Do Safety Razor Better than Mach 3?

[koreysmith]

I just started using a safety razor today, but experienced nicks and cuts, which I usually don't have with my regular Gillette razor. One of the tips I recall reading was to not apply a lot of pressure when shaving with a safety razor. Does anyone have any other tips or suggestions when it comes to using safety razors? --Korey

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[warman2012]

Thing is, I just got out of DE after about 3 years on them. Here's my experience, I used a Parker 99r razor recommended by a youtuber by the name of Geofatboy back in 2015. I bought a trial pack of blades and found that the Astra SPs worked fairly well and were priced so that I could pick up 100 for $20. I used this razor for awhile only doing acceptable shaves. If I did against the grain and across the grain, I got friggin tugging and nicks from hell. I ended up getting fed up with the inadequate shaves and turned to a new blade sample pack this month after 3 years and even changed my Barbasol foam to gel to accommodate a new trial period. I ended up not being successful at my trial period and threw it all in the trash. This hobby can be just as a money dump as cart shaving if you are not careful to find the gear that works for you.

My suggestion is to go with an adjustable razor like the Q-shave that lets you adjust the blade inside. If you stick with the more popular choice razor options that are not adjustable, you could not like the way it shaves; and be out of cash quick buying different razors that would 'work for you.' The Q-shave is cheap at around $20 bucks and a sample pack of blades can be had for like 10 to 20 bucks. Alternatively you could do what I am doing and order a buttload of generic Atra/Trac 2 carts by the hundred for 20 bucks right now and get a descent handle for them.

 

[John Rose]

Instead of speeding through a mediocre shave, A good prep can give you a more comfortable and closer shave in the same amount of time at a more liesurely pace.
I always took a nice hot shower as part of my prep, but recently I discovered that soaping and scrubbing my face until it is literally "squeaky clean" everywhere I plan to shave really helps. I end up doing fewer touchup passes in the more troublesome spots.

As far as blade costs go, the last time I tossed an Astra SP it was after its 100th shave. At $14 for that pack of 100 blades it worked out to 7.14 shaves per penny. Of course that was the result of a scientific experiment, and I really pushed it just to hit that nice round "100" mark. I should have tossed at around #92.
Your blade mileage may vary, as they say here (a lot).