June 2024 Acquisitions

[Blackmass]

I started wet shaving about two years ago. I used a DE/SE (half DE), AC razors in the past year for the very first time on my head. Probably not the best place to start, but since I grew a beard when I shaved my head for the first time, I wasn't able to use any of these razors on my face to practice learn with. I feel I've done pretty good learning to shave with them on my head for the first time I've used them.

Having said that, I had been thinking of trying a cartridge razor as I only used a cheap one for a short time (maybe 3 weeks or so) when I first shaved my head and didn't like it, but I never tried a better model. The main reason I am thinking of trying one again is due to shaving time.

I love using DE/SE/AC razors, but my head shaves are taking anywhere from 40-60 minutes (depending on the razor and blade), and that is starting to be a bit too long. I'm starting to lose the enjoyment a little bit as I just don't have that much time to spend each head shave. Other than that, I'm not sure if I just haven't found the right razor yet (I feel my technique is now decent enough). I feel bad even thinking about going back to try a cartridge razor as the prices are terrible, the amount of plastic waste is very bad, and the one I used was a cheap 5 or 6 blade model, but I remember not getting a very close shave with it and remember also getting irritation too

How long did you try using DE razors for?

Thanks for your response, it’s much appreciated.

I’ve being using DE razors since 2016. I’ve tried many, DE razors also tried AC/SE and straight razors. I fell into the rabbit hole and fell out again!

I used to love the “ritual” and having “me time”…because I’m worth it! Laffin! But it’s got to the stage where I don’t want to shave. I’m having one or two shaves a week, which isn’t great as I work in an office. But it’s uncomfortable and I’m dreading having a shave.

I’ve being using DE razors since 2016. I’ve tried many, DE razors also tried AC/SE and straight razors. I fell into the rabbit hole and fell out again!

I used to love the “ritual” and having “me time”…because I’m worth it! Laffin! But it’s got to the stage where I don’t want to shave. I’m having one or two shaves a week, which isn’t great as I work in an office. But it’s uncomfortable and I’m dreading having a shave.

 

[N_Architect]

 

[Holyzeus]

Thanks for your response, it’s much appreciated.

I’ve being using DE razors since 2016. I’ve tried many, DE razors also tried AC/SE and straight razors. I fell into the rabbit hole and fell out again!

I used to love the “ritual” and having “me time”…because I’m worth it! Laffin! But it’s got to the stage where I don’t want to shave. I’m having one or two shaves a week, which isn’t great as I work in an office. But it’s uncomfortable and I’m dreading having a shave.

I’ve being using DE razors since 2016. I’ve tried many, DE razors also tried AC/SE and straight razors. I fell into the rabbit hole and fell out again!

I used to love the “ritual” and having “me time”…because I’m worth it! Laffin! But it’s got to the stage where I don’t want to shave. I’m having one or two shaves a week, which isn’t great as I work in an office. But it’s uncomfortable and I’m dreading having a shave.

You can say that again, you can say that again…

 

[Paper Plane]

steve

 

[Blackmass]

You can say that again, you can say that again…

It's been a long week!

 

[Ice09]

Thanks for your response, it’s much appreciated.

I’ve being using DE razors since 2016. I’ve tried many, DE razors also tried AC/SE and straight razors. I fell into the rabbit hole and fell out again!

I used to love the “ritual” and having “me time”…because I’m worth it! Laffin! But it’s got to the stage where I don’t want to shave. I’m having one or two shaves a week, which isn’t great as I work in an office. But it’s uncomfortable and I’m dreading having a shave.

Very interesting journey for you. Thanks for sharing. I feel like I am starting to get to the point you're at (not quite there, but getting there), but it's only been two years for me. That really is terrible, especially if you work in a office, as I am guessing you'd want to shave every day or every two days at worst.

I keep thinking I just need to find the right razor, but looking at what you've said, maybe for some people there is no right razor and you either have to accept subpar results, or find a razor that gets you closest to what you want. I haven't settled on neither one yet.

