Online Safety Razor Retailer

CF93 · 16 Aug 2007 at 12:05

fini said:
Styptic pens are the spawn of the DEVIL. Can someone please explain what is deemed so fun about them to me?

So, you're bleeding a little bit and it might hurt a tiny bit, you apply the styptic pen to it and 'AHHHHH MY FACE!!!!' (think about the moment out of Home Alone). OK I'm not bleeding any more, but my face is ON FIRE. Half an hour later when your face would normally have stopped hurting and bleeding, having used a styptic pen its not bleeding but still hurting.

Why would anyone do this to themselves - or am I just allergic to styptic pens?

Quoted for truth. They're a pain in the neck, literally!

SaBBz · 16 Aug 2007 at 12:34

Got my Merkur 34 today and the other bits I ordered. Used them and it's the best shave I've ever had - so much better than the Boots safety razor I'd been using. No nicks or cuts at all! One question I have is what to do with the soap in the wooden bowl as it still has lather on the top of it, should I wipe this off or just put the lid back on? Think I'm going to have to give the badger brush a wash too as it smells like farmyard animals

Thanks.

Youstolemyname · 16 Aug 2007 at 12:39

SaBBz said:
Got my Merkur 34 today and the other bits I ordered. Used them and it's the best shave I've ever had - so much better than the Boots safety razor I'd been using. No nicks or cuts at all! One question I have is what to do with the soap in the wooden bowl as it still has lather on the top of it, should I wipe this off or just put the lid back on? Think I'm going to have to give the badger brush a wash too as it smells like farmyard animals

Thanks.

DONT DO ANYTHING ARTIFICIAL TO THE BRUSH!

The natural oils in the hairs protect the brush and ensure it lasts. Washing the brush in anything other than shave soap and water will damage it. Don't worry, the smell will pass in time but till then just rinse it in hot water and shake off the excess before letting it drip drip in its stand.

K.C. Leblanc · 16 Aug 2007 at 12:44

Anyone tried the Derby blades on that site. £10 for 100 sounds good to me.

SaBBz · 16 Aug 2007 at 12:50

Youstolemyname said:
DONT DO ANYTHING ARTIFICIAL TO THE BRUSH!

The natural oils in the hairs protect the brush and ensure it lasts. Washing the brush in anything other than shave soap and water will damage it. Don't worry, the smell will pass in time but till then just rinse it in hot water and shake off the excess before letting it drip drip in its stand.

A piece of paper came with the brush saying that you should wash it periodically with a dilute Borax solution.

Shamrock · 16 Aug 2007 at 13:39

K.C. Leblanc said:
Anyone tried the Derby blades on that site. £10 for 100 sounds good to me.

Yeah I have them, they seem fine to me. Also got free shaving cream with them!

Whilst I do prefer my merkur to the mach 3 on my face does anyone else find the DE doesn't work so well on the neck? I find I always cut myself and miss quite a few hairs. I think its due to the direction of growth on my neck, but with the mach 3 I can get them all without injury.

Alex_L · 16 Aug 2007 at 13:54

fini said:
Styptic pens are the spawn of the DEVIL. Can someone please explain what is deemed so fun about them to me?

fini

I never found a styptic pencil is anything worse than a very slight stinging sensation when I first touch it on the skin, which passed after about a minute, no worse than putting aftershave straight on skin you've just shaved. But seeing as I haven't cut myself with the merkur in about 6 months, mines stayed in the cupboard so maybe time has dulled my memories of using a styptic pencil.

SaBBz · 17 Aug 2007 at 09:39

K.C. Leblanc said:
Anyone tried the Derby blades on that site. £10 for 100 sounds good to me.

Anyone know if these are better than the Merkur blades? They seem awesome to me but then I've only used Boots ones before!

tom_e · 17 Aug 2007 at 11:46

SaBBz said:
Anyone know if these are better than the Merkur blades? They seem awesome to me but then I've only used Boots ones before!

Ive got both the merkur and the derby blades and id say the derbys were a little bit harsher when first used but still a very good blade

Youstolemyname · 17 Aug 2007 at 12:18

SaBBz said:
A piece of paper came with the brush saying that you should wash it periodically with a dilute Borax solution.

Borax is natural. It's just an anti-fungal and to be honest I haven't bothered using it on mine.

Psycho Sonny · 17 Aug 2007 at 13:07

SaBBz said:
Anyone know if these are better than the Merkur blades? They seem awesome to me but then I've only used Boots ones before!

the merkurs are actually the worst blades you can get, ill tell you my order of preference

1. Israelies
2. Derby's
3. Swedes
4. Feather
5. Merkur

although its very close between the derbys, swedes and feathers, the merkurs truly are terrible and the israelis are heaven

Psycho Sonny · 17 Aug 2007 at 13:08

Shamrock said:
Yeah I have them, they seem fine to me. Also got free shaving cream with them!

