One of the joys of Asia is the barber shave. Each country has its slight variant.

They are all great but perhaps my favourite is Bangladesh and Kolkata which both share Bengali history. What makes it special is the use of a crystal when the shave is complete to rub all over your face. While the crystal is room temperature its interaction with your skin is such that it feels that your face is being rubbed by a block of ice.

Can't say I love the ear cleaning in Vietnam.

Such joy for around US$1 or 2

I bought a Henson razor on Lazada as well as Feather and Personna blades. I cheap out on the excellent Arko stick, except it smells like Parrot Soap, also available on Lazada.

Quite happy with the setup.

22 hours ago, Bangkok Hound said:

Most places I ordered from listed a low amount on the customs form. If you're really into shaving as a hobby, you'll need to order from the USA. That's where the wet shaving action is from soaps, splashes, brushes, razors, etc.

You can get all you need in BKK

21 hours ago, Dionigi said:

where did you get the brush?

All over Bangkok. Siam Shave.

 

I use a Jagger 877 and have for 25 years.

13 hours ago, JAG said:

If worked into a good lather, in a mug, using a shaving brush, it does the same job at a fraction of the cost.

I occasionally add a couple of drops of coconut oil (I use it for cooking).

Plus the quality of the shave.

 

I shower shave if I can:

Wash face, nice and hot

Coconut oil face

Prep Soap and Brush: if using a croap/soap like Mitchells Woold fat or Castle Forbes, I wet the brush and build lather partially in my hand. If using a cream like Truefit and Hill, Aqua Di Parma (I think at Emquartier), TOBS, etc, I soak the brush and build on my face. Flick your brush after soaking.

Shave, never more than one stroke per side of razor

 

On 5/12/2025 at 3:14 PM, connda said:

What do you need other than a bar of soap and a razor?  That's all I need.  If you need something different you're just making a big deal out of nothing.

In not in Pattons 3rd Army, if thats all I have to shave with, Im not.

 

And yes, I have used Ivory Soap and a Bic. Once.

23 minutes ago, Yagoda said:

I shower shave if I can:

Wash face, nice and hot

Coconut oil face

Prep Soap and Brush: if using a croap/soap like Mitchells Woold fat or Castle Forbes, I wet the brush and build lather partially in my hand. If using a cream like Truefit and Hill, Aqua Di Parma (I think at Emquartier), TOBS, etc, I soak the brush and build on my face. Flick your brush after soaking.

Shave, never more than one stroke per side.

 

These are the steps I've been following lately when I shave:

 

- I heat up some water and soak a small towel in it, which I then apply to my face for a couple of minutes.

- I remove the towel and wash my face with the remaining warm water.

- I soak the synthetic brush in the water.

- I apply an oil (usually coconut or jojoba).

- I take the brush, squeeze it, and start swirling it on the soap (lately I've been using Whitebeard's Peppermint, made in Thailand by a farang), then I lather it in a bowl.

- I apply the lather to my face and begin shaving with one of my Japanese-made safety razors. (I use different blades, I have a set of about twenty, to find the one that suits me best.)

- At the end of the shave, I rinse with cold water and apply a pass of alum.

- I wait a minute, rinse again, and put a drop of oil on my face (as I haven 't yet found a good aftershave).

There used to be 2 online shops selling straight razors and all that stuff. I think one died completely and the other has downsized a lot and still going. Already mentioned in this thread.

The razors that were for sale here were marked up way too much. I got mine from cutthroat club in the US but it was recommended to me by a shop in australia. I'm thinking it ships worldwide.

There are a few gold dollar razors etc on shoppee that ship from phuket.

Razor blades and shavettes are very easy to find. I would stick to them

On 5/12/2025 at 3:11 PM, alien365 said:

I bought my Dovo straight razors and strop while in the UK and brought them over. For the soap I use Maniculus, found on Lazada, which is adequate. I have a contact through Line who I send my razors to for sharpening.

I bought a $250 dovo and tried sharpening it myself. I have 1000, 3000 and 8000 stones and a strop etc.

It ended up blunter than before.

Then I discovered jewellers loupes and found a very good vid on youtube. Now it's got a great edge. 

How much does that guy charge out of curiosity. I have him in line too but didn't know he did sharpening.

