Why are you using DE?

Why?

To puzzle SWMBO.
She simply cannot understand how is this amount of equipment going to save me money.
Eventually she will get it. I hope.

- Cost
- Much Better Shaves
- Reduced Skin Irritation/Damage
- Positive Experience (rather than almost hatred of having to shave, etc.)
- Cool factor. There is just something especially cool about shaving as in yesteryear.

Started as disgust over cost of carts and love of the idea of using older technology , then I shaved with a brush and de and got a better as well as a more enjoyable shave , will never go back

Well, I'm not using DE razors these days nearly as much as SE and injectors, but I'll take the original question to include those. It's not directly about saving money, although I rediscovered DEs because I was looking into all the options for razors. I was using affordable twin blade cartridges, but couldn't believe how expensive the ones with three, four, and five blades were. I thought there had to be more options, and that turned out to be correct.

It's more because of the performance of these classic razors with only one blade; I like the fact that many of them out perform the latest technology. I've also become interested in the razors themselves, as works of craftsmanship and ingenuity.

I came from multi blades like most of you. I don't have a problem with my Marc 3.

I got more nicks, cuts and razor burn using DE than my Marc 3 as I was starting out. The money I spent on buying those badger brushes, boar brushes, old razors, new razors, creams and assessories could have take last me many years if I stayed on marc 3..

The reason why I'm using DE is the challenge. The challenge to achieve baby bottom smooth (BBS) shave without the help of multi-blades. The challenge of not getting nicks, cuts and razor burn on a DE. The challenge to take DE shaving as a hobby and enjoyment rather than a daily chore.

One day, maybe one day I will move on to straight completely....

DBlair said:

- Cost
- Much Better Shaves
- Reduced Skin Irritation/Damage
- Cool factor. There is just something especially cool about shaving as in yesteryear.

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+1.

I had been shaving with cartridges since my early teens, and found out about DE shaving by searching the Internet because I was dissatisfied with the results (either constant stubble or irritation), the costs (outrageous prices for carts), and the overall experience of shaving with multi-blade cartridges.

I will stick with DE shaving because it has delivered shaves better than I thought were possible. And I would argue that there is something to be said about cost-effectiveness as well, in spite of ADs. And that is the fact that the low cost of DE blades allow me to always shave with a fresh, sharp blade, as opposed to using a dull cartridge for weeks.

And even if DE shaving isn't more cost effective that shaving with carts, it's still a completely different market as a consumer. I used to be able to choose between Gillette's products or the generic brand of whatever store I was in. Now, I have a plethora of multiple choices in blades, soaps, etc. It's like the difference between Soviet bread-queues and a high-end food hall.

But the biggest surprise is what so many others also have mentioned: that shaving has become enjoyable instead of a dull daily chore. I would never have thought shaving could give me such a great Zen-like indulgence every day. Before I started DE shaving, I would have scoffed at the notion. Not so now.

For me it is because it is less filling and taste great! If I had to pick one I'd have to say tastes great!

Oh wait, I'm in the wrong thread, sorry.

Thott said:

And even if DE shaving isn't more cost effective that shaving with carts, it's still a completely different market as a consumer. I used to be able to choose between Gillette's products or the generic brand of whatever store I was in. Now, I have a plethora of multiple choices in blades, soaps, etc. It's like the difference between Soviet bread-queues and a high-end food hall.

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Yeah, I've often wished Gillette would let me use someone else's soap with their razors.

The only difference is the wider choice of blades available for DE razors available through internet vendors.

ZJ68 said:

Yeah, I've often wished Gillette would let me use someone else's soap with their razors.

The only difference is the wider choice of blades available for DE razors available through internet vendors.

Click to expand...

Perhaps I wasn't clear with what I meant. Of course it has always been possible to choose other products, whether one shaves with carts, DE, straight or whatever.

What I meant was that the discovery of DE shaving made me aware that there was a whole other product range out there, just not at the stores where I used to buy shaving products.

I got a great shave with a cartridge but when the price for 4 Mach-3 carts doubled to $8 I decided to make a change. I was already using my Barbershop mug and brush, so I decided to pick up a Fatboy adjustable and some blades on Ebay and call it good. Shortly after I found B&B and the aquisition disorders started.

Clayton

Because a DE is what I first used to shave with.

-jim

Originally, I started DE shaving for economic reasons. I hadn't bought any cartridges in a couple of years and went to buy more and I about choked on the price of the cartridges. I remembered having read an article about people going back to shaving with the double edge blades and started searching online. Found B&B and won my first razor on ebay. Of course, I could have bought several years worth of cartridges for what I've spent on DE shaving in the past four months. But, what I will say is that now I enjoy shaving, where before I had looked upon it as a chore.

I must confess that the price of cartridge blades initially had me searching for a way to save money by browsing the internet for something non-Gillette that might fit my Sensor. I have used the Sensor for over 40 years with canned goop and let's just say that it was a chore everyday that I did not look forward to. Accidentally stumbled across B&B and , to be totally honest, the thought of saving money no longer mattered to me. Most of these guys were enjoying DE shaving and so must I. It is an adventure now that daily brings back memories of my dad (rest his soul) carefully loading a dangerous blade into his TTO and showing me how it is done, then the sound as he shaved, and the copious amounts of aftershave and bits of toilet tissue to follow. Ahh sweet memories are probably the main reason I have chosen this path. I could surmise that I probably get better shaves now simply because I am taking my time and using multiple passes but there is no looking back with any other razor.

I started shaving with a de and for the life of me I can't remember why I stopped using them.However I do know why I went back to de,it's for me, a way better shave,I even use a de to shave my dome.I was also having skin problems shaving with the carts,I no longer have that problem.

After sporting a designer stubble for the last 8 years, I found some white sprouts in it! I decided that I needed to start shaving every day to hide my ageing shame, but couldn't bring myself to spend the $$$ on cartridges, or hundreds of dollars on an electric that would eat up my wire beard.

I thought about going for a cut-throat razor, but chickened out and ended up here, with DEs. Now sporting a Muhle R41 and loving it .

I remembered on a show some guy used a DE Razor and I thought it looked cool, at this point I was using and electric shaver because who wanted to pay 20$ for 4 multi-blades which just clog up. Once I found the DE razors I just new I needed to get one, at the time it was for the savings and a better shave. My first shave with a DE convinced my that this is the right path to a perfect shave, now it's a hobby.

It's fun. Lathering up that scented cream/soap on your face massaging it with a brush etc...

I just get a warm and fuzzy feeling knowing that I am helping to send Gary Young's children to college.

I like the cost factor (if you discount the AD thing). Blades are certainly much cheaper.
I also like the process - creating a lather (I start in a bowl and finish on my face) applying it with a nice brush and feeling my face come clean as I whack the growth off.
The scent of the soaps is very pleasant;
and my face just flat out feels better.

To head shave BBS everyday!

I have a friend who uses carts, two a week. No way was I going to spend that money! Plus my electrics I had been using for almost 20 years took 20-30 minutes to do a poor job on the dome. Still had engrowns with the electrics, so that would be second; No more engrowns with the DE!