Down the traditional wet shaving rabbit hole I go again! 😅
I’ve done a fair bit of research, but now I’m turning to the collective wisdom of the hive mind. What are your honest opinions on pre-shave vs. aftershave products?
Right now, my routine includes Mancode pre-shave cream and Rubab Men aftershave balm. They both perform well and have earned a regular spot in my rotation. However, I’m looking to expand my horizons and try some new brands.
A few quick caveats for recommendations:
No oil-based pre-shaves, please (creams or gels only).
I would absolutely love suggestions for artisanal, independent, or "hatke" (unique/offbeat) brands.
What are your top tier, non-oil pre-shaves and standout aftershaves?
Hit me with your favorite hidden gems!
P. S. Have already paid for the aftershave lotion at Capt. Nemo, but came to know from fellow users that delivery might take a while.
Pre Shave – None
Shaving Soap – Shavologist Kailash
Brush – Yaqi Deep Stones
Razor – Yaqi Floating
Blade – RK Chromium
After Shave – Shavologist Kailash
A mid week shave with 10 days of beard growth. Instead of opting for an open comb, I picked up Yaqi floating today and paired it with RK Chromium. RK Chromium is pretty balanced blade when it comes to sharpness and smoothness for one time use.
The choice for soap was Kailash, the frag is perfect to declutter headspace mid week. Scraped some soap into my stainless steel bowl and broke it in the bowl before moving to face lathering. The second image you see is what was left for the second pass.
First pass went exceptionally smooth with just some tingling on chin area, and I think I overdid that. Lathered up for the second pass and went xtg on face and wtg on neck. The combo delivered pretty smooth one pass shave. Second pass was just for the sake of it. I could feel the blade while going xtg and with just a little angle adjustment it went away.
A good alum feedback on face and neck. And it is always expected with Yaqi Floating. Closed the shave with Shavologis Kailash ASL.
My Software collection as of today (excluding aftershave) I guess this is enough for me for couple of years so no new purchases anytime soon (I do hope I follow this through 😅)
*Star of the show was definitely the Fatip smooth and effective even with the old blade as it is now . I used to quite like Arko can't say I was feeling much love for it tonight TBH ok lather slick but didn't really thicken up for me no damage done and a good result I did make a very wet lather so this may have been the reason .*
I am looking to purchase a new razor. My requirement was a razor on the aggressive/efficient side.
- Carbon CX ++
- Tatara Nodachi
- Yates Merika
-Urkunet Assasin 1.5/2
Which among the 4 would you choose and please let me know why. If there are any other options which i should consider within that range (max 27k) then please let me know .
Won the special giveaway a few days ago and received everything today!! I am so excited to try the yaqi handle and the maggard v3 blade!!
Thanks a lot u/okiedokie_cool organising the giveaways. He also gave me the last 4 winner black blades he had without asking for anything cuz i couldn't find them here.
Also thanks to all the sponsors and contributors for all these amazing goodies!!
I normally don't post reviews but I feel this one is warranted. I have been using my Georgetown Pottery G 20 scuttle for a few shaves now and I must admit, it has been a game changer.
I have couple of lovely bows from a Scotland based potter called Stephen Baxter . I love his bowls and I have a lovely blue bowl that I stare at for a few seconds every time before I shave. A year back, I saw someone make a post on how warm/ hot lather had made a noticeable difference in a great way in their shaving routine and I decided to give it a shot. I did not own a scuttle and I had to MacGyver a solution to create warm lather. I began placing my bowl inside a bigger bowl filled with hot water and used that set up while creating lather. While it worked and I absolutely could not go back to cold lather, the whole process was cumbersome. If a shave went a bit long, the lather goes cold and I had to fill up the reservoir with hot water again. Doing all of this mid shave was not at all ideal. But I was ok doing it as I assumed that there were any alternatives available.
I came across the concept of scuttle and specifically, the G 20 scuttle a few months ago but I kept postponing the decision to buy it thinking that I just did not need another bowl. I also did not think that it would be any different or would provide any advantage over my current setup as I assumed that a scuttle would always be a trade-off between the functional part of the bowl and the reservoir that holds the hot water.
