archenemy blog

Instapundit is enjoying shaving with a brush and good cream.

I switched over to shaving with a brush about 10 years ago, and in the last 2 have been using a safety razor. Being a cheap bastard, I just wanted to point out that one does not have to spend $72 plus shipping to get a good shave. Some very cheap options exist:

Shave soap and cream:

• Proraso, and Italian shave cream is available at Target for about $7. Highly metholated, so when you splash on water to rinse off prepare for the “Aahhhh”. Look in the “Spa” section, not with the rest of the shave stuff.
• Palmolive “Red” is available for a couple bucks at CVS and other national drug store chains.
• William’s Shaving Soap is available at CVS and other national drug store chains for $1.50.
• Weleda shave cream is available at Whole Foods for about $6.
• Although it sounds stupid, Kiss My Face, also at Whole Foods, is great. It’s also cheap at $4.00 for a tube and $7.00 for a large bottle.

All of the creams and soaps here will work much better than any Gillette foam or gel, and given how long they last, probably work out cheaper too.

Target also sells boar hair shave brushes for under $10 that do the job and will last for years. If you refuse to go old school with the brush, two great options are:

• King of Shaves Gel. It is a completely weird experience until you get used to it, but is works great.
• Aveeno Gel. The only thing that comes out of a can that works. I think it’s supposed to be for womens legs, but it works great on your face.