re: Looking to get into safety razors

How often are y’all swapping out blades?

I use a vintage Gillette fatboy. I also bought a sampler pack of blades on Amazon and that'll last me a long while.

No matter what anyone tells you, the shave won’t be as good as a modern multi-blade razor. It’s fun though to go through the routine and use a boar brush to lather up with the shaving soap. I’ve tried various blades, old and new shavers etc…. Have fun.

I rehabbed an old house one time and the medicine cabinet had a slot for blades. When I pulled it out and tore out the wall, there were several thousand rusty blades that were just dropped down into the wall cavity over decades.

quote:

---

How easy is it to slice your face up with those things or is it really not that big a deal?

---

The only thing to remember is to use the weight of the razor. Don't push down on it. Remember that, and you'll be fine.

Get a solid razor. I use an Edwin Jagger
Get a badger hair shaving brush.
Get a variety pack of blades to see what you like.
Get quality shaving cream. I use Proraso green. I like their preshave, cream and aftershave.

And remember, when shaving with a safety razor, the goal is beard reduction, not beard removal. Its totally ok to go over your face a couple of times until you're satisfied with the shave.

This topic comes up once a month. My answer is always the same

Mekur Futur
Gillette Nacet Blades

Get you a shaving bowl and buy some real shave cream and whip it up. Don't use the canned stuff.

Welp, going down this rabbit hole now. Thx

Safety razors are the way to go. You will never look back.

Don't overthink it. It's not rocket science. The technique is fairly straightforward. Use small strokes and light pressure. (The weight of the razor is all you need.) People get knicks from pushing too hard and making long passes.

If you want to buy a fancy brush and soaps, that's fine, but it's by no means "better." Many of these soaps just dry out your skin and they're no better than a generic shave gel. If you're doing it for some kind of experience, that's cool. It's not better though.

Same with aftershaves. Most aftershaves are bad for your skin. Use witch-hazel if you want to do something to clean and tone your pores, but it's hardly necessary.

I use a DE razor because it's cheaper and yields adequate results - while causing less skin irritation.

quote:

---

No matter what anyone tells you, the shave won’t be as good as a modern multi-blade razor.

---

This is 100% BS. I had 6 days growth yesterday morning and my Gillette 7 O clock stainless blades in my futur at 6 setting gave me a better shave than my Gillette fusion pro glide ever could've dreamed of.

Merkur safety razor, Feather blades, gel shave cream after a nice hot towel application to soften the beard up. For my closest shave I go with the beard on the first pass and then against the beard to get is baby arse smooth if I want to take it that far.

I've also used one of the old German Steel straight razors gifted to me by a friend years ago. The offer a great shave but you really have to know how to keep the razor in excellent condition. I have very fine stones and a barbers strop for honing an edge.

There is a learning curve with a straight razor that some people just don't get no matter how much they try.