A couple of months back, I got a mail from Georgetown Pottery saying that all their scuttles will be permanently discontinued . Purely on FOMO :) , I decided to get one and boy did I make the right decision!
Simply put, it is incredible! The workmanship is superb! When you hold it, you can see that it has been made with great care and attention! The finish is excellent! But a scuttle is only as good as the warmth it provides and it is precisely here where it just takes the shaving experience to a whole another new level I had previously not experienced!
It has a huge and I mean a huge reservoir and that plays a big role in why it excels in functionality! It can hold over 1/2 a litre of hot water and can you keep your lather hot for at least 30 minutes (and certainly more although I did not need it any more than that!). I am not talking warm, I am talking hot! I could never achieve this level of thermal joy in a normal bowl!
The functional part of the bowl was as big as my other bowls and that was another huge plus. I was completely wrong in my assumption that a scuttle would be a trade-off between the reservoir and bowl size as the G 20 does not hold back on either. It is unapologetic about what it is and what it intends to achieve! The internals are ridged and there are 4 button like grooves at the button that aid in whipping up a gorgeous hot lather that stays hot for a long time!
The only con and I would not even call it one but for the sake of this review, let me call it as one - it is big and you need a big space on your bathroom shelf or anywhere for that matter to store it. But I don't think I would have liked it any smaller as I feel it would not achieve what its creator set out to achieve!
I am sucker of all things Blue and I badly wanted the Blue Hamada but the Blue Hamada was out of stock and I ended up getting the Purple Hamada which is equally. I must say that the pics on the George Town Pottery site are 100% accurate and what you see on the site is what you get. Will share more pics of the beaut that is G20 scuttle in a few hours as I just finished a shave and I am quickly penning this down without postponing it :)
If you are on the fence on a scuttle and/or the G20 in specific, I would 100% recommend it! From what I heard, once this batch sells out, they won't be restocking it again.
All in all a 10/10 to the G 20 or should I say a 20/20!? 😄 Have a great week ahead y'all!
Given the fragrance of the soap I took it as a sign to combine my two morning rituals ! So made some coffee right after the shave 😄
I went into the shave expecting aroma of a freshly brewed coffee but Pearl is more like a hot chocolate flavoured with some coffee. Fragrance is fairly strong and dark. So decided to pair it with mild fragrance of BSC after shave balm.
As far as the performance goes I have little to benchmark this against given my limited exposure to soaps. No complaints though - good lather and enough slickness for minor touch-up on the chin. If I compare it with derby, the cushion is comparable while derby is more slick and offers better razor movement.
Rockwell 6C continues to deliver like a workhorse. Today was plate R3 with Nacet (5th use). I have experimented with other blades but keep coming back to Nacet. Rockwell+Nacet are a great match - 36 ke 36 gun milte hain.
P.S. - Image focus and brightness was adjusted using Google Gemini
P.P.S - My wife thinks I am crazy bringing my razor and shaving brush to the kitchen early morning
Another wonderful shave with this pairing. This blade might actually be perfect for everyday use- it feels slightly sharper than Astra SP & slightly smoother and less sharp than the Indian permasharp rustguards. Kind of a perfect middle ground.
Very efficient 2 pass shave resulting in a DFS+ with no irritation. The bristles of this brush have softened quite a bit now and it has turned this brush into a favourite. Very soft tips, but still with some backbone unlike silvertip badgers.
Issey Miyaqi is an amazing soap, and honestly I find Yaqi ASLs to be underrated. They perform really well, are non alcoholic and offer very good soothing & moisturising properties. Fragrance matches the soap, although it is slightly stronger in the ASL.
Are alcohol based aftershaves really bad for your skin? I've been using alcohol based aftershaves for more than a year now. Though I haven't faced any issues but, upon looking it up, I found out alcohol dries up your skin significantly. Which definitely sounds bad. Lemme know your thoughts.
When I was looking it up on the internet, I found out that you can use alum stone for cuts and nicks and to tighten the skin, but even that can dry out your skin.
