Is the single blade benefit argument for DE razors really valid?

[Archer808]

I can't contribute anything as to what will/won't work for you, all things shaving have always been tagged with YMMV. The DE benefit argument is valid as far as I'm concerned. The FACT(s) of the matter is:

1. Single blade razors ARE sharper and less expensive than multi blade cartridges
2. Proper technique + razor selection for your beard type + blade for your skin type/hair coarseness/growth pattern + correct product properly lathered and applied to a properly prepared face will give you a closer and irritation free shave. This is NOT subjective, it is objective considering the amount of positive feedback from a large number of veteran DE shavers. (Ask Turtle. He has more experience with DE in his little finger than the entire shave clinic combined... I am convinced he can get BBS with a butter knife taped to a rawhide mallet lathered with Cool Whip)

 

[celestino]

Use whatever works for you. It took me at least one year to perfect my technique and find everything that works for me and now i get amazing results;
i, too, have very coarse hair and sensitive skin and there were times that it was challenging, but you have to understand this is a slow process of reducing your beard and not a race. Three passes is a standard method or reducing the beard while not getting irritation if light pressure is used. With practice and the right razor, blade, soap, and moisturizer, you can definitely get amazing results. Good luck to you.

 

[bladebuff]

Rob,

I think using what works best is the answer, whatever it may be. To me the difference has been made in how we have all learned to prepare and look after our faces to produce a good shave.

 

[ouch]

Ah, you've discovered our secret.

We're all wrong.

 

[Vickers]

Ah, you've discovered our secret.

We're all wrong.

Whew! It's like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders.



Fusion ProGlide, HERE I COME!!!

 

[shyrlock]

Lasering or waxing?

 

[Amzimbo]

Since I've been using Proraso pre shave, I haven't had a single cut, and the only nicks have been the result of getting careless with my shavette when shaping my beard. I find that with that and experience, I don't need to work too hard to get a great shave. Regardless, I think that if you prep well, and find a post-shave routine that works for you, you'll have a better shave and healthier skin whether you go DE, SE, straight or cart. Afterall, we call it "wet shaving," not DE shaving. Or anything else.

That said, I recently tried using just a Fusion again for a shave or two. While I thought I got BBS, or damn near, by late afternoon I definitely had more stubble than I normally get when using the DE. So for me, at least, the DE seems to get closer in a real way.

 

[Coler]

I can only go by my own personal experience. I have very thick and fast growing stubble. When I use a mach fusion cartridge thing I get a really good shave - in fact BBS in most areas, but I always had a really good prep and materials. I also would seem to have quite a hardy skin type insofar as irritation/razor burn is concerned - basically I havn't gotten it since I was 14 or 15.

When I use a DE however I definitely get a closer shave, and also a more pleasant experience than with the cartridge.

 

[dmcand3]

I would say use whatever works for you!

 

[mdw15]

Since I've been using Proraso pre shave, I haven't had a single cut, and the only nicks have been the result of getting careless with my shavette when shaping my beard. I find that with that and experience, I don't need to work too hard to get a great shave. Regardless, I think that if you prep well, and find a post-shave routine that works for you, you'll have a better shave and healthier skin whether you go DE, SE, straight or cart. Afterall, we call it "wet shaving," not DE shaving. Or anything else.

That said, I recently tried using just a Fusion again for a shave or two. While I thought I got BBS, or damn near, by late afternoon I definitely had more stubble than I normally get when using the DE. So for me, at least, the DE seems to get closer in a real way.[/QUOT

I switched to de after 45 years with electrics, so I approached de carefully, deciding to use Castle Forbes preshave. I moved to Edwin Jagger preshave, and now switch off the EJ with Proraso white preshave. (Just started with the Proraso.)

I fully accept that others find preshaves unnecessary, but I have to report that they work great for me, judging from the comfortable shaves I achieve. From the start I was surprised by the near absence of cuts or even weepers.