Whilst I do prefer my merkur to the mach 3 on my face does anyone else find the DE doesn't work so well on the neck? I find I always cut myself and miss quite a few hairs. I think its due to the direction of growth on my neck, but with the mach 3 I can get them all without injury.

with a DE razor you need to do multiple passes at least 4 passes i do 6-10 when i have enough time, this should solve your problems, each pass should be in a different direction

Psycho Sonny · 17 Aug 2007 at 13:19

Reppyboyo said:
Thanks good to know.

Whats the difference between the soaps & cream?

the soaps last 10 times longer, but they take longer to lather

for example a soap should last you 6-9 months depending on how regularly you shave, a cream on the other hand could last you 1-4 months depending on how regularly you shave, i personally used one tube of cream in about 15-20 shaves but with a soap you should get about 100 shaves

lathering is almost instaneous with a cream 10 seconds of swirling and your ready to go, but with soap you need to swirl for 1-3 minutes depending on how hard the soap is, triple milled soaps you need the full 3 minutes, other softer soaps you need only 1 minute

i have soaps and creams, although i would say cream is the better of the two it is far more expensive, i switched to DE shaving to save money, so i have roughly 5 different soaps and only 2 different creams and i switch between them depending on my mood, today i think im gonna go for my lime soap, or maybe even menthol, or shall i go for rose, hmmmmmmm i love the smell of almond though? so many choices gives for a far better shaving experience, i have been doing this for 6 months now and i wouldnt go back to a mach 3 for anything.

any more questions feel free to ask

Youstolemyname · 17 Aug 2007 at 13:26

@ psycho sonny, do you shave against the grain of hair growth then with your DE?

I always found this resulted in ingrowing hairs for me.

Psycho Sonny · 17 Aug 2007 at 13:31

Youstolemyname said:
@ psycho sonny, do you shave against the grain of hair growth then with your DE?

I always found this resulted in ingrowing hairs for me.

i have to shave against the grain, without shaving against the grain i do not get a close shave, it looks as if i shaved the day before basically, like 1 day stubble, but when i shave against the grain i dont need to shave for 3-4 days it really does get that close and i have really thick hair, ive never had an ingrowing hair on my face, and with the multiple pass approach what you should do is

1. shave with the grain
2. shave with the grain again
3. shave across the grain
4. shave across the grain the other way
5. shave against the grain
6. shave against the grain again

so it would be shave down twice, then left to right, then right to left, then up twice, this should sort out any problems

Psycho Sonny · 17 Aug 2007 at 13:36

also for anyone that has a DE razor or is going to get one, dont go for that 100 blade pack get this instead

http://westcoastshaving.com/

it is a sampler pack, its in american dollars so for £15 roughly you get 50 blades 10 of each kind and this will let you know which is the best blade for you, 50 blades should last you for 150-200 shaves so for me thats like 2 years for £15 amazing value and you get to try all of the 5 major brands, they also have an extended pack now which offeres some other blades, you could also go for that option as well

this pack was designed so new users could get a feel for every type of blade then choose which was the best for them

the best for me is the israelis but a lot of people love the feathers and derby's

jumpy · 17 Aug 2007 at 14:33

Youstolemyname said:
Borax is natural. It's just an anti-fungal and to be honest I haven't bothered using it on mine.

Yup, so long as you rinse the soap/cream out of the brush with water after use and hand it bristles down to dry off after a quick shake, it should last for ever without any problem.

hargi · 17 Aug 2007 at 14:41

SABBz
when you ordered, did you get a email from interlink saying your package had been dispatched? if so how many days after that did it arrive?

Looking forward to all the soaps and that i can get

SaBBz · 17 Aug 2007 at 18:40

hargi said:
SABBz
when you ordered, did you get a email from interlink saying your package had been dispatched? if so how many days after that did it arrive?

I'm impatient so I got it sent by special delivery. It turned up 2 days later as I missed the royal mail pickup on the day I ordered.

Youstolemyname · 18 Aug 2007 at 18:34

Psycho Sonny said:
the merkurs are actually the worst blades you can get, ill tell you my order of preference

1. Israelies
2. Derby's
3. Swedes
4. Feather
5. Merkur

although its very close between the derbys, swedes and feathers, the merkurs truly are terrible and the israelis are heaven

Thinking of getting this pack of samplers. Are these the isrealis you mean as there seem to be loads of different isreali blades out there...

http://www.connaughtshaving.com/uk.html