Why is wet shaving the best way to shave?

Hi all,

Apologies for the delay, It was a manic week.

I have now finished the first draft of why the traditional wet shave is the best way to shave and I would love to hear what you think.

6 Reasons why everyone should convert to the traditional wet shave

Your first ever shave can be an incredibly exciting experience, it’s new, it represents your rise into adulthood and, best of all, your dad does it, and by this point he is probably the coolest guy you know. For most teenagers, their first encounter with a razor blade is taught with a multi-bladed cartridge razor, as this is often considered the safest way to get the job done. But for the vast majority this is where the experimentation stops; right at the beginning, and men the world over grumble about their morning chore that they feel obligated to do especially when coming away with cuts and irritated skin. But shaving doesn’t have to be this way. You can have smooth comfortable skin instead of cuts, rashes and bumps. What’s more, it can actually be enjoyable. Shaving with a cartridge razor was just the first step to show you the ropes but due to heavy marketing, many don’t even realise that there is more out there. Wet shaving with a DE safety razor (or straight razor) is the answer to your problems! In this article we are going to refer to the classic double edged safety razor as this is usually the the next step up from a cartridge, straight razors are more aimed at the shaving enthusiast and require a bit more skill but all points apply to them as well.

What is a traditional wet shave?

A traditional wet shave involves keeping your face sufficiently lubricated throughout shaving to minimise all potential for irritation. It consists of a double edge (safety) razor, a shaving brush, and shaving soap/cream. Each is important for making the most of your shave. A good quality shaving soap/cream will create a stable lather that remains throughout the shave as well as providing moisturising properties that will benefit the skin. The shaving brush is used to whip the soap/cream into the desired consistency so that it remains slick and easy for the razor to glide over, as well as providing mild exfoliation to the skin removing dead skin cells and lifting hairs, priming them for shaving. The razor itself allows the user control to cut hairs at the correct angle to minimise irritation.

Below we outline the 6 main reasons why everyone should learn how to wet shave.

  1. It provides a more comfortable, close shave It only takes a single razor sharp blade to cut through the hairs that grow on your face. Let that sink in for a second, just one blade is needed to effectively remove stubble. With the heavy marketing that accompanies the multi-bladed cartridge system it can be easy to forget the significance of this fact.

It is important to understand that each time you run a razor blade along your face, cutting the hairs, you are also scraping away thin layers of skin with it. Pressing too hard or going over the same area too often can lead to you scraping away too much which in turn causes what is known as razor burn, as you remove the lipid barrier protecting the skin and expose the epidermis underneath. Therefore using a 5-bladed razor means each pass on the skin is the equivalent of going over the same spot 5 times! Also, due to the design of pivot-able cartridge heads, pressure needs to be applied to allow it to adjust to the contours of your face and the blades are placed in at a very steep angle to allow space for debris to escape. The simplicity of using a single blade can be beneficial in reducing irritation as you can control how often you go over the same area, minimise the pressure being applied and control the angle you cut at.

So why have you been using multi-bladed razors if only one blade is needed? For one; excellent marketing has convinced you to, and many believe the main reason we see razors with an extra blade attached every few years is because companies are chasing the high profits they can gain by exploiting the patent system. A patented product can be sold with a nice profit margin as no-one else is allowed to sell it but when that patent runs out everyone jumps on the bandwagon, driving down the price and profits. By making a slight tweak, such as an extra blade, and patenting it, those profits can continue to be achieved. The increasing predictability of razor manufacturers adding extra blades to their products led the Economist to chart the future trend and came up with the conclusion that it wouldn’t be long before we are seeing the 14 bladed razor!

  1. Better for your skin in the long run

A poor shave can cause all sorts of problems, razor burn is notoriously uncomfortable and can last for a few hours to a number of days depending on severity, it can also be embarrassingly visible. Razor bumps, which are closely related to ingrown hairs, are usually caused by hair growing inward rather than out of the follicle, but can also be caused when the hair develops a kink and turns back into the skin. Ingrown hairs are typically caused by going against the direction of hair growth and, ironically, by cartridge razors. This is because their multiple blades are designed to lift up the base of the hair with the first blade so that the subsequent blades can cut as low down as possible but often it is cut so low that, when released, it falls back below the surface of the skin where it has the potential to then become ingrown. Over the long term, using inferior shaving tools and poor technique leading to regular razor burn causes the skin to be over exfoliated, which has been linked to premature aging, so it is extra important that you shave in a way that doesn’t cause this.

Not only is the choice of razor important for your skin but also the other products you combine it with. Shaving foam uses propellants so that it comes out of its pressurised container in the convenient manner of instantly available foam. But these ingredients aren’t actually good for the skin and over the long term will dry it out. Using a luxurious soap or cream is a far better alternative because they are usually made with moisturising properties in mind. What’s more, the lather they generate is made up and applied with a shaving brush which provides gentle exfoliation to the skin, lifting up hairs to prime them for shaving and in turn helping to prevent ingrowing.

  1. Can be much cheaper if you’re on a budget

A common complaint among men about shaving is the cost and, if you don’t enjoy the act of shaving, that’s not a surprise. Why would you want to pay for something that you don’t enjoy? No-one should be subjected to a clean-face tax. But cartridge razors don’t come cheap, leading many to buy inexpensive disposables which do a terrible job and are even worse for the environment. Due to their expense, most people don’t buy in bulk which can lead to the painful experience of having to drag a dull blade across your face because you forgot to buy more. Similarly, shaving foam cans cost quite a bit considering they don’t last very long.

In contrast to this; wet shaving the traditional way can be far cheaper in the long run, especially if you’re not worried about using the nicest products. You’ll have to fork out a little bit more at first as safety razors usually start at about £20 and a good shaving brush around £30 but from then on it’s much cheaper. DE razor blades cost pennies each and a full sized shaving soap can last 6 months if you look after it.

Of course, for many that take the plunge into wet shaving, the idea of eliminating cost as much as possible becomes obsolete as they tend to find that they have started to enjoy their morning routine and no longer worry about counting the pennies. Ironically, many cartridge shavers that move over to traditional wet shaving end up spending more because they look forward to trying new soaps, creams, oils and balms and seeing how enjoyable their combination can make the daily shave.

/r/Wet_Shavers Thread