However, I am always looking for a cheaper way to accomplish a chore I have to perform every day. Singeing my face with a propane torch every day just didn’t seem sane.
I missed the Internet craze that was the Dollar Shave Club ads. I did finally see the ad on TV, and did some homework. The reviews seemed to lean more towards the favorable side of the equation. I signed up.
The razors were fine, but you definitely needed to change the blades at the end of the week. In fact, there was a couple of times when I was shaving uncomfortably a couple of days before blade changing day. Not since the army, did I feel the pulling and tugging I did with these blades after just a few shaves. Nevertheless, they were cheap, so I persisted for a couple of months.
Ultimately, I returned to my Schick blades, but this time without the battery operated handle.
Then along came a company called Harrys. These are the guys who founded Warby Parker, a little eyeglass maker that is taking on the French monopoly in the eyeglass industry. I liked their story, and still like the idea of cost effective quality blades coming to my door every month.
When the simple little box showed up, I was excited to see what was inside. The handle was as the reviews stated, a little lighter than I liked, and perfectly smooth. What took me by surprise was how different the shaving head design was. It looked cheap, and I wasn’t sure about the functionality. It sported the five blades that is the current trend.
The shave was actually good. Yet, once again, I was noticing the blades losing their edge with every shave. By Monday, I was glad it was new blade time. There was three blades left in my supply before I cancelled my subscription.
Regardless of the price, and Harry’s claims to quality. It just was not the shave I was used to.
There was one last thing I wanted to try. A long time ago, I switched to mug and brush shaving cream. I read in Men’s health many years ago this old method was actually better than foam from the can. Apparently, the brush helps lift the whiskers and stand them up so one of the five blades will snag them.
Why wouldn’t the old safety razor offer a better shave too? I did some research, and found that the Internet could not come to an agreement as to the quality of shave offered by a single blade safety razor. The other thing that concerned me was the cost of the average safety razor handle. What if I put $50.00 into a handle, and didn’t like the shave.
I was also terrified of the idea of putting one of those blades to my face. Images of cutting my fingers on my grandpa’s old blades flashed across my mind.
Still, I took the plunge and purchase an inexpensive safety razor, blade combo from Target.
I went into the bathroom that next morning with the certainty that by the time I was done, I would need a transfusion. It went better than I thought. But then there was something I was not used too, nicks. One especially bad one on my chin that I reopened the next morning with the same razor.
Part of me was sure that the shave was better. Imagined now that I look back.
By day three using the same blade, I learned that I was two days beyond its best edge. The shave was horrible, and my skin felt brutalized. I decided on the new blade a day tactic.
Hell, they were cheap.