Suggest me a brush

songwind · 12 days

May I suggest a silvertip badger brush from Larry at Whipped Dog? You can get a 24/65 knot for $16.00, an assembled brush with a resin handle for $20.00, and an assembled brush with a custom pottery handle for around $30.00. I bought one of these and love it. Definitely can't complain about the price -- though it seems to use up more soap per shave than my other brushes.

Zipvex143258 · 1 month

Heh, maybe it's a virus going around :P. Over the last week, I've nicked myself pretty badly on three separate occasions. When I tried to shave three days ago, I cut myself so badly twice that I decided a second pass wasn't worth it.

Hopefully it's passed now :). I finally managed to shave myself again this morning without any cuts, woohoo!

otto454z · 2 months

These are great links! Thanks for the websites. Like I said, I'd eventually like to be able to do this myself, so this may be a prime opportunity to learn! :-D The engineer in me is always looking for new projects and we have a lot of various grit sandpaper lying around in the shop. Definitely thinking about giving this a shot now.

qpid · 2 months

The knot recently fell out of my AOS badger brush after ~2 years of use. I found that it's a pretty easy fix with some epoxy. After removing some of the dried glue in the handle with sandpaper, I spread the epoxy around the base of the knot with a q-tip and pushed it back in. Make sure to quickly wipe up the epoxy that bulges out after pushing the knot back though! :-)

It's unfortunate that it happened so soon after your purchase, especially considering the price. Given the reviews on Amazon, you may have the same thing happen with a replacement, so fixing it yourself might be a better permanent solution.

tme001 · 2 months

My most-often used setup is:

Dovo SS shavette with red insert
Derby blade
Silvertip brush from Whipped Dog
AOS Sandalwood pre-shave oil, cream, and aftershave

If you are using a shavette or DE, I would say give Derby blades a shot. I've tried other blades, like Merkurs and Wilkinson Swords, but have never had good results.

I also have a small tube of the AOS Lavender as well -- it goes really good with my Dr. Bonner's Lavender soap. If you like AOS I would check out their Sandalwood scent.

Draconius · 2 months

That looks really nice! I'd love to put this in my bathroom if I had the counter space!

otto454z · 2 months

After buying the second one, I was asked the "how many razors do you need?" question. Haha, RAD is in full force. :P

otto454z · 2 months

Nice! Thanks for the info.

Given the shape of the two blades, I would have bet that the Elliot razor would have been older. That's really cool to know. :D It's amazing to me that a pre-1890's razor is still in such good condition.

Was it common for manufacturers to not stamp their blades before a certain time?

otto454z · 2 months

Haha, I'm loving the name, too! :D Reminds me of the video someone posted here a few days ago, where someone was shaving with an axe for charity. (Can't seem to find the link at the moment.)

otto454z · 2 months

Thanks for the info!

After you suggested Larry, I found that he has teamed up with "Mason Razorworks" and offers a $20.00 razor refurbishing as well. Has anyone had experience with this?

Given the light rust on the WM Elliot razor, I'm wondering if this is necessary... However, both of the razors are a little gunky around the pins, and I unfortunately have no way of unpinning them myself. So maybe both should be sent in for a good cleaning!

otto454z · 3 months

Haha yea! I have a black lab myself. She'll jump from the shoveled driveway into a snowbank, then crawl underneath the snow, eventually poke her head out, and then roll around. She loves it!

otto454z · 3 months

I never owned a springer myself, but they seem like great dogs.

I just love the look on his face :-).

crunchytheory · 4 months

This is a pretty accurate rundown, but I don't think the interaction portion is true. As a PhD student, I feel like I actually see a lot of the MRSD students either be it in class, when people have lunch, or at a department party after a talk. While we don't have any MRSD students in our lab, my friends in the program work for faculty members in the department, so I feel that there would actually be a lot of interaction on the research side as well.

*Edited for flipped letters in acronym.

rbishop · 4 months

I tend to lick my lips a lot while working, so I've had problems with chapstick longevity. Based on personal experience, here are three good lipbalm choices I can recommend -- these tend to stay on a while:

1.) Burt's Bees is widely available and comes in a few different varieties. Some even have UV protection, which is good. This was the first lipbalm I've owned that I actually finished without losing.

2.) Smith's Rosebud Salve comes in a little tin and is available at Sephora. The formula's remained unchanged since 1892, so it is naturally very good. Comes in a few varieties, but I think that the original works best. Some are a little turned off by the baby powder scent, though.

3.) I'm currently using Jack Black lipbalm, also available at Sephora, and online as well. A little pricey at $7.25 a tube, but it's a good product. Doesn't seem to stay on quite as long as the others on this list, but does the best job moisturizing in my opinion. Tried two of the four available flavors, grapefruit and lavender, and both are awesome.

Hope this helps!

Leisureguy · 4 months

16,869

otto454z · 4 months

Pay the Doctaz, Booooyyyyyyyyzzzz!

gatoraid · 4 months

I would like to second this. I switched from a cartridge razor to a SS Dovo Shavette about 4 years ago and have not looked back since. The shaves are amazing and the razor is very high quality -- definitely good enough to stand on its own, not just a stepping stone towards a real straight razor.

That being said, I finally pulled the trigger on a Sight Unseen Deal from WhippedDog this morning after wanting to experience the difference between a shavette and a true straight. Can't wait for the razor to come in! Will make a post about my experiences after a few shaves!

balladavid · 5 months

Frosted mega-wheats are the best.

otto454z · 5 months

Thanks for the advice. I was aware of the Nivea for men aftershave, but not their body wash. I'll definitely check it out.

Nivea's "creme" in the blue tubs is really good, too. If you're interested in a good body moisturizer, I would check it out.

Also, the Jack Black line of products is REALLY good. I think it's pretty widely available in department stores at the mall.

Sirdimos · 5 months

I have to agree with this. I've been using a shavette (straight razor but with replaceable blades so you don't have to worry about maintenance) for about four years now (was using a Gillette cartridge razor before) and a good prep makes a tremendous difference. Regardless of whether you decide to go with straight razor or stick with a safety razor, using a good pre-shave oil and cream/soap combination will make a world of difference.

When I first started using a shavette, I thought that I got a smoother shave using the safety razor, but I noticed that I would have to shave less frequently if I used a straight. I think the reason for this was that I was pressing too hard with the straight and irritating my skin, which would cause it to become bumpy, but the shave was definitely a lot closer.

After some practice with my shavette, I wouldn't go back to using a cartridge. I would definitely try it out. You can pick up a good shavette (from DOVO for example) and a blade sampler pack for about $30.00 on Amazon. Also check out wicked_edge... tremendous amounts of advice in that subreddit.

EDIT: Also try multiple passes -- one with the grain and one against or one across. You can gradually remove more hair with multiple passes, which may get you a closer shave with your current setup.

otto454z · 5 months

I've tried their face wash before and really liked it. Every Man Jack is actually how I got interested in "real" wet shaving and switched from the Gillette canned stuff. Will check this out. Thanks!

otto454z · 5 months

Thanks for the tip! Haha, didn't know this existed. Will definitely subscribe to this subreddit!

otto454z

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