Seriously though, the real trick is preparation and good shaving accoutrements. While I personally use an old-style double-edged razor (blades look like this), that’s not the important part. You can get a perfectly fine shave with a cartridge razor with any number of blades, so long as you do the proper prep work.
The goal is to get your facial hairs well hydrated so that they soften up some. Think of how your toenails are softer and easier to trim after a bath or shower- the same thing happens with hair.
The standard prep is to wash your face then apply your shaving cream/soap/foam/gel, and let it sit for a little while- a couple of minutes at a minimum. THEN shave. I think that in general, the soap-based products work better than the gels/foams in cans. If you want to go that route, again, don’t let anyone tell you that you need a badger hair brush and goofy artisanal soap. Ideally, you’ll shave in or after a good hot shower.
I’m assuming you know how to shave in a technical sense- i.e. shave with the hair growth direction (the “grain”), don’t press too hard, etc… If not, google it- that’s probably the first thing to learn!
Both a safety razor and a straight razor will provide a much better shave than any plastic cartridge deal, no matter how many blades it packs in there. But a safety razor and especially a straight razor will require practice and a careful technique. One good thing I can say about the cartridges is that you can slide them all over your face with wild abandon and you won’t cut yourself and you’ll get the same quality shave as if you did it slow and carefully. So if you’re always in a hurry and hate paying attention to details, just stick with the Mach 3.
I find that a double edge safety razor is the goldilocks zone of quality shave and ease of use. It doesn’t hurt that I can get a hundred blades off Amazon for five or six bucks. I still use a straight razor sometimes for kicks, and to maintain the skill. The problem there isn’t the technique, it can be learned and practiced, the problem with straight razors is maintenance. Stropping, honing, and everything else required to keep it keen. Whereas the safety razor just needs to be rinsed and drop a new blade in.
I also recommend a nice shaving brush and shaving soap over any aerosol foam. The soaps last a long time and the brush will last forever. Quality shaving equipment and soaps/aftershave are all over the internet these days so they shouldn’t be hard to find. Wet shaving is having a renaissance right now. They even sell safety razor kits at Walgreen’s or Walmart for under $20 if you want to try it out without waiting for shipping.
I can tell you from personal experience that you can cut yourself with a cartridge razor. Just not very deeply and you really have to be half asleep to do so. A straight razor, on the other hand, scares me. Just trying to shave with one is probably going to be enough to force me to wake up. Which is why I don’t use them.
My daily shaving routine is to use a Gillete Fusion (5 blade) and to shave immediately after drying off from my shower while my face and neck is still damp and the hair is soft from the heat of the shower. I have a beard so my shaving is just the neck and cheeks with the occasional touch-up around the mustache and under the nose (the single blade on the top of the cartridge is brilliant for that). When I want to take the time, I also have a boar bristle brush and high quality shaving cream/after shave. Before the beard I would use that nearly daily but now it is just on occasion. Generally some tips:
[ul]
[li]Shave in the direction of the hair growth, not against. Helps prevent razor burn, bumps, and ingrown hairs.[/li][li]Short strokes are the key. A single stroke covering 1-2 inches then rinse the blade to clean it before the next stroke. I learned this from my “Master Shaver” when I would go get straight razor shaves. I noticed he would always make very short strokes then wipe the blade. I asked and he said in his experience this was the #1 mistake people make - they try to cover too much area with a single stroke.[/li][li]You don’t have to press hard to shave close. If you are having to press hard, you are not cleaning your blade out between strokes and/or your razor is not sharp anymore. My razor glides over my face with just a firm enough pressure to maintain contact with the skin.[/li][li]As I mentioned, I usually shave just with damp and warm skin right out of the shower. Literally I towel off in the shower and then immediately shave at the vanity. Dry or cool skin means more irritation and not as close of a shave. If any time has elapsed, then I’ll resort to warm water/soap if I’m in a hurry or brush and shaving cream to lubricate and re-soften the hairs before shaving.[/li][li]I really don’t know how much the number of blades really matters. I think the more important factor is that they are quality metal, sharp, clean, and being used properly. The very best and closest shaves I’ve ever received were from an old school straight razor. My Gillette Fusion does a great job and a blade cartridge lasts me weeks before I feel it needs changed.[/li][/ul]
Although my divorce was extremely costly, I’m very happy with it and would definitely buy again.
