Barber Alum

UPDATE 06/10/2015: alum blocks went up in price everywhere. Do yourself a favor: look up Crystal Deodorant. Get a $1 off coupon on their website, then go to your local Discount Drug Mart or another pharmacy where they carry out. Make you sure you pick "potassium alum" and not "ammonium alum" (which works, but stings more). I picked up a "Rock" version that's made to look like deodorant for men and "Crystal" version (round) made for women. They are the same exact thing - an alum block shaped like a deodorant stick, with convenient dispenser. Used it yesterday after shaving - same thing, more convenient. Better to travel with.UPDATE: I've had this over 2 years, yes, but I started using it more regularly about a month ago - both after shaving and also as a deodorant (it works great for that - wont' stop you from sweating, but you won't stink).Anyway, it still has its overall shape, but the corners are starting to crumble away and on each end there are "caverns" growing. You can really now see that it's made up of smaller crystals pressed together. I guess I'm still getting my money's worth out of it, but next time I'll look for a solid block. In fact, I happen to have a jar of food-grade alum, perhaps I should grow my own crystal, like we did in school :)This product is what it is, which is what I needed - barber alum. I was worried that being a packed crystal it would dissolve/crumble from wet use, but it stays intact and acts like a touch-up pencil. My only gripe: this is more of a "refill" than a complete "product" - it would be nice to have some sort of a paper "case" - a way to hold it without getting it all wet. I have it wrapped in saran wrap and it does the job, though not very elegantly. But it's the cheapest block I found to try and will likely last many years.

First thing you should know: This block is little. It's like 2" x 1" x .75" (that's just a guess, not sure, just know it's little). It doesn't matter that it's so small, because if you are truly using it every day for an after shave facial wipe-down, it will probably still be in your medicine cabinet when the sun goes super-nova! In other words, this stuff lasts a long, LONG time.Second thing you should know: The packaging isn't very pretty. See the picture? That's the stuff. The block is wrapped in a Saran-wrap type of plastic, with a green sticker on it. That's it. Kind of refreshing actually.Third thing you should know: Until you break it in, the first couple uses may leave a slight white residue on your face, like a styptic does. Just rinse your face off and use it again. I think by the third use mine was drying on my face clear as glass.Fourth thing you need to know: Some of the sides aren't pretty, meaning smooth and flat. I could easily see someone getting a bar where NONE of the sides are pretty. You may need to spend a few minutes smoothing a side down on a piece of cloth or something before it's ready for your face. Easily done though. IMHO, I would get like a wet piece of cotton cloth (like a T-shirt) or something similar, and rub whatever sides you want to flatten on the cloth until they're ready for prime time.Fifth thing you need to know (and the end of this already too long review!): This stuff works GREAT! It's the same stuff that others are charging anywhere from $10 to $80 for, just not packaged as well, and frankly, thie Alum isn't as pretty as the others either. So what. After you shave and rinse your face, rub the block anywhere you shaved. It generally feels nice and cool, it gently tightens up your pores, and (I think) cleans your wounds. The block catches all of the little nicks that are too small to bleed, even too small to see. You can tell when it finds something, because you'll feel the smallest sting in the middle of the coolness, most of the time I can't even see what caused it.Hope this helps!

Well it's alum. The general consensus seems to be that alum is pretty much all the same but varies greatly in price due to brand name. And this is the cheapest I could find. The seller (Tulumba) shipped it super fast - ordered on a Saturday afternoon, received a USPS notification on Sunday and it shipped on Monday. Can't ask for much more than that.Alum seems to work as described. After 17 years of multi-blade/disposable head, I just (4 shaves ago) switched to a Merkur ( Merkur Model 180 Long Handled Safety Razor ) double edge razor with Derby blades and couldn't be happier. I got fed up with Gillette and Schick bending me over every time I needed to buy a pack of cartridges. At what point did it become acceptable to charge $4-$5 per DISPOSABLE cartridge head? That's insanity - and I think their strategy it going to backfire. I'm not sure if it's the safety razor or the alum [or a combination of the two] as well as good pre/post shaving techniques but I haven't had any razor burn since I made the switch.What I do:In the shower I wash my face with Neutragena (unscented) bar soap then apply hair conditioner to soften the stubble. I leave the conditioner on until my final rinse. After the shower I rub about 1 tsp of baby oil on my face to lubricate my skin and to further soften the stubble. After a few minutes I wet my face and apply either a quality shave cream (by hand) or shaving soap lather (with a brush  Tweezerman Men's Shaving Brush ). FYI, canned foams and gels can irritate and dry out your skin. Then I shave (usually 2 passes, re-lathering in between). Rinse with cool water, and rub the alum bar on my wet face. After my face air dries, I apply a good balm (not an alcohol based aftershave).Sure it takes twice as long as just dragging a multi-blade razor across my face, but I actually enjoy it. So it takes ten minutes instead of five, big deal. The best part, NO RAZOR BURN!!!