Adventures in Shaving: The Safety Razor

Yes, I did have to relearn shaving with the safety razor. And I know I'm far from the only man who has had to admit that.

I was absolutely and totally used to lightweight multi-blade cartridge razors with lubrication strip and pivoting head.

A safety razor is heavy, has one blade, no strip and the head doesn't move. No pivoting, no side-to-side motion, none of that.

The first thing I had to learn: Angling the blade.

Cartridge razor blades are already angled within the cartridge while a safety razor blade isn't. I had to learn both the proper angle to hold the blade and accommodate for the angles of my face just to get the razor to work. It did take a few tries before I got the hang of it.

The second thing I had to learn: "Let the blade do the work".

A safety razor has real weight to it, meaning only minimal pressure needs to be applied for the blade to do its job. This is the polar opposite of the cartridge razor where some decent pressure needs to be applied since the handle has almost no weight to it.

What I really had to get used to is feeling less razor pressure and trusting the blade. I was completely used to pressing a cartridge razor to my face. You don't do that with a safety razor. Use minimal pressure, get the correct angle and the blade will glide across the face and work like it's supposed to.

The third thing I had to learn: Shave slower.

The single biggest advantage of the cartridge razor is that you can get your face shaven clean fast.

Not so with the safety razor.

The best way I can describe a safety razor shave is that it has to be done much more deliberately. Short strokes, minimal pressure, don't rush.

This doesn't mean I shave at crawl speed. But it does mean I spend more time with the whole process.

It is possible to shave the face quick with a safety razor if not going for closeness. You can one-pass it and that's good enough for most situations. But when going for the super smooth feel, yes that will take time.

So will I stick with the safety razor?

Published 2024 Jan 9