Thread: Hello from China

Hi Francis,

You are right about Guangzhou, there is absolutely nothing you can't buy from that city, however, as you said - where the hell do you begin to look in such a vast city? The only reservation that I have about buying from mainland China is that so much of the stuff is counterfeit that I've lost confidence in buying any expensive designer brands. I know the Mirador Mansions, they're on Nathan Road, Kowloon, I believe. I might just pay a visit to Hong Kong anyway, as I simply love the place!
At the moment I'm using an inexpensive Gillette DE with Gillette Super Blue Blades, which gives me a fairly decent shave in all honesty. I normally buy the blades from a reputable supermarket chain, however, one day I bought the blades off a market stall - the blades were absolutely useless! - I had to dispose of them. When I compared the boxes the only, very slight difference, was the hologram, the fake one on closer inspection was just printed on in silver, other than that you'd have never noticed any difference.

Right now, I just can't help feeling envious of the guys on here who have the delights of owning some beautiful straight razors and the joyful experience of using the various soaps... I guess I'll just have to be a little patient for the time being.

A warm welcome to both of you guys. Wukong is coming along very nicely with the staight razoring, and the bug has clearly bitten him!

AlanInChina, any time you wish to contact me, please feel free to do so. I live in Hong Kong, and will be glad to help you where I can. I can show you where to get high quality Feather DE blades (excellent blades-I use them as well), and I can show you some of the very few places in Hong Kong that sells Straight razors & equipment.

When it comes to the China nock-off blades and straight razors, (Trust me I've tried quite a few of them) then be careful not to be put off the entire experience of wet shaving, especially straight razor shaving. Some of the Gold Dollars / Double arrows out there are OK, but a lot of them are really useless, and will just spoil the whole shaving experience for you.

I would really recommend getting a shave-ready straight razor, or even a disposable straight razor with feather blades to start with, and progress from there.

Enjoy!

Originally Posted by AlanInChina

...
About a month a go I bought a Gold Dollar straight razor and a canvas strop for just 15rmb (about $2.30 USD) yup, just 15rmb and both items new...

Alan, when I was in china, I remember getting the best shave (with a straight razor of course) of my life and a haircut for 3 yuan--then about $0.38 USD if I remember correctly. I went back to the barber for another one 4 days later.

Out of curiosity, and slightly off topic, but what is the most ridiculous counterfeit product you've seen in China? Have you, for example, ever seen counterfeit shaving products?

Hello Francis, and welcome!

Hi leadingedge,

That's very kind of you to offer your help in such a way. If I do decide to head into Hong Kong then I might just take you up on your offer.... I would notify you well in advance, naturally.
I bought a shavette the other day (looks low-quality) and fitted Dorko blades to it, which were all they had available. When I got it home, I did a HHT and it passed easily, so at this point I was quite optimistic of getting a very decent shave. I had a shower and used pre-shave oil and shaving foam (I don't have any soap available at the moment!). I thought it would cut through my growth like the proverbial hot knife through butter - how wrong I was!
It was the most uncomfortable shave I had ever experienced. I only did the sides of my face and had to finish above the lip and neck with my DE. For two days after my face was stinging... and I don't have sensitive skin!
I'm guessing my technique was not too good and this might have been the main factor for such discomfort, perhaps coupled with inferior products that I used.
Anyway, it was a major disappointment, so now I'm undecided about going with a straight or getting a good quality DE, such as the Edwin Jagger Chatsworth, and perhaps some Feather blades or such.

Originally Posted by MikeMN

Alan, when I was in china, I remember getting the best shave (with a straight razor of course) of my life and a haircut for 3 yuan--then about $0.38 USD if I remember correctly. I went back to the barber for another one 4 days later.

Out of curiosity, and slightly off topic, but what is the most ridiculous counterfeit product you've seen in China? Have you, for example, ever seen counterfeit shaving products?

Hi Mike,

As I mentioned in an earlier post... I bought counterfeit razor blades from a street vendor for about 30% less than what they'd cost in a supermarket, however, this proved false economy, as they were total rubbish and couldn't be used!
Shampoo is often counterfeited here, the packaging looks good enough but the consistency is far too watery and I've had some nasty burns on my neck from using it, so now I only buy toiletries from supermarket chains.
They really have no shame when it comes to copyright and using a play on words... as can be seen from the pic above, taken in the city where I live, Liuzhou.

Now that would be an interesting cup of coffee! LMAO!

Alan, it may well be the blades you have in your shavette, and likely a fair bit of your shaving technique on top of that, but please don't give up on the straights too quick! There is most definitely a learning curve involved, an some of your first shaves can be pretty horrible until eventually things just fall into place and it is magic.

I've also bought some el cheapo Dorco blades here in Hong Kong, and they were really bad and rough. They will pass the HHT, but they have pretty jagged edges that just tear up your skin.

Even if you have top quality blades, and you plan on doing any against the grain shaving, I would REALLY recommend not doing that just yet, that really takes a lot of getting used to with the straight razors. Just start slow and combine your DE with the straights for the first while, and only do your cheeks with the straight, for now.

I will show you where in Hong Kong to get real Feather disposable blades for your razor, and also where to get an awesome Feather straight to go with the blades for a real good price.

It does not sound like you have the real dovo shavette there, is it a local copy or something, or the real deal?

welcome to SRP

欢迎来到 SRP

Originally Posted by Blademen

welcome to SRP

欢迎来到 SRP

Straight razor place

Originally Posted by leadingedge

Now that would be an interesting cup of coffee! LMAO!

Alan, it may well be the blades you have in your shavette, and likely a fair bit of your shaving technique on top of that, but please don't give up on the straights too quick! There is most definitely a learning curve involved, an some of your first shaves can be pretty horrible until eventually things just fall into place and it is magic.

I've also bought some el cheapo Dorco blades here in Hong Kong, and they were really bad and rough. They will pass the HHT, but they have pretty jagged edges that just tear up your skin.

Even if you have top quality blades, and you plan on doing any against the grain shaving, I would REALLY recommend not doing that just yet, that really takes a lot of getting used to with the straight razors. Just start slow and combine your DE with the straights for the first while, and only do your cheeks with the straight, for now.

I will show you where in Hong Kong to get real Feather disposable blades for your razor, and also where to get an awesome Feather straight to go with the blades for a real good price.

It does not sound like you have the real dovo shavette there, is it a local copy or something, or the real deal?

Hi Burt,

It was a very cheap, plastic, shavette.... cost just 5rmb. You gets what you pays for I suppose - but it was all that was available. I'm not going to give those Dorco blades another try, even though I suspect that my poor technique played a major part in my having such an uncomfortable shave.
Ah well, all part of the learning curve I guess!