a close shaving and light enough to not nick and irritate.
 
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Feather's blade are really sharp. The first shave is always a pain. I prefer the second/third shave when the blade has blunted a bit.
I also used Gillete blades but only for 2 shaves.

Astra (the blue ones) are good too, but not local to me so l need to order them so I stick to Feather/Gillete.

I also have to 2 safety razors a vielong and a German one from Solingen (don't know the name) I like to switch between razors. You get different shaves.

Thinking in getting a Merkur as a third razor.
 
Feather's blade are really sharp. The first shave is always a pain. I prefer the second/third shave when the blade has blunted a bit.
How many shaves would a Feather blade generally give?

Thanks.
Wildly varies. Depends a lot on your whiskers.

For me it's the reverse: the first shaving is very good, even though I have always to care a lot, and then the blade degrades rapidly. I mostly have three or four shaves.
Other blades are not so sharp, but last longer maintaining a good performance, but as doghouse said, it's a very individual thing.
 
For me it's the reverse: the first shaving is very good, even though I have always to care a lot, and then the blade degrades rapidly. I mostly have three or four shaves.
Other blades are not so sharp, but last longer maintaining a good performance, but as doghouse said, it's a very individual thing.
Had my third shave yesterday, and that was a pretty blood affair around the chin area and neck. Think I might have over done it on the cross shave. I might leave it Sunday, or just do it with the direction of the growth. I would like to get 4 shaves from a blade, but maybe 2 is all I'll get.
 
Had my third shave yesterday, and that was a pretty blood affair around the chin area and neck. Think I might have over done it on the cross shave. I might leave it Sunday, or just do it with the direction of the growth. I would like to get 4 shaves from a blade, but maybe 2 is all I'll get.

As I said, it's a matter of pressure: you have to find the right balance. Don't be discouraged and try other brands. I don't know how your razor is, whether with an open (more aggressive) or with a closed (milder) comb.
 
As I said, it's a matter of pressure: you have to find the right balance. Don't be discouraged and try other brands. I don't know how your razor is, whether with an open (more aggressive) or with a closed (milder) comb.
I'm not discouraged, it's like with an electric razor it takes a week or so for skin to get accustomed to the new shaving process.
 
I'm not discouraged, it's like with an electric razor it takes a week or so for skin to get accustomed to the new shaving process.

Yes, it is so. With some experience you'll find the best combination of razor and blade and your technique will improve.

By the way, I shave every second day, because my skin would not endure it daily.
 
Had my third shave yesterday, and that was a pretty blood affair around the chin area and neck. Think I might have over done it on the cross shave. I might leave it Sunday, or just do it with the direction of the growth. I would like to get 4 shaves from a blade, but maybe 2 is all I'll get.
My only advice is that it is so individual you really have to find your own way. It sounds like you are pretty over aggressive. Try a lighter touch with shorter strokes, see how it goes.

I'm personally not a Feather fan, they are very delicate and too fine in my experience. Gillette tends to be on the other end of the spectrum where they need a shave or two to smooth off the edge like you would stropping a straight razor. I've been using Personna Med Prep for almost a decade now. My whiskers are essentially a wire brush (you can look at my shirt collars, or what's left of them), and I get a solid 5 to 7 days per blade easy.
 
My only advice is that it is so individual you really have to find your own way. It sounds like you are pretty over aggressive. Try a lighter touch with shorter strokes, see how it goes.

I'm personally not a Feather fan, they are very delicate and too fine in my experience. Gillette tends to be on the other end of the spectrum where they need a shave or two to smooth off the edge like you would stropping a straight razor. I've been using Personna Med Prep for almost a decade now. My whiskers are essentially a wire brush (you can look at my shirt collars, or what's left of them), and I get a solid 5 to 7 days per blade easy.

I also use the Personna blue, they're smooth.
 
My only advice is that it is so individual you really have to find your own way. It sounds like you are pretty over aggressive. Try a lighter touch with shorter strokes, see how it goes.

I'm personally not a Feather fan, they are very delicate and too fine in my experience. Gillette tends to be on the other end of the spectrum where they need a shave or two to smooth off the edge like you would stropping a straight razor. I've been using Personna Med Prep for almost a decade now. My whiskers are essentially a wire brush (you can look at my shirt collars, or what's left of them), and I get a solid 5 to 7 days per blade easy.
Had the fourth shave this morning, I didn't shave yesterday, one seriously close shave without being aggressive on the skin, with the exception of a bit rash on the lower neck. The Feather blade is clearly broken in and delivering peak performance.
 

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