I was really enjoying it to begin with, but now, it's just taking too long and I'm not getting the close comfortable shaves I'm after. I can get close shaves, but it's taking time and irritation to get there.

What model is the Gillette that you went to, and more importantly, how are you finding it? I don't think we have that one in AU. There's a poster over at Badger & Blade that told me he uses a combination of both DE and cartridge. Said he uses the DE for the first pass and finishes with a Mach 3 I think it was.

 

[donnie_arko]

Thanks for your response, it’s much appreciated.

I’ve being using DE razors since 2016. I’ve tried many, DE razors also tried AC/SE and straight razors. I fell into the rabbit hole and fell out again!

I started in the same year as yourself and I've got to that stage myself. I'm not really enjoying my shaves as much as I used to, or buying gear. The ritual of having a shave seems to have lost some of it's pleasure right now.

I'm not sure if you get this or not, but sometimes having an endless pool of options can be a bit overwhelming. Right now, I've put away most things and kept out a few things to just get the job done.

 

[Ice09]

I'm not sure if you get this or not, but sometimes having an endless pool of options can be a bit overwhelming. Right now, I've put away most things and kept out a few things to just get the job done.

Darn it, I typed out a reply, but for whatever reason I lost it and can't be bothered writing it all out again, so I'll just write out a shorter version .

I'd say going by what Blackmass said before, he doesn't like any of his options. I like a few of mine, but don't love any of them. I think my technique is now good enough, but I'm still not getting the shave I'm after in the time I'd be happier with. I sort of pinned my hopes on the Blackland Vector that I bought a few months ago, but don't really love it. I like it, but don't love it.

Not sure if it's the razor itself of the AC blades, as the main issue is, out of all the AC blades I've used, I don't like most of them (the Schick Proline P-30 being the worst as it doesn't seem to cut through me hair to well and gives me a rough, rough shave, that I had to stop using it after 2 users and switch to a Kai blade to finish off the shave). I was about to actually give up with AC blades in general due to the lack of options, as I only like the Feather Professional Super (I wouldn't be able to use this blade everyday as it's too much to shave with daily), but I got a hold of a couple of ProShave-S blades a friend passed on to me to try, and I got a decent result with it (it was smooth and cut pretty well, not as good as the Pro Super, but in the vicinity). It was also the last AC blade I wanted to try in the razor as I'd already tried Feather Professional Super, Feather Professional, Kai Captain Titan Mild (I'd rate these 3rd), Feather Pro Guard and Schick Proline P-30.

 

[donnie_arko]

Darn it, I typed out a reply, but for whatever reason I lost it and can't be bothered writing it all out again, so I'll just write out a shorter version .

I'd say going by what Blackmass said before, he doesn't like any of his options. I like a few of mine, but don't love any of them. I think my technique is now good enough, but I'm still not getting the shave I'm after in the time I'd be happier with. I sort of pinned my hopes on the Blackland Vector that I bought a few months ago, but don't really love it. I like it, but don't love it.

Not sure if it's the razor itself of the AC blades, as the main issue is, out of all the AC blades I've used, I don't like most of them (the Schick Proline P-30 being the worst as it doesn't seem to cut through me hair to well and gives me a rough, rough shave, that I had to stop using it after 2 users and switch to a Kai blade to finish off the shave). I was about to actually give up with AC blades in general due to the lack of options, as I only like the Feather Professional Super (I wouldn't be able to use this blade everyday as it's too much to shave with daily), but I got a hold of a couple of ProShave-S blades a friend passed on to me to try, and I got a decent result with it (it was smooth and cut pretty well, not as good as the Pro Super, but in the vicinity). It was also the last AC blade I wanted to try in the razor as I'd already tried Feather Professional Super, Feather Professional, Kai Captain Titan Mild (I'd rate these 3rd), Feather Pro Guard and Schick Proline P-30.

Thanks for the reply, I went back and read his posts, it seems he's not getting a great shave with some of his gear, a shame really. I've never dipped into the world AC razors, I've largely been put off by a small pool of different brands of blades.

