Thread: Beginner purchase (suggestions and criticism needed):

The list looks good to me. Can't go wrong getting all this stuff from SRD. I never used Mitchell's wool fat but it gets a lot of attention here on SRP. I have the La Toja shave stick and it has a nice scent and makes for a great lather. Welcome to SRP!

Make sure to shave with it before you strop it, so you get a feel for how sharp it should be.
It's easy to kill the edge if you strop it wrong.

Good stuff, it'll serve you well!

I have the Dovo Pearlex. I like it alot. It is a very handsome razor. I wish it was shoulder-less but that's just me. The gold wash will wear out but that just gives it character or you could have a jeweler re-do the gold wash. Your definitely shooting for high quality stuff there. It takes and keeps a good edge. The pins might need a little tightening when you get it.

Thank you for the ansvers.

I am mostly unsure of the strop and the brush. I truly have no clue what kind of a strop could be good one for a beginner, I just selected a strop which seemed to give "Medium draw" as medium often is a good place to start before you find your own way.

Brush I selected from the price range that is viable for me, but if someone has a suggestion for a max. 40$ brush from any manufacturer I wouldn't mind.

I am interested in trying out the Überlather, hence I also included the La Toja shaving cream as that one was the mostly recomended cream to go with Mitchell's Wool Fat soap. Again if anyone has suggestion for a more suitable cream to go with Mitchell's please do inform me.

Everything looks great. The only thing I would change is the strop, and this is only my personal choice, go with a 2" strop. With a 2" strop you will have to learn the X stroke, which gives better coverage of the blade edge, and you will save a little money. You should also buy an aftershave or toner, my suggestion would be Thayers Witch Hazel.

Mitchell's Wool Fat is an excellent soap, however, it is a little tricky to use, but once you get it you'll like it. Below is a link to Shaving 101 which has a really good explanation on lathering Mitchell's

Mitchell's Wool Fat Shaving Soap

Originally Posted by cosperryan

I have the Dovo Pearlex. I like it alot. It is a very handsome razor. I wish it was shoulder-less but that's just me. The gold wash will wear out but that just gives it character or you could have a jeweler re-do the gold wash. Your definitely shooting for high quality stuff there. It takes and keeps a good edge. The pins might need a little tightening when you get it.

I often tend to make bigger purchases on a better quality products for slightly higher price, as I have been taught by my mother that "Poor person can not afford to buy cheap". She meant that as you have limited amount of money in your usage, you will not be able to buy the product twice if it breaks, is unsuitable for you or just generally bad.

Originally Posted by kettlebell

Everything looks great. The only thing I would change is the strop, and this is only my personal choice, go with a 2" strop. With a 2" strop you will have to learn the X stroke, which gives better coverage of the blade edge, and you will save a little money. And I didn't see is an aftershave or toner, my suggestion would be Thayers Witch Hazel. And Mitchell's is an excellent soap, however, it is a little tricky to use, but once you get it you'll like it. Below is a link to Shaving 101 which has a really good explanation on lathering Mitchell's

Mitchell's Wool Fat Shaving Soap

Thank you for the tip. Suggestions for the strops are very much welcome, as I have the least knowledge about them.

I will most likely use basic Ceralan unscented lotion as my "aftershave" as I have found that this keeps my skin moisturized very well and my skin does not react to it negativelly in any way.

I read indeed that Mitchell's Wool Fat can be tricky to lather, but I do not mind that as like I said I am patient man and I am eager to learn. Doing something hard and finally mastering it just gives better satisfaction at the end. And in the case of this particular soap, it seems to also give rather good results too incomparison to other products of the same price range.


Edit:

Ceralan lotions incredients are the following;

Aqua, Paraffinum Liquidum, Sorbitan Stearate, Stearyl Alcohol, Polyacrylamide, Cetyl Alcohol, Phenoxyethanol, C13-14 Isoparaffin, Milk Lipids, Laureth 7, Methylparaben, Ethylparaben, Butylparaben, Ceramide 3, Propylparaben, Isobutylparaben.

People with better understanding of chemicals can tell me if this lotion is suitable as a aftershave balm. I have used it so far and it seems to be working, but unless you try the grass on the other side of the fence you truly can not know if it is greener or not. I might just be ignorant of better solutions, as my standard for the "aftershave" might so low.

Edit2:

Originally Posted by Ymir

I often tend to make bigger purchases on a better quality products for slightly higher price, as I have been taught by my mother that "Poor person can not afford to buy cheap". She meant that as you have limited amount of money in your usage, you will not be able to buy the product twice if it breaks, is unsuitable for you or just generally bad.

Yes that was my same reasoning for buying that razor. I went with AOS creams and other products though when I first started out as there is a store near me. Since then I have been making my own strops and soaps and soon to be aftershaves. Maybe I will make my own razor too haha.

Looks like a good list to me. Anything that SRD sells will be quality.

I would disregard the suggestion about getting a 2 inch strop, forcing you to do an x stroke. Learning to do an x stroke right away is a good idea in theory, but you're already going to be learning a handful of new things. When learning to strop, you'll have to make sure you don't damage your strop or your edge, and both are pretty common when learning. Learning to strop comes in two stages: not damaging your edge, and improving your edge with your stropping (without crox).

I'd save the crox for later on...I'm not saying don't get it, just I wouldn't use it right away as a lot of new guys try to fix what isn't broken and go and do 50 laps on crox

Congrats on starting out though, any problems or questions you have, just do a search and more often than not, you'll find what you're looking for. When in doubt, ask by starting a thread in the appropriate section of PM a MOD or mentor!

Good luck and have fun

... and when you cut your strop and ding the razors edge, don't cry, we've all done it!

Good luck!