Safety Razor Starter Kit UPDATE pg 4

Test the waters with this blade sampler pack: LINK. A little expensive but you can find out what you like and don't like.

Best bang for your buck razor: LINK.

Visit these two places:

1. Wicked Edge

2. Badger & Blade

as long as thats not a mini brush. I would honestly buy everything separate. I use a merkur razor, feather blades, tin shaving cup from ebay, and ive been liking the soaps from mama bears lately. Also use psoraso or whatever from time to time.

That looks like a good kit. I'd urge you to test Amazon to see if that actually is the best price on those products. Astra blades are my favorite thus far (leaning steel > chrome, currently, but they're both fantastic), but I would encourage you to get a sampler pack, as everyone has different tastes and sensitivities.

I would also suggest that you look at the Merkur 38 over the 34. It's exactly the same thing, except with a longer handle. The handle on the 38 is very comparable to your cartridge razor handle length, so it will feel more natural. I actually never tried a 34, but I have large hands and figured I should go with the longer handle. I like it.


I'm going to search my post history for what I would buy to start with from the last thread like this. I will add it to this post in a couple of minutes.


LINK to that thread. my post is near the end of that page. It also mentions another thread to search for for reviews on this stuff that was pretty extensive.

I've used a Mach 3 my entire life and never had an issue until the last couple months. I've been getting a lot of ingrown hairs and my face is always irritated. I have to shave every day. Do safety razors help with that? It has gotten a little better since I switched from Gillette gel to Neutrogena Shaving cream

it has helped me immensely with ingrown hairs. the Mach 3 shaves so close and if it is not very sharp leaves the end of the hair kinda ragged and it gets caught under the skin.

It's possible that a safety razor helps. If you have noticed a difference with changing creams, buy a cheap badger brush, or synthetic brush, and some Taylor of Old Street Bond in your favorite scent and try that stuff out. I think it's way better than the canned stuff I used for years. I liked the Gillete Fusion (orange can) the best of the gels. Barbasol gave me a better shave than it, though. Then I realized that Barbasol was kind of just a crappy version of whipping it up yourself.

My face hurt after the first 2-3 shaves. Once I switched blades from the Merkur to the chromed shark blade, it was a much more pleasant experience. With a sharper blade, I don't have a hard time at all. With the stainless steel shark blades; they were so dull it felt like plucking the hairs out. I had little tiny cuts and razor burn all over. Once I switched back to an Astra blade, it became very comfortable.

If the heaviness scares you, check out the Feather Twist to Open one. It's very light (plastic) and very highly reviewed. It will be my travel razor soon enough (<$20 on Amazon).


ETA- I implied it but didn't say it, I think the blade has more to do with how rough on your face your shave is than the heaviness of the handle.

I'm still having trouble on my neck just below the jaw line. Any tips?

Started in December...love it! Enjoying the art of shaving now.

Here are my supplies:

Merkur 37C Slant...Much more aggressive than my other one..still trying to get the hang of it.

My daily driver...Extremely well made

My brush..mine has black handle...works great but it's a little too big for me

Blade sample pack

Bowl

One of my creams...i have a bunch of different soaps as well

My razor and brush stand

Alum bloc


Also as mentioned above, wicked_edge subreddit is a great resource!!

I feel like this is just to much to wrap my brain around