cross-posted from: https://lemmit.online/post/5774540
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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/ICanStopTheRain on 2025-05-07 03:51:37+00:00.
Original Title: TIL that in 1975, after Gillette introduced a two-blade cartridge razor, Saturday Night Live aired a fake commercial for a three-blade razor. Gillette introduced one in 1998. In 2004, a satirical article in The Onion introduced a fictional five-blade razor. A real five-blade razor came out in 2006.
I have a six-blade razor for my HeadBlade razor.
I have a Henson double edge shaver and use cheap but effective blades a couple of times. Better shaves and way cheaper overall than anything I’ve used before.
Can someone recomend a non-disposable, non-enshitified razor? I’m in my twenties and have only ever used disposable razors. Please help.
Old school safety razors. I like Wilkenson blades.
Henson shaver and the blades they sell. Or get some of the Vietnamese blades I use. “Dorian” I think is the name. Get the ones made in Vietnam. They are a bit better than the ones made in S. Korea. $10 for 100.
Get a Merkur adjustable, they are a bit pricey, but you have to buy it once. Alternatively you can get an old Gillette from ebay. From there, blades are cheap. You can go all the way and get a cutthroat, but it needs technique and care. DE is a good compromise.
I learned to use a straight razor over covid. You use barely any pressure, tilt the blade and go with the grain and you’re good
The handling is not complicated. Once you feel confident you’ll surely cut yourself though:) But the blade needs more care, you need to leather and occasionally hone it - but you might probably need a single one for life
The Merkur Mk34c looks pretty good to me. Thank you!
Check out the adjustables as well!
Get a safety razor and a variety of blades. You might need to try a bunch of blades to find the ones you prefer but what works best for you will depend on the razor and you. You don’t have to spend tons of money on the razor but you can. I use an old (1950s or something ) Gillette I found on ebay like 15-20 years ago. See nicer new ones but mine works so I just keep using it. Anyway, razor barely matters, blades depend more on you than anything.
Edit: Just looked on ebay. Lol, vintage ones are spendy now - I think I paid a couple bucks for mine. Did see a new stainless steel basic version for under 15 bucks. I’d start with something like that and a variety of blades.
I really like my Henson Shaving razor. Had it a year, haven’t gone through more than about a 3rd of the blades. Unfortunately for USA’ians, Trump’s tariff package just made them more expensive for residents of the US of A.
I bought a Merkur heavy duty razor for $35 in 2008 and I’m still using it today.
I think I buy a 50 pack of feather blades every 4 years for <$20.
I’m using a safety razor, blades are less than a dollar, you get a nice shave and there are whole communities about getting the best shave with the least skin irritation.
you can use electric razor, more gentle, but you still have to watch out for irritation. all the manuals caused severe irritation for me thats why i switched, plus a semi-permanent rash/folliculitis induced by the razor. im also prone to dermatitis so im more susceptile to it too.
electric is less likely to cause said irritation(not 100%), you will have spend some pretty penny for one.
are you using shaving cream when using a manul one.
Have you tried beard?
I’m doing a wet shave with a shaving soap, with some pre and after shave products, no alcohol in any of the products so it doesn’t dry off my skin.
I use electric when I need to be fast. Panasonic Arc 4 or 5, the Braun mentioned is good too.
For better shaves though, Leaf Twig as the razor, and Arko Shaving Bar wicked up with a cheap boar’s hair brush. Takes some getting used to, I’m in my late 30s and only used disposable and electric all my life. It was totally worth the transition. Smoother skin, no irritation after the break-in period, and I feel like I look better.
The Leaf Twig is BIFL, very easy to handle for rookies, and it’s small so it helps shaping if you keep a beard.
I’ve had a Maggard double edge safety razor for about 5 years now and I love it. Just get a head, handle, and assortment of blades to see which kind you like best. I still haven’t used all the blades I bought in my first order 5 years ago
I use electric, and have had the same braun 9 series with cleaner for more than 20 years. You can replace the heads on it when they get dull (which takes a long time) and it has an automatic cleaner which keeps it working well even when you don’t shave for quite a while.
Safety razor with some Feather blades.
What are Feather blades?
Feather is a brand. They’re Japanese and shar as hell.
