Razor Burn: A Flood of Fancy Shavers Leaves Some Men Feeling Nicked

I have a light beard and only shave every few days, so I've been using disposables so far. I kind of feel bad about throwing them away like that, but I also feel bad about paying tons of cash for a "fancy" razor.

Maybe I should take the plunge just for the environmental aspect. But I just hate feeling like I'm over-paying...

For my job, I have to shave every weekday. I used to really hate shaving. Now I find it tolerable and occasionally even enjoy it as a quiet and meditative time. My purely subjective list of the things that helped me enjoy it, ranked by my perception of usefulness:

1. Good shaving cream, in a tub or tube. Try Kennedy's or Nancy Boy or Proraso. This made a HUGE difference.

2. Badger-bristle shaving brush. You can get a decent one for around $25-30. Don't skimp, it should last a really long time. I tried a boar one, and it smelled really bad and made my face itch.

3. Decent after-shave. So far I like the Nancy Boy aloe-based one the best, but I haven't tried many. I have never had good results with the alcohol-based ones. They irritate my skin.

I tried a Merkur Futur, and a straight razor. Perhaps I was not patient enough, but even after a few weeks of each I found that I did not see enough of an advantage to justify the additional time. I have heard that the Futur is a bit fussier than the HD, so I have been considering giving that one a try and perhaps using better blades. I went back to the Mach 3, and with the changes above it has been OK, but just OK. I still get a lot of chafing around my collar.

Just my input having given this stuff a try. If you do one thing, get some decent shaving cream and a brush. That made 75% of the difference right there.

Has anyone else been shaving without shaving cream?

It probably only works for the baby-faced ones like me, but so far I haven't noticed anything bad happening to my face from using just water.

I use a currently 4 months old Mach 3 "Turbo" (big laugh) for my legs/etc. No matter what the commercials wants you to believe, unless you are one of those men inflicted with steel wool growing out of your chin, the blades really do their job not entirely as swift, but definitely well enough, far longer than Gillette wants them to.

The more I read articles like these (they pop up everywhere once in a while), the more I am beginning to see a common theme develop, namely: It depends on the guy.

Google around for a while and look at all of the anecdotes, including the ones given in this thread. People say that everything is the best. It seems to me that a man's goal shouldn't be to find "the best" shaving setup, but instead the setup that works best for him. To that end, I've seen each of these setups described as "the best":

* Gillette (Mach3|Fusion) with (Brush & Mug|Shaving Gel|Shaving Foam)

* Straight Razor with Brush & Mug

* Double-Edged Safety Razor with Brush & Mug

* Buying a giant bag of disposable single/double-bladed razors, making a single stroke with each one and discarding it until you find one that was manufactured fantastically sharp, and nurse it with the "arm as a strop" technique for weeks and weeks until it's finally too torn up to use; repeat

Other techniques include:

* Shaving after you shower

* Shaving religiously every day (so that you are only ever shaving short hairs, increasing the life of your blade and preventing ingrown hairs since you don't let the hairs grow)

* Shaving once a week (so that you are only ever shaving hairs long enough to grow, increasing the life of your blade and preventing ingrown hairs since you shave less often).

(Yes, those last two are contradictory and I have heard that both are "the best".)

I went on a bit of a Shaving Odyssey a few years ago, determined to find a better solution than my Mach3 with shaving gel, which yields wildly inconsistent results. I think it has to do with the blades; occasionally I'll get a cartridge that lasts 6 shaves and leaves me delightfully smooth without a single nick, other times the brand new blade will be like shaving with nettles and I look like a zombie.

I sought out my barber, a salty Sicilian who had once given me the best shave of my life with a straight razor. I joined him for lunch and, while he scarfed down a chicken parm hero, I asked him if I should learn to use a straight razor.

"Listen," he said in his thick accent, brow furrowing gravely, "I won't lie to you. I speak to you now, like you are my own son." He mopped marinara sauce off of his lips.

"Don't shave with a straight razor."

I blinked. "What? But you..."

"You'll cut yourself into ribbons. I shave my customers with a straight razor, but you know what? I shave with a Mach3! If you want a close shave, shave every day. It doesn't matter what razor you use. The most important thing is shaving every day. My Mach3 blades last for months at a time."

I felt a little betrayed, but thanked him for his help and duly attempted shaving every day. It didn't work for me, and my Mach3 cartridges still lasted less than two weeks at very best. (Sometimes they will be unusable after only one shave!) I have discovered that my stubble shares some traits with steel wool, or perhaps barbed wire, and that sometimes it will simply destroy a disposable razor. That is, what works for a lot of other dudes simply will not work for me.

I haven't found my perfect setup yet. I'm sure it's out there, but for now, I know it's not a Mach3 with shave gel.