I always had ingrown hairs on my neck from cartridge razors. They increased with the number of blades. It wasn't until 2009 when I switched to DE shaving that my neck cleared up. I don't miss the bad shaves and the irritation. About a year ago I felt the need to try to use a cart, but with DE prep using a brush and soap. I made it fro my sideburn to my cheek and stopped once it began to tug on the chin. I could not believe how bad it tugged. I dropped the cart and picked up my Progress. Smooth as butter! In conclusion, even the first shave from a new cart is uncomfortable!
Do you remember when you started shaving and what you used?
- Thread starter GKC1
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That's how you know a cart is working. We get that great cutting sound from a DE, you get tugging with a cart.
I just think of the cart, to quote an Ink Masters contestant (April Nicole told a canvas complaining about the needle) as an angry kitten giving you tickles.
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- #103
I guess I'm lucky, because I never got cuts, ingrown hairs, or irritation from carts. When I retired, though, I began to pay attention to the cost of Fusion cartridges, and I just couldn't pay those prices any more. I started looking for alternatives, and eventually started shaving with a DE. I've spent more on razors and accessories than I would have spent on Fusion cartridges, but at least the blades are cheaper!
I was three years old at the time and used a plastic replica of a Gem SE with a cardboard blade. If I remember correctly, I got a paper cut from it.
When I was little (late 80s/early90s) I remember we had a plastic playset that was basically a kitchen and some other "house hold" type items to play with and one of the pieces I picked up alot was a molded replica of a de razor. Even as a small child I remember holding that up to my dad's atra or (later) mach 3 and saying "this thing is weird, it doesn't look like dad's razor!?" Lol
Yeah it's funny how we end up spending more. But then again it's no fun being a minimalist all the time.
Clayton
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That had to hurt. Paper cuts are the worst. And amazingly they bleed alot.
Clayton
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- #108
Before I retired, I was heavily invested into handguns...especially 1911s. After I retired, I sold off almost all of my collection. Now, my wife doesn't complain at all when I buy a new razor...since it costs about $30 as opposed to the average $1500 I was spending on a handgun.
And the ammo is cheaper to boot!
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- #110
You got that right! I can't buy a box of 100 rounds for $8...and even if I could, I wouldn't shoot them in any gun I owned!
I think shaving started with a black handled de. But I switched to an Atra within the first year or so. Also used the crazy brush dispenser for a bit. That was in the later 1970's. Could have used a Trac II but I don't recall. Stuck with Atra until the handle broke sometime in the 1990's. Then used a Sensor which wasn't as good imo. Returned to a DE around 2003 or so. Had to stop when my face changed in my fifties. Back to an Atra now most days. Best shave for me.
I started in 1967 with a Gillette Slim Adjustable and switched to a Gillette Super Adjustable in the early 70's.
Quite a few responses have been from members who started shaving at the time when DE safety razors were the norm so I have a question for them: what was your local blade selection like?
I understand there wouldn't have been hundreds of blades around like we have today with the internet but did you have any type of choice or competition in your local market?
I understand there wouldn't have been hundreds of blades around like we have today with the internet but did you have any type of choice or competition in your local market?
- Thread starter
- #114
That's a good question! When I was a kid (in the 50s and 60s) there was no internet, so any buying would have to be done locally...like at the drugstore or grocery store. You could order stuff from catalogs, I guess, but I don't know if blades were available from places like Sears or Wards. I have no memory of how I obtained blades. I hope others have a better memory than I do.
I think I started when I was 14, give or take. I had some of those disposable Mach 3 razors and didn't even bother using anything other than water with it. At the time, my facial hair wasn't exactly tough so I didn't see the need for shaving cream. No aftershave either. I can't recall how often I shaved but it wasn't necessary to do so often.
It would have been around 1987 or so.... A Gillette Twist or G2000, a boar brush, a can of foam and a tuck of Gillette razor blades.
I really, really liked Gillette's "Spoiler" blades after I bought a Black Handle Super Speed in 1985. There was another Gillette blade, I recall, which was good (and maybe considered "better" than the Spoilers--but I didn't like them as much). The grocery store would have been my source.
I think Schick was still at it (my mileage meh), and I remember a K-mart store brand (horrid) of blades. That was about it for my choice back then.
I started when i was around 16 in 1992. My first razor was the newly released Wilkinson/ Schick Protector. In the commercials they stated he was so sharp, he had to be kept behind bars. I learned the hard way, that you can't trust marketing. The blades seemed rather dull, and even with the blades behind those guard wires, i managed to cut myself quite often, but that may have been through my acne at that time. Probably the worst razor i have used so far. Some time later i switched to a Gillette Sensor Excel, which was a huge improvement compared to the Protector.
For years i tried out every new cartridge razor, of all of them i liked the Wilkinson/ Hydro 5 the most and used it till i switched to DE/ SE shaving this year. Since then i had no more problems with ingrown hairs. I have no intention to go back to a cartridge razor ever!
For years i tried out every new cartridge razor, of all of them i liked the Wilkinson/ Hydro 5 the most and used it till i switched to DE/ SE shaving this year. Since then i had no more problems with ingrown hairs. I have no intention to go back to a cartridge razor ever!
I shaved with one of my dad's Gilette DEs. It was not a DE that many of us would clamour for and pay big bucks for now, but there were a few of these DEs around. Then, like HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS of guys, I drifted into cartridges and never went back. This was the early 1980s. By the late 1980s in North America, I would say that a brand new DE was hard to find. And then, around 15 years ago or so, I somehow rediscovered DEs. I can't even recall what led to this. I have always been a guy who loves old world things, and I'm a big traditionalist when it comes to clothing and grooming, so it was am obvious step.
I'm always amazed at those who started shaving 40-50 years ago can remember what they used then. I guess I started shaving in the late 60's and have no firm recollection of what I used other than a Gillette DE, probably a Super Speed of that vintage, and Williams soap. Early on, having no one to teach me, I looked for other solutions as I nicked myself a lot. I believe I tried an injector razor, a Remington electric, the first double blade shavers (Gillette), etc. I seem to recall going back and forth between wet shaving and electric shaving, using a brush and Williams (it was the only shave soap I knew about) or canned foam. I tried the goo and the stuff that heated in the can as you released it. In any event, I can't really say for certain what I was using 10 years ago other than settling back into wet shaving with a DE and a couple soaps. Since then, I bought a few more razors and a lot more soaps and creams.
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