I also read of some who find glycerin/uberlather an unncessary contrivance. Again, I understand the purist idea/ideal, but I just tried--yesterday, for the first time--three drops of glycerin onto the puck, followed by a little cream, an uberlather two of whose components to some would seem excessive. (The drug store special-ordered the glycerin.)

I loved the uberlather. I have no discipline whatsoever, apparently.

 

[Mad Man]

+1 for the Raso pre/post. Every shave. Every pass.

 

[gus1942]

No. I definitely get smoother and less irritating shaves with DE's. I have tried my current techniques with multi-blade carts. and will stay with my DE favorites: slants, New OC's, and Gillette SS's.

 

[takeshi]

Is the single blade benefit argument for DE razors really valid?

Any broad, sweeping generalization will be valid for some and not valid for others. Whether it's valid or not is really irrelevant IMO. Finding what works for you, on the other hand, is what matters.

But I have simply come to belive that even if your Technique is flawless you are not getting a close shave than with a multiblade.

Be careful using "you" where you should use "I". Your experience clearly doesn't speak for everyone (i.e. YMMV).

This is NOT subjective, it is objective considering the amount of positive feedback from a large number of veteran DE shavers.

Quantity does not turn the subjective into objective.

 

[BlackBear]

For me, switching to DE & straights has led to a general desire to look after my face as best I can. The prep, the shave and the aftercare have all contributed to a much clearer, irritation free and healthier feeling face. Now it's spreading to other area's as well, for the first time in my life I've stopped chewing my nails and they too are now looking neat, strong and well groomed. For me the switch to traditional wet shaving has been more about the journey rather than the destination.

 

[BarbaGnosa]

As I read through this thread, some key themes emerge:

DE shaving has led shavers to greater AWARENESS of shaving and their bodies. They are much more observant of their skin, hair, and how they respond to various products and techniques. They pay close attention to what others have to say about various products, and thus carefully choose them. Many (once they're here on B&B) follow the advice to thoughtfully EXPERIMENT with varied products, tools, and techniques. They DEEPLY FOCUS, SLOW DOWN, GET INTO THE ZONE and EXPERIENCE THE FLOW which heightens CONCENTRATION, ENERGY, RELAXATION, FOCUS, CONNECTION and ENJOYMENT. They INVEST THEMSELVES IN SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE, EXPERIENCE, on themselves and in this COMMUNITY. COMMUNITY?! I don't remember spending as much time and thought and social interaction focused around shaving, or any grooming ever, with as knowledgeable and passionate people as I have on B&B. That in itself is a huge source of education and enjoyment. As many have pointed out, this provides a hugely rich, diverse, and finely detailed and honed set of conceptual, manual, technical skills and tools and social context with which each of us can explore and develop our IMAGINATION and VISION of WHAT WE WANT out of shaving, and HOW TO GET IT with much more depth, richness, specificity, and awareness than we've probably ever before invested in not just shaving, but in any aspect of our grooming (or self care or perhaps even selves). And, we're sharing it in social context -- it has meaning and value beyond ourselves.

With that said, I notice you didn't expand much about your explorations, experiments, and skills development, and thus wonder how much you've invested in them? Personally, I've spent every day of the last two months LEARNING more about my face, and shaving, and exploring and (literally) keeping notes (in a spread sheet) about the performance of various tools and products and techniques and my enjoyment of them and about the sensual experiences and results. As my experience grows, including of ever more blades, products, techniques, combinations and their results, so does my skill, fluency, performance, and enjoyment. The quality of my DE shaves have gone from comically (classically newbie) disastrous to the best shaves of my life thus far. And they continue to improve.

