A styptic pencil is a good investment for the little nicks.
I really like the Astra Superior Platinum blades, and I swear by Tabac Original shave soap (if you’ve gone all in).
Oh, is there any way to get the few hairs up against the bottom of the nose? The razor is too big to get the edge up where it can cut them. It was a pain to do with most of the newer disposable blades too once 4 and 5 blades became the norm. Which is why I always went with 2 or 3 bladed disposables.
Anyway, I just used my trimmer to get those hairs up close to the nose. :)
Agreed. I’ve been using these for about three years with nary a problem.
I bought a sampler (probably about 20 different brands) off Amazon like 4 years ago and I’m still going through those blades. It’s been so long I can’t even remember which ones I like the best (though I have good memories of Astra, Feather and Sword).
Angles and prayer, my friend.
Or just grow a moustache!
I bought a giant pallet of mach3 blades at Costco in like 1999 and am maybe a third of the way through. Even the gelstrips still work fine. They don’t deteriorate until used.
Every time I hear about a new shaving technology I compare it to a brand new mach3 blade with fresh gelstrip and it falls short.
I might buy a nicer handle, though. The twenty year old one I’m using now is somewhat worn.
Not sure if this is brilliant, insane, or brilliantly insane. But it’s sure damned something.
They were on sale!
Prompted by this thread, I just picked up a gorgeous box elder burl mach3 handle from etsy. Treat yo’ self!
I’m still working through my Sensor Excel blades from Costco bought in about 1999 as well.
I ended up subscribing to Harry’s (.com) because they had a promo through the CAGcast where you just paid 3 bucks for the shipping of the basic razor + cover, one cartridge (5 bladed, with the extra single blade on the top for under the nose) and a small container of their shaving gel. I subscribed for the least frequent shipment of new blades since in a good week I might shave twice. Supposedly you can always postpone a shipment and they email you about it in time to do so (we’ll see).
It does shave pretty nice and close (and nick free), although if you’ve got 5 days growth or so the blades are close enough together that the hairs are hard to wash out of them. I will say as a general thing that I don’t really get the need for more than three blades in a cartridge ever. It just seems like overkill, and the cartridge just ends up being kind of a bedsheet-sized thing on your face. But I did shave yesterday after only a couple/three days since the last shave and it was OK (sometimes in a “shaving emergency” where I don’t want to look like a complete bum but I’m in a rush I shave everything off but an “Evil Spock” mustache/goatee and shaving that off was the first use of the cartridge).
With regard to the shaving gel, it was OK and smelled of Aloe, which I’m not that fond of–I may be a peon but I generally just like plain old Barbasol or whatever.
Anyway, anyone else tried them? Experiences?
Yeah, I use Harry’s and I pretty much shave once a week (trimming my beard and shaving my neck), so ended up suspending my subscription pretty quickly. They were good about it, and now I just order my blades from them as needed. It’s nice that they’ve been improving their blades and not raising their prices, unlike Gillette. I honestly don’t have much else to say about them except that the blades do last me a decently long time as long as I keep them away from humidity.
Interesting post on Badger&Blade about an $8 Chinese knockoff of the Merkur Futur. Boyfriend’s ordering one of these right now!
The only issue I would have with a cheap Chinese knockoff is, what metals is it made of? What coating does it have? May there possibly be something dangerous in the mix? What happens when the cheap coating wears off and there is lead in the base metal?
As much as I would like the discount, I personally would spend the extra cash for a razor that wasn’t questionable at best and dangerous at worst. Of course YMMV.
Yeah exactly. The Merkur is 50 or 60 bucks and will last at least your lifetime and probably somebody else’s.
Diego
Shaved with my Merkur 38C’s head earlier today (on a shorter Edwin Jagger DE89L’s handle; my gf wanted the 38C’s length, but prefers the 89L’s gentler “bite,” so we swapped off years ago and have been happy ever since) and gotta agree it’s pretty worth the investment :)
I’m surprised at the variation in safety razor blades. I ordered a mixed pack from Amazon (love how a relatively inexpensive purchase can be enough for a year if I swap once a week) and a couple of the brands, which I’ve seen before, like Derby felt absolutely dull, Others, like Feather and a Gillette Platinum, cut really smoothly and nicely.
What brands do people here prefer?
I started out with Sharks and didn’t really like them very much so I bought a 100 pack of Astras for under $9 and it lasted me a couple years. I have absolutely no complaints about them. After my supply finally ran out I bought some Feathers because I heard so many good things, but I pretty much stopped shaving shortly thereafter so I don’t have as much to go by. From what I’ve seen though they’re at least as good as the Astras (though if I were to get back into shaving I’d probably just go with the Astras since they’re so cheap and work so well).
I prefer Feathers. Hands down. Astras aren’t bad. Sharks have a bite :)
I LOVED the old Gillette 7 O’clock Platinum Blues (the black packaged ones, which are all that you can find anymore, are made in India and drag like crazy on my face, but the old St. Petersburg blues were literally the perfect razor for my face. I use Polsilvers now, and they’re not nearly as good, but it’ll do, I guess :-(
I’ve been really happy with Feather. Got a sampler pack ages ago and liked those the best of that bunch so have been buying them since.