Underrated Shaving Stuff

Crabtree creams, these are fantastic creams, dont know about the soap.  Their balms are also really good.  You dont see it talked about much.

The creams are excellent. Crabtree hard soaps are atypical, to say the least. Their lather becomes invisible in matter of seconds : still slick and provides with great protection, but the soap seems to have disappeared. One of my current favourite, both in cream and hard soap form.

As for the balm, it suits perfectly my skin type (normal with a slight tendency toward oily). Not sticky. Dries quickly. And, more importantly, the next day, my skin is visibly better.

Razors:  Parker Three Piece Razors.  Well Made, affordable, and the heads are of better quality in IMO than other razors in this same price range.  The Parker of today is not the same as it was three years ago.  My 97R is a great razor that isn't too mild yet isn't FTP or Muhle R41 aggressive.  Comparing their products of today from those of their past, one can see a clear difference.  I think Parker today, epitomizes what happens when you have more competition in the market place.  Their products had to get better and they have.

Brushes:  Frank Shaves brushes.  I know some people have had "misses" with these, but frankly, I have purchased four of these and all are great brushes.  One shed terribly for a week. The others shed comparable to other brushes I own that are much more expensive during the break in perios.  Are they like my Simpsons brushes... no.... however, for the price, I'm really impressed with how they perform. 

Blades:  Sharks and Rapira Platinum.  Sharks have become my go to blade for my head shaves and I really get great shaves (3 or 4 per blade) on my face with the Rapira Platinum.

Aftershave:  Clubman all Varieties.  This stuff gets much love or much hate depending on scent and offering.  I have yet to find, for the price, aftershave that does the job and has the staying power of the clubman line.  I have all their offerings in my den  I think it's great stuff.  Even Lilac Vegetal has grown on me after 2/3 of a bottle.  Maybe there is still hope for Special Reserve (not a fan currently)

Pre Shave Oil- Extra Virgin Olive Oil.  I dabbled in pre-shave oil for a bit and Frankly I think Olive oil does a better job, there is evidence its great for the skin and it's dirt cheap.  I no longer dabble in pre-shave oils.

I have to agree on the Parker and olive oil. My 26C is my most used razor and my preshave is a mix of olive oil with grape seed oil and coconut oil.

Finest badger hair.

I feel like a lot of the discussion goes from boar straight to silvertip with little in between. Then you get guys who are annoyed that silvertip is too mushy for them, looking for brushes with a 6mm loft, when the answer was out there all along. Good ol' finest, ready to pamper you with its tips and massage you with its backbone. And for lower cost than silvertip.

Haslinger soaps. I have the sheep's milk soap and while the scent is nothing to write home about (just smells like soap), the performance is crazy.

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Haslinger Schafmilch - The stuff is amazing(as others have said the scent isnt anything special but it is inoffensive) It is probably my top Soap

Aftershave:  Clubman all Varieties.  This stuff gets much love or much hate depending on scent and offering.  I have yet to find, for the price, aftershave that does the job and has the staying power of the clubman line.  I have all their offerings in my den  I think it's great stuff.  Even Lilac Vegetal has grown on me after 2/3 of a bottle.  Maybe there is still hope for Special Reserve (not a fan currently)

I totally agree with this.  I love clubman scents as it feels like I just walked out of a barber shop.  I get compliments all the time from the basic clubman scent.  Heck even Old Spice Classic gets the ladies mentioning that I smell nice.

Check out this thread for underrated shaving soaps:

http://damnfineshave.com/thread-question...aving-soap

I've tried two of the 6 or so vendors nominated (Dapper Dragon Green Tea and Bergamot and Soap Smooth Bergamotes de Nancy) and they are both favorites not and deserve some attention.

Aftershave:  Clubman all Varieties.  This stuff gets much love or much hate depending on scent and offering.  I have yet to find, for the price, aftershave that does the job and has the staying power of the clubman line.  I have all their offerings in my den  I think it's great stuff.  Even Lilac Vegetal has grown on me after 2/3 of a bottle.  Maybe there is still hope for Special Reserve (not a fan currently)

I totally agree with this.  I love clubman scents as it feels like I just walked out of a barber shop.  I get compliments all the time from the basic clubman scent.  Heck even Old Spice Classic gets the ladies mentioning that I smell nice.

I'm also a fan of the old spice classic scent...the bottle is pretty cool, too!

I would say derbys. They get pooped on a lot. I know they are not the sharpest by any means, but they are so smooth and forgiving that they allow almost anyone the ability to jump into wet shaving and get a good shave.  I just recently explored other blades and while I did find a lot that I liked more, I believe there will always be a spot for the derby in my den (that plus I have like 80 left). In the end give me derbys over a cartridge.

