Traditional Shaving Using Safety Razor

Recently, colleague of mine who knows that i shave using safety razor asked me for some tips. I was not surprised. Nowadays, lot of men are getting interested with safety razor once used by our older generation. I thought, why not write a blog on it based on my experience which he and others can use. 

I ) Firstly, Here's the few advantages:

1) You get better quality shave. Issues such razor burn and bumps, irritations, in-grown hairs from cartridges are solved since you are not shaving below the skin surface by pulling the hair before cutting it with 3-5 blades. Another reason for it is, you will be using brush and cream instead of chemical aerosol.

2) It is more economical since a razor double edge(DE) blade costs you less than a quarter.

3) It is Eco-friendly due to reduced non-biodegradable waste.

4) Shaving is no more mundane task instead a enjoyable ritual. Skill needed is one reason for it.

Having mentioned the advantages of safety razor, let me warn you few honest cons of it.

1) It takes 20 mins versus 10 mins needed to shave using multi-blade cartridges.

2) Initial cost of having to buy a safety razor and brush even though the variable running cost is very less.

3) There is a learning curve.

II) Things you will need: 

1)  Safety Razor: You will have plethora of choices. Single piece razors (e.g, Parker 99R), Two piece razors(e.g., Merkur HD34c/178), Three piece razors( e.g., Edwin Jagger DE89/L) and some fancy ones likes adjustable razors, slant bar razors, open comb razors which are more suited for experienced veterans due to its aggressiveness. 

Here's my Parker 99R, (made in India) which i use. It has butterfly doors to change blade conveniently. It has good weight which is very important when it comes to safety razors.

 2) DE blades: When you buy any safety razor, usually it comes with a pack of sample blades. Once you run out (one blade lasts for 4-6 shaves) , some good brands to buy are Astra, Debry , 7'O clock, Feathers, etc. Avoid Feathers (made in Japan) brand until you are experienced since it is sharpest blade in the market. I use Astra for its price and quality.

 

3) Pre-Shave Oil:  This is an optional one. It forms a layer between blade and skin for less irritation, helps to glide the blades and more importantly, makes skin supple and helps to retain moisture. Massage few drops on a wet skin until it is absorbed and splash with hot water before applying the cream. Just ask your girl friend or wife (or mom !!) to get you Johoba oil or any other non-comedogenic natural oil/s from the whole food chain they frequently visit. Don't bother to spend $ 25 on Art of Shaving pre-shave oil. It is nothing but 2/3 castor oil + 1/3 olive oil + few drops of essential oil for fragrance. 'DIY' is the best option here.
* Alternative prep: Just use shaving cream to message 2-3 min with few drops of hot water and clean the beard area. It breaks the outer layer of hair and make it very easy to cut it. If pre-shave oil works on skin this prep works on hair. Lately, i totally stopped using pre-shave oil since my technique is improved a lot and irritation is not really a concern now.

4) Cream: Even if you are not convinced and decided to continue with multi-blade cartridge, please switch to using cream and brush instead of foam from the can. I will guarantee you much better quality shave. Some good brands are Kiss my face, Taylor of Old Bond Street, Poraso etc. I use Taylor of Old Bond Street for its french perfume like fragrance.

5) Brush: Preferably, a badger hair brush. It comes in 4 grades. Pure, Best, Super and Silver tip (the costliest). Pure or Best grade badger brush is more than adequate. Any brand who also makes safety razors will do. Dip it in hot water for a minute, shake off excess water and make the foam using almond size cream in a soup bowl or coffee mug from the kitchen. Note that, new brush will take 4 to 6 usages to break in and strange animal hair smell to go away.

Here's my Parker Best grade badger brush.

 6) After Shave : No suggestion needed here. Apply any decent moisturizer after washing face with cold water. Just don't use burning alcohol based after-shave like a kid in Home Alone movie.

III) Now, lastly How to shave using safety razor:

There are tons of you-tube videos on shaving with all kind of safety razors. Just type in your safety razor brand name in the search bar.  But i would like to stress three very important points here.

1) DON'T PRESS: and blame me for blood in your sink. Remember the 1st commandment of shaving with safety razor. The weight of the razor head should cut your hair not your hand. Use your hand just to support the weight and let it glide over the face. If you put pressure or press ....#^%$#&^$#&^

2) Progressive Beard Reduction: It means, Don't try to remove all the whiskers in one go. If you try to, you will be simply scrubbing your face multiple time irritating hell out of it. It takes 2 or 3 passes for baby butt smooth shave. In the1st pass after applying cream , take small strokes in the direction of the grain, north to south without shaving over and over the same place multiple times. Move on even if few hairs are visible. Reapply cream for the 2nd pass. This time, take little longer stokes and shave across the grain, east to west or vice versa from ear towards nose diagonally.  This 2nd pass would remove most of your whiskers. If needed, reapply cream for the 3rd pass, shave against  the grain with even longer strokes from south to north or again across the grain but this time from nose towards ear diagonally opposite of 2nd pass. In the beginning while learning, i would say, avoid shaving against the grain. 

3) Blade angle: Suggested angle of the blade is tentatively 30 degrees. Hold the razor against your chin with handle parallel to the ground, in another words, with head of the razor perpendicular to the ground touching your chin and come down until you feel blade cutting the hair. This is 30 degree angle. After couple of shaves, you will get used to the angle and it will come very naturally.  

The above three points are the learning curve i was mentioning about. It is a skill which will take little time to learn. It is not very easy though. If it was, ladies would start shaving with safety razor. But they don't for a good reason. At least we are lucky, we only have to shave our face.

I hope this helps. I tried to summarize my years of shaving experience using safety razor here in one blog article. If you have any specific questions, please leave the comments.