The Shaving Conundrum

For a while now I’ve been trying different things to make my shaving regimen a better experience all around. You see, I was born into a lineage of Mexican, Irish and German blood and therefore my facial hair is coarse and thick. While that’s great for my go-tee, it’s not so great with the cookie cutter styles of razors on the market.

I’ve tried the Gillette 2 blade razors, the Mach 3, Mach 4, two styles of electric shavers, generic disposable razors and, yet I’ll come clean, even women’s razors with the large amounts of moisturizer strips all around the blades. After wasting who knows how much money on these things, I saw the light at the end of the stubble-laden tunnel.

After reading “How To Shave Like Your Grandpa” over at The Art of Manliness, I began to kick around the idea of switching to a safety razor. Hell, the money saved on replacement razor cartridges alone was enough to make me stop and think about it.

A few days later, Keli and I took the kids to a flea market at the local Veteran’s building. It’s free to walk around and there are always a lot of things to look at. We happened to stop and check out one booth which, lo and behold, had an old school Gillette safety razor for $5.00. I checked to make sure that the blade opening was still functional, which it was.

About a week after that I was at Walgreens, standing in line at the pharmacy to pick up my son’s medicine for his ear infection, when I happened to look at the shelf to my right and found that Walgreens carries double-edge razor blades. They only had one pack left and at a steal of 10 razor blades for less than $6, I couldn’t resist.

When I tested the razor out for the first time, after cleaning the well-used razor first of course, I had about four days of stubble to work with. It took some time to get used to the new style of the razor but I quickly got used to it and within about 15 minutes the 4-day stubble was gone and my skin felt smoother than it has been since I started shaving about 11 years ago.

A few pointers :

• If you’re new to safety razors the biggest pointer anybody can give you is Do Not Apply Pressure!. Unlike crappy store bought razors, you will not need to apply pressure to get it to shave closely. The primary reason these razors weigh as much as they do, is because (aside from being made to last) the weight of the razor will be enough for a close shave.
• If there are patches that aren’t shaved as close as you want, Do Not Apply Pressure! Simply rinse off your face, lather and repeat.
• When you’ve worked your way up to a 4 or 5 blade razor, going back down to one may seem like an exercise in futility. Believe me, one blade gets the job done. Don’t believe me? Watch Sweeny Todd.
• I have to admit it, I lucked out when I found my safety razor. If you can’t find one in your area from an antique shop or a flea market, the Merkur Classic Safety Razor over at Amazon seems to have good reviews and is a decently small hit to your wallet when taking on for a test drive.
• Until you’re sure that using a safety razor is the thing for you, avoid spending a bunch of money on a badger hair brush and expensive shaving soaps and oils. There are a lot of products out there which can easily set you back over $100.00 before you’ve even tested the new process. If you stick with this method of shaving, you can always upgrade!

Some specific recommendations:

• Soften your facial hair by taking a hot shower first. Most of us don’t have the time every shave to sit with a steaming hot towel on our face to accomplish this.
• Use Col. Conk Amber Glycerine Shave Soap
  Neutrogena Men Skin Clearing Shave Cream. This shave cream is extremely smooth and a relatively small amount is enough to cover your whole face. It doesn’t lather like the gels and creams you’re used to, but trust me, it works!
• After I’m done shaving, and my face is rinsed, I put on some of the Neutrogena Men Tripple Protect Face Lotion. The lotion does cut down on razor burn and it also keeps my skin soft, which helps for the next shave. To be honest, this tube is disappointingly small, for the price, but you really only need a small dab and the tube will last quite a while with an every other day application.

No, I’m not a salesman for Neutrogena, but their products for men smell good and I can notice a definite improvement with my skin after using them.

As I mentioned earlier, the money I’ll save by switching to a safety razor is just icing on the cake, compared to the realization that my face and neck don’t have to be perpetually plagued by razor burn and stubble patches.

For a list of some great shaving products, this store has a TON of products that can get you set on your merry way.

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