Japanese double edge blades, they cost 2-3x more as others (roughly 1USD per piece), but they are the sharpest ones on the market. The only complaint you can find is that they are maybe a bit too sharp
I’ll never stop being angry about the enshitification of razors. I tried so many different brands of cartridge razor and they were all terrible. When I tried safety razors, even with improper technique and not having found the right blades yet, I still got a better shave than with any of the cartridge razors. It’s not even close. I bought a nice safety razor and 200 blades which could last me decades for less than one Gilette Fusion with six replacement heads. I tried the fancy creams and boar’s hair brush, but honestly I’m fine with just water.
When I tell this to people in real life they almost always excitedly start in on “Have you heard of Dollar Shave Club?!” as if they aren’t suggesting I spend much more money on an inferior shave. One blade is about $0.05. Even if DSC did offer $1 options they would still be 20x more expensive.
FYI blades go dull after a few years even without use just due to entropy.
I bought a titanium Henson safety razor for like $100 (they have cheaper aluminium options) and like 5 years of blades for $5. I get a great shave every time and very rarely draw blood these days :) Well worth it, especially compared to a couple months worth of cartridge razors for $30+ from the local supermarket. It’s probably the best cost cutting move I’ve made in years.
Edit: Just looked at Henson again, out of curiosity. The titanium razors are over $600 now, but the aircraft grade aluminium are still affordable. It looks like my shaving “investment” has performed better than my stock/share portfolio LOL.
i switched to electric, which was more convenient, and less irritation.
When I switched, I got the whole setup you describe. Even special soap from etsy. It was too much of a ritual.
Between simple blades and an electric, I’m good and it’s pretty fast as long as I keep up with it.
I did do dollar shave for a little bit and it was okay. But this is an easier version of set it and forget it. Like you said, it’s pretty cheap.
I hate shaving but I like my feathers. I only shave like once a week and it’s still easy peasy
I decided to go with idiot-proof gillette silver blues instead of a more sharp blade like feather because I wanted to shave lazily without worrying about my technique.
I’ve actually never had an issue with the sharpness. Maybe my razor has a tame angle(?) In any case, more about the single edge than the particular blade I imagine.
I’m so damn relieved I have good facial hair genes and can get by with just a trimmer
so they just skipped four blades because everyone wanted to outdo the absurdity of three blades and jumped straight to five?
Reminds me of the Gillette 3000 from the 90s!
I like the one from MadTV where they had, like, a 20 blade razor. One of the things it did in the graphic was peel off a layer of skin ensuring total removal of the follicle.
Honestly, an absolute classic. I read it every couple of years whenever this pops up on the internet, and it’s still good every time. Truly superb.
What about the Mach 20?
This has been a favorite sketch of mine for YEARS.
“You take one stroke, it takes 20!”
Hey, it’s Bizarro Kramer.
It’s Feldman. From across the hall.
Forget 5 blades, what you need is the Gillette 3000!
Early 1990s champagne comedy from Australia.
Vintage Tony Martin
I was gonna post a picture here but I can’t find it. Trying to find picture of Fry from Futurama holding multiple bladed razor (10+?), looking confused with how to shave with it.
Do you have an idea of what episode that was from?
No idea, I tried to look for it but gave up xd
Ngl, I’ve always had a suspicion that part of the reason the extra blades happened was the satire.
Once the idea was introduced, half the marketing was done, and the association with laughter isn’t a bad thing. You let the joke fade, and the idea lingers. You see the product launch, and even if you recall exactly how absurd it was when you saw it on snl or whatever, it’s still a positive memory. The satire commercial acted as a real commercial before the product existed.
Obviously, there’s an upper limit to it, and I think they’ve hit it as no six blade heads have come out that I know of. But, being real, after 5 blades, all the satires jumped to unrealistic numbers and more extreme silliness. It was like the various comedy writers figured out that the various razor companies would be glad to slap one more on there, and sell it as an entirely new thing that needed a new handle as well. So they said (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻ and went hard.
There used to be a video of the satire commercials followed by the eventual real ones. I couldn’t find it on YouTube, but I may just suck at searching there, or it could have gotten pulled. I dunno, but I remember the real commercials being way closer to the satire ones than I had thought when it happened.
But, being real, after 5 blades, all the satires jumped to unrealistic numbers and more extreme silliness. It was like the various comedy writers figured out that the various razor companies would be glad to slap one more on there, and sell it as an entirely new thing that needed a new handle as well. So they said (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻ and went hard.
