One of the problems with starting wet shaving in Singapore is finding supplies especially if you are in this to save money.
While you can easily visit the more upscale shops where you can find custom shavers, overpriced blades and artisan shaving creams, lotions, aftershaves, bowls, brushes that can set you back several hundreds of dollars I am pretty sure this is not what you want to do when you first start out.

To start, you will need to buy a good razor. This will be your first investment and the tool that you will use for most of your journey into wet shaving.
While you can get a cheap China knockoff from Lazada, Qoo10 or even from your regular pasar malams (if you can still find them) for $10 or less, don’t. Your razor determines how the actual blade will cut and you really do not want a faulty or bad tool when it comes to really sharp blades of metal in contact with your face and neck.

For the moment, the tried and true razors that have been recommended to newbies and beginners starting wet-shaving, is either the Merkur 34C https://youtu.be/oimwz5wzrfk or the Edwin Jagger DE 89 https://youtu.be/YtGOmEVhTp Both very good first purchases and usually you will keep coming back to them even while owning other razors in your lifetime.
My personal favorite is the Merkur 34C
The Merkur cost about S$55.00 on Amazon (if you are an Amazon Singapore Prime member, its free shipping from the US with purchases at $60.00+/- )

The Edwin Jagger DE89 will set you back $51 with free same day shipping for Amazon Singapore Prime members within 2 hours time slots from 10am to 8pm.
If its not available from the local Amazon store or if you want other models with different handles that the Singapore store doesn’t carry you can get it from the US with free shipping as long as you spend $60+/- .

There is one more razor I want to mention, the Rockwell 2C, it is relatively new but I think this might overthrow the above two once it gets going. Cost is S$41+/- either through Amazon or direct from the Rockwell Razor company themselves (minimum $US60 purchase for free shipping) https://getrockwell.com/
I will review this once mine arrives.

Next will be razor blades themselves.
The cheapest you can get from what I have seen, is from Mustafa. A box of Derby extras cost you $9.00 for 100 blades (about S$12 on Amazon). Considering that each blade will last around 3 shaves, that’s almost a year’s supply of blades for $9.00

Derby blades are really good for beginners, though they are not the sharpest, they are one of the smoother blades you can use. This is good as it’ll reduce nicks and cuts for the beginner. You can start to look for sharper blades once you want to “graduate” from the Derby, though I know of people who just stick with this because they work. Just don’t go straight to Feathers on day one.
Generally speaking, sharpness of the blade and smoothness of the shave is on a balancing scale. The smoothest blades won’t be the sharpest and the Sharpest blades won’t give you the smoothest of shaves.
The Feather though, is an exception. Even experienced shavers have been known to cut themselves without realizing it, that is until they see bleeding. It is a great blade, just use it with respect for its edge.

Next you need a brush and shaving cream.
Please don’t buy a $2 plastic bristle brush from China, though, the Chinese faux badger brush that goes for $5-$10s are actually quite good.
Natural hair brushes are traditionally made from boar, badger or horse hair. A new brush will smell “off” and for some, really bad if you take it out of the box and use it right away. You’ll want to treat it by first soaking it, then using your favorite shaving soap, lather up the brush and then leaving the brush with a good build of lather on it overnight. This helps with softening the bristles and removing the smell of a wet animal from it.

Again Mustafa has a relatively cheap and “good” brush for $9.00, though you can get much better ones for around $20 to $50 for synthetic and some badger brushes.
Badger Silvertip brushes however can set you back a huge chunk f change, some going for several hundreds of dollars.

I’ll get into brushes in detail in another post.

Mustafa also sells cheap shaving creams / soap.
Palmolive shaving soap goes for about $7.00 and some indian brand called Godrej that’s about $5.00
(Udate : Check on the new post as those prices were from memory years ago)

Personally I rather use the Italian brand Proraso which cost about $17.00
They all last anywhere between 3 months to 6 months depending on your shave frequency.

For Proraso you can order online with free delivery in Singapore. I use this online store SGPomades https://sgpomades.com/collections/shave-oil-soap they send almost immediately and you’ll get the item within 3-5 days so the wait is not long.

And that’s all you need to start with the basics.
I would however like to say that even though the above is the bare minimum you need to start, you will want a few more things to make your shaves a better experience.

The first, getting an Alum block cost around $15-$30 and you can get this from a store like Tangs, but online purchase is more or less needed as not many stores carry this anymore. It used to be very common, available at Cold Storage / Orchard Area or Holland Village supermarkets but except for one store that is located in the heart of Orchard Road, at Cuppage Centre, I haven’t seen this being sold anywhere.

While you don’t need this if you don’t want to buy it, it is very useful for cuts and nicks. An Alum block is an antiseptic astringent, meaning that it’ll stop bleeding, seal cuts or nicks and disinfect. Its also useful in making your fingers non-slip. Get it from Amazon, Lazada or Qoo10, just search for Alum Block.

Or you can get Witch Hazel lotions or wash. Such as Thayer’s.

Witch Hazel works the same way as the Alum block (get the Medicated version though, that works better then the Rose Petal version) and cost about $15-$20 and also doubles up as an aftershave. You can get these from Lazada Qoo10, or if your neighborhood beauty / ladies supplies happen to carry “ang moh” stuff as it is also used as a skin toner and after makeup removal conditioner.

One more thing that while is not really needed but most do use them as it is easier to lather your soap or cream in a bowl rather then do a direct face lather.
Of course there are some old school shavers who prefer direct face lather but I personally prefer to make a lather in a bowl before applying it to my face.
While you can find and buy shaving bowls that are all over the place or online from as cheap as $9 to anywhere around $90 (for a damn bowl!) my suggestion is to go to Daiso or any of your local $2 shop and just get one there. You can either go with a steel bowl, a ceramic or bamboo bowl.

Both of these cost only $2 each.

The last thing you need, is a safe way to dispose of used blades.
With cartridge razors, these just go into the trash and you think nothing of it.
However with double edge razors just chucking these into your trash is not safe nor advisable since they can cut your bags if not hands.
The best, cheapest and most enjoyable way to do this, is to drink a can of beer.
After a good drink, just wash the can out so it won’t attract ants and leave it on the counter for you to drop used blades into.
After a week or a month if you prefer, or whenever you are ready to throw the can, just tape over the hole to prevent blades from falling out and dispose.

Replacing the can is no real issue in most cases and in case of an emergency and you really need to get a can in a hurry, you can always tell yourself that you really needed to drink that can of beer.