If you have visited any forum on the Internet dedicated to wet shaving, you have most likely run across chatter about that 'cheap' straight razor from Poland.  The Wapienica, or Wapi for short, is an inexpensive, but highly regarded straight razor made in the 70s for use in Russian hospitals.  The are all steel construction, including the scales, as they were autoclaved after use on patients for sterilization.  All Wapis are sourced out of Poland and are new, old stock, which means they are unused.  Supposedly a large stockpile was found in Poland that was never used, therefore they are being sold off by a Polish eBay seller. 

This is the new offering in the Commodore line of the Simpsons brushes now made by Vulfix. The brush is made with Best Badger hair grade. The Commodore line offers an entry-level brush that brings quality and performance at a very reasonable price.

Rooney brushes are well known among wet shavers for their quality.  Like Simpsons, Rooneys are made with a much denser knot than most traditional brushes.  I only recently started adding Rooney to my collection and have been surprisingly impressed with how well these brushes perform. 

Castle Forbes' offering in the aftershave line is probably their more traditional product out of their shaving triumvirate. Just because it is not as unique as their Pre-shave or shaving cream though does not mean it is not any less of a quality product.

Disregarding scent, all of the aftershave balms are completely alcohol free and are a thick balm which makes it easy to apply. Not unlike the pre-shave, you do not need very much product to get the job done at the end of the shave.

Parker double-edge razors are one of the newer brands on the wet shaving market today.  The razors are manufactured in India and have developed a following of loyal customers, particularly due to their attractively styled models and lower retail price point than the German-made Merkur razors.  Parker offers a good variety of razors with chrome and black handles and has recently started to advertise new models with horn handles similar to those offered by luxury brands Trumpers and Edwin Jagger.

The Castle Forbes line is relatively new and small compared to the big players on the market such as Trumper’s and Taylor of Old Bond Street. To make up for this they have come out with a line of products that is unlike any of the other players and have gained a cult following as a result.

Musgo Real is one a well known traditional brand from Portugal that has been around for many years.  Their products are priced very reasonably and easily perform on par with other traditional shaving products twice the retail price.

Triple-milled type shaving soaps are considered by many to be the upper class category of shaving products.   Their less expensive, glycerin type soaps very rarely ever perform with the same quality that the best soaps that Trumpers, D.R. Harris, and other British firms produce.  Truefitt & Hill's Luxury Shaving soap is a fine example of what a high end, luxury class soap should be.

Since the news of the transfer of ownership of the Simpsons brand over to Vulfix, many have speculated about what the newly produced Simpsons brushes would look like and whether or not the quality would be the same as before.  I have been collecting various models of Simpsons brushes for the past two years, and I use these brushes regularly and really enjoy the characteristics of Simpsons that makes them unique from other traditional shaving brushes. Having several Vulfix brand brushes as well, I was hoping that the new owners of the brand would be able to produce a new brush by the same standards that would be worthy of carrying the Simpsons label on it.  Last week I received one of the new brushes from Lee Cantor (leesrazors.com) in one of his first shipments to arrive.

One of the first hurdles that one has to overcome after making the decision to take up traditional shaving is to choose the correct razor. While the range of different double-edge safety razors produced today is fairly narrow, there are a lot of options for weight and handle designs that can make more of a difference than you may expect. Selecting a razor that is well balanced, comfortable to hold, and appropriate for a beginner's skill level is critical to enjoying your first shaves while you become acclimated with using the double edge.

Geo. F. Trumper shaving creams are among the most well-known available on the market today. The newest addition to their lineup of traditional scented creams is GFT.  This cream is part of Trumper’s GFT category of products and very closely matches the scent of the cologne by the same name.  The scent is light and citrus with a very nice lemon note to it.  As far as the fragrance quality of the cream goes, this one is done very well.