Are you telling me the Gillette Facefuckerupper of legend isn’t real?
(The Wenger Giant was a real novelty product. Yes I hate consumerism yes I hate “collector” culture but it tickles my brain just right to imagine that I’ll be able to snag one someday. They’re really expensive rarities now and serve no practical purpose but they do reveal that stodgy old Swiss executives can still have a sense of humor. Until then, the trusty no-name gas station multi tool is perfectly usable.)
If I was a rich man, I’d hire someone to carry that thing around in their pocket and stay by my side at all times, waiting for when someone asks “anyone have a knife”
Obviously, there’s an upper limit to it, and I think they’ve hit it as no six blade heads have come out that I know of.
According to Wikipedia there are 6 and 7 blade razors in South Korea
Dollar Shave Club makes 6 blade razors in the US. I just saw them at the grocery store yesterday.
Holy shit. I’m legit amazed and loving that fact
Got some bad news. It’s not just South Korea…
I have a safety razor and a straight razor and prefer them both. The safety razor especially shaves CLOSE.
I inherited an old safety razor that a great uncle used. It’s likely older than I am, by a lot. I still use it to this day. My hair follicles are more like copper wire. Any other kind of razor (minus my straight razor) would be dulled half way through. They’d also be completely clogged up after just like an inch so it took forever too.
I used safety razors for years, but even with a practiced hand, I often cut myself. I think that’s the biggest benefit to Gillette razors. It’s really hard to knick yourself.
Sounds like you had blades that didn’t work well with your skin. When I started using mine, I bought a big sample pack of blades and only a couple brands worked for me. The others were a nickfest.
Complete opposite experience here. Gillette ones used to cut me up real bad, now with a safety razor (Henson specifically) I just don’t cut myself anymore. I don’t even feel the shave anymore ! Hair just disappears 😆
I have the same safety razor. It’s seemingly safer than a Gillette against a lot of ‘features’ on the face, but I’m not getting your great results yet. I carry a lot of had habits from shaving out of a green melon bucket or in a tent, and it’s not translating well ;-)
I think you nailed it, moving from a cartridge razor to a safety razor requires a large jump in technique. With a cartridge you can just whip around your face and get an acceptable shave without really caring (unless you have sensitive skin). But with a safety razor you have to pay attention to the direction of hair growth, handle angle, and to a smaller extent the tautness of your skin.
I have VERY sensitive skin and cartridge razors were killing me, so switching to a safety razor and getting past the skill curve saved my face.
After 20 years of safety razor use I recently switched to a straight razor which accepts replaceable safety razor blades, which I saw my barber using. I’ve found the skill gap between a competent safety razor user and a straight razor was very small. Within 2 weeks I was getting better shaves with the straight razor! It’s closer, easier on my skin (fewer passes), and I can detail around my mustache and eyebrows way better.
YMMV
I use a safety razor too and I don’t really have these issues.
I can shave in any direction I want, no problem and just have to watch the angle of the blade if I want it to work properly and provide a close shave but not because I run the risk of cutting myself. Only thing I have to pay attention to in that regard is to NEVER move the blade perpendicular to the handle.
But in my experience, what makes the biggest difference is how the skin and beard is prepared. It all works so much smoother if I apply hot damp cloth beforehand or I shave right after a hot shower. Also a nice foam from a good shaving soap helps a lot as well as using a fresh blade.
But I can also just ignore all of that and go at it dry and with a months old blade. Only in that case do I have to be more careful and won’t get as nice a result. Probably helps, that I don’t have a very thick beard growth in the first place, though.
So yeah, looks like it can be a very different experience.
Oh but also the kind of razor make a difference. I once had a very light and tinny safety razor, that was barely useable. A nice stainless steel one with a heavier head is so much better.
How do you deal with the contorsions needed to shave on the side your good hand doesn’t flex well towards? I have an actual straight razor that I seldom use because it works really well and I don’t usually cut myself, but it’s really annoying to get everywhere on myself with it. I don’t trust using my other hand whereas with a safety razor if I need to I can without peeling half my face off.
When I first picked up the straight razor I ran into the weird areas and contorting my wrist as you mentioned.
