What has Gillette done?

[Sanyobusiness]

Try the 'feather' blades I mentioned earlier, I think you'll be quite pleased

I have. Too sharp for me, and I’ve tried a lot of them over the last 10 years.

 

[Swerd]

I like the Mach 3 but someone inside Gillette got a severe case of the stupids a number of years ago and the replacement blades price was raised into the realm of ridiculous.

Maybe those Gillette and Procter & Gamble execs learned their management methods while interning 25 years ago at Maytag.

 

[Mikado463]

I have. Too sharp for me, and I’ve tried a lot of them over the last 10 years.

Interesting, I've always felt the duller the blade the worse the shave, more pulling than clean cutting IMO.

 

[davidscott]

So how many blades do we really need?

 

[Mikado463]

So how many blades do we really need?

personally and I speak for my beard type, anything more than 3 is a waste of $$ and a marketing gimmick.

As for Gillette , IMO they are a bunch of bullshitters. I'm sure there are some old enough here to remember years back with that ridiculous commercial they had using a credit card and a microphone, going up one side of a guys face and then down the other side.

 

[Replicant 7]

I do use the Gillette three blade now, I use to use the 5 blade thing but after the prices shot up for a 5 pack close to 40+ bucks and found out that they Do Not Last a month for each. Yeah they full of sh$t. The price use to be under 30 bucks for a 5 pack, I've seen the price over 40 bucks for a 5 pack at Wally world. Just checked price at Wally world got to retract my statement, they have the Gillette fusion 8 pack for $24!! Wow, just ordered some. Should last me at least three more months.

 

[cpp]

Just get a straight razor and go for it. Last a life time, and they do shave as sharp as a razor, if you know how to put an edge on them,

 

[Sanyobusiness]

Interesting, I've always felt the duller the blade the worse the shave, more pulling than clean cutting IMO.

My face isn’t as smooth as I like to believe. Around the adam’s apple it’s more like the skin of a plucked chicken. A really sharp blade will take the tops off the bumps, no matter how delicate I try to be. I get my blades from Mother Russia:

 

[Mikado463]

What's your preferred shaving cream/soap ?

 

[davidscott]

personally and I speak for my beard type, anything more than 3 is a waste of $$ and a marketing gimmick.

As for Gillette , IMO they are a bunch of bullshitters. I'm sure there are some old enough here to remember years back with that ridiculous commercial they had using a credit card and a microphone, going up one side of a guys face and then down the other side.

I do vaguely remember that commercial Mike. Was it 70s or 80s? And looking back it was kind of ridiculous.

 

[davidscott]

I found some Gillette Black with LUBRASTRIP (their words) 3 packs at the local Dollar Tree. Since I only shave every other day these should last me a week or 2 depending on wear. Hopefully they are at least as serviceable as the Wallmart Equate brand I sometimes use.

 

[Sanyobusiness]

What's your preferred shaving cream/soap ?

Pre de Provence (soap, not cream)

 

[davidscott]

What's your preferred shaving cream/soap ?

Regular facial soap.

 

[Limadelta]

Pre de Provence (soap, not cream)

I like Castle Forbes and LA Shaving’s Bespoke

 

[Dude#1279435]

So how many blades do we really need?

At least 22, and not more than 50. Just to be safe.

 

[Swerd]

It seems recycling older Steam Vent threads has become more popular than bickering over politics, and who's scored the latest points in The Culture Wars. I'm good with that.

Back in September, I decided to go with Gillette Mach 3 Turbo blades. I think I covered that already. I ordered a box of 20 M3T blades from Costco. They are much better than the fake Sensor Excel blades I had thrown out.

I wanted to get away from the Gillette handles, and splurged a bit, getting one of these. It was about $32 on Amazon. It's longer, heavier, and better balanced than Gillette's handle. I like that.

That bit of splurging got me over the edge, just a bit. It helped that I had an abundance of points in my Amazon account.

I decided I had nothing better to do than try a badger shaving brush. Being basically cheap, I ordered a $30 Parker Black Badger brush. That turned out to be a shopping error. It was OK except for 3 or 4 hairs that were too stiff and sharp. As I worked up a lather on my face, those hairs poked my face enough to hurt. I eventually ditched it, replacing with this Silvertip Badger brush at only twice the price. It's much better.

Next, I had to have a proper stand & bowl for all this nice stuff. Got this. The stand is good, but the bowl is too small.

I eventually realized I needed a larger bowl to whip up the lather, I ordered this shaving mug. It cost less than others I saw, and has a useful feature of raised 'speed bumps' on the inside bottom of the mug. They actually help in raising a lather.

