A Close Shave

January 12, 2013

If you have seen me in the last 10 years, there is a only a small chance that you saw me clean shaven. The primary reason behind this is that I hate shaving. Particularly, I hate the most important thing involved with shaving, the razors. Rebekah has done her best to help me out, purchasing the “latest and greatest” razors every couple of years, but I would get frustrated quickly as new razors cost a fortune. So what would happen is this:

  1. Get a new pack of 4 razors for 14 bucks
  2. Shave with a new razor and get a nice shave
  3. In an effort to save money, not shave for 2-3 days.
  4. Shave again with the same razor, each time getting less and less comfortable.
  5. Repeat steps 3 & 4 2/3 times.
  6. Get frustrated with the razor scraping my face, and get a new razor from the pack of 4.

Using this process, I could last a month with a pack of 4 razors, with the majority of the days being, as Will says, “a scratchy face”.

Then a couple of months ago, I read an article in The Magazine that gave me hope. Friedman’s description sounded eerily like my own, so I decided to add the shaving items he recommended to my wish list. This last weekend, I got the items from my mom as a Christmas gift. I can happily say that I have shaved every day this week. It is taking some getting used to using the safety razor. So far I am more likely to cut myself, but am not getting any razor burn. I am alright with that as the cuts should go away as I get more experienced with the safety razor.

I have used the razor it came with all week and am ready to switch it out. Instead of getting 4 razors for 14 bucks, I ordered 100 razors for 9 bucks, easily enough to last me over a year. It may have a higher up front cost, but it should pay for itself within a couple of months, with the added bonus of being clean shaven every day and no razor burn.

EDIT: Corrected straight razor to safety razor.