Cremo Shave Guide: Best Shaving Razors for Men
Whether you learnt to shave yourself, from your Dad, or from the internet, every experienced shaver knows it takes technique, experience and a good deal of patience to get a truly decent shave. You’ll also be wanting the right tools to help you out.
Choosing the right tools is half the battle to the perfect shave. However, with so many choices on the market, how do you go about choosing the right razor?
What makes a Good Shaving Razor?
Like any skilled professional, the best way to get results is by not using cheap, ineffective and unreliable tools – It will either lead to you cutting your face or taking a long time to get the desired results.
With so many different men’s razor blades out there, there are lots of different things to consider. Things like build quality, shaving angles, safety, value and technique.
Types of Razor
Like most things in life, personal preference plays a strong part in finding the right razor. If you’ve always learnt to use a certain type of razor and then suddenly switch to another, chances are you will end up hurting yourself by using the wrong technique.
This doesn’t necessarily mean the razor is bad, it just means there is a different skill set and knowledge curve you’ll need to know to re-adjust. Nevertheless, let’s take a look at some of the different razors on the market, and their pros and cons.
Cartridge Razors
The most common men’s shaving razor on the market, and probably the one most people used to learn with, the stalwart cartridge razor will give you a close, comfortable shave with relative ease.
Like any popular choice, the cartridge razor is available in many iterations of price, promise, number of blades and quality of finish. What you get for ease of use is negated by the fact they cost a small fortune and for some people, less blades is actually more. This is because cartridge razor users receive a lot of shaving rash and other maladies due to the number of times a blade has crossed your face. More blades = more cutting of not only the hair, but the skin.
Safety Razors
The Safety Razor or double-edge razor was the go-to razor for any shaver at the turn of the 20th century. The blade is positioned at a safe angle compared to its predecessors. The angle (generally, there are some adjustable varieties of this razor) means you can only use the razor in particular positions, meaning they are very good at illuminating nicks and cuts.
Straight Razors
The coolest looking razor (in our opinion), the straight razor is instantly identifiable as the ‘Daddy’ of shaving. Now subjected to niche status, the straight razor still has its diehard fans that love shaving in this time-honored way. The drawback with these razors is that the technique to learn how to use one can be extremely difficult to master, and there may be a few bandages along the way while you get there. Initial cost can be high also, although technically, once you have your razor, strop and honing stone, it can last you a lifetime, with no need to buy another blade again.