I just tried different grips and shaving patterns until I found a pattern without weird wrist positions, it took about 10 shaves to really get comfortable.
I don’t know the terminology, but if the common wrist position you see people straight razor shave with can be called “wrist up” I actually shave about half of my face and most of my neck with my wrist “down” gripping the razor kind of like a paint brush. I don’t know if that’s the correct way to do it, but a few months in and I can complete a shave nearly as quickly as I could with a safety razor.
The only weird spots left to figure out are the sideburn on my non-dominant side (which I do by feel with decent success), and my brow lines.
I switched to a shavette and I find it to be the best of all the worlds. No stropping, close shave, cheap upkeep.
Since I keep a beard I also dry shave the line ups, so no soap or brush or bowl clean up either.
What is the cheapest and lowest effort option if you don’t care if the shave is overly close or not. Like a mm isn’t going to bother me.
A cheap safety razor with a pack of blades that will last ten years can be as low as $30.
The only problem is you might need to order a blade sampler pack to find ones that work with your skin better. Once you find them, though, just use conditioner as shaving cream and you can be economical forever.
As far as cream goes, My $10 tub of Poraso appears to be bottomless.
Depends how you define cheap.
If you want the cheapest expense to shave today, it is going to the nearest drugstore or grocery store and buying a bag of 2 blade plastic razors.
If you want proper shave (which you said you don’t really care) then you buy a decent safety razor (or shavette)for a little bit of money (probably $50 - $200) and buy blades for like 25 cents each for the rest of your life whenever they get dull.
Probably the cheapest $/shave option is to go buy a $50 set of grooming clippers that are self sharpening and rechargeable, take care of them, and use them basically forever. But it is only cheaper if no replacement necessary over time.
The cheapest guaranteed long term option is option 2 above :).
IF YOU ARE VERY HANDY WITH BLADES and you already own some sharpening stones with grits running up to about 12k and don’t have sensitive skin and you already own or can get a strop, you could probably have cheaper overall cost with a traditional straight razor lol.
Edit:
If you are super cheap and time rich, join a church that has small group meetings at other people’s houses (or some other social group that meets at the members’ houses but doesn’t require you to buy anything), excuse yourself to shit, grab their razor from the shower and go to town. You will need to buy a scarf and make it your signature item. Wear it at all times so no one can tell thet you came with stubble and left clean shaven.
My safety razor handle cost me $15, and works great.
Bought a pack of 100 blades for under $20, and that will last me a long ass time (my facial hair growth is slow).
I think a straight razor would only be cheaper at scale, if you shave half the town in one go every few days. They’re fun but they’re obsolete for a reason: time isn’t free and the upkeep is so much work!
I could get you 10 years of shaving with a safety razor for the price of that bag of cheap 2 blades.
Currently use very cheap clippers, a lot less than $50, IIRC it was like £7. They take AA batteries. Not sure how long they will last for but probably cheapest as far as £/shave out of the options listed as its cheap enough that it shouldn’t have to last too long to be better than all the other options so far.
Problem with the more expensive rechargeable ones is that the lithium batteries will eventually die and lithium batteries + charging circuitry adds a fair bit of cost to every device they go in compared to AA batteries that I can buy 1 charger for and use between multiple devices. Downside with the AA trimmer, the rest of it is cheap shit quality and there are no other choices available that I have been able to find. I would probably be fairly happy to buy a slightly better one that used AA batteries.
Looked up the corded ones, apparently they just run 230v directly, which sounds spicy next to water but oh well. Was expecting them to be like 5-12v and then an amusing option could be sticking some AAs together - getting one of those special electrical sockets put into the bathroom isn’t a cost I want to bother with.
Yeah the economics of clippers and batteries vs chargers seems like a project. I have had some really bad luck with cheap clippers getting blades out of alignment and then biting me, so I’ve switched completely to disposable blades. They last a long time, but there is a learning curve to effective use, mostly angle and lather.
I bought a safety razor, 50 blades, and a case of arko soap for like $40 in 2014 and I only just finished going through those blades. I still have 3/4 of the soap. This is shaving 1-2 times a week.
A beard is the cheapest low effort option. Just trim it once in a while and you’re done.
Well I am almost.there, currently let it grow for a few weeks before trimming back to as close as the trimmer gets without the guard on.