I have always had a full beard (except for my first couple of decades), but I did shave my head for a while. The biggest contribution to a close shave was using an exfoliant. I liked a benzoyl peroxide scrub. I preferred the Gillette 5 blade system. Also, I shaved twice daily. There was no way I’d be smooth enough to go out in the evening if I’d only shaved that morning, I’d have to repeat it all in the PM. That was why I eventually let my hair grow back.
Yep. That was the very first fake commercial SNL did. They remade it decades later with (IIRC) 5 blades because reality had overtaken the original, but reality overtook that one, too.
That’s nonsense. Cartridge and disposable razors do a fine job if you do good prep work, just like any razor sucks if you just slap some canned foam on a dry face and go after it. DE razors can provide an excellent shave, IF you’re willing to learn how to use them properly. But they aren’t inherently better than cartridge razors- that’s just the DE wet-shaving crowd’s rationalization of why they put so much effort into razor, blade, brush and soap/cream selection.
I know what I’m talking about; I’ve been using one of my 9 or so DE razors for 11 years now, with dozens of soaps/creams and several different brushes. (current setup is a Merkur Futur with a Feather blade, an Omega S-brush and Mitchell’s Wool Fat soap)
Once or twice a week, I get in a hurry and use a disposable razor or canned foam. As long as I prep and concentrate, they work just fine.
When I was shaving every day, the Mach 3 worked great for me, although I switched over to an electric at some point and used that most of the time. Now that I shave every couple of weeks, neither of those options is able to deal with the build up of hair and stubble so I bought a classic Merkur safety razor and a box of 100 blades that I’ve yet to go through. You do have to be careful with cutting yourself in soft spots, moreso I think than the multi-blade cartridges, but even still I can’t see going back.
Use one of those little fingernail brushes. I’ve seen them sold in blister packs of three or four for a couple of bucks. Useful to have near bathroom and kitchen sinks, anyway.
That strikes me as a really inefficient means of shaving, VT. Scrubbing off the hairs must take forever!
FWIW, I use a DE (Merkur Futur or Limited Edition Muhle) with a badger brush and Taylor of Bond Street Sandalwood shave cream. Haven’t missed the old cartidge razor at all and I’m even learning to use a shavette on the way to learn straight razor techniques. So far, so good.
In the early 2000s after the Mach 3 had just come out, The Onion published a parody article about Schick going basically “Fuck it, if Gillette has three blades, then we’ll skip straight to five blades!” At that time five blades seemed ridiculously excessive. Little did they know that five blade razors would become a reality a few rears later.
I just want to second this point, since whenever I’ve needed to use communal washroom facilities, I’m always surprised to see guys frantically banging razors against sinks or spending an age trying to get the hair to rinse out.
But a toothbrush (clearly marked, so you don’t use it for teeth) clears it out easily. Use brush while rinsing.
Apart from that, and the things people have already mentioned (like giving shaving foam time to dissolve the oils on your hair), the only other thing I can think is you’re letting the hair get too long before shaving.
Long hair is harder to shave; I would do a pass with an electric razor if the hair is more than a few mm long.
I use a Walmart store brand 5-blade cartridge, Williams Mug shaving soap and a boar bristle brush. Closest shave I’ve ever had, and the blade lasts a couple weeks.
[li]Shave in the direction of the hair growth, not against. Helps prevent razor burn, bumps, and ingrown hairs.[/li][/QUOTE]
I’ve never had a problem with any of those and find the second pass through against the grain to give a much, much closer shave. If someone has an issue with those things, then don’t shave against the grain. If not, by all means do so. The closeness is superior!
I used to use a Gillette Mach 3 Turbo but now CVS sells a cheaper razor called Blade Torq3 that attaches to the M3T handle and works just as well for 2/3 the price.
After a shower I run Art of Shaving Sandalwood pre-shave oil into the beard, then I soak a badger brush in super hot water, add Art of Shaving cream to it and rub it into my beard. I then shave to the grain, re-rub the beard with whatever cream is left in the brush, and shave in the opposite direction.
After cleaning off my face, I use Nivea Sensitive Post Shave balm and eureka my face is smoother than a Marvin Gaye tune.
AOS stuff is expensive; Proraso Red Shaving Soap In a Tube is almost as good for 1/3 the price. I have not found a substitute for their shaving oil.
Just avoid ANY shaving products with alcohol.
Cheap razors just aren’t worth it. I only use cheap Bics when I’m out of town and want to clean my neck but even that can be a bloodbath.
Im also not impressed with Harry’s or Dollar Shave Club which are just Ok. A few years ago I tried a razor that was “as seen on TV forever razor” which I don’t remember what it was and it made Bic seems like a straight-razor.
