I use Edwin Jagger safety razor. Feather blades, or Astra if I have no feathers. Badger Brush and Pre De Provence shave soap.
Dollar Shave Club 4 blade and their Shave Butter. I shave in the shower and fortunately I don't have particularly sensitive skin. This combo works great for me, new blade every week, 4x month then a refill comes to my mailbox. No brainer
YIKES!! I shouldn't read through the titles of these threads so fast!!! As I scanned by this one (very quickly) I could have sworn I saw the title (Shaving, what's your cut?) as.... "Shaving your nuts?" !!! <GASP!!...SNORT!> Sorry...
The single-blade razor was all that was available other than the straight razor when I began this daily regimen several decades ago. I find the single blade to be a bit thick for me. I prefer three thin overlapping blades. The five and six blade versions are ok for me; however, the whole assembly is too bulky to handle.
Merkur Progress (Digress precisely) or 34C mostly. East German Triton R3 blades while the stock lasts. Plisson pour L'Occitane synthetic brush (Whipped Dog handle) or Maggard black synthetic fibre brush (Whipped Dog handle too) Polish artisan soap Arturo Barbieri or Mitchell's Wool Fat soap, Groomed shave cream (Royal shaving company) Witch-Hazel+aloe vera homemade lotion or simply Nivea AS balm, French Mennen Green Tonic
Went from a safety razor to electric then to the Gillette Mach3 to Dollar Shave Club and now back to safety razors. I find, with some heat and the right shaving cream, I get a better shave and fewer cuts using the safety razor with premium blades. It also seems cheaper than even Dollar Shave Club once you buy your gear. Took me 30 years to actually learn how to shave correctly.
Since I wear a stash and scraggly goatee, my shave acreage reduced & I just use an electric razor a few times a week. No water, lather or buying blades. I'm also quite retired and take that roll very seriously.
Omega Shaving Brush #10048, Golddachs Classic shaving soap, Merkur 42C, Feather Hi Stainless Double Edge razor blades, Weleda aftershave. Dropped the straight razor after about 15-20 years. Never ever a system. Unnecessary expense for subpar results. Plus, think about the implications for the environment. Therefore soap and safety razor it is. Sent from my Glade Air Freshener.
Thought I'd chime in on this subject; I use an EJ 89L double-edge safety razor w/Astra SP or SS blades. A badger-hair brush and a variety of shave soaps (pucks) from a little shop from Arkansas call Stirling Soap Co. The Edwin Jagger replaced my Gillette Slim adjustable (c 1958) that I inherited from my dad after he passed on some 35 years ago,. It's currently retired but may get passed on to my son, or one of my grand-kids when they get old enough to shave. I've tried them allover the years, single edge, double edge, electric, multi-blade and single blade disposables and the Trac-II's, Trac-III's etc. The safety razor IMHO gives the best shave in the world, next to a barber shop straight razor shave.
After the straight razor I tried those for a while, with Gillette Gel. So glad I dropped this for a safety razor. The systems are an invention to make you spend money. Or better said the other way around, to make huge revenues on stuff you don't need and that's producing an endless stream of waste. Think about canned foam or gel vs pucks and the whole razor head (just waste) vs blades (scrap metal). Do I want to preach? Hell yeah! Those systems are a modern day scam. In countries like Japan, India, Pakistan, and Egypt (and therefore the majority of the worlds population) men use safety razors. And you know what? They get the job done perfectly.
Brings up an interesting thought for me. Are all double edged safety razors the same or is there a difference? I've only ever used one so, other than the materials and the way they open, is there really a difference?
This is a wide field with a lot of opinions. See here https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safety_razor for starters. My two cents: Tried a few. Cheap butterflies are not giving you an advantage in shaving, only in changing the blade. An all metal butterfly is very expensive, and not enough advantage for the price. So I opted for a classic three piece in all metal. As I have a rather hard beard and only shave once or twice a week, I went for a combed version. Plus, a long handle is more in the way than anything else, so short handle. Edwin Jagger Kelvin(?) and Merkur 42C are working best for me. Jagen David B30 is an inexpensive butterfly that oughta be good, but I never tried it. Sent from my Glade Air Freshener.
Shaving? what's that? Seriously though, when I had to shave (20+ years ago) I used a single blade in a holder, mug and brush. Cheap and clean.
Good info. I've got a classic 3 piece as well but I remember Dads butterfly. I found a local shop and I've experienced the different creams and balms but never even thought about swapping out my $40 shaver until you mentioned those brands.
AhHA! I found what I had used: Schick Injector system Extremely good shave, blades stayed sharp, were reasonably cheap. (I have a GEM razor, but obviously don't use it.)
