Question for those who shave

If you shave anything, you need a One blade

A replacement blade lasts 4 months, and is 18 bucks. Gets a really close shave, and you can get a clean line for trimming.

dculberson wrote: Frequent bj ... younger guy at work ... you had me worried for a second there.

Lol, should have read it through.

Any port in a storm I guess...

Trans_Maro wrote: Nothing wrong with that. I've noticed a major uptick in the frequency and quality of the bj since the younger guy at work convinced me to put in a little more effort.

Phrasing?

I tried the Feather blades in my safety razor. I really only shave my neck, and the Feather blades get the hair off without irritation like I've had with some other blades.

And, to combine threads, I've been saving my old blades to heat up in the forge that I'm going to make. No idea how it will turn out, though.

I use a Gillette Mach 3 turbo and strop it every time before using it. I use a piece of denim, 5 times on the rough side, five on the smooth. The first blade I did this with lasted 2 years, but I started stropping half way through its life. I only shave my beard once every one or 2 weeks so YMMV.

*************Update, it is 12/19/2021 My blade finally broke after 4 years and 4 months. The plastic mount broke wile stopping. I checked my shave with the new blade and it was the same as with the old one. My beard grows in all directions so I need to shave 4 ways to get a smooth shave.

2 years on a blade?

I bet some of you guys could shave with a washcloth.

Merkur safety razor with wilkinson sword blades, shaving brush and Mudder Focker soap.

Need to replace my brush soon, going 100% badger on the new one, old one was something else.

In reply to Apexcarver:

I kind of wonder if badger is really that much better than boar. I own an Omega Pro48 simply because it was a cheap way to see if I liked the DE setup in the first place.

Not sure what I'm getting for the extra cash.

Trans_Maro wrote: 2 years on a blade? I bet some of you guys could shave with a washcloth.

No kidding. I get between 3 and 15 shaves out of a blade, depending on quality and type. I can't use the electric shavers; they just pull my hair. Very painful, even with the very expensive ones.

Trans_Maro wrote: 2 years on a blade? I bet some of you guys could shave with a washcloth.

My blades lasted 2 months ( 8 shaves) without stropping. If I let my beard go 2 weeks I have to use a trimmer first. I grows slow but thick.

Hello again everyone.

I shave every day. Head and face.

I used Harry's for a while, and Cremo cream and it was OK. Slightly better than the Mach 3, and I wanted to step away from Gillette anyway.

It was never very good though. The Mach 3 is still better at my head. Fewer blades always feels nicer up there.

I wanted to try a safety razor, so I bought one and a combo pack. I am doing three passes. With, across, then against the grain, with good soap and a brush. It's just OK. It's not as good as the Mach 3 or the Harry's honestly. I've tried Lord, Shark, and a few other blades. I have not gotten to Feather yet. Is it possibly the razor handle itself? I was intrigued by a FB ad but loathe to spend more money to save money:

https://hensonshaving.com/

Any other tips?

Thanks

Trans_Maro said:

2 years on a blade?

I bet some of you guys could shave with a washcloth.

Yeah, but I'd have to use extra slick shaving gel to keep from getting razor burn.

Ancient thread update: Currently getting 2 months per Mach 5 blade.  I shave five days a week, take weekends off.

Comment removed to avoid upsetting the fish.

only on GRM do you ask a pertinent question on an older thread only to accidently revive a four year old argument instead.

In reply to tuna55 :

I've been shaving with a safety razor for several years, a couple things I've picked up along the way:

The razor you have now might be your problem, do you know what it is or where you bought it? If it's twist to open, it's probably not great. 

The razor you linked to is probably nice, but overpriced. Maggard Razor is my go-to shaving shop. Most of my orders have shipped same day. Pick a handle you like the look of and get the v3 head to go with it. 
Maggard Razor razors

Shaving soap makes a difference to my face. The artisan brands at maggard are kind of spendy but last a long time. Barrister and Mann is my favorite but most of them are really good and crazy slick. 

