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Should I get a safety razor?

ravenvii

ravenvii

macrumors 604
Original poster
Mar 17, 2004
7,588
494
Melenkurion Skyweir
I'm eyeing the Merkur safety razor. But I'm held back by a question. I usually shave in the shower, with no cream or anything. Just water. Worked fine with my disposable Gillette and no-brand CVS razors.

Will a safety razor be fine in that kind of setting? Or is creams and brushes and all that fancy stuff required if you don't want to slit yourself a permanent grin?
 
ravenvii said:
I'm eyeing the Merkur safety razor. But I'm held back by a question. I usually shave in the shower, with no cream or anything. Just water. Worked fine with my disposable Gillette and no-brand CVS razors.

Will a safety razor be fine in that kind of setting?
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Only if you want to recreate the shower scene from psycho :p!

ravenvii said:
Or is creams and brushes and all that fancy stuff required if you don't want to slit yourself a permanent grin?
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This. Safety razors are good and bad. On the one hand they're awfully slow, it takes time to get the technique right, and the initial outlay is expensive in comparison to disposables. It'll also probably be a few weeks if not a month (or two) before you're getting a shave you'd consider comparable. On the other hand they are delightfully decadent. There is nothing quite like collecting all the paraphernalia involved, going through the process of lathering up your own warm shaving soap, massaging it to your face with a gorgeous badger-brush, and then sweeping across your face with a beautifully weighted, precision engineered implement. Heaven - albeit time consuming!

If you haven't already check out Mantic's videos on youtube. He got me bitten originally and I've never looked back.
 
One reason why I don't like conventional safety razors is that unless you have a lot of practice it's really hard to shave as cleanly as a good multi-blade razor such as the Schick Xtreme3 shaver I use. And creating the lather from a shaving soap is a big time-waster, too.
 
Why not get a electric razor?, i shaved in the shower and got sick and tired of cutting my self. Now with this i don't have to worry. And a added bonus if your running late for work, you can shave in the car! LoL
 
ravenvii said:
I'm eyeing the Merkur safety razor. But I'm held back by a question. I usually shave in the shower, with no cream or anything. Just water. Worked fine with my disposable Gillette and no-brand CVS razors.

Will a safety razor be fine in that kind of setting? Or is creams and brushes and all that fancy stuff required if you don't want to slit yourself a permanent grin?
Click to expand...

you need both safe razor and shave cream if you dont wanna see bleeding in the bath...
 
iShater said:
I did not know they still made these. :eek: Now y'all are getting me intrigued! :cool:
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It's a treat, best shave I've ever had. Unfortunately, I've been rushed in the mornings lately and have only had time for a quick shave with my Sensor.
 
r.j.s said:
It's a treat, best shave I've ever had. Unfortunately, I've been rushed in the mornings lately and have only had time for a quick shave with my Sensor.
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I end up going to work scruffy when I don't have time for a good shave. :)
 
I have 4 safety razors, two brushes and an assortment of creams and soaps.

Go with a Merkur HD and a decent badger brush and one of the "T" creams from the big 3 "T" manufacturers.
 
In that setting I have not found better than a Mach III with Gilette sensitive Gel.

Safety razors are old tech so you must compensate with plenty of prep and post shave pampering if you do not want to look like the Reddleman.
 
The Merkur is excellent in the shower. Both without anything, with brushes and soap, or with shaving oil.
I have the Merkur Futur.
The fact that you can adjust it makes for a much better shave, imo.

I use the Merkur razor blades, which holds out for two or three shaves (I shave my head as well). When I use, say, gilette I go through two or three of them per shave, which is rather expensive.

Sometimes I use it "bare", but usually I use somerset shaving oil. A couple of drops, water, and you're all set.

The bloke claiming that you need brushes and the lot is wrong. And he's very wrong if he thinks that it's because it's "old tech" he gets red spots. It's because his skin isn't used to the treatment or he's using old blades, presses too hard or something.
 
go for it. sounds badass. those things are friggin scary imo, but if you can do it more power to you.
 
spikespike said:
go for it. sounds badass. those things are friggin scary imo, but if you can do it more power to you.
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No, safety razors aren't scary, open razors are!

36030d2d48145ff38ea964fa418b9058.jpg
 
Tosser said:
No, safety razors aren't scary, open razors are!
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I have one of those, and I nicked myself once (if you want to call it a nick, it was 1 1/2 inches long) :eek: I don't have steady enough hands to use it properly.
 
SactoGuy18 said:
What's interesting is that the article is more accurate than people think. However, I do disagree with the use of shaving gel--I've used the newest variants of Edge shaving gel with no problems.

While it's great to get a straight razor professional shave, the high cost of such a shave at a barber might make many people think twice about do it.
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Yep, very good article. I also use Edge with out any problems.
 
shfreelance said:
Yep, very good article. I also use Edge with out any problems.
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I still remember using the first versions of Edge--while it worked it also made my face feel really raw and uncomfortable. However, today's version of Edge include moisturizers and/or aloe/Vitamin E, which improves the feel of the skin after shaving.

By the way, I asked a friend how much it usually costs for a professional shave--it's about US$20 to US$30. :eek: At those prices I could get ten Schick Xtreme 3 disposable shavers plus 3-5 cans of shaving gel and get a decent shave by myself for nearly a year!
 
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