18 minutes ago, sikishrory said:

I bought a $250 dovo and tried sharpening it myself. I have 1000, 3000 and 8000 stones and a strop etc.

It ended up blunter than before.

Then I discovered jewellers loupes and found a very good vid on youtube. Now it's got a great edge. 

How much does that guy charge out of curiosity. I have him in line too but didn't know he did sharpening.

I bought some stones too but I didn't dare use them in case I ruined the blades. The price including return delivery was 450 baht last time I used him.

2 hours ago, ThreeCardMonte said:

I must shave every day.  The mustache of the 80’s and 90’s is history.

 

Not into beards, the mountain man look nor the one or two day stubble homeless farang look.

 

I understand why some guys get rejected.  Grooming.

 

I’ve experimented with razors in Thailand but always look like I got into a fight with 3 alley cats.

I always buy a bunch of Gillette Fusion type razors on every trip to the States along with my favorite shaving cream and deodorant and bring them back.

 

Gillette razors are more expensive but worth it IMO.  Nothing is too good for my precious mug.

 

Once I did run out and the Lazada version worked well.

 

In Thailand I just use Barbasol when I run out of my favorite.  Still double the price compared to the States.

 

Once I bought  two 300 baht plus Gillette gel from Villa Market and neither had enough CO2 to discharge the gel.  TIT!

 

 

 

I usually shave every other day, not because I care too much about what Thais think of my face (I’m quite sure that when someone wants to hate you, they'll always find a reason anyway). It's more of a necessity for me to let my skin breathe. With the heat and humidity here, my super-oily skin tends to get hyper-oily, and having a beard only adds to that greasy feeling on my face. It's a bad sensation for me.

I only shave twice a week so the 3 blade and 5 blade do a terrible job as they keep getting clogged.

 

I found the best and cheapest shaver to buy are Gillete plastic disposable razors.  

 

I get 8 to 10 close shaves before changing blades. Very cheap and vaery effective.

4 hours ago, zhounan said:

 

I usually shave every other day, not because I care too much about what Thais think of my face (I’m quite sure that when someone wants to hate you, they'll always find a reason anyway). It's more of a necessity for me to let my skin breathe. With the heat and humidity here, my super-oily skin tends to get hyper-oily, and having a beard only adds to that greasy feeling on my face. It's a bad sensation for me.

Do you use a toner after your shave? That should help a bit with the oily skin. I use Kiehls calendular, but my skin isn't that oily. One item I do recommend is Kiehls oil eliminator face scrub (green tube) that I use when I feel the build up. It's fantastic for my skin. 

On 5/13/2025 at 1:14 PM, JBChiangRai said:

 

Take a photo with you if your memory is not that good.  It’s pretty obvious the ones that will fit.

 

 

 

No, it is not, none of them indicate "Fits ------ razors" and none of them are packed so that the intricacies of the blades fittings can be seen - even taking the original razor would not help without being able to unpack the blades to check.   Perhaps, then, you could specify which blades fit which (other) razors if it is so easy to determine?

4 hours ago, alien365 said:

Do you use a toner after your shave? That should help a bit with the oily skin. I use Kiehls calendular, but my skin isn't that oily. One item I do recommend is Kiehls oil eliminator face scrub (green tube) that I use when I feel the build up. It's fantastic for my skin. 

 

I can't afford a scrub for that price.

19 hours ago, Spilornis said:

One of the joys of Asia is the barber shave. Each country has its slight variant.

Are you sure? In my country (Italy) and in Europe in general I can shave in every barber shop with good products and I find an infinite selection of commercial and artisan products.

This is not the same for Asian countries.

12 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

No, it is not, none of them indicate "Fits ------ razors" and none of them are packed so that the intricacies of the blades fittings can be seen - even taking the original razor would not help without being able to unpack the blades to check.   Perhaps, then, you could specify which blades fit which (other) razors if it is so easy to determine?

if you own a Harry’s razor, you will recognizing the picture on the box straight away, it’s not rocket science.

Everything you need for a traditional shave is available on Lazada.

 

How many men actually do shave these days? They must be in a very small minority.

 

If you include the number of men who shave their women's private parts the number would go up exponentially.

