tl;dr: 30 year cartridge shaver until a few months ago. Using Henson AL-13 now. Still figuring things out.
Hello from Jacksonville, Florida, USA. I'm turning 50 soon but just started wet shaving a few months ago. Most of the last 30 or so years, I used a Gillette Sensor Excel twin blade. I used 2 different electrics at times, then when they broke, went back to my Sensor. I got what I think would be called a SAS, and that was fine. Then in August, I started looking into services like Harry's and Dollar, partly to upgrade my shave, but mostly to have blades delivered regularly. It had become impossible to find my blades in a supermarket or drug store anymore, so I'd end up having to order them.
While considering my options, I'm suddenly bombarded with all these online ads for safety razors. LOL, no thanks, those things are impossible to use without totally slicing up your face, right? But a couple of ads mentioned no plastic waste, which got my attention. So did cheap blades - no need for a shave club when a year+ supply of blades costs $10 and takes up hardly any drawer space. So I went down the rabbit hole of reviews and articles, looking for something easy for a cartridge user to transition to without doing too much damage to my face while learning, or adding too much time to my morning. I seriously considered Leaf and OneBlade, but settled on the jet black Henson AL-13.
I'm amazed at the difference - so much closer than the cartridge! I didn't dislike shaving before, but now I actually look forward to it. It feels great getting a smooth shave every time. I'm still using Gillette shave gel for the first pass - I can't bring myself to just pitch it, but it's the last can I'll ever buy. For XTG/ATG, I have some Van Der Hagen shave butter, which is better. Gonna try Cremo when that runs out, it seems very highly regarded for a brushless cream. (I'd rather not invest in a brush, bowl, and expensive cream, or the extra time it'd take to use them, but I suppose that could change - I never saw myself using a DE either.) For blades, I'm working through a sampler, but the early favorites are Voskhod and Shark. Whatever blade wins out, I plan to buy a few months supply and work on my technique without that variable. I still get tons of weepers, mostly in the moustache and chin, and occasional nicks. And I want to get better at areas I tend to miss - usually the same part of my neck but occasionally a couple other spots too. I want every shave to be BBS!!
Anyway, enough about me. Googling various razors/blades/creams invariably leads me here, so I figured I'd sign up and introduce myself, and thank everyone for the wealth of reviews and info I've already read.
My very humble set of supplies right now (go ahead and laugh at the canned gel ):
Hello from Jacksonville, Florida, USA. I'm turning 50 soon but just started wet shaving a few months ago. Most of the last 30 or so years, I used a Gillette Sensor Excel twin blade. I used 2 different electrics at times, then when they broke, went back to my Sensor. I got what I think would be called a SAS, and that was fine. Then in August, I started looking into services like Harry's and Dollar, partly to upgrade my shave, but mostly to have blades delivered regularly. It had become impossible to find my blades in a supermarket or drug store anymore, so I'd end up having to order them.
While considering my options, I'm suddenly bombarded with all these online ads for safety razors. LOL, no thanks, those things are impossible to use without totally slicing up your face, right? But a couple of ads mentioned no plastic waste, which got my attention. So did cheap blades - no need for a shave club when a year+ supply of blades costs $10 and takes up hardly any drawer space. So I went down the rabbit hole of reviews and articles, looking for something easy for a cartridge user to transition to without doing too much damage to my face while learning, or adding too much time to my morning. I seriously considered Leaf and OneBlade, but settled on the jet black Henson AL-13.
I'm amazed at the difference - so much closer than the cartridge! I didn't dislike shaving before, but now I actually look forward to it. It feels great getting a smooth shave every time. I'm still using Gillette shave gel for the first pass - I can't bring myself to just pitch it, but it's the last can I'll ever buy. For XTG/ATG, I have some Van Der Hagen shave butter, which is better. Gonna try Cremo when that runs out, it seems very highly regarded for a brushless cream. (I'd rather not invest in a brush, bowl, and expensive cream, or the extra time it'd take to use them, but I suppose that could change - I never saw myself using a DE either.) For blades, I'm working through a sampler, but the early favorites are Voskhod and Shark. Whatever blade wins out, I plan to buy a few months supply and work on my technique without that variable. I still get tons of weepers, mostly in the moustache and chin, and occasional nicks. And I want to get better at areas I tend to miss - usually the same part of my neck but occasionally a couple other spots too. I want every shave to be BBS!!
Anyway, enough about me. Googling various razors/blades/creams invariably leads me here, so I figured I'd sign up and introduce myself, and thank everyone for the wealth of reviews and info I've already read.
My very humble set of supplies right now (go ahead and laugh at the canned gel ):