Multi-blade razors

[Riff Raff]

snowy slopes said:

digger_R said:

sorry what do you mean by mapping your beard?


[/stupid]

Look at your beard in a mirror, very closely, and see which way your hairs grow. For example, my cheek hairs and top lip hairs grow in a v shape towards my chin, my cheek hairs grow straight down, and under my chin, me left side grows horizontaly so to speak, my right side grows at about 45 degrees towrds my adams apple. If you can find which way your hairs grow, and follow them with the razor, it is a much nicer shave, as you dont get that burn afterwards.


OH, and it wasnt a stupid comment, i had to look the videos up on youtube to find out what it meant

Edited by snowy slopes on Tuesday 23 November 15:46

Or do it with your fingertips when you are lathered up. You can feel which way the hairs grow - bit like feeling the scales on a fish.

Oh, and I use Derby blades. £10 for 100. Bargain.

[Heskey]

I have a 5-bladed vibrating razor and not only do the blades go blunt quickly and cost a pretty penny, but I only feel like my neck is on fire after shaving.

I think I'll try the el-cheapo options.

[WorAl]

Doniger said:

Interesting thread.

Tempted to try safety razors after reading this, but given how much I hate shaving I'm wondering whether I can be arsed with making it even more of a chore.

Think I've always used multiblades and as infrequently as possible (once a week if I can get away with it) as I detest shaving...but it sounds like my W.Sword quattros are contributing to me ending up with a horrid rash after shaving? Or is it just ste technique?

I was exactly the same, hated shaving and got bad rash every time I shaved. Changed to a stty Wilkinson Sword safety razor and now I actually enjoy shaving and never have a rash. Looking forward to Christmas when I get my Merkur Futur.

Edited by WorAl on Tuesday 23 November 16:33

[WorAl]

Riff Raff said:

Oh, and I use Derby blades. £10 for 100. Bargain.

Where's that then?

[Riff Raff]

WorAl said:

Riff Raff said:

Oh, and I use Derby blades. £10 for 100. Bargain.

Where's that then?

I bought them from here http://www.timothyedwards.co.uk/default.asp? ISTR.

It was a while back - averaging about 7 or 8 shaves from a blade, it's going to take me a while to go through them!

[CypherP]

Is there a specific way to shave with a safety razor, or a particular method? I've never used one before, but i frequently get bad shaving rash and am pissed off with spending a fortune on gillete cartridges.

It has probably been asked before, but only occured to me to ask now as I've seen it talked about quite a bit recently.

[Doniger]

WorAl said:

I was exactly the same, hated shaving and got bad rash every time I shaved. Changed to a stty Wilkinson Sword safety razor and now I actually enjoy shaving and never have a rash. Looking forward to Christmas when I get my Merkur Futur.

Thanks for the input...I might give it a go then.

[MX7]

I gave up with mulit blades years ago. They cost far too much, so I went to a safety razor. It shaves just as well, and I got 100 blades off Ebay for £10. 10p a blade.

[Riff Raff]

CypherP said:

Is there a specific way to shave with a safety razor, or a particular method? I've never used one before, but i frequently get bad shaving rash and am pissed off with spending a fortune on gillete cartridges.

It has probably been asked before, but only occured to me to ask now as I've seen it talked about quite a bit recently.

Yes. There are loads of 'tutorials' on you tube. Best advice I could give is buy some decent soap or lather. The stuff out of cans is no good for D/E shaving. Then, as others said before on this thread, don't put any pressure on the razor. Let its weight do the work. Don't do the David Beckham Gillette ad stunt of doing one pass from your scalp to below you adam's apple, as you'll end up with half your face in the sink. Mind you, you won't do it twice!

[WorAl]

CypherP said:

Is there a specific way to shave with a safety razor, or a particular method? I've never used one before, but i frequently get bad shaving rash and am pissed off with spending a fortune on gillete cartridges.

It has probably been asked before, but only occured to me to ask now as I've seen it talked about quite a bit recently.

Snowy Slopes has covered it earlier in the thread, it's basically about getting the angle of the blade against the skin right.

Lather up using a good brush and soap and put the razor on your face so the handle is about 15 degrees down from horizontal then move the razor down your cheek and rotate the handle down over until you hear/feel it start to cut the hair. That is the angle you need.