Even after getting all this fine new stuff, I found there was a learning curve for getting a good lather. I found this video on Amazon which actually helped me in this process. Ignore the first minute.

Finally, I can get to my real question that Mikado463 mentioned earlier.

What's your preferred shaving cream/soap?

So far, I've used Poraso Red which is sandalwood scented. Once I learned how to make good lather, I started liking it.

I have learned there are basically two types of shaving soap, tallow (animal fat) based, or palm oil (vegetable oil) based. I was steered away from the tallow kind because one customer reviewer said it made his skin too greasy. I imagine that guys with dryer skin might prefer the tallow based soaps.

I have learned that there is a bewildering variety of shaving soaps & scents available, at wide range of prices. With that in mind, what can anyone recommend? @Mikado463 and @TLS Guy

 

[Mikado463]

It seems recycling older Steam Vent threads has become more popular than bickering over politics, and who's scored the latest points in The Culture Wars. I'm good with that.

Back in September, I decided to go with Gillette Mach 3 Turbo blades. I think I covered that already. I ordered a box of 20 M3T blades from Costco. They are much better than the fake Sensor Excel blades I had thrown out.

I wanted to get away from the Gillette handles, and splurged a bit, getting one of these. It was about $32 on Amazon. It's longer, heavier, and better balanced than Gillette's handle. I like that.
View attachment 51595
That bit of splurging got me over the edge, just a bit. It helped that I had an abundance of points in my Amazon account.

I decided I had nothing better to do than try a badger shaving brush. Being basically cheap, I ordered a $30 Parker Black Badger brush. That turned out to be a shopping error. It was OK except for 3 or 4 hairs that were too stiff and sharp. As I worked up a lather on my face, those hairs poked my face enough to hurt. I eventually ditched it, replacing with this Silvertip Badger brush at only twice the price. It's much better.
View attachment 51597

Now I had to have a proper stand & bowl for all this nice stuff. Got this. The stand is good, but the bowl is too small.
View attachment 51599

Finally, I realized I needed a larger bowl to whip up the lather, I ordered this shaving mug. It cost less than others and has a useful feature of raised 'speed bumps' on the inside bottom of the mug. They actually help in raising a lather.
View attachment 51600
Even after getting all this fine new stuff, I found there was a learning curve for getting a good lather. I found this video on Amazon which actually helped me in this process. Ignore the first minute.

Finally, I can get to my real question that Mikado463 mentioned earlier.
So far, I've used Porasso Red which is sandlewood scented. Once I learned how to make good lather, I started liking it.
View attachment 51601

I have learned there are basically two types of shaving soap, tallow (animal fat) based, or palm oil (vegetable oil) based. I was steered away from the tallow kind because one customer reviewer said it made his skin too greasy. I imagine that guys with dryer skin might prefer the tallow based soaps.

I have learned that there is a bewildering variety of shaving soaps & scents available. With that in mind, what can anyone recommend? @Mikado463 and @TLS Guy

Wow !! next thing you know you'll be buying 4 figure power cords, LOL !!

Seriously though, nice looking piece of kit ! So I see the box is labeled 'safety razor', again my blade of choice is 'Feather' (Japanese), for cream I use good 'ole EDGE or NIVEA, both are gels.

 

[panteragstk]

It seems recycling older Steam Vent threads has become more popular than bickering over politics, and who's scored the latest points in The Culture Wars. I'm good with that.

Well then that settles it. I need to find our old food threads. We had some good ones, including your brisket one.

Too bad Adam isn't around to do his amazon reviews anymore.

 

[Mikado463]

So, Richard, now that you've gone back to a safety razor inquiring minds want to know....... is it a three piece or a butterfly ? I have one of each and must admit my butterfly sees more use than my more expensive Mekur 'barber poll' as of late.

 

[Swerd]

So, Richard, now that you've gone back to a safety razor inquiring minds want to know....... is it a three piece or a butterfly ? I have one of each and must admit my butterfly sees more use than my more expensive Mekur 'barber poll' as of late.

No, I haven't gone back to a safety razor. In my experience with them, in the distant past, they were anything but safe. I'm using Gillette Mach 3 Turbo cartridges on a non-Gillette handle.

Parker Safety Razor is the name of the small company, located in Yorktown Heights, NY, that makes/imports/sells the razor handle I bought. They sell a variety of different shaving products including safety razors, badger brushes, etc. They sell online through their outlet, confusingly called Super Safety Razors, and also through Amazon.