I started shaving with a safety razor recently

[thewayne]

For those not in the know, a safety razor is the one with the bare double-sided blades that you have to insert into a head, then screw on to a handle. A straight razor is the throat-slitter seen on Sweeny Todd. There's another type of razor known as a Leaf razor where you snap a safety blade in half, which strikes me as odd as I use both sides of mine, then unscrew it a bit to loosen up the head for rinsing before continuing to shave. And then there's what appears to be a straight razor, except it uses safety blades! That intrigues me, they're not very expensive and I might try one some day. It's all a question of the angle you hold it at and letting the blade do the cutting - not pressing in.

I've only used my new razor three times, but I like it! One thing that'll be very nice is saving money: the blades are very inexpensive, and no throwing away gobs of plastic every time the blades dull! And it shaves much closer than the multi-blade plastic cartridges. I'm using an empty pill bottle as a blade 'safe' to keep my dull blades, once it fills I can just throw it into the trash or a recycle bin.

The setup is a bit expensive, but but not horribly so, and it pays itself off pretty quick - I paid a little over $100 for everything, which is less than a year's supply of Gillette refills. I bought a Rockwell razor, they're adjustable via inserts: they have three inserts that you can flip over to give you six different blade 'bites'. I am using a #3 right now but plan on trying a #2 (less bite) Sunday or Monday. I bought an assortment of blades, got like a dozen different five-packs to evaluate, so pretty much a year supply. The razor itself came with five blades, but apparently they're regarded as crap blades. And Rockwell has a sale right now on a J. Crew edition of the razor that came in a nice box and is very nice looking. Their insert model is made in the USA, which I like.

I also bought a tub of shaving cream, a synthetic beaver brush (for making foam of the cream), and an alum stick for possible bleeds - none so far. The cream is Taylor of Old Bond Street, their basic scent which is predominantly sandalwood and is very nice. Takes a little practice to whip it into a nice foam, but not too hard.

The one issue is that you take more time shaving. It's definitely not a 'slap on foam and hack away with your Gillette' shave. You have to pay attention to what you're doing, but the end result is a very good shave. Smoother than any electric or Gillette that I've ever had.

You can see the Rockwells at https://getrockwell.com/

I got the rest of my stuff at https://www.westcoastshaving.com/

And there's an excellent Reddit for advice at https://www.reddit.com/r/shaving/

Comments

[starwatcher]

Ah, the memories. My dad used one of those, back in the day. When I was two years old, he got a new one, and let me have his (bladeless) old one. Every morning for I don't know how long, I'd join Dad in the bathroom. After he lathered his face with shaving cream, he gave me a couple of fingers-full from his hand, and I dabbed it on my cheeks. Then I diligently shaved with my Daddy.

Dad was surprised I remember that, but it was the high point of my day for however long it continued. ~ahem!~ Yeah, obviously I was a daddy's-girl from the get-go.

Anyway, congrats on a good shave!

[thewayne]

That's very cool!  I'll bet he really got a kick out of that.  I don't remember my dad ever using a safety razor, I remember him using an electric then switching to disposables.

[murakozi]

I started using a safety razor around 10 years ago. I really do prefer it to disposables, though it does take a little longer. Honestly, in my case it shaves close enough that I don't really need to use it daily. I do have a small electric razor I'll use to touch things up between shaving every other day.

The straight razor you described sounds like a 'barber razor.' I've also seen them called shavettes. The idea for those is that a barber can change the blade between customers for hygiene reasons. I do have one of those. I was curious about shaving with a straight razor, but didn't want to spend the money for one. I did get the hang of it, but for the first few shaves, I ended up looking like someone threw a cat at my face. It did well, but I prefer the safety razor.

[thewayne]

"...threw a cat at my face..."  ROFL!  Yeah, shavette.  Maybe I'll avoid it then.  I don't need that look hanging over me. :-)

[armiphlage]

I find that Rockwell blades aren't that bad. Astra are good but dull after one shave. Feather blades are too sharp for my skin, it feels like they're slicing my skin cells apart.

[murakozi]

I've used Merkur blades for years. Somehow, I ended up with quite a lot of them. I have heard they're no longer made in Germany, though, and that the current ones aren't as good.

[graydon]

It's nice to see Rockwell has the full-fancy late first safety razor period design back in production.

I use Wilkinson blades in an iKon open comb razor because the straight edge safety razors doesn't work well if one has a beard like wire. (I have several years of shaving soap stashed because of Brexit.)

In Canada, I find Fendrihan's is a decent option for shaving stuff. They've got, as I'm sure many other places have got, little steel used-blade hutches that greatly facilitate recycling. (Tape it shut, toss it in, everything is in the same category of ferrous metals.)

[thewayne]

I'm thinking of trying an open comb head.  Not a priority right now.  I'm just shaving my neck, so not a huge deal.  Yeah, the Rockwells seem to be pretty nice, they apparently got their start through Kickstarting their first design a few years back!

[disneydream06]

I don't have the nerve to use a blade. :o :o :o
A couple of times when I have done drag, I have used a disposable, but that's as close as I get. lol...
Hugs, Jon

[thewayne]

I watched a lot of tutorial videos and jumped right in!

[disneydream06]

You is sooooooo brave. :o