This isn't my normal kind of post but I have to tell everyone what they're missing out on! Plus, I'm constantly reminded of how things in our grandparents days were made better and to last. Shaving is no exception!
I lost my cartridge razor so I went online to search "deals on razors" and came across a sale on slickdeals.net for a double-edged safety razor. I read about them a few years before and debated whether to get my husband one for a gift but this time I looked into if girls were using them. I became excited after reading about them, especially how cheap the blades were! I did hours and hours of research, reading reviews, looking at different companies, looking at YouTube videos, etc. and knew I was going to get one for ME! There are videos of women on YouTube showing how they shave their legs with a safety razor and that gave me confidence. After all, shaving isn't just for men!
I'll let you do your own research on double-edged safety razors/wet-shaving (or whatever you want to call it), but I found a good article on today.com that pretty much sums up everything you need to know. Here's just a little bit of that article:
"{...proper shaving has become a lost art. Shaving is one of those glorious male [female] traditions that used to be passed down from father [mother] to son [daughter], but somewhere along the line, when shaving became more about cheap, disposable razors than a nice, precision-made metal tool in your hand, it became a brainless routine to rush through in the morning without even thinking about it. A dull disposable razor dragged across a layer of foam or gel on your cheeks [legs and/or armpits] is a step backward from the past, not an improvement. Now that men [women] of all ages are paying more attention to their appearance, it’s no wonder that the hottest trend right now in male [female] grooming is a return to the traditional wet shave – and millions of men [women] have been shocked to discover that the “old fashioned” method of shaving they thought went out with the Hula Hoop is actually the best quality shave you can get.
CAUTION: if you’ve been shaving with a disposable razor or one of the modern multi-blade cartridge systems like the Mach3, be aware that switching to a single-blade DE (double-edge) will require that you un-learn all the bad habits that modern razors are designed to let sleepy, lazy guys get away with. Mainly, that means slower, more careful strokes, and guiding the razor’s head over your skin WITHOUT PRESSING DOWN.}"
I first looked for shaving kits on Amazon and eBay. I wasn't impressed with what you got for the price. I didn't want a brush/razor stand where the finish would peel off, or a teeny-tiny chrome soap bowl, or a fancy-pants $50+ razor or a cheap badger brush. For a razor, brush, bowl & stand the cheapest set was around $70 and that didn't include any soap or blades. The sets that looked appealing to me (which still didn't include soaps/blades) were $150+. I decided I was going to buy everything separate to make sure I was getting what I wanted, that it had good reviews and was a good price.
I wanted to share with you what I ended up buying and give you a few different options incase you're like me and want quality without spending too much.
What I ended up getting:
SAFETY RAZORS
There are SO many razors out there! New vs. old, short vs. long handle, 3-piece vs. butterfly, $5 vs. $99+ and the list goes on! I spent most of my time trying to find the perfect razor for me but I really had NO clue what I wanted or what features I'd prefer.
I ended up going with a vintage 1965 Gillette "starburst" razor off eBay (top left) and a new Utopia brand from Amazon (bottom right).
I got the vintage Gillette because I saw a lot of them and they seemed popular amongst the ladies, they look feminine and you can get them for under $15... I paid $20 including shipping and mine looks practically new.
I got the Utopia because it was $14.99 shipped, it was gold which I LOVED and it has awesome reviews! People loved how heavy-weight it is and well made. The only complaint was that the blade doesn't sit perfectly parallel to the top of the razor unless you pay a lot of attention when putting it in before you tighten (not a deal-breaker for me).
Bottom view. The Utopia is almost 2 times heavier than the Gillette which is kind of nice because you can let the razor do the work for you.
The vintage Gillette is a butterfly open-type and is really easy to load/unload a blade by simply turning the 'knot' at the end of the handle. The new Utopia is a 3-piece and slightly more awkward to change the blade, especially because of the blade alignment issue.. but it really does take just 30 seconds longer to change the blade (about every 1-2 weeks).
BRUSHES
There's so many types of brushes you can buy! Badger, boar, synthetic... then there's what size and quality! I read most everywhere that Badger hair is the best. I ordered mine from aceshaving on eBay and got a small brush with mixed badger hair for $6.99 and a stand for $1.99 and a larger silvertip badger brush with a 25mm knot for $29 - plus about $10 shipping for all from China. The silvertip is nicer than the mixed badger hair and I like the larger size for my legs. I can't imagine someone using the cheaper-mixed badger hair on their face.. it's so coarse!
Before I spent money on a brush I wanted to know if it was REALLY necessary or if it was just part of the tradition. Turns out the brush exfoliates your skin and removes dry skin so you get a closer shave, pulls your hair up so it's not laying down and creates a nice lather.
SHAVING SOAP/GEL
There are countless options for soaps & gels! I ended up getting a well-known brand, Proraso, that had good reviews and was under $10 shipped on Amazon. I also got the Arko shaving soap stick for under $3 shipped on Amazon. Then there's you're typical shaving gel you can buy anywhere. The Proraso has the best lather of all of these. I first lather it in the container it comes in with my brush then do the bowl-lather method which gets it a lot fluffier and it will go further. The Arko stick you can rub right onto your wet skin then use the brush to go over it a bunch of times to create your lather. The gel can be applied right to the center of your wet brush and you can use your hand to do the hand-lather technique, however, I couldn't get much of a lather with the gel. People say the Proraso and Arko will last easily up to 6 months even with frequent use (we shall see)!
PRE-SHAVE
I got Proraso pre-shave because it was well-known and also had good reviews. It cost about $11 on Amazon. A pre-shave is recommended because it adds an extra layer of protection between the blade and your skin and helps the razor glide more easily. I'm actually not too impressed with this pre-shave and will make my own when I run out (easy recipes online).
BLADES
I read that people said different blades are better for different hair/skin types. People with coarse hair will like a different blade than someone who has fine hair. Someone who has sensitive skin will prefer something different than someone with tough skin. The blades are machined with different angles of sharpness and made with different metals. I got a sample pack to find my blade of choice before I order a pack of 100 blades. This sample pack of 30 blades was on Amazon for around $15 but you can buy 100 of the same blade for around $13!
Putting it together:
Here's a few "kits" you could put together, depending on how much you want to spend. I believe all these products are just as good (if not better) as the kits you'd spend $70-$150 on. You might have to wait up to 2 weeks for everything to be shipped (like the brushes from China).
Total =$35 with shipping
With $35 you can test out wet shaving and see if you like it! If you want to go even cheaper you could just buy the razor and use regular shaving creme from the can (but you won't get as good of results).
Gillette "starburst" razor $20 (about)
Large badger brush $35
Proraso soap $10
Proraso pre-shave $11
Bowl (thrift store find) $1
Total =$77 with shipping
With $77 (+cost of blades of choice) you can have everything you need to have a very nice shave with very nice products. A brush/razor stand is something you could add later if you feel it's necessary for another $20.
What is my opinion of this style of shaving you might ask?
It takes a bit longer to shave and there's a few more products to juggle, BUT my legs don't have red spots around every hair follicle anymore (something I've been annoyed with as long as I can remember and thought it was normal!) AND it will be cheaper in the long run! ...no more spending $1-$2 per cartridge blade (DE blades go for about 10 to 20 cents each)!
I totally recommend wet shaving... even for busy moms like me!
Labels: tool of the week
