Old style razors

[djmc]

I once went ski touring in Morocco. In the market at Asni on the way back from Toubkal, they sold Cattle and sheep as well as normal things like vegetables and carpets. There were also barbers using cut throat razers. Some complain that Roman writers on law when talking about negligence are unrealistic but there is a comment by one of the Digest writers "a man who commits himself to a barber who has his chair in a dangerous place has only himself to blame". The market was crowded and every so often a mule or donkey would career through the ailes dividing the stalls. Despite this one of our group had his two weeks growth of beard shaved and was most impressed at how good a shave he had had.

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

I'd a scarcely used in-its-box German steel cut-throat razor that my grandfather owned, so it was decades old, pre-war even. Put it on ebay and it went for just over a hundred quid. I'd have been happy with twenty. A barber in London bought it.

[Ham]

Has anyone who has used and liked a decent badger brush tried the Edwin Jagger synthetic ones?

Well the answer is, not quite as nice. While it is a smooth (or, maybe smoother?) brushing "with the flow" but - at least a new brush - are pointy-er end of the bristles stick in as you brush around. Not a huge issue, and something I can live with.

[The Family Cyclist]

Since starting to wet shave with a safety razor I've used a shaving bar which has worked OK. At Christmas saw a shaving cream in TK max so thought would try. Finally finished the bar and tried the cream last night. Looked a bit like clotted cream and the improvement was massive. Made shaving a pleasure not a chore even with a slightly blunt blade

[mrcharly-YHT]

Soaps:

Best I've used is a Taylors stick. Wet face with hot water, rub stick on face, lather with wet brush.

MrsC bought me some Arran soap in a bowl. It is very nice, but messy. You lather in the bowl and it goes all over.

Proper shaving soap, good stuff, is much better than random soap. Contains moisturisers. Using cheap shaving soap or hand soap dried my skin out too much.

[De Sisti]

I have to use a specific shaving foam (with its antiseptic properties) in order to prevent razor bumps.

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It occurs more frequently in those with tight curly hair, especially in men of African and, to a lesser extent, those of Asian descent.[/size]5[/font][/size][/color],[/color]6[/font][/size][/color] PFB is multifactorial in origin, but the shaving of terminal hair usually triggers it.[/font][/color][/size]

[MattH]

I'm currently using a couple of Razorock synthetic brushes, which work very nicely for me. I've been using Proraso soap in the plastic for a few years, but have just moved onto Palmolive menthol shaving cream (in a toothpaste like tube). Get the brush wet (I soak it in very hot water), put a pea sized bit of cream into the brush, a quick squeeze of the bristles with my fingers to spread it a little, then straight onto my dampened face and stir it about a bit to get it to lather up.

It feels better to me than the Proraso, and takes up less space in a washbag when travelling. A different smell, but it's grown on me.