Thread: g/f needs gift-giving advice

I think the above listed members have given you some great advice. A nice mug soap and brush would be a great starter. I love a medium price bager brush, this could be use for any type of wet shaving. Those three items would be a great gift. If he likes straight razor than get him a nice razor for 50 to 80 dollars. This is an hoppy that can get expensive, you may not want to start him on this if he has more than one gun or fishing pole. Men are funny critters we like to collect things...

Crom

I think i would favor the advice of the soap/bowl/brush set,as lathering is one of the important steps to getting a great shave,to learn how to achieve the nice lather guide him to the web site and he may take it from there which would lead to another present down the road for him

My 2c

I have really sensitive skin as well, so I can relate to the problems with cartridges and foam.

One key piece of equipment that I have not seen anyone mention (or maybe I missed it), is an alum block. This is inexpensive, and makes the world of difference for me - where I would have a bad rash/blotches for hours after a shave, eventually getting ingrown hairs etc, a quick swipe of the alum over my face after a shave with either DE or straight and my face has calmed down within about 20-30 mins after a shave. In fact, within about 30 mins my wife cant tell I have shaved (other than the BBS'ness of course!).

At a minimum, you should get him;

Razor
Razor blades
Shaving brush
Alum block
Shave soap/cream

In terms of what to start him with, this is my recommendation assuming you want to buy new;

Merkur 34C Razor - $34.19
Shavex Alum Block - $8.99
Prorasso - Aloe & Green Tea (good for sensitive skin) - $8.75

I have used prices from Straight Razor Designs, The Finest In Gentlemens Shaving And Grooming Needs as I think members here should support these guys, but as you can see, its fairly affordable.

I havent mentioned a shaving brush yet, as the only budget type ones I saw on SRD were around $50 and I personally wouldnt buy those (thats just a personal preference, I am sure they are all of the highest quality). Classicshaving has best badger brushes for under $50, or pure badger for under $40, and these are good starter brushes.

The last thing I suggest you get, is a razor blade sample pack. This should give you half a dozen packs of different types of blades (usually 5 blades per pack), so that he can work out which blades work best for him (this DOES make a huge difference in the world of DE shaving). Ultimately, you will want a pack that has at a minimum, a pack each of astra, derby, feather, merkur, and personna. The recommendation I have seen is that these are tried in the following order; Merkur, Derby, Astra, Personna, Feather.

If you dont want to buy new, I would get him a reasonable condition gillette tech off ebay ($30 max). The good thing about DE razors, is that the blade is replaceable, so buying something in good secondhand condition results in the ability to immediately shave when you get it.

Once he gets all this gear, I highly recommend he checks out mantic59's youtube videos on DE shaving - even if he thinks he knows how to shave, if hes using cartridges and foam its safe to say he doesnt (no offense - there are just proper ways to do things that get good results, and its better to learn the right way at the start, than getting less than stellar results and giving up).

There is also a video here on SRP from a member (jockeys) about how to create proper lather - its mandatory viewing before his first shave in my opinion.

Also, he should sign up to forums like this one, badgerandblade.com (probably more DE focused than here, but thats just been my experience), the shaveden, etc, and start learning/asking questions. Everyone here is always willing to help out and answer questions.

The good thing about starting off with a DE safety razor is that the soap/cream, brush, alum, etc is all used for straight shaving as well, so there isnt a major investment to get into that if he chooses to do so in future (just needs a razor and strop).

I should have mentioned in my previous post that the Merkur 34C also has a longer handled brother/cousin if your b/f has big hands. From memory I think its a 38C, but not sure. This might be better if he has big hands, as the 34C can cause your hand to cramp up sometimes.

Just ask the vendor and they will point you in the right direction.

I'm new to all this business, but if you don't know whether or not he's into straight shaving, there are three options: buy everything he needs and pray that he likes it; buy the brush and soap and see where he wants to go from there; make lewd remarks about his sexuality: "oh, you don't like a STRAIGHT razor? I thought as much" etc.

Even if he doesn't take to it, a straight razor on the bathroom shelf would look jolly manly for any visiting friends. That's at least half the allure of straight shaving.

Oh yeah, or get a DE razor. Anyway, good luck with it and let us know how it turns out.