I shave once with the hair (same direction that the hair lies on your face/neck) then lather up and once across the hair. On this second pass I also find that if I get some of the lather on my hand and then where I have shaved across the hair, rub my finger tips across the skin, pulling it tight after the razor has passed and feel for any hair protruding, it will cover the hair with lather again and I can then shave that bit of stubble off. Does that make sense?

If you really want to, do a third pass against the hair, but I find the second pass is enough. The shave lasts me about a day and a half to two days then shave again on the third and I've never had rash/burn since changing to a safety.

ETA. I've just bought this http://connaughtshaving.com/mitchellsbowl.html

this (I think) http://connaughtshaving.com/vulfix403.html

and this is for Christmas http://connaughtshaving.com/merkurfutur.html

Edited by WorAl on Tuesday 23 November 17:00

[Soovy]

I know what I want for Xmas now. Cheers fellas!

[CypherP]

Cheers guys. Have looked at some of the safety razors linked on here a few times, and they do look pretty good. Plus, the blades seem a hell of a lot cheaper than what you'd pay for Gillette or the equivalent these days.

I'll watch some of the tutorials and think this may be something I ask for this year.

The Merkur Futur looks sweet

[tank slapper]

CypherP said:

Is there a specific way to shave with a safety razor, or a particular method? I've never used one before, but i frequently get bad shaving rash and am pissed off with spending a fortune on gillete cartridges.

It has probably been asked before, but only occured to me to ask now as I've seen it talked about quite a bit recently.

This is quite a good intro:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotat...

[andy400]

I either use a safety razor or a single blade disposable. If you're doing it right it's all you need for a close shave - anything more is just marketing, nothing more.

[Eggman]

blugnu said:

I've now got stubble and an electric trimmer - but it's the same thing. The rechargeable battery won't hold charge, and you can't get replacements.

If you open it up, most times you'll find it uses a couple of AA or AAA NiCads with solder tags. Replacements cost a couple of quid in places like Maplin and can be fitted in minutes.

Returning to the main topic of the thread, the only reason I can see for many-bladed swivelly super razors is to provide differentiation from competitors' products and tie punters into buying expensive blades until it's time to hand over more money for an 'improved' handle with a different fitting. The main purpose of lubra-strips seems to be to wear out, so the blades get chucked away whilst they're still sharp.

I get a reliably good shave from supermarket twin bladed fixed head razors that cost pennies each. I've only found one drawback compared to the premium products, which is that they don't help me construct a glamorous personal narrative. I think I can live with that.

[Legend83]

Soovy said:

I know what I want for Xmas now. Cheers fellas!

Agreed - just emailed all these links to my wife!

[andy400]

Superb book:

[Yazza54]

MACH3'd my face last night. So close half my fking face came off.

[snowy slopes]

CypherP said:

Cheers guys. Have looked at some of the safety razors linked on here a few times, and they do look pretty good. Plus, the blades seem a hell of a lot cheaper than what you'd pay for Gillette or the equivalent these days.

I'll watch some of the tutorials and think this may be something I ask for this year.

The Merkur Futur looks sweet

As i said earlier in the thread, get the el cheapo one from boots first, try it and see if you like it, and can get on with it, if you can, then by all means by the shiny stuff then. Seems silly to buy a merkur, expensive soap and a massive blade bundle, if you cant get on with it. Besides, if you buy the el cheapo one from boots, you get about 10 shaves out of it to find out if you can get on with it

[CypherP]

snowy slopes said:

CypherP said:

Cheers guys. Have looked at some of the safety razors linked on here a few times, and they do look pretty good. Plus, the blades seem a hell of a lot cheaper than what you'd pay for Gillette or the equivalent these days.

I'll watch some of the tutorials and think this may be something I ask for this year.

The Merkur Futur looks sweet

As i said earlier in the thread, get the el cheapo one from boots first, try it and see if you like it, and can get on with it, if you can, then by all means by the shiny stuff then. Seems silly to buy a merkur, expensive soap and a massive blade bundle, if you cant get on with it. Besides, if you buy the el cheapo one from boots, you get about 10 shaves out of it to find out if you can get on with it

Very good advice, many thanks slopes. I'll have a ganders at the vids on Ewetewb later too and see what's what.

Thanks for the info guys.