SHAVING GRACE

A little over a year ago, I decided to make the switch from shaving with a cartridge blade, to using a double-edged safety razor.  It was something that I had been thinking about for some time, and finally, I just took the leap and did it.  That was about fourteen months ago, and so I thought I would check in on what my experience has been since making the switch.

I’ve mentioned before that maternal Grandfather died on my twelfth birthday.  As the family was going through his things, they found his safety razors, and I was given them to play with (sans blades of course).  At the time I thought these were old, obsolete, out-of-fashion things that no one would waste their time using anymore.  What can I say?  I was twelve, and growing up in the era of the electric shaver, and everyone in my family used them, so the idea that someone would still use these outdated razors was foreign to me.

To date, the Col. Conk shaving soap is my favorite.

This soap from L'ooccitane shaved nicely.

Over the years, my grandfather’s razors were lost, or perhaps thrown out, and I was busy shaving away with my electric shaver.  A few years out of college, I made the switch to a cartridge razor, and that served me well for many years, until I finally made the witch to the safety razor early last year.

Allen Edmonds offers this shaving soap from the Napa Soap Company 

that is perfect for travel.

The Badger shave soap was my least favorite that I tried.

In the past year I’ve discovered that it is incredibly easy to use the safety razor, and I must admit that the smoothness of the end result is unsurpassed by anything I had imagined.  I have never experienced a shave this smooth in the past, and I couldn’t be happier.  Where I do still struggle is in finding the right shaving soap.  I’ve been experimenting with a few brands over the last year, and while they do an okay job, I keep wondering which others might be better.  I’d love to hear what your favorites are in the comments below.

After a year of shaving with the safety razor, I can definitely say I have no regrets about making the switch.  The only downside is that it does take longer to shave this way, which sometimes puts me in a time crunch, but I can truly say that is a small inconvenience compared to the fantastic end result.  If you’ve been wanting to give safety razors a try, I say “Do it!”  You will be really happy you did.

***Do you, or have you ever shaved with a safety razor?