 

[Blackmass]

Very interesting journey for you. Thanks for sharing. I feel like I am starting to get to the point you're at (not quite there, but getting there), but it's only been two years for me. That really is terrible, especially if you work in a office, as I am guessing you'd want to shave every day or every two days at worst.

I keep thinking I just need to find the right razor, but looking at what you've said, maybe for some people there is no right razor and you either have to accept subpar results, or find a razor that gets you closest to what you want. I haven't settled on neither one yet.

I was really enjoying it to begin with, but now, it's just taking too long and I'm not getting the close comfortable shaves I'm after. I can get close shaves, but it's taking time and irritation to get there.

What model is the Gillette that you went to, and more importantly, how are you finding it? I don't think we have that one in AU. There's a poster over at Badger & Blade that told me he uses a combination of both DE and cartridge. Said he uses the DE for the first pass and finishes with a Mach 3 I think it was.

Looks like I struck a cord with a few of you.

I went for the Gillette Labs. It arrived yesterday. I'll be using it later tonight. I'll report back.

 

[Ice09]

Looks like I struck a cord with a few of you.

I went for the Gillette Labs. It arrived yesterday. I'll be using it later tonight. I'll report back.

I just started posting here, and yeah, you struck a cord as it wasn't likely something I was ever going to talk about when starting to post on a new wet shaving forum, as I wanted to learn and ask about various razors, didn't expect to do a bit of a 180 . It's an interesting thing to think about/consider. Great to be here with some individuals such as yourself that isn't afraid to go against the majority that wouldn't use a cartridge razor. I see there is even a sub forum here for cartridge razors which is pretty cool.

I looked up the Gillette Labs you bought and it's on the Gillette AU website, but doesn't list anywhere to buy from or pricing, so I sent them an email to ask. I haven't decided yet whether or not to try it, but I might give it a go just to be thorough. That way I can say I at least tried it and move on like I would with a DE/SE/AC razor.

And please do tell us what you think about it once you've tried it (even if you post about it in a different section, a link to the post/thoughts about it). By the way, what shaving soap/cream are you likely to use with it?

Thanks for the reply, I went back and read his posts, it seems he's not getting a great shave with some of his gear, a shame really. I've never dipped into the world AC razors, I've largely been put off by a small pool of different brands of blades.

Yeah, if the AC razor blades don't suit you, then you're not left with many choices. Luckily since the ProShave-S blades work well for me (it was my last ditch attempt as I was seriously thinking of selling my AC razors due to lack of blade choice for a daily shaving blade), it leaves me with one good choice for daily shaving and two solid choices for going 2-3 days between (Feather Professional Super & Kai Captain Titan Mild).

Can I ask what your favourite DE blades are (this is something I've been trying to do lately, try different DE blades as I hadn't tired a lot to see if I find any I might like better than what I'm currently using).
Also, what are your favourite DE razors? Do you prefer mild/medium with great efficiency, or more aggressive DE razors? I'll try and list up the razors I have tried so far over the weekend if I have some time (I work then next three days). Also, if I shouldn't be posting these questions here, please tell me, and I'll try and post them in a different section.

 

[Blackmass]

I just started posting here, and yeah, you struck a cord as it wasn't likely something I was ever going to talk about when starting to post on a new wet shaving forum, as I wanted to learn and ask about various razors, didn't expect to do a bit of a 180 . It's an interesting thing to think about/consider. Great to be here with some individuals such as yourself that isn't afraid to go against the majority that wouldn't use a cartridge razor. I see there is even a sub forum here for cartridge razors which is pretty cool.

I looked up the Gillette Labs you bought and it's on the Gillette AU website, but doesn't list anywhere to buy from or pricing, so I sent them an email to ask. I haven't decided yet whether or not to try it, but I might give it a go just to be thorough. That way I can say I at least tried it and move on like I would with a DE/SE/AC razor.

And please do tell us what you think about it once you've tried it (even if you post about it in a different section, a link to the post/thoughts about it). By the way, what shaving soap/cream are you likely to use with it?


