I swapped to Harry's a few years back as they're one of the few vegan brands. But this shit is frustrating. Those little rubber side pieces are load bearing and made thin enough that they're gonna break after a while.
I literally can't remember the leftist word for a product that's designed to break after some time.
No shame directed at the bearded comrades, but damn shaving helps get a tight seal with N95s.
But they were made in a german factory!
Anyway this is your sign to get a safety razor.
I am perpetually vindicated in keeping a beard and using a straight razor to trim its edges.
I already have a baby face, but trying to grow facial hair makes me look 10 years younger in the worst way.
Seconding this. Much cheaper (the blades are dirt cheap and last well) and I used to get a closer shave too with less irritation. I have a beard these days, so I’m not shaving, but before for work I needed to shave daily for n99/ffp3 masks and the irritation (or lack of) mattered for my sensitive skin.
Buy a decent handle like an Edwin Jagger or a Merkur and it will be good for your lifetime and probably your grandkids life too, then buy a pack of decent DE safety razor blades, like Feather or something, and you’re good to go. No plastic waste from all the heads or handles. No bullshit marketing. No subscritions. No chemical lubricants that may or may not work (or contain animals). Just recyclable metal.
I just wish it wasn't so tricky to shave more intimate areas.
I'm still searching for a good shaving foam/cream though. Nobody has taught me to shave, so I'm just learning as I go along.
So I used just a bar of olive oil hand soap which our friend makes - which is odd because I can’t normally use proper soap on my hands regularly without drying them out. It lathers really thickly which gives all the lubrication you need.
I don’t think it’s much harder shaving with a safety razor than a cartridge one. I think it just comes with practice. Keep the skin taught if you can. It’s just a little more complex as you need to keep the angle correct over a complex surface rather than relying on the articulation of the head. The upside of this is a safety razor is better at getting a close shave in a tight spot.
I guess the alternative is wax for more intimate areas but I’m no expert there.
Do you apply the oil to the zone you shave, or was that just a tip for keeping hands moisturized lol?
Thanks for the advice!
No, no olive oil. Just olive oil soap.
To make soap you take a fat and an alkaline and mix them (to put it simply) e.g. olive oil and sodium hydroxide. One of my friends hand makes bars of soap, and it’s really good for shaving with, though I can’t use it all the time for my hands as real my skin dry! Other soaps will work just as well, I just mentioned that soap specifically as it was vegan.
Very cool! I've actually wanted to get into making soap myself
Yesterday I was looking for shaving creams without tallow and I found a nice little artisan soap maker. Every review of them that I found said that even though they’re vegan their performance is still top notch. And the fragrances sound really intriguing.
https://southernwitchcrafts.com/
Sadly I am not in the US, but I appreciate it.
I live in Europe. There are stores in the UK and Slovenia that sell it too.
Fantastic!
FWIW, the fancy artisan shaving soaps are very nice, but over time I've found that having a good brush is more important than what soap you use. I used to order from https://www.stirlingsoap.com/, but now I just use whatever bar soap I have lying around
Yup, a good brush is worth it’s weight in gold, even though a good synthetic can be bought for really cheap. With soaps it depends on the person. Without a good one I just couldn’t shave regularly due to irritations.
And also I just want to smell nice.
So valid
Get a cheap intense pulsed light gun and vaporise the hair
(*depending on skin and hair colour)
Lmao when I searched "intense pulsed light gun" google suggested "intense pulsed light gundam" which sounds rad af
This dude taught me how to shave: https://youtube.com/@shavetutor
Maybe it helps you too?
What brand do you recommend?
Not REgon, but I just use a Wilkinson Sword I've found in Rossmann and it does me well real nice. I've been shaving with it for a few years now. This one specifaclly:
The more important choice are the razors themselves, sadly I've only used generic ISANA (Rossmann in-house brand) and DM ones. They're okay for what I need, but they dull very quickly. But from guides I've read, Astra Greens are rather okay but I've only seen them for bulk online in actually good prices.
INLINE EDIT: [I've found the video from The Gentleman's Gazette about razors]
For soap I just use Nivea, and my brush is also some generic DM one. I get a very smooth shave with it, jak pupa niemowlaka. (how the fuck is that an idiom in Polish I don't know)
If you want better help with shaving, I recommend the video series by The Gentleman's Gazette. For example here's a video on how to best shave with sensitive skin.
Also if I'm triggering any dysphoria I'm sorry, I'm just trying to help and have also tried to help this way my trans girl friends as I believe the sensory feeling of extremely smooth skin might something they'd like :(
You're good, most shaving tutorial did is gonna be male coded for facial hair.
I'm happy to help, maybe I should write a shaving master post guide thingy or something
I could contribute as well. I switched years ago and never looked back. But a lot of the online resources try to convince you you need expensive boutique items, because a lot people treat it as their hobby
You can spend a ton of money on fancy razors, shaving soaps, brushes, scented aftercare products and so on, but if you're frugal, you can save a ton of money over time
The cheapest setup I can think of, would run you like around 35zł. Here's the shopping list:
And get yourself an empty jar for stirring the foam, that's literally all.
I found YouTube links in your comment. Here are links to the same videos on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
Link 1:
Link 2:
Edwin Jagger and Merkur are two brands that are often recommended to beginners because they are reasonably priced, but still decent quality. There are lots of fancy brands and models, but don't worry about those. I've been using my Edwin Jagger for over a decade at this point. Just don't buy the garbage ones they sell at the chain drug stores or the mall (Art of Shaving for instance. Overpriced trash)
Buy a sampler set of razor blades to try some different ones. Different brands have different sharpness and one kind may work better than others for your particular hair
Buy a brush if you would also like to stop buying shaving cream forever. Omega makes quality brushes, including synthetic ones (traditionally they are made from badger hair). I've had my synthetic again for over a decade and it's still in great shape
I've found the cheap Chinese razors are just fine if you pair them with a better quality blade. The one I have is functionally a copy of a 60's Gillette Superspeed. Maybe I've just been lucky.
I recently upgraded to a Mühle companion. It’s marketed as unisex because it’s mild, has a long handle and has covered blade tabs which make it great for shaving both face and body. I’m really happy with it.
I use Voskhod. I haven't tried many brands but I know it was indefinitely better than what I had found for a higher price in a supermarket. Ordering them by batch of 100 for 10€ on the internet
Voshkod are my brand too
I'm talking about safety razors, not disposable ones
Uh.. yeah that's a safety razor blade brand
nvm, I thought all safety razors were reusable
I just bought what was cheapest