Shaving dollars off the cost of razor blades (anybody tried these?)

Shelbyville Times-Gazette ^ | Sunday, September 29, 2013 | By JOHN I. CARNEY

[virgil283]

"The trouble, of course, is that as razor cartridges have become more and more sophisticated, they've become more and more expensive. An eight-pack of cartridges can cost $25 or $30.

In response to this, several companies have popped up offering less expensive options online...." "I started using my Harry's razor in mid-August, and I could not believe how much closer a shave I got with blades than I'd been getting ..."

[MtBaldy]

I switched to DE shaving 5 years ago and will never go back. My current setup is:

Merkur 34C razor
Red Israeli Personna blades at $.20 each.
Kent BK4 badger hair brush. Yeah, it was expensive but it sure is nice to use.
Taylor of Old Bond Street Eton College Shave Cream.

[papertyger]

(Doesn’t matter how they do it or what they use for aftershave, they get ingrown hairs.)

Au contraire! I guarantee "how they do it" is the culprit.

[halfright]

I have severe calluses on both feet. I use the dremmel sander once a week.

[papertyger]

Kent BK4 badger hair brush. Yeah, it was expensive but it sure is nice to use.

Just so everyone knows, the reason to use badger bristle brushes is because they hold the heat better than anything else. If you do two or three pass shaves, the brush and a mug become more important than is obvious.

[latina4dubya]

Red Sox look like a bunch of beard-oes.

it's played out... they look silly...

[Vermont Lt]

Get a little shaving oil. Put a dab on your palms and rub it around your beard. Then use decent shaving cream. I still use the badger hair brush.

It takes about 30 seconds more than a traditional shave.

Exceptionally close.

I have a couple of straight blades, but being a lefty means that I spend a lot of time shaving upside down and backwards, thuse messing up my pretty face.

[Uncle Chip]

Nothing gets as close as a straight razor. Nothing.

and there are many people down in the morgue that can attest to that.

[Lou L]

On a related note, isn’t Barbasol foam shaving cream about the best scent ever? I’m reminded of Boot Camp every time I shave!

[Vendome]

Try shaving your face 1st and then move to your legs.

[bluetick]

I quit shaving altogether several years ago and do not miss purchasing razors.

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

The blades are amazingly sharp. I would imagine water deposits would play a role too.

[editor-surveyor]

Ever try Vicks Vaporub?

[Billthedrill]

Steady electric razor user here who just tried a blade again after several years. Yep, it's closer. I do have to be careful at trouble areas, though, like nipples and between the...

What?

[imardmd1]

The whole problem here is the marketing scheme of product differentiation, which by real function, perceived function, or appeal adds "value" to the differentiated product.

What the manufacturers are doing is to produce fancy handles with crafted packaging that includes a few heads that fit the handle. Since there is no standard (as the single edge or double edge had in the old days) the attachment design keeps on changing, so the old head styles (cheaper) won't fit the new handles (with replacement heads far more expensive) that are patented, thus no competitor can make the replacement blades.

When you go to buy replacement heads, you find that the manufacturer is now marketing packages of multiples of these heads, but each attached to an inexpensively manufactured plastic handle to fit this head, and that package of, say 3, is per package cheaper than a card package with 10 individual heads, which may now be $10 or $30; but the fancier metal-handle has been redesigned so as not to use the last version of heads.

What the manufacturers deliberately do is hide the attachment mechanism, and change the version name, so you cannot examine your old handle (which you finally brought with you) to see if it matches up with the head styles available on a 5- or 10-head card.

So you prefer not to risk a fin and a sawbuck just to see if they match your preferred handle after the package is opened. If not, you may be able to return the package, if you still have the grocery tab, and can make that fit with another needed trip to the store. So without robbing you of your next mortgage payment, you buy the cheapest thing, the 3-head package. And you still feel a little robbed.

Fellas, this is about manipulating the model names, mechanisms, and design features to confuse you so completely that you cannot find a cheap, fine-edged shaving tool that doesn't cost your next tank of gasoline.

It's sounding to me that going back to the double-edge system is the only way to beat the game of allowing Gillette or Schick to filch the cost of a dinner-for-two at a fine restaurant, just to equip yourself momentarily with a decent disposable razor. It would probably cost more than a high-class Kershaw or Gerber pocket folder.

Years ago, the competition was based on the price for a pack of 10 khaki-colored WWII-type Thin Blades. That's what I bought in the college days of the mid-50s. It was really exciting when, about 1960, Gillette came out with the Blue Blades, a real, long-lasting shave with no beard-pull, and a small premium (due to improved performance and hype of the color) (like Nexium, in another time and market)--no change in the cheap attachment system, though. Only changed the functionality.

Now, it's about trying to out-think a Gillette product manager and his psychiatrist adviser, who work real hard to add perceived value without changing the basic function. What a bunch of suckers we are! I still have one grandfather's straight razor, and the other grandfather's shaving cup that used to be at his barber's, and used them nostalgically for a while back in the 70s. That was just a little inconvenient, so I gave it up. Disposable blades do add value to a low-cost process. I think, now at 77 and on Social Security, I may go back at least to double-edge, eh?

[spankalib]

bfl

[Windcatcher]

I’ve always used a rotary. My Norelco blades last 1-2 years, and the shaver is still going strong after over a decade.

[newfreep]

My shaving routine....

Shave in shower (after body shower to get face “moist” from steam)
Schick Hydra3
Use Dial “Gold” bar soap for a slippery surface without gels/foam clogging
Rinse frequently
Blot on paper towel
Quick air dry ith hair dryer
Blades easily stay sharp for 4-5 weeks - sometimes as long as 2-3 months

Hydra3 far superior to Fusion
Hydra5 even better when the “gel carrier” is flipped back out of the way

[RandallFlagg]

That’s the exact same one that I use.

[caveat emptor]

I have had a beard over 30 years. It has no skin irritation or bleeding from those sharp objects. My skin cancer risk is greatly reduced. Sunburn is reduced.

I've had a beard for 45 years. FWIW, you're right about skin cancer; except for basal cell carcinoma - usually non-metastasizing, but can be disfiguring.

I had a small one on my nose. Nothing alarming, no redness, inflammation, not fast growing,etc. My wife thought it looked suspicious, so I had it checked out.

Surgery wasn't all that big a deal, but does require multiple cuts, with pathology exams until all cancerous tissue is removed. Left me with a small barely noticeable scar.

I've known two others who had the problem, also on the nose, an acquaintance, and the surgeon who did the cutting. He was an avid sailor and had just finished having his third done - he still had a red nose.

[CodeToad]

Electric razor. Comes out cheaper than blades.