You also have to consider YMMV. No beard, skin type, and face are the same. I can dull out a brand new mach 3 in 2-3 shaves. My friend can use one for a month straight with no problem. Reports are great to look at for a reference but they are not all the same and do not mean that that is exactly uniform for everyone. Just my $0.02.
If you ever come to Denmark, I'll show you the shelves of carts, and you'll agree with me. I just looked at the Personna Twin blade mentioned above.. totally inaccessible here locally. I can import it from USA at a steep price. I don't know how it is in The Netherlands, but I'm unable to find the great cheap carts here in my area. So it's not necessarily an easy rant... I'm not ranting to rant. I'm not even ranting. Just stating my point of view from where I live I did, however, mention the Guard above, which I enjoy. It's cheap and easily imported from India. But it's no match for a good DE setup IMHO.
Yes. Yes I do. Is that why?? No... but as I mentioned there are long time between I use it, so maybe, as I wrote, it's because of edge deterioration. In my Mach3 days, I got 4 good ones, whereas the 6th and on was unbearable. My friend, before he went to DE, got the same mileage, give or take.
They don't seem to have a department here. Can you link to those carts on eBay that's cheaper (or just same price, it seems very cheap already) than HEMA? I have (as it's probably obvious) never tried those Personnas so it would definitely be fun to try. Especially compared to the cheap BIC we have here.
No, but Tesco, Walmart, Walgreens, AoS, etc. don't have departments here either ... such is the curse of global forums
Anybody try Harry's razors? I'm thinking about it. In the past the cost of the mainstream carts was getting to me and I started DE shaving to save money and get decent shave. Which I did. Then the razor bug hit and we all know how that works. I never used a decent soap and no aftershave before and I suspect that is part of the reason I didn't enjoy the shave. Probably with a good soap and brush and some decent aftershave a cartridge razor would deliver a fine shave . I just haven't tried it yet but I will.
That's true. I guess it still stands then, at least for me, that carts are expensive still as the cheaper (and supposedly just as good) are not available here in Gillette land of Denmark. I'm not counting in the Guard, because as good as it is, it's a good deal behind in shave quality and feel of a good DE.
I used William's soap and a synthetic brush with a cartridge razor long before I switched to DE shaving. That's all I used really, probably only bought one or two cans of aerosol foam before I realized it was irritating my skin. The razor is only part of the experience that makes shaving so enjoyable, IMHO.
I was informed that there would be a rather brutal meeting this morning at 10 o'clock sharp. I'd forgot to shave and didn't want so risk Barbasol on my dark shirt, so I dry shaved over the sink with a 3 blade SuperMax cart about an hour before the meeting which, incidentally, lasted three and a half hours and was the most horrible any of us have ever had to endure and has at least one person seeking work elsewhere. But the shave was fine. DFS. Afterwards I smeared on a tiny bit of B-sol as a balm and face felt fine. Still does.
Carts suck for me on cost, waste, and quality of shave. A DE blade will rust away in a landfill, costs cents, and most brands will give me the shave I want. I can't really say that about carts. Do I have disdain for cart exclusive users like the OP seems to have ire against DE exclusive shavers? Nope. Whatever flips your skirt; I know what flips mine, and it ain't carts anymore.
In my time here, I have very rarely seen fanatics who seem to believe this or that mode of shaving to be actually, morally wrong. I can recall seeing them long ago at that other site, where I could never figure out why it was tolerated for one second. Maybe it isn't now, dunno. But here, as far as I've seen, it never has been and I'm very happy about that.
When I used carts I would get about 4 to 5 shaves, with a DE it's 2 shaves. One of my friends whom I introduced to DE gets a month of shaves from a DE blade. Blade life differs greatly across people. My switch was not about costs but razor bumps. I would happily pay more for a better shave without bumps.
I never had more than three or so comfortable shaves from a cart or disposable. I would use them for a week, but only the first three were enjoyable.
I 100% believe that the soap and brush I use plays a much bigger factor in the quality of my shaves than the DE/vs Cart. I disliked them because of clogging and the price, but I could shave with them and be okay with it as long as I could have a brush and soap.
I've said it on many different posts that I think soap/cream is a bigger "good" than the way you get rid of the hairs. I get pretty ok shaves with a cheap ol' orange Bic disposable when on travel. It is very adequate. Leagues away from a proper DE shave. Brush application...I like it, but see it more as a means of getting soap/cream on your face than having that big of a difference on shave quality. Never did see how it lifts the hairs since my hairs are usually so short that they aren't very floppy to be lifted and I think that even canned goo can get under stubble. I don't really know a better way of applying SS/SC other than by brush, so it kinda wins if you want to use it. Hand lather gets the slickness on but it doesn't have near the fluff. And all of this is said without any consideration at all for ritual....I find I do most of my effort for the ritual.
For those who doubt my economic savvy: 100 Astra SP blades = $12 ~= 250 uses. Whereas, 8 Mach III cartridges =$26 ~= 24 uses. There is no mythos here. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
