Equipment and suppliers

Ok so I did just enough reading to get totally confused but I had an idea of what I wanted to get as far as a razor, brush, blades, soap & cream.  I wanted a Merkur razor (pronounced with total white boy accent "Mur Kur" don't say it fancy "Mer Qur") it sounds like the most popular is the Merkur HD.  So thinking that google is my friend I start to search.  Merkur HD, Heavy Duty, Heafty Duty, 34c, are all the same thing.  The HD line of razors have big heavy heads that help do the work.  The classic line is lighter weight, and you have to press ever so lightly to do the work of shaving.  The HD comes in both original short (and I mean short!) or the new long handled 38C.  I am a big guy with some good size meat hooks,  I wanted to order the longer razor but they were brand new at the time and no one had them in stock.  After ordering, receiving, and using the short 34C, I am happy with the short handle and it fits my hand naturally "choked up" right benhind the head.  I ordered my razor from ClassicShaving,  I don't like ordering things online so I gave them a call.  The lady on the line was very friendly and helpful.  I told her that I also needed a shave brush and some cream.  She recommended the Vulfix Pure Badger brush, and their own line of Classic Brand shave cream with the Lavender scent.   I expressed my  concern about shaving with "foo-foo" smelling shave cream, but she informed me that Lavender is not real floral, and slightly medicinal.  I took her word for it and ordered.  Another reason I called is that their website said they were out of stock on the 34C, and I called in hopes that they just failed to update the site after a large shipment.  They were out of stock, but the clerk was so nice that she took the last razor out of the display case and send it to me.  A few days later (I believe it was 5/20/08) I received a box on my front porch,  when I opened it up I was surprised how small the razor was, it seems to be about half the length of my Gillette Mach 3.  I opened up the brush and examined it, seems very soft, and no foul odor that I heard about.  I then opened the tub of cream... first, the cream is not cheap, $17 for a tub (ok, not cheap compared to buying a can of condensed goo called Edge from the grocery store) and the tub itself is kinda cheap looking and feeling.  I unscrew the top and take a whiff, "Hey now!" sniff sniff... I like it, it is very clean smelling, slight memories of barber shops, but to be honest it reminds me of smells at a tattoo shop.  The lady was absolutely right about the smell not being foo foo!  Cant wait to try it out.