Wet Shaving Accessories in the UK

June 27, 2006 2:41 PM

Where can I order wet-shaving accessories and accoutrement, as per this MSNBC article in the UK?

I'm interested in badger shaving brushes, DE razors and quality shave cream. The sites mentioned may ship to England but I thought I'd ask about first. Surely there are some wet-shavers on mefi?

posted by dance to clothing, beauty, & fashion (15 comments total)

ClassicShaving.com
posted by Heatwole at 2:49 PM on June 27, 2006

Mmm, thanks - but what's their support for UK sales?
posted by dance at 2:56 PM on June 27, 2006

There's always Trumpers.
posted by Quinbus Flestrin at 2:56 PM on June 27, 2006

Ebay might be worth a go - I picked up an unused 1960s Gillette double bladed razor there last year and have been happily using it since. Don't pack a DE razor or its blades in your hand luggage when flying by the way.
posted by rongorongo at 2:57 PM on June 27, 2006

Kiehl's sells a great shave cream; unfortunately they don't ship to the UK at this time, but you can use the Store Locator to see if a store near you in the UK sells Kiehl's products.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 3:16 PM on June 27, 2006 [1 favorite]

Dance, I tried to look up your location from your profile, but you appear to be somewhere off the Yorkshire coast, and I can't think of anywhere you might go near there.

I bought my badger-hair shaving brush at Boots (admittedly the large one in Brighton, and a few years back). As for something to shave with, I'm currently enjoying Razorantium from Lush for the first shave after the weekend, and King of Shaves gel for the day-to-day, also from the Boots in Brighton.

Couldn't say where to get a double-edged razor though.
posted by athenian at 3:24 PM on June 27, 2006

Thank you for asking this question - without it I'd never have known the proper name for a cut-throat razor. I wandered into Boots trying to find one a while back and only succeded in scaring the crap out of the little asian pharmacist...
posted by twine42 at 4:17 PM on June 27, 2006

Charles at QED will be more than happy to meet your wetshaving needs, and is a gentleman to boot. I've had no problem getting great service in Australia, so I have no doubt he'll be able to help you in the UK. I highly recommend the Savile Row SRT8 super badger brush (made by Kent) for US$58 (I think it has a new code now - SR208?), a Merkur classic hefty double-edge razor for US$28, a tub of QEDMan Fresh Lime for US$9.50, and a jar of Geo F Trumper violet for US$25 (prices are approximate - Charles will be able to give you the latest.)

Not sure about the availability of Merkur platinum-coated DE blades in the UK - if they're hard to find, buy, like, ten packs from QED with your order. Nothing else compares.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 4:26 PM on June 27, 2006

I'm in the US, and know nothing about locations in the UK. That said...

The Gentleman's Shop has some nice (but expensive) stuff. Ditto for Taylor's of Old Bond Street. English Hall seems to have mostly colognes, but probably worth a look. Shavemac is a German company, but they shipped to the US for not too much. And you can do some nice custom sets.

And, just for good measure, Enchante Online is a place in the US (Texas) has some nice stuff, and a nice essay on shaving.
posted by ObscureReferenceMan at 7:03 PM on June 27, 2006

Mankind has everything you need and is based in the UK. I've used them before with no problems.
posted by oh pollo! at 1:19 AM on June 28, 2006

Yeah, my wife bought me a Merkel razor and assorted froufrou from Mankind at Christmas - worked out pretty well.
posted by bifter at 3:06 AM on June 28, 2006

You can get all that stuff in any department store (John Lewis, Fraser's) and a lot of chemists, especially the smaller, non-chain type ones. I second the Kiehl's recommendation above, FWIW.

(Sorry if there's some reason why you have to order online, just thought it might be worth pointing out that these items are probably easier to find on the high street than on the web...)
posted by jack_mo at 4:33 AM on June 28, 2006

Oh yeah - as far as getting DE blades goes I would opt for the very cheap ones you can get at Boots. They also sell cheap and nasty DE razors. The blades are also platinum coated if that makes you feel better.
posted by rongorongo at 6:34 AM on June 28, 2006

Just an update on this:

Mankind were indeed pretty good - they had a nice clean website with a good range of soaps and razors, but they really fell down on the brushes front. I sent them an email complimenting them on their service, but alerting them to the problem of their lack of badger brushes (they favoured synthetic brushes) and have not yet had a response.

In the end I bought :
Merkur's Futur Razor: Mankind
Geo F Trumper's Sandalwood Soap: Mankind
'TBS' (?) Super Badger Brush: eGay
White Face Cloths: Tesco
DE Razor Blades: Tesco

The Tesco blades were a recommendation from Badger & Blade forums, where Merkur blades are not well liked.
posted by dance at 9:08 AM on July 3, 2006

Take a look at this long post---it includes links for many suppliers, along with everything I've learned about shaving with a safety razor. It should prove helpful.
posted by LeisureGuy at 3:22 PM on August 5, 2006