Why A Safety Razor

For 29 years - except for a brief fling with an terrible electrical shaver - I used a multi-bladed cartridge razor thinking that was the very best tool for the job. Every few years I'd buy the new model with one more blade only to find it executed the job precisely the identical - that's - to leave me with a horrible red rash and irritable skin that would have to be shaved once more the next day and barely allowed to heal.

By chance sooner or later I stumbled on a safety razor. I was instantly taken by it is old fashioned design and high high quality appearance. Then I heard that these things had been truly supposed to give you a better shave than cartridge razors similar to your Gillettes and Wilkinson Swords, and that the blades cost considerably less. I instantly purchased one to offer it a go however anticipated to be disappointed.

Getting used to utilizing it was a bit of a studying curve. I might become accustomed to having no regard for the angle of the blade and urgent the razor to my face, after three passes with the safety razor my skin still felt slightly irritated and I had a few tiny weeping cuts.

However, I still felt so much less irritation compared to my old cartridge razor so decided to provide the safety razor a month's trial, keeping the triple bladed razor handy until I might made my mind up or was in a rush. Nonetheless, I've nonetheless yet to make use of it.

After doing my research, studying the correct blade angle and realising that the weight of the razor applies the pressure somewhat than my hand, the safety razor was providing excellent shaves. I went from skipping a days shaving whenever I may to let my skin heal to shaving day by day with no rash or irritation. I learnt how the hair on my face grows in all totally different directions and the most effective combinations of strokes to use to cut them. I learnt about appropriate preparation pre-shave which is something I will go into in a future post. Best of all, shaving turned from a torturous daily chore to be endured into a calming, meditative ritual.

So how can a design that was all however deserted forty years ago offer a superior experience to the trendy design that replaced it? Why was the design of the safety razor replaced in any respect? To answer the primary query we should have a look at how the cartridge razor works. In all the adverts we're told that these products supply the closest shave attainable, but how do they do that?

The design is such that the bottom blade in the cartridge both cuts the hair or pulls it. If it cuts the hair it can additionally pull the hair slightly out of the skin and the second blade will minimize it again before it absolutely retracts back into the skin. If it pulls the hair it's going to do the identical thing, pulling the follicle forward and letting the second (or third, or forth) blade minimize the hair higher up earlier than the hair retreats. This provides an in depth shave, but may go away the hair minimize beneath the level of the skin. This is what was making my every day discomfort. I wonder what number of men with 'pseudofolliculitis barbae' or 'double edge razor rash' continue to shave with these razors that irritate or cause their condition.

As for the query of why the safety razor design was deserted, my view is that it was a clever marketing trick by a very large razor producer, maybe the inventor of the 'loss leader' advertising and marketing strategy, but I'll depart it there.

With a safety razor, I found that I might get a shave that felt as close, i.e I could not feel that hair was present or make that scratchy sound you get once you run your fingers over your five O'Clock shadow, however not so shut that it caused me irritation.