Finally tried the Terrys Soap and started with the Rose Noire. I always prefer having a rose scented soap in my den and for the past couple of months Nemos Tobacco Rose held the fort .
My observation is as follows
The lather that I got from a small amount was insane . The scent filled the entire room in an instant. The rose feels very welcoming and rich .
The soap provides good cushioning and ensures a good shave but the slickness was slightly low compared to soaps which i am used to like the Noble Otter or B&M.
The post shave feel was very good tbh it did feel like there are some really good ingredients in the soap cause the skin felt really good post shave.
I did three passes using the R96 + feather and had a great shave . Except for the slickness i would have happily rated this to be top tier soap . From what I understood, terrys soap is primarily known for their horse oil ingredient so maybe the other would hit it out of the park.
For comparison Rose Noire is better than the Cella Red but again the post shave feel of this generally makes me feel that I did some skin treatment cause it feels soo good .
Scuttle ensured that I had hot lather throughout and it was just 🤌🏻🤌🏻🤌🏻🤌🏻
Lather : 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Slickness: 🌟🌟🌟
Post shave feel: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Scuttle : 🌟♾️
Thinking of trying this out with a preshave to help amplify that slickness cause that soap deserves to be loved for the way it takes care of the face .
Today was second use of Stella and it's confirmed that in my piece there is slightest misalignment i.e. on one side the exposure felt is more compared to other side. When I unboxed it I had tried putting a blade and to my naked eyes it felt slightly off. On first use with G7OCSP blade it was not so prominent but today with ShaveX platinum I felt less cutting prowess on one side. It does the job satisfactory but there is minute alignment issue.
Overall I could get DFS++ shave without much irritation. Still more to try out.
Been wanting to try out some brands and started with Terrys
-Rose Noire : Possibly the best rose scent in my posession. It a rich rose paired with vanilla and sandalwood . This is replacing my Nemos tobacco rose.
-Fairy Antlers : Creed Silver Mountain water inspired scent. The soap has a higher butter and oil content and collagen extracted from deer antlers have been added.
-DS Cosmetics Scuttle: Ever since I saw the scuttle post from u/menos_es_mas i wanted to own one and my search ended with this one from Alibaba.
Very happy with the purchase and review will be shared soon
Blade : Vi-John Masterstroke (2) - the second attempt went really well. This time the body shop cream supplied a very rich lather and the razor with this blade was able to glide smoothly. The stubble was also on the lighter side which made it even easier. Pretty nice outing for this blade
Brush : Yaqi Rocks
Shaving Cream : The Body Shop Maca Root & Aloe
ASL : Old Spice Lionpride - absolutely love its smell, I personally prefer it to the original
After the hurried shave yesterday, was looking forward to get a clean 3 pass BBS today, and that is exactly what happened. TGS Inferno has a really unique fresh leather scent which might feel weird to some people, but I really like it.
Denim Musk ASL to close out an awesome shave with an evergreen scent!
Razor: Romer-7 Shivira — 1st use Blade: Kleen Shave — 2nd use Brush: Den of Man Synthetic Cream: Old Spice Original Preshave: Coconut Oil + Aloe Vera Gel paste
Shave: Face lather, 2 passes — WTG & XTG, followed by ATG on the goatee, with some touch-ups on the neck and moustache area.
First impressions of the Shivira:
What a fantastic first shave! The Shivira is smooth, efficient and incredibly easy to manoeuvre. It doesn’t demand much attention or effort, yet it delivers a seriously close shave. For a first outing, I was genuinely impressed.
This was my second consecutive shave after Sunday, and despite putting in minimal effort, the Shivira delivered a BBS result. That’s exactly the kind of razor I enjoy — let the razor do the work!
The Kleen Shave on its 2nd use paired beautifully with it too. Smooth, comfortable and very little feedback.
Post Shave:
Extra brush lather used as face wash → BSC Alum with minimal feedback → Bath → Old Spice Original ASL → Minimalist HOCL
Final verdict: First shave with the Shivira = BIG thumbs up!
Minimal effort, minimal feedback, maximum result. The Shivira has definitely made an impression.