Modern synthetic brushes are really good. If you need one, any of the maggard house brand brushes will do you good. 
 

Blades are down to personal preference, my favorite is Astra Stainless (not platinum). Feathers are not for me, but are very popular. Grab a sample pack if you want to try a bunch.

In reply to AaronT :

I am going through the variety pack now.

The razor is this one:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/696596660/double-edge-razor-handmade-razor-meister?ref=yr_purchases

In reply to tuna55 :

That looks pretty nice. The head geometry might be your issue, but I doubt anything about the handle is a problem. The handle appears to be compatible with most of the heads you'll see on the market, so you could try a more aggressive head geo without buying a whole new razor

AaronT said:

In reply to tuna55 :

That looks pretty nice. The head geometry might be your issue, but I doubt anything about the handle is a problem. The handle appears to be compatible with most of the heads you'll see on the market, so you could try a more aggressive head geo without buying a whole new razor

I see. I didn't realize that you could buy just the head. Indeed the handle feels really nice in hand. The support of the Henson under the blade was interesting, but I don't know if it's objectively better. I'll keep trying, but so far it's always worse than Harry's and Mach 3, though that seems opposite of most people's experiences.

I was a Schick Quattro guy based on this thread (or one like it) and have since switched to Schick Hydro 5 which does as good of a shave job as the Quattro except it rinses out the shrapnel between the blades waaaaay more easily.

I approve 

I just started down the safety razor rabbit hole but I will say the shaving soaps and scents therof are superb at https://www.stirlingsoap.com/

They hooked me with their cost-effective colognes (I like executive man and sandpiper) and they have a great reputation for price and customer service.  Every order comes with a sample for another scent.  Try them!

Crxpilot said:

I just started down the safety razor rabbit hole but I will say the shaving soaps and scents therof are superb at https://www.stirlingsoap.com/

They hooked me with their cost-effective colognes (I like executive man and sandpiper) and they have a great reputation for price and customer service.  Every order comes with a sample for another scent.  Try them!

Made a purchase today, thanks!

I tried shaving with the Cremo instead of the shaving soap and it was objectively better, if not great. It was even with the Harry's this way. I hope those soaps push it over the edge.

AaronT said:

In reply to tuna55 :

I've been shaving with a safety razor for several years, a couple things I've picked up along the way:

The razor you have now might be your problem, do you know what it is or where you bought it? If it's twist to open, it's probably not great. 

The razor you linked to is probably nice, but overpriced. Maggard Razor is my go-to shaving shop. Most of my orders have shipped same day. Pick a handle you like the look of and get the v3 head to go with it. 
Maggard Razor razors

Shaving soap makes a difference to my face. The artisan brands at maggard are kind of spendy but last a long time. Barrister and Mann is my favorite but most of them are really good and crazy slick. 

Modern synthetic brushes are really good. If you need one, any of the maggard house brand brushes will do you good. 
 

Blades are down to personal preference, my favorite is Astra Stainless (not platinum). Feathers are not for me, but are very popular. Grab a sample pack if you want to try a bunch.

If the shaving soaps I bought from Stirling don't make a ton of difference, I'll try the new head. It's hard to compare without them back to back and all.

In reply to tuna55 :

Hope the soap works for you! I like my soaps to have a tallow base and lanolin does good things for my skin. 
I'm trying not to sound like a canoe since I have zero affiliation or financial stake in maggard, but their combo head pack would get you all the variety you need. The v3 is my go-to, and the v3a is nice, but overkill for me. It's just a ton of unfettered blade.

A couple years after this thread got started, I just gave up on shaving and grew a beard.

In reply to DrBoost :

Gillette Sensor Excel (I have an old blade holder from maybe two decades ago, it's great, I bought a new one a couple of years ago as a spare and it's not so great) and go for Barbasol with Aloe for shaving cream.  I try to shave right after a shower when the whiskers are easier to cut and free of any oils etc.