For Christmas I received a Merkur Futur D/E adjustable safety razor (polished) along with the matching stand, badger brush and soap dish. It even came with classicshaving.com's Bay Rum shave soap. I used up the old razors I had first then started using the Merkur. I have to admit that at first the shave was not as smooth as I hoped it was going to be. However, it seems to be improving with practice. I also looked at badgerandblade.com and though I was only on there a short time, liked what I saw.

Two reasons I left cartridge blades behind:
1) Waste and cost of the cartridges themselves. All that plastic and crap, plus they want 15 bucks for a small pack? Funk dat! For the same price I get 20 weeks of shaves plus less waste.
2) A return to a more gentlemanly version of the morning (or evening, in my case, as I often shave at night since I have to be at work at six) ritual. There is a part of me that wishes I lived in turn of the (19th) century England. This helps.

Newfie (and any others who are into the "shave ritual") what is your aftershave of choice? I am currently using Herban Cowboy's Organic Aftershave Balm. I plan on doing some checking around on badgerandblade.com as well, but any immediate recommendations would be appreciated.

Later, gents. Happy shaving!

TampaSupremo