Your Razor Choice (for the partially or fully bald-faced)

[Drac]

For those who use safety razors check out -

Leisureguy's Guide to Gourmet Shaving - Fifth Edition: Shaving Made Enjoyable

Got one of the older editions and was reading through it when through a forum I got a chance to correspond with the author. Very nice gentleman.

It is a really good read and even if you have been using them for years I bet you will learn something. Covers all the basics from prep to products. Even goes over how to make shaving a indulgence instead of a chore.

Jim

[creagdhubh]

Since my time on active-duty with the U.S. Marine Corps, I have used nothing but the Gillette Mach-III - manual razor with disposable, 4-bladed Mach-III razors - this has been the best shave for my skin-type, and I have tried using more timeless and expensive brands from Britain and France, but they were not the best for my skin, nor the best shave. Besides a straight-edge razor at my local Barber, which I reserve for when I am preparing for very special occassions (black or white tie affairs usually), this razor offers the smoothest and most comfortable shave. I use Nivea products for men (from Germany) to accompany my shaving process - both before and after, as well as a Vulfix badger brush to apply my shaving creme. I do not require anything too fancy for shaving, but I do believe, and respect the fact that there is indeed an art to it.

Cheers,

[Woodsheal]

I shave pretty much every time with one of my vintage Gillette safety-razors, picked up cheap on Ebay. My favorite is the gold-toned one from the '40s:



A "travel -sized" version fromthe same period:


Got these two unused, '60s vintage:


I get shaving soaps, brushes, and blades from a buddy who operates a small craft soap-making business:
http://www.endlessmountainsoap.com/

[Highland Logan]

I use a 1959 Gillette (E1) "Fatboy" adjustable.

Frank

[Woodcock]

I use a Rolls Razor from England along with a nylon "Century' brush. I've been using them for over 40 years & both are still going strong. My father gave me the Rolls razor around 1961 & the brush in 1970. The nylon brush has not lost any of the bristles, unlike the badger brush I used for 12 years. Fortunately the Rolls came with two blades as the first blade got tired after 70 plus years of use, it was made in the 1920's.

[O'Searcaigh]

The only thing I shave is my rosy cheeks (on my face) -- with an E. Weck & Co "Sextoblade" (no wise-cracks please) replaceable-blade straight razor. No soap or shave cream, just wet cheeks (again, no wise-cracks please) after a shower.

[xman]

Here's my first backup razor. It's a William Greaves & Son's full wedge from the 1850's. When I got this the horn scales were starting to rot and the whole blade had been chromed. I kid you not. Now it has Kingwood scales. It's a monster!

[T-Bone]

I was going to start a new thread until I seen this one.
For my birthday last month I got a Merkur long handle safety razor.
I have to say that it is the best shave I've ever had. I lather up with the old mug that was my grandfather's and a new badger brush.
I am a head-shaver as well. I've shaved the dome once not without incident when I first got the razor. I did not realize I had scalped myself in two areas until I went to rinse my head and I looked down and found a sink full of red.

I made the switch after calculating how much I was spending one machIII's over a month.

[Chirs]

Until reading this thread I had been shaving with ... Oh great, I've forgotten. Anyway, it's one of the modern ones that takes cartridges and has a AAA battery in it to make it vibrate (I'm not the one who buys the blades so I've not looked at the name on it for a while. All I do is say "I'm going to need blades soon" and they appear). Anyway, the point is that, after reading this post and thinking that it was interesting, I was in a higher-end men's wear store and there, against one of the walls, was a display of safety razors and brushes (but no straight razors).

The end result is: I am in trouble yet again for having been on this site and I have to thank you for it. I am now shaving with a Muhle DE with Muhle blades and shaving soap from Body Shop (that a friend gave me for Christmas).

I avoid shaving daily whenever possible because it irritates my skin in the extreme. When I was in the military I was given permission to grow a beard to prevent bleeding to death (the permission form was less paperwork). As an experiment after buying the safety razor I tried shaving daily and, after adjusting my technique a little which had grown sloppy after years of shaving with the cartridges, I have no irritation and a better shave than I can remember. This is great!

So, thank you for the thread; thank you for the contributions; thank you for all the information; thank you for one more thing to spend money on! (but I have stayed out of the doghouse by pointing out the difference in cost: $5/5 blades vs. $20/5 cartridges).

[Zardoz]

Wow, memories! I had my first shave, and shaved for most of my teenage years with various 50's and 60's era Gillette safety-razors. no reason other than it's what we had around the house when I was growing up. I guess I had my first straight-razor shave, and learned how to control a straight razor, in college from a young woman who learned the skill working for her family mortuary.

I think the first time I remember using a disposable cartridge type was on a trip during my highschool years, and I started carrying them in my travel kit after that, but I stuck to the safety-razors as my 'primary' till in the mid 90's when lack of time and money, and the pace of life just made the disposable cartridge types more practical for my everyday use.

These days, its basically a Gillette Atra cartridge job on the face every morning, and Norelco electric on the head every other day.