A safety razor, a badger brush, a bowl of soap and ten minutes that belong to nobody else. The best shave a man can have costs less than a cartridge refill.
Sometime in the 1970s the shaving industry discovered that it could sell a man a plastic handle for nothing and then charge him €30 for a pack of blades for the rest of his life. The five-bladed cartridge is a triumph of marketing and a mediocre way to shave: it drags, it clogs, it cuts hair below the skin line and causes the ingrown hairs it then sells you creams for. The alternative is a hundred years old, costs ten cents a blade and shaves better. It takes a week to learn.
The kit
A double-edge safety razor: Merkur 34C, Mühle R89, Edwin Jagger DE89, around €40 to €60, and it lasts for life. A hundred blades for €15; try a sampler pack, because blades differ and your face will have an opinion. A badger or good synthetic brush, €30 to €80. A hard shaving soap or a cream in a tub, €10 to €25 and six months of shaves. An alum block for afterwards and a proper aftershave balm. Total for a lifetime’s kit: about the price of a year of cartridges.
Preparation
Shave after a shower, or hold a hot flannel to the face for a minute. Warm, wet stubble is soft stubble. Soak the brush in hot water, load it on the soap for twenty seconds, then build a lather in a bowl or on the face, adding drops of water until it is glossy and holds a peak. Thin, wet lather cuts better than thick foam. Paint it on in circles for a minute; the brush lifts the hairs and exfoliates.
The cartridge razor was invented to be bought. The safety razor was invented to shave. The difference shows on your face by eleven.
The three passes
No pressure. The weight of the razor does the work, held at about thirty degrees to the skin, in short strokes. First pass with the grain, in the direction the hair grows. Relather. Second pass across the grain, at ninety degrees. Relather. Third pass, if you want it and your skin allows it, against the grain, lightly, only on the cheeks. Stretch the skin with the free hand where it is loose, under the jaw and on the neck. Rinse the razor after every few strokes. The whole thing takes eight minutes once you are practised.
Afterwards
Cold water to close the pores. The alum block, wet, over the whole face; it stings for ten seconds and tells you where you pressed too hard. Pat dry. A balm without alcohol. No aftershave splash unless you enjoy the scene from the film.
The learning curve
You will nick yourself in the first week, usually on the chin and under the nose, usually from pressing. A styptic pencil stops it in seconds. By the second week the angle is automatic. By the third you will notice that the razor burn you assumed was your skin type has gone, and that the shave lasts until evening. Then you will wonder why you spent twenty years buying plastic.
Questions we get asked
Safety razor or straight razor?
Safety razor. A straight razor is a beautiful object and a hobby that requires stropping, honing and a steady hand at seven in the morning. Learn the safety razor first; ninety-five percent of men stop there, happily.
How often should I change the blade?
Every five to seven shaves, or as soon as it tugs. At ten cents a blade there is no reason to economise.
What about electric?
For a man who shaves in a car or a hotel bathroom with no time, a good foil shaver is the practical answer. It is not a close shave and is not pretending to be.