Braun Series 9 electric. Screw those face-chopping blades.

On 5/12/2025 at 2:16 PM, zhounan said:

Where do you guys buy your wet shaving products?

Here in Thailand, there doesn’t seem to be a wide variety available locally, and imported products tend to be crazy expensive due to absurd import taxes.

How do you approach this hobby while living in Thailand?

Been here just over a year on a permanent basis.

 

Couldn't find my shaving soap after my shipped stuff arrived and the small amount I packed for the journey here ran out ages ago. The nearest "barber" can't shave for <deleted>. Usually no soap nor lotion so it's a dry shave so I do it myself.

 

Haven't found any local (Sakon Nakhon city) shaving shops so I have been using normal hard soap.

 

I ordered 100 or so Feather double-edge via Lazada or whatever.

 

I still have my travel brush.

 

I still have my Merkur safety razor since 15+ years.

 

Edit: s/Merkel/Merkur/ (what was I thinking?!?

1 hour ago, wimpy said:

Everything you need for a traditional shave is available on Lazada.

 

But the safety razor and the shaving soap in this picture you bought from Siam Wet Shave 😉

6 minutes ago, zhounan said:

But the safety razor and the shaving soap in this picture you bought from Siam Wet Shave 😉

On Lazada.

On 5/12/2025 at 11:54 PM, alien365 said:

Siam Wet Shave

Most of his web site is marked as "out of stock" unfortunately.

On 5/13/2025 at 8:09 AM, FolkGuitar said:

You can use any firm surface to strop; an old leather belt, the palm of your hand

Nice tip! I was aware of using a strop for disposables (to an extent you're just cleaning the blades). I didn't put 2 & 2 together and think of using it on my Feather DEs.

 

I now have a use for that old leather belt, and an excuse not to look for replacement screws for the buckle. Daren't use my hand. Eventually I'd strop the wrong way, flay myself, immediately get soap in the wound, etc.

On 5/13/2025 at 1:36 PM, HappyExpat57 said:

I would bet my bottom dollar they make blades that will deteriorate within a specific time. If they made a blade that only needed replacing every 6 months, they'd go out of business.

The marketing tells you they are "disposable" blades, which is why they are "cheap". I haven't run the numbers for years, but doesn't the same goes for canned lather versus brush, dish and soap?

19 minutes ago, BeastOfBodmin said:

Most of his web site is marked as "out of stock" unfortunately.

It's understandable.

It's not an easy business in an area of the world where men don't have facial hair.

Not to mention the absurd import duties that the Land of Cryptic Smiles applies on these products.

30 minutes ago, BeastOfBodmin said:

Nice tip! I was aware of using a strop for disposables (to an extent you're just cleaning the blades). I didn't put 2 & 2 together and think of using it on my Feather DEs.

 

I now have a use for that old leather belt, and an excuse not to look for replacement screws for the buckle. Daren't use my hand. Eventually I'd strop the wrong way, flay myself, immediately get soap in the wound, etc.

 

For double-edged blades, glass or ceramic is preferred over a flat leather strop. Holding the blade flat (slightly curved, actually) against the inside side of a large drinking glass and running it back and forth gets the job done nicely. They used to sell these back in the day, but frugality during the war years had people just using their pickle crocks and large drinking glasses.

Cruset Shaving Gel 500g. ครูเซ็ท เชพวิ่ง เจล เจลโกนหนวด | https://s.lazada.co.th/s.DESVD

On 5/12/2025 at 2:56 PM, JAG said:

Almost any soap, (Imperial Leather is my usual brand) and a 7/11 two or three blade disposable razor. Once the soap is worn down to about half size, into the mug. Key is a shaving brush to produce and apply a lather. They are readily available on Lazada. Oh yes, and warm water.

 

I wouldn't say it was a hobby (!) but I shave most days. Razor lasts a week.

I like Imperial Leather. It's one of the few soaps that seems to have retained its original scent. And it doesn't turn to mush quickly like many other cheaper soaps. 

 

For a while now I've been using aloe vera gel to shave as it doesn't leave me so red-faced.

 

I managed to pick up a bottle of the U.K. /Germany Old Spice after shave lotion recently. Again it seems to be nearer to the original scent, if a tad weaker.