Do any of you still use shaving soap and a brush?

Yes, Shaving soap in a walnut container, bristle brush and a 1939 Gillette razor with double edged blades. All came originally from the UK and when I go over there I pick up the necessary supplies (checked baggage only). Still have a "Rolls Razor" from my father that I will use at times. plus a hollow-ground cutthroat razor in its leather sheath, with all three being pre-WWII. Dave_n
 
For Christmas 1974, my best friend gave me a Old Spice mug and brush set, I still have both but the brush is my back-up. When my oldest was about 14, Odd Lots has Burma Shave brush and mug sets, I bought a set for each son. Number two son's mug got smashed on a short term missions trip as a teen. He glued it together in the field and continued to use it. Every January 1st he would take a picture of him shaving using that mug and texted it to the girl that smashed it!

I'm having a hard time buying good quality brushes!

Ivan
 
I have used Truefitt & Hill for years. GREAT soap and a good boars head brush. I used to use my grandfather's double-sided razor, but as I get older, I like the convenience of one of those new vibrating multi-blade Razors.

I still keep the Barbasol around and often end up using that and still applying with the brush.

Note, Shaving AFTER a shower makes a big difference for me.
 
Allow me to drift a bit. I had friends who had pseudofolliculitis barbae (razor bumps) from ingrown facial hair. Shaving was painful.

Some got shaving waivers but those that didn't would smear a dibilatory paste on their face, let it set, then scrape it off with a popsicle stick.
 
Yep. Been using a mug and brush since 1967. There's a tiny little shop tucked away in northern California, up in the Redwoods, called "Bubbles, Bubbles." Their specialties are glycerin soaps. I've been using their soaps now for 40 years...since 1982. I usually order a dozen cakes at a time....various scents...musk, redwood moss, sandalwood, rain, lilac. It's all good.

The great thing about the mug and brush is that you can control the moisture. The stuff in the can is relatively dry in comparison.

Don't know how many pure badger brushes I've gone through over the decades. Not an awful lot because a good badger-hair brush will last for years.

I've tried different razors...Trac II, Gillette Sensor, Merkur double-edged, etc., but I always stick with mug and brush.:)
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I've only been trimming around the edges of the beard since 1994 or so, but I use a disposable razor and hot water. Before I had the beard I used to shave in the shower with just the hot water.
 
Yes to using soap and brush. I still have my dad's natural bristle brush
but only use it once or twice a year, always on his birthday. The rest of
the time my own brush and the Bic throw-a-ways. I would still use the
double edge razor but the blades are hard to find in my area.
My opinion, some things don't need improving.
 
Being a barber for a few years in another life I still use a brush and mug. I had a real lather machine that worked for about 8 years but it finally quit. I mostly use Bic razors these days but still break out the straight razor to keep my hand in...And I'm glad someone mentioned the Rolls Razor. I happen to have a few including one from a Brit officers kit from a long time ago...which I still use occasionally...just as I told him I would. Have to be very careful with them. I cut his hair once a week in the late 60s. He was in his 80s. He was a bit afraid to use it as he was a little shaky...well maybe a lot. That canned shaving foam really isn't very good...without adding water anyway
 
Yes, Shaving soap in a walnut container, bristle brush and a 1939 Gillette razor with double edged blades. All came originally from the UK and when I go over there I pick up the necessary supplies (checked baggage only). Still have a "Rolls Razor" from my father that I will use at times. plus a hollow-ground cutthroat razor in its leather sheath, with all three being pre-WWII. Dave_n

My wife’s father had a Rolls Razor he apparently used when he was in the Army, and it was something my mother-in-law kept after he died back in the early 1950s. I tried it a few times and didn’t much care for it. I sort of remember selling it in eBay several decades ago. I don’t think it brought much, they are (were) fairly common back then. But it was a clever design.
 
I go in and out with different beards, but when I am shaving I do use a boar bristle brush and a cake of soap in a dedicated mug. Where I cut corners is using a disposable plastic razor instead of an old style straight razor. I remember the first time took one of those to my face and immediately understood how Muttonchops came to be.
 
Yup. Art of Shaving brush and their Bourbon shaving cream. Works nicely with the one of those multi blade razors. Tried a few other soaps, but keep coming back to the AoS stuff…and it starts off the day without it having to be 5pm somewhere🥃
 
A few years ago my gunbelt for SASS matches seemed to shrink, so I had a new one made up. After the new gunbelt was finished, the maker gave me a bit of an education. He told me that the end of the gunbelt that went all the way through the belt buckle was used by cowboys as a razor strop.

I remember reading something about that a long time ago, don’t remember where. My grandfather always shaved using a straight razor. I clearly remember that he used two leather strops, one was black and the other was brown. I am not quite sure why two were used. Maybe one was for “finishing”.
 
As a young lad I got to watch my maternal grandfather shave with a gold plated double edge razor, soap dish and badger hair brush. I can still remember asking him if I could shave. He pulled the blade out, showed me how to lather up properly and let me "shave" myself. One of my favorite memories. I still have one or two of his old razors tucked away somewhere.

Went digging for the razor and found it along with some other knick knacks. The razor is a 1930's Gillette with some old Marlin single edge razors still in the package. Along with it I found a old plastic barrel with tiny dice and a ATCO dual power 10x/20x loupe.
 

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