Yeah, if the AC razor blades don't suit you, then you're not left with many choices. Luckily since the ProShave-S blades work well for me (it was my last ditch attempt as I was seriously thinking of selling my AC razors due to lack of blade choice for a daily shaving blade), it leaves me with one good choice for daily shaving and two solid choices for going 2-3 days between (Feather Professional Super & Kai Captain Titan Mild).

Can I ask what your favourite DE blades are (this is something I've been trying to do lately, try different DE blades as I hadn't tired a lot to see if I find any I might like better than what I'm currently using).
Also, what are your favourite DE razors? Do you prefer mild/medium with great efficiency, or more aggressive DE razors? I'll try and list up the razors I have tried so far over the weekend if I have some time (I work then next three days). Also, if I shouldn't be posting these questions here, please tell me, and I'll try and post them in a different section.

Against The Grain and The Shaving Room forums are full of helpful, friendly, and generous folk. I remember joining (TSR) back in 2016 and I was bowled over with the warm welcome, members reaching out to offer advice and loan out razors etc. This was a big shock as I came from H-Fi forums which were the complete opposite.
It hasn’t changed. Shortly after I posted I’d bought a cartridge razor (a cry for help!) and mentioned I was having issues I received a DM from a very kind member @slapo plus all those offering advice on the forum.

I was meant to use the razor last night but frankly I couldn’t be bothered. I’ll be using it tomorrow as I’m going “out -out” so I really need to have a shave. I will post my thoughts and tag yourself and those who have reached out to me over the last few days.

The soaps I regularly use are Martin De Candre, Saponificio Varesino and Declaration Grooming.

Have a good weekend chaps!

 

[Ice09]

I was meant to use the razor last night but frankly I couldn’t be bothered. I’ll be using it tomorrow as I’m going “out -out” so I really need to have a shave. I will post my thoughts and tag yourself and those who have reached out to me over the last few days.

Take you time, man. No rush at all. Go out and have a good time. Do the shave whenever you do it.

The soaps I regularly use are Martin De Candre, Saponificio Varesino and Declaration Grooming.

Have a good weekend chaps!

OK, cool. Those are all good soaps from what I hear. Is the Martin De Candre worth buying? I think you will maximize the performance of the cart with that? I was thinking of buying it late last year, but never did get around to it.

 

[Blackmass]

Take you time, man. No rush at all. Go out and have a good time. Do the shave whenever you do it.



OK, cool. Those are all good soaps from what I hear. Is the Martin De Candre worth buying, so I think you will maximize the performance of the cart with that? I was thinking of buying it late last year, but never did get around to it.

Martin de Candre is an excellent soap.

 

[Ice09]

Against The Grain and The Shaving Room forums are full of helpful, friendly, and generous folk. I remember joining (TSR) back in 2016 and I was bowled over with the warm welcome, members reaching out to offer advice and loan out razors etc. This was a big shock as I came from H-Fi forums which were the complete opposite.
It hasn’t changed. Shortly after I posted I’d bought a cartridge razor (a cry for help!) and mentioned I was having issues I received a DM from a very kind member @slapo plus all those offering advice on the forum.

I've experienced a little bit of that in the AU shaving forum I signed up to late last year. There's been a couple of members that have helped me out tremendously. One gave me a shaving brush and a few different types of soaps to get started with, plus a Yaqi AC razor as I'd never tried an AC razor before. He really got me started by doing all that.

One thing I wish we had was pass arounds of really good razors, as the price of some of these is really high, it's hard to buy without trying it first. I also wish I could borrow some to try too, but the AU forum isn't high traffic, so I don't think there is many people (if any) with a lot of the razors mentioned here and similar places like ATG. I'll also have to sign up to The Shaving Room at some point if you're saying it's also another good forum.

By the way, when you guys do stuff like that (loaning out a razor), do you ask for a deposit for the amount that the razor costs from the person borrowing to take the risk out of it?

Pretty cool that people reached out to you after posting about buying the cartridge razor. Super awesome.