If you don’t want to deal with it at all forever, you might want to look into electrolysis/laser hair removal. Depending on coupons and providers in your area as well as the type of hair you have, that might be the cheapest option, but it’s permanent/semi permanent, so it’s not a good option if you suspect you’ll want to have facial hair later in life. It can range from $250-$2500 total, so it’s also a very hit or miss thing.
I get by with a single blade no problem. Hot water rinse —> lather with bar soap —> shave with razor - first with the grain, then against the grain —> apply aftershave, letting it soak in —> apply moisturizer to shaved portions after showering.
That sounds exhausting
I just use my safety razor in the shower with conditioner. It’s easier than a cartridge razor, shaves much better, and it so much cheaper it’s laughable.
It’s meditative, really.
You don’t really think about all the small steps you do in other activities. You just follow the muscle memory you’ve built up. It’s the same deal for shaving.
Most of that you do for regular shaving too. Just instead of canned soap you make lather. If you want to be lazy theres great shaving cream in a tube from Cremo you can skip the lathering step.
Lathering soap with a firm board bristle brush also exfilulates and scrubs your skin. Feels amazing after.
I do the entire routine and it’s very relaxing to do a full shave with good gear. I switched 10 years ago and saved sooooo much money.
You can get started for $30-$50 to get a safety razor, cremo and a variety pack of blades. You won’t look back. Quick and easy shaving. Slap on soap and learn your face angles. It really is muscle memory.
Men when routine takes longer than 5 seconds
Always hated regular shaving because no matter how close the shave was it was stubbly in a few hours. I grew a goatee because I haged shaving my chin area. A decade later I started growing a beard of somewhere between a quarter inch to an inch in the winter to keep my face warm.
Now I have that short beard year round and occasionally shave the neck when it gets itchy. So much less work, it honestly feels pretty nice to have that little layer of hair keeping my skin an even temp.
Hooray for less effort!
Reading all that was a good reminder of why I stopped shaving…
Yes, shaving is a chore - when you have to do it on a daily basis.
As a professional bald fart for more than 15 years, one of the reasons I’m thankful to be able to work from home is that I no longer need to shave head+beard on a daily basis. I really dislike the “shade” so always tried to shave as close to the skin as possible, which took me up to half an hour. Now that I have a job I get to look like one of those wojak characters with aggressive baldness and not worry about shaving for days.
Granted, with a safety razor that time came down to like 20-25 minutes and got less nicks than with a disposable razor. But when I had the chance to get a Leaf razor that came down to 15-20 minutes and never got nicks again. And with that one it’s like the best of the two worlds - multiple blades to speed and make easier the shaving process and the non-disposable razor with real cheap and superb blades.
Kinda the same with my safety razor, I do a hot water plus soap rinse -> shaving gel made for intimate use -> Shave with the grain (Gets close enough for me)-> Apply alum stone as aftershave -> Clean razor -> Rinse face -> Moisturise if necessary.
As long as I rinse the razor properly after shaving I get away with switching blades once a month or so and I got a 200pc Mühle Stainless Steel pack for ~50 euro back when I bought my razor. The alum stone looks barely used. I’m never going back to cartridge razors.
Blades vary greatly between brands. Get a sampler pack from eBay to find ones you like. Then buy them in bulk. 100 blades will generally cost from $8-$14, depending on the brand. Some, like Feather, are more expensive.
I might be a fool but I don’t mind paying €51.95 for a 200 pack when the manufacturing is in Germany.
If there was any manufacturing of blades in Sweden I would probably buy those unless the price or quality is way different but all I can find is china manufactured blades with “Swedish stainless steel” such as Rockwell.I cannot express adequately how different blades are from each other. Some are smoother than others, some are sharper and some improve after a few uses. Some last longer.
I have fairly fine whiskers, so I don’t need a crazy sharp blade like Feather. My skin is also a bit sensitive, so a smooth blade is best.
For me Big Ben, blades made by Lord in Egypt are really good. One of the versions of Shark, also made by Lord are pretty good too.
I find Wilkenson Sword blades to be horribly scratchy, and the name for some of the Gillette blades. Voskhod aren’t bad, except they are Russian.
You don’t realize how different they are until you try.
I got a sample pack of about 200 when I first purchased my safety razor like 10 years ago as well. I got about 20 left. It’s crazy how cheap it all is.