Which all raises interesting questions. I wonder to what degree is my sense of the "the best shaves of my life" objective? Is my face really softer than ever after these shaves? I THINK so. By my observations, my skin seems to be healthier than in recent memory. The products and techniques I'm using I believe are better for my skin, too. But more importantly, I FEEL better. I feel better about shaving, about myself, and about the entire process. I see a virtuous cycle between the deeper awareness and investment and involvement in all these activities and aspects of shaving which create the gesamtkunstwerk gestalt of traditional wetshaving. Chances are you've experienced much of this yourself. I imagine you too are using better products, techniques, with greater focus and awareness than before. While I wonder whether you've not yet maxed out on your DE shaving potential, I gather you do have enhanced skills and awareness with which to shave, and then evaluate and appreciate your experience, which is the primary head-space of the movement, for me. It's about getting off a corporate just-use-this-product-and-pay-your-dues-to-the-company treadmill, taking the means of shave production increasingly back into your own hands, and giving yourself a traditional shaving and personal care education, including much deeper, more informed, nuanced, and fluent skills, tools, and a vastly richer set of products with deep cultural traditions passed down through various communities, B&B not least of which (a kind of meta-shaving community).

So, given this dramatic expansion of skills and awareness and fluency over the past year, while you may find that you can now use these with your cartridges to get shaves which in some respects are currently making you happier than with the DE razor, I imagine that much of that happiness is in reality the product of this community and education, and the techniques and products you're using now, and is not simply the product of the cartridges. So, while you may return to cartridges, I wonder whether you can ever truly return to the less mindful, less aware, less self-possessed form of shaving and behavior you were experiencing before. And I doubt you'd want to.

Adam

 

[JeffOlson]

I may be one of the few DE shavers here who still dabbles occasionally with Gillette Fusion ProGlide Power shaves (mostly when out of town). Curiously, these Fusion shaves are now better than they were before I began DE shaving and joined B&B. I attribute the improvement to better awareness, better preparation, better software, and better technique.

Because a multi-blade cartridge has more than one blade, it is effectively making multiple passes for you with just one pass. That alone, assuming all else is equal, should result in a closer shave than a single DE blade. But all else is not equal. One of the important differences is that a multi-blade cartridge can lift the hairs slightly with the first blade and cut them off below the skin with the following blades, something that a single DE blade cannot do. (This is also a huge downside for some: it can result in ingrown hairs; hence, the need to be very careful with ATG passes with a cartridge razor.)

To get a great shave with a cartridge, I need a NEW cartridge. Unfortunately, cartridges are very expensive and last only two or three shaves (the same as my DE blades). My cartridge shaves with a new cartridge are just as comfortable as my DE shaves and slightly closer--every time. They are just not as fun, and they are much more expensive.

Oh, wait, I forgot. I am not really saving any money here with my new-found DE passion. I am actually spending more--a lot more! How did that happen?

 

[MikeA]

I have sensitive skin and while using same shaving products (AOS) with cartridges both fusion and Mach 3 I'd always end up with razor burn on my chin and upper lip area and often on my neck. After switching to a straight razor I have not had any discomfort in those areas. I skipped DE's but am a believer of single blade for sensitive skin

 

[BBrad]

+1 on Adam's post above . . . well stated, sir! First post of his that I have recollection of reading . . . welcome to B&B, Adam!

 

[BarbaGnosa]

Thanks, BBrad for your feedback.

 

[SiBurning]

Is the single blade benefit argument for DE razors really valid?

IMHO, no single benefit argument for shaving is really valid.

I switched to a DE something like 15 to 25 years ago, and the only thing that's clear to me is I can't pick any definite way to prep, lather, shave, or much of anything else. My face has areas that are really easy to shave and others that are difficult. In some areas, the angle of the blade movement (usually an arc) is the most important factor. In other areas, I don't need any prep at all. If I pick a different razor, blade, soap, or prep time, my whole routine changes. For me, it's all about making little adjustments as I go. Most days, the most important factor to whether my face feels itchy later on is the post shave, and how I handle my face between passes. That's assuming I do more than one pass.

When I do use a plastic handled multi-blade thing, the most noticeable thing is how little flexibility I have. And this shows up after the shave, because most of the time my face itches later. I need the flexibility, and that's the main thing these disposables focus on eliminating. The idea is to give the average shaver as little control and variability as possible, so there's very little to think about, and little variation between shaves.

The result is that IMHO, any single benefit argument is only going to be valid for people that have a single overriding issue, such as extremely sensitive skin. But is anyone's face really that homogenous? This one-fits-all solution is where the disposables fall short.