Overrated! or Things that never worked for you that others deem necessary.

So...stealing this idea from another place and time. It's a good thread idea, and I apologize if it already exists here, somewhere, and I never found it...

What products or techniques have you found to be highly touted by the community at large that just don't work for you? As a guideline, this would be something that you read about as being mandatory, or necessary for a good shave, by a large percentage of this forum(or any other), yet you yourself find to be unnecessary or simply overrated.

Products and techniques both are welcome here.

I'll start:
Lengthy pre-shave rituals. Oils, hot towels, hot showers, pre-washes, glycerin soaps, beard prep, etc, etc, etc... I have yet to feel a significant difference in shave quality or comfort with any of the prescribed pre-shave rituals so highly touted by the community at large. Wash, oil and hot towel produces a shave no better or smoother than simply splashing hot water on my scalp and lathering.

Alum. It does nothing for me. I admit that when I was getting a lot of irritation starting out, the sting of the alum block did seem to reduce the post shave irritation, but I honestly haven't used it in months, and I have noticed no difference in my post-shave feel. The best thing I use it for these days is to stop a weeper and provide some necessary grip to my soapy fingers for stretching the scalp. As a styptic, it works well. As a post-shave skin toner, I find it useless.

Open Combs. I love my Old Type, and I really appreciate the look of an open comb razor. They just look like they will scalp you. But I don;t find them to perform any better than my safety bar razors, either in terms of closeness of shave or in ease of cleaning. I rinse my razors every couple of strokes, and never have an issue with clogging. Now...I shave every night, so perhaps if I let my hair grow in a couple days, it would make a difference in terms of clogging, but for a daily head shave, I find it to be unnecessary and overrated...

Your turn!

Your first paragraph is spot on for me. The second is not as alum is an essential part of my shave with coarse whiskers and sensitive skin. It keeps my irritation at bay.

For me, high end brushes are over rated. My silver tip takes a back seat to my Stirling Kong and I find myself worrying that the DFS brush might also not measure up.

I'm very surprised to see that alum doesn't cause you any problems with your sensitive skin. for me, alum made my face feel like it was on fire...

I have extremely sensitive skin but alum actually works fine for me. When it burns excessively, it indicates exactly where my technique has gone wrong. Barring allergies, alum should only tighten the skin if the shave has been perfect. In my experience the burning feeling is centered on places where my skin is raw and excessively exfoliated by the blade.

I have extremely sensitive skin but alum actually works fine for me. When it burns excessively, it indicates exactly where my technique has gone wrong. Barring allergies, alum should only tighten the skin if the shave has been perfect. In my experience the burning feeling is centered on places where my skin is raw and excessively exfoliated by the blade.

my lack of using alum blocks means there's more alum for you in the world.

Hehe . I will bathe in it!

shavemac's two band silvertip just doesn't do it for me.

Funny you say that, Simpson Manchurians don't do a thing for me, lol....Is like rubbing my face with sand paper, lol.....Owned a bunch, sold a bunch.

Shavemac 2 band Silvertips are great for me, but like everything else is one of those YMMV.

yeah, manchurian certainly isn't for everyone. i prefer the really stiff ones, seems those just aren't really out there anymore. d01 is better for me, but those certainly do need some breaking in!

Oh yeah, I have a couple of D01 and you have to spank them hard, lol.....But the funny thing is that it depends on the model, for example the Manchurian on an M7 feels better to me than Manchurian on a CH2 for example. Still scrubby, but not as much.

Also the Brad Sears Manchurian is just plain heaven, so soft. Go figure, lol......

goes to show that 'manchurian' means as much as silvertip, super, finest, best, etc. which is... NOTHING! lol

Lol.....Bingo! Crazy badgers!