wet shaving

SSOK wrote: I'm curious, how likely is one to cut themselves when switching from modern razors to safety razors?

Pretty unlikely. You may get a little nick every once in a while if you knock the head off a zit or something, but no more likely than with a modern cartridge razor.

Snipa69 wrote: Told my brother I was interested in getting a Safety Razor for Christmas this year, he has been looking at options since I mentioned it. Seems Amazon has some Merkur sets for around $50 USD...decent brand? This would be my first personal Safety Razor, so input would be nice. Hoping to get him some intel tomorrow before he buys me something. Not that I would be upset if he only spent $7 bucks, but he is one who normally does his research.

Merkur is a fantastic company. My first razor was a Merkur HD Open-Comb. I still use it to this day, though prefer it for my head and my Gillette Tech 1 Piece Solid Bar for my face.

The biggest decision is comb type. Do you have a thick beard and get ingrown hairs? Go open comb (it cuts closer to the skin) Moderate beard but still want a close shave? Slant-bar is the way to go. Pretty normal facial hair and you shave every day? Solid Bar.

After that, it's all pretty much aesthetics. Do you want it heavy or light? Fat or slim? Silver or Gold? One Piece or two? Butterfly or sandwich head?

You can use regular shaving cream to start if you're working on a budget. But the brush and mug are essential down the road for a truly fantastic experience.

Told my brother I was interested in getting a Safety Razor for Christmas this year, he has been looking at options since I mentioned it. Seems Amazon has some Merkur sets for around $50 USD...decent brand? This would be my first personal Safety Razor, so input would be nice. Hoping to get him some intel tomorrow before he buys me something. Not that I would be upset if he only spent $7 bucks, but he is one who normally does his research. 

I use a Merkur Slant Bar with Feathers. Although, I do like my Super Speed too.

For blades, I usually go with Merkur Super Platinum. Feather is pretty decent as well.

I did a double application last night, huge difference.  I found a nice hanger on amazon for razor and brush which I ordered too.

I'm at the mercy of what I can get online until I can get to a big city that actually has a store dedicated to shaving.  I saw one in Vancouver but I just didn't have enough time to get what I wanted.  Thanks for the lather tip Tallen, I've had a string of lathers that are dried out before I'm done.  

Really wish I was better with a blade so I could get into this...

What blades do all of you use? 

deadeye007 wrote: Honest question here... Why not use a disposable?

Cost
Closeness of Shave
Looks Classy
Better Lather
Longer Lasting
Morning Zen
etc.

To put it shortly, cheap disposables last a few shaves and are done. They are set at an off-angle so they don't shave as closely in one pass as a DE safety razor or straight razor do, so they have to add more blades, which means more times that a blade is passing over the skin meaning rougher, dryer, more break-out-prone skin.

If you go with an expensive disposable, you're spending GOBS on the blade refills. I pay between 5-10 CENTS per blade which will last me twice as long as a Mach-whatever-they're-up-to-now cartridge.

The ceremony of the mug, brush, lather, and razor get me in a good mood for the morning

It takes barely any longer to do it the proper way

And it looks snazzy on your bathroom counter.

Also, I get fewer ingrown hairs, can use the same blades with multiple style razors (adjustable, slant-bar, open comb, closed comb, etc) for different applications from trimming to shaving my head, to an everyday face-shave.

It's just better. The only reason you saw the switch to disposable cartridges is that Gillette realized that they had to change the way they did business. Their old razors were too dependable, and the blades lasted too long, to remain profitable in a global market. So they created the cartridge to renew their old loss-leader system. Ever notice you can buy a new Mach4Turbo with 3 cartridges for less than half the price of a 5 cartridge refill pack?

I shave with disposable heads, but I'm sure someone will say it... Get a hanger for that brush!