yeah, safety razor blade brand actually matters

I switched over to DE shaving, which means shaving using a double-edge blade using a safety razor. This is something I started doing about six months ago, stopped using the cartridge razor (I used to use Gillette Sensor 5), committed to it, and have not used a cartridge razor on my face since.

Initially, I thought that blade brand wouldn't matter all that much and tried several just to be sure.

I was wrong. Blade brand does matter.

It is funny however which blade agrees best with my face.

Shark Super Chromes. These are decidedly on the lower end of the price spectrum, especially when compared to a highfalutin brand like Feather.

I did read many reviews of safety razor blades before buying Shark, and this is where the funny part comes in. A lot of guys say Shark blades are terrible. But for me, out of all the blades I tried, the Super Chromes worked best for two main reasons.

First, it is not as sharp nor as smooth as other blades like the BIC Chrome Platinum.

Second, it's the only blade I've used where I can get 3 to 4 shaves out of it without my face complaining.

There's a third reason that actually has nothing to do with the blade for the most part, and it's shaving technique. I've gotten better at it.

Over the course of many shaves, I now know the correct angles to use depending on what part of my face I'm shaving, and also understand that making two passes is totally normal for DE shaving. And I need to explain that a little bit further.

Cartridge razors have blades that are pre-angled. Regular safety razors have a blade that is mounted straight, so you have to angle the blade yourself when using the razor.

Two passes means applying shaving cream/gel, shaving your entire face, rinsing off, then repeat the whole process again. I was totally used to the one-pass way of shaving with a cartridge razor. With DE shaving, two passes makes things easier. The first pass removes most of the hair, and the second time is just a touch-up pass, at least for my face.

Once I figured out the correct angles to use, it was then I realized that I didn't need a "better" blade, and technique is what matters more. Regularly making two passes also improved things quite a bit.

The lessons I've learned is that a sharper blade doesn't automatically mean a better shave, and you can't truly get a good shave until you learn your angles.

Now that I've got a decent shaving technique and know my angles, shave time has been decreased dramatically. As fast as a one-pass with a cartridge razor? No, but darned close, and that's good enough for me.

Published 2024 Jun 11