Zizou wrote:
No straight razor guys? Or double edge safety razor users? I got into safety razor shaving about a year ago. Feels much better. I'm saving money, too, since the blades are cheaper to replace. And I'm still using the original tub of cream that I first bought. It is more time consuming if you do a couple passes (with, across, and against the grain). It took some practice at first but I'm getting smoother shaves and no razor burn.
I started using a double edge safety razor last fall. I got tired of being beholden to "Big Blade" and bought a Merkur 34C, badger brush, and Proraso shave cream to give that style of shaving a try. It was OK, but since it requires more patience and care to safely use that kind of a razor I was no longer able to shave in the shower. I had to shave afterward over the sink with my glasses on so I could more closely see what I'm doing and not cut myself, and frequently had to go over a portion of my face or neck two or more times. The closeness of the shave on my face wasn't much different than with a regular razor (the blades I was using were Feathers), but my neck was less irritated and red. It's also more difficult to shave the area just under my jawline than with a pivoting head disposable razor and I had to be VERY careful around my Tad's Apple.
I *really* like shaving in the shower because it softens up my beard quite a bit and makes clean up easier.
From what I had read I expected more of a difference, but overall it was more time consuming and more of a hassle without much of an improvement in the quality of the shave. I mainly tried this because I was sick of getting hosed on buying those replacement cartridges for the Gillette Fusion razors, but I had tried some disposables that were pretty good and less expensive.
HOWEVER...
I decided to give a different DE razor a try to see if I got better results. Thinking I needed a bit more length in me blade (yar...), and got the
Merkur Futr adjustable. It does a MUCH better job than the non-adjustable and irritates my neck far less than the disposable. I have to be more careful and mindful of technique since more of the blade is exposed, but as Zizou said you get the hang of it and a smoother shave and less razor burn. Depending on which razor you buy the initial cost of that is a little high but the blades are inexpensive and you'll never have to fork out money for the Gillette replacement cartridges which for me, didn't last very long.
I also switched to
Proraso shave soap instead of the cream. You just need a very small amount of it to make a lot of thick lather. Instead of buying a "shaving mug" I bought a wide-mouth coffee cup with a narrow base from Marshall's for $2.99 and it works just fine.
I am a convert. Don't think I'll never go back to the Gillette Fusion or disposables again.
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