Yeah, I would agree with Derby blades, when i had a Merkur 37c they were the only blades in it that wouldn't leave my neck looking like hamburger meat.

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What shaving stuff either hardware or software do you think is underrated and should be talked about more in the shaving circles/Forums/ You Tubers etc

I'm going to Throw TOBS peppermint shaving cream into the equation. Seen very little talk about it but for me it's a winner. Not mentholated but the peppermint oil really gives you a good face freeze more so than many mentholated soaps or creams

Stirling Soaps, balms, and aftershave splashes. They seem to never get the attention they deserve. Their soaps are probably my favorite tallow-based soaps, though I do love me some Reef Point and, of course, Cella. They keep the prices affordable and they ship promptly, with good customer care. 

I agree about the older generation synthetic brushes. I have a Men-u synthetic I got maybe ten years ago. Great brush. Wouldn't buy it again because it's too damned expensive. Last time I looked it was nearly twice the cost of a Plisson. But a really good brush. 

Kiss My Face shaving creams. I heard about these from the Mad Scientist of Wet Shaving on youtube. They are inexpensive and superb. Wonderfully clean and natural ingredients.

Yes, the Stirling soaps range and price is outstanding. The best straight razor shaves I've had have been with Stirlings or B&M lather. You can pick up a Stirling soap, Splash and balm for about $25, that's cracking value.

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Crabtree creams, these are fantastic creams, dont know about the soap.  Their balms are also really good.  You dont see it talked about much.

Unfortunately, their soaps perform similar to the GFT or T&H hard soaps. I had a puck of the older formula C&E Sandalwood soap and the difference was night and day with the modern formulation.

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Love Arco as well, I don't mind the scent.  Love the Speick stick as well, great performer IMO, and the scent is a little better than the Arco stick.

Yeah , the Speick stick for the price is awesome stuff. Arko left my skin dry and I couldn't get over that smell so it doesn't matter how cheap Arko gets it won't be in my den. There's just too much good stuff out there I'm afraid.

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Haslinger soaps. Top quality lather, but rarely spoken on the shaving forums.

Calani Soaps. Great artisan soaps from Germany, already in the market since several years ago. Great performance and scents. The same can be said about Nanny Silly Soaps from UK.

Wilkinson shaving stick. Great performance, even has tallow for the tallow-lovers.

Musgo Real shaving soap. The first version, released a couple of years ago, was lacking performance (unstable lather), but the new version is wonderful. Great performance and scent.

Some good soaps like Provence Santé, Tabac, D.R.Harris were staples a couple of years ago. Now, they are rarely mentioned on the forums, for some reason other than quality and performance.

Kiss My Face shaving cream. I have to mention this, because that stuff impressed me from the first time that I've tried it. Great performance and nice scents. As a plus, the package has a huge quantity for an affordable price, and they are easy to get if you are in the USA.

Gillette Tech razors. Easy to get, affordable, robust, simple to clean and maintain. Created in the 30's, and still produced today... Yes, they are mild - and that's exactly the secret behind their popularity through all the XX century. Nearly everyone can grab one and have a nice relaxing shave with it.

I would agree about the D R Harris hard soaps, possibly people have assumed they have went the same way as T&H and GFT have with their hard soaps, which for the price are pretty appalling in my opinion. D R Harris are a completely different story.

I have gone through a wide range of products over my years of wetshaving.  When someone says, "underrated," my first response is always, "Scale Polish".  Dapper Dragon's Scale Polish is without a doubt the best post-save product I have ever used.  In my early days of wetshaving my head, there were certainly some bad shaves that needed rescue.  I made a homemade concoction that consisted of aloe gel that was thinned down with witch hazel and a few drops of tea tree oil and lavender essential oil to cut the smell.  This stuff was a lifesaver in that it promoted healing, protection, and soothing comfort.  The only drawback is that it left a light stickiness from the aloe gel, so I would eventually feel the need to rinse it off once the initial trauma was resolved.  

Then came along "Scale Polish".  This is like an uber-refined version of what I was mixing at home, only Scale Polish has pleasant scents. (If you haven't tried their "Festival" or "Black Dragon" scents, you don't know what you're missing.)  When I initially started using Scale Polish, I quickly realized it would be my new rescue post-product.  Unlike my homemade concoction, Scale Polish leaves a silky smooth feel with no apparent sheen or barrier left behind.  Since I don't have many bad shaves anymore, I rarely need a rescue product, but I find myself using Scale Polish regardless.  It just feels so good and unlike any other product I've used.

Despite the fact that I have a lot a territory to cover being a head and face shaver, I only need to dip my index finger into the product and whatever adheres to my finger is plenty of product to cover everything.  They're sold in 2 oz. containers, but a little goes a long way.  Here's a gif I made to demonstrate consistency. (Not sure how the board will handle a gif, so here goes...)