Shave like a man

Over the past several years I've really come to hate the drudgery of shaving. If you shave with an electric razor you get a boring, lame shave and ingrown hairs. If you wet shave with a new-fangled cartridge razor, like a Mach 3, you get a decent but expensive shave and razor rash. The solution? Old Skool wet-shaving with a safety razor.

I recently purchased a Gillette Super Speed safety razor on EBay, a badger hair brush and some nice shaving soap. Man, what a fantastic, close shave. And the experience itself is manly, invigorating and enjoyable...and its way cheaper.

Here's the cost breakdown for a year of shaving with a Mach 3: (1) Mach 3 razor-$9.00 (2) Razor cartridges at 4 a month-$144.00 = Total: $153.00 a year.

For the safety razor: (1) a once-in-lifetime purchase of a good sturdy safety razor that you can pass on to your grandson-$20.00 on EBay (2) 100 double-edge razor blades-$10 =$30 a year.

I didn't include soap and brush because you'd need that either way but those set you back about $15.00 for long-use badger brush (make sure you buy a good badger brush) and about $10 a year for shaving soap.

For more information on the lost art and luxury of wet-shaving see this and this. Badger & Blade is also a great resource.

Happy shaving gents!

Comments

[Eric]

Garrett,
I must confess I love the Evelyn and Crabtree brush and sweet almond oil shaving cream my sister gave me last year. I don't think I could tolerate a straight blade though on my rough, bumpy face. For now I'm still using disposables but man, I dig the cream. And my daughters love watching the routine!

[Garrett]

No, no, you musn't do that. Not a straight razor but an old time safety razor (or in this case, new old-time) like this:

http://www.nashvilleknifeshop.com/pasara89rhds.html

Believe or not you'll get a fantastic shave and your shaving bumps will disappear. They're probably there because of irritation from the disposable.

[Wayne]

You might like this article:

http://tinyurl.com/64gjkd

[Garrett]

Wayne,

Good article and right on the money.

[Bobber]

Interesting stuff. I have never tried one of these. I broke my collar bone a few years ago and had to get an electric shaver. I got a Braun foil shaver and I liked it so much that I never went back to the double (or triple or quadruple or whatever it is today) blade razor again. At one point I tried a Norelco electric with the floating heads but this was decidedly inferior to the Braun. Cost was only $50 at the time and then you replace the cutting block for $24 every year or so. So using an electric can be a cost savor too. I guess the quality of the shave may depend on how thick your beard is though.

[Rod Honeycutt]

Garrett,

Why NOT straight razor?

Thanks.

[Garrett]

Rod,

I heard they shave fantastic, but the safety razor was a genuine advance beyond it. The cartridge razor is a DEVOlution from the safety razor. Besides, those dudes scare me.

[Kevin+]

I have recently shifted from a brush & soap, to shaving oil.

I must say, I love it.