Much of this is personal preference.
Many men choose to shave with a disposable or cartridge razor with some sort of canned foam or gel. While easy to use, this method has several negative issues:
- cartridge razors are expensive;
- aerosols used to dispense the cream or gel from the can are not good for the environment;
- aerosol foam and gel are generally viewed as poor lather;
- a cartridge razor is made for the “average” male face, leaving little room for superior results; and
- multi-blade razors can be quite irritating to many men due to repeated shaving of the same area by the multiple blades and the possibility of ingrown hairs due to the alleged “lift and cut” operation
These are some of the reasons why many men are looking for alternatives.
‘‘If you calculate 15 minutes a day to shave, that is 5,000 minutes a year spent shaving.’
Fidel Castro
The use of a double-edged (DE) or ‘safety’ razor can alleviate most of these problems for most users.
The blades are inexpensive, sharp, and when properly used can provide an extremely close shave with little or no irritation. The same can be said of straight razors, though they have a higher learning curve.