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Total aside: non Gilette (etc) razors are extraordinarily cheap. After buying a double edged razor set (~40 iirc?), I pay ~15/yr in blades and shaving cream, sh

Total aside: non Gilette (etc) razors are extraordinarily cheap. After buying a double edged razor set (~40 iirc?), I pay ~15/yr in blades and shaving cream, shaving both my face and my head. Can't help you to be motivated to do so, however!

rnotaro 8y ago
Buying a double edge razor was one of my best life decision. I'm still running on the 150 blades that I bought 1.5 years ago. I'm shaving 1-3 times a week and mostly keep the same blade for 2-6 shaves The blades are so cheap, I could literally change my blades every single time and it would still cost me less than a Gilette razor.
- omnimus 8y ago
  Best decision here too. Although i think i got much bigger savings from using shaving brush + shaving soap instead. In my counry almost everybody uses gillete shaving foams in cans. They dont last very long and thus are super expensive. Gillette is huge marketing trick. I mean shaving soaps smell better, have enormous variety and are like 10x cheaper. With blades you should change them every other shave. Only ones that last me longer are japanese Feathers i dont get it but these are most amazing. Also pretty expensive (still much cheaper than gillette) but totaly worth it.
  - buckminster 8y ago
    I shave in the shower with the water directed onto my face. No foam required. I thought it would be really hard without a mirror but it only took a week to get used to it.
    - omnimus 8y ago
      Wow. I tried that but i can't do it. The problem is not the mirror but it just kills my skin. You are hell of a badass bear man.
- Al-Khwarizmi 8y ago
  Are these as easy to use as Gilette razors? The savings sound good, but I'm a quite clumsy person, so if I'm going to be cutting myself every other day I'd rather pay the Gilette tax.
  - slavik81 8y ago
    They're not quite as easy but I wouldn't say they're difficult. The main drawback for me is that it takes longer. I need two passes for a good shave with a safety razor, and each pass is slower. I'm told it's a good time to relax and reflect, but... if I'm in a hurry I grab my quatro.
  - AmericanChopper 8y ago
    I prefer to use them even without considering the costs. It’s possible to nick yourself, but I’ve never done anymore damage than I’d previously managed to do with a Gillette, and it doesn’t happen that often (to me at least, YMMV).
  - RBerenguel 8y ago
    Slightly harder, only. Have only got cuts in the same places I had before, around the chin area, but overall I actually get less minor cuts with safety razor than disposable multi-blade razors (have been using safety for around two year).
  - _asummers 8y ago
    You'll likely cut yourself a few times at beginning as you learn the technique to hit the contours of your face. That was probably true with Gilette at beginning though right? You can buy a thing called a styptic pencil to stop bleeding. They're great, and super cheap ($1? something like that). I have a few in various toiletry bags. I cut myself MAYBE once every few hundred shaves and it was usually a bump I missed on the back of my head because I don't do it with a mirror. The typical technique is with grain, against grain, cross grain for whichever direction the hair is flowing, but I usually stop after the second one because it's smooth enough.
    - _asummers 8y ago
- Sami_Lehtinen 8y ago
  Do you know that you can re-sharpen the blades, there's no need to replace that quickly.
  - maxerickson 8y ago
    Is the process you are talking about really honing or burnishing the blade? I would expect a manual sharpening process to be vastly inferior to the factory edge. I once saw someone on reddit talk about stropping their disposable razor on their jeans. Of course they were just cleaning it a bit.
  - AmericanChopper 8y ago
    A single Druby blade costs ~9 cents on amazon if you buy the 100 packs. Not sure how much time it’s worth to spend on sharpening them.
- RBerenguel 8y ago
  Same here. For me it's not the price, but shaving with double edge feels better (3/4 blade razors always felt they were pulling my face very strongly, and disposable 1/2 blade razors weren't sharp enough, double-edge seems the perfect fit for my beard). Shaving has also gone from a "chore" to a time for relaxing (getting a nice cream you can foam with a brush is very mind-quieting)

rnotaro 8y ago

Buying a double edge razor was one of my best life decision. I'm still running on the 150 blades that I bought 1.5 years ago. I'm shaving 1-3 times a week and mostly keep the same blade for 2-6 shaves The blades are so cheap, I could literally change my blades every single time and it would still cost me less than a Gilette razor.

omnimus 8y ago
Best decision here too. Although i think i got much bigger savings from using shaving brush + shaving soap instead. In my counry almost everybody uses gillete shaving foams in cans. They dont last very long and thus are super expensive. Gillette is huge marketing trick. I mean shaving soaps smell better, have enormous variety and are like 10x cheaper. With blades you should change them every other shave. Only ones that last me longer are japanese Feathers i dont get it but these are most amazing. Also pretty expensive (still much cheaper than gillette) but totaly worth it.
- buckminster 8y ago
  I shave in the shower with the water directed onto my face. No foam required. I thought it would be really hard without a mirror but it only took a week to get used to it.
  - omnimus 8y ago
    Wow. I tried that but i can't do it. The problem is not the mirror but it just kills my skin. You are hell of a badass bear man.
Al-Khwarizmi 8y ago
Are these as easy to use as Gilette razors? The savings sound good, but I'm a quite clumsy person, so if I'm going to be cutting myself every other day I'd rather pay the Gilette tax.
- slavik81 8y ago
  They're not quite as easy but I wouldn't say they're difficult. The main drawback for me is that it takes longer. I need two passes for a good shave with a safety razor, and each pass is slower. I'm told it's a good time to relax and reflect, but... if I'm in a hurry I grab my quatro.
- AmericanChopper 8y ago
  I prefer to use them even without considering the costs. It’s possible to nick yourself, but I’ve never done anymore damage than I’d previously managed to do with a Gillette, and it doesn’t happen that often (to me at least, YMMV).
- RBerenguel 8y ago
  Slightly harder, only. Have only got cuts in the same places I had before, around the chin area, but overall I actually get less minor cuts with safety razor than disposable multi-blade razors (have been using safety for around two year).
- _asummers 8y ago
  You'll likely cut yourself a few times at beginning as you learn the technique to hit the contours of your face. That was probably true with Gilette at beginning though right? You can buy a thing called a styptic pencil to stop bleeding. They're great, and super cheap ($1? something like that). I have a few in various toiletry bags. I cut myself MAYBE once every few hundred shaves and it was usually a bump I missed on the back of my head because I don't do it with a mirror. The typical technique is with grain, against grain, cross grain for whichever direction the hair is flowing, but I usually stop after the second one because it's smooth enough.
  - _asummers 8y ago
Sami_Lehtinen 8y ago
Do you know that you can re-sharpen the blades, there's no need to replace that quickly.
- maxerickson 8y ago
  Is the process you are talking about really honing or burnishing the blade? I would expect a manual sharpening process to be vastly inferior to the factory edge. I once saw someone on reddit talk about stropping their disposable razor on their jeans. Of course they were just cleaning it a bit.
- AmericanChopper 8y ago
  A single Druby blade costs ~9 cents on amazon if you buy the 100 packs. Not sure how much time it’s worth to spend on sharpening them.
RBerenguel 8y ago
Same here. For me it's not the price, but shaving with double edge feels better (3/4 blade razors always felt they were pulling my face very strongly, and disposable 1/2 blade razors weren't sharp enough, double-edge seems the perfect fit for my beard). Shaving has also gone from a "chore" to a time for relaxing (getting a nice cream you can foam with a brush is very mind-quieting)