![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
theweaselkingNew Year's Resolution #1: Never buy cheap razors, ever again.
So sometime around this time last year I ran out of razor blades and went to Costco, as one does. I saw the refill cartridges for my Gillette Mach 5 for like $50, and right next to them I saw the Edge 5-blade razors for $16 with the razor *and* just as many cartridges.
So I bought two, figuring that's, like, a FOREVER supply, at a very good price!
I have never regretted a purchase more[1]. The blades dulled almost instantly (mitigated by the fact that I had a TON of spares, if I didn't mind burning through a new blade basically every second day), but the real killer is that the cartridge was designed with a near-solid back, so water couldn't pass through back-to-front, and the blades were very close together, meaning cut hair *jammed* in them constantly. Meaning the blades would stop shaving, and you couldn't clear them by running water through them from the back (no path) or the front (jammed things get more jammed, not less). You have to clear them by grabbing something small and thin and picking out between the blades.
Because I'm an idiot, I put up with this for way too long. After all, I'd BOUGHT the damn things, I might as well use them up, right? I cleaned the blades and I dumped the cartridges and I put up with the shit. FOR MONTHS.
Yeah no.
I gave the second unopened package to the CDA[2] and went back to Costco today and bought myself a Gillette Mach 5 Fusion Power and some spare blades. And OH MY GOD I AM SO SORRY SHAVING MEGACORPORATION I HAVE SINNED AND YOU HAVE STILL TAKEN ME BACK ahem um well, yes. Easy shaving. Easy cleaning. Stay sharp through at least one job HOLY FUCK WHY IS THAT MY BASELINE. But: One pass of the blades! Actually getting shaved! No need to do multiple passes or pick at clumps of teeny hairs stuck in the blades!
A Product Or Service That I Endorse: Gillette razors. They *look* fucking expensive, they *are* fucking expensive, and they're worth the money because you save in frustration and razorburn.
[1]: Well, maybe Bad Rats on Steam, a game where the *only* genuinely positive reviews are "I got it for $0.21 and made $0.32 selling the Steam Cards, $0.11 profit!" It's a "physics puzzle game" with a RANDOM ELEMENT so that the puzzle doesn't play out the same way from the same starting conditions, and also it's just terrible.
Typical review: "My Grandfather smoked his whole life. I was about 10 years old when my mother said to him, 'If you ever want to see your grandchildren graduate, you have to stop immediately.' Tears welled up in his eyes when he realized what exactly was at stake. He gave it up immediately. Three years later he died of lung cancer. It was really sad and destroyed me. My mother said to me- 'Don't ever smoke. Please don't put your family through what your Grandfather put us through." I agreed. To this day, I have never touched a cigarette. I must say, I feel a very slight sense of regret for never having done it, because this game gave me cancer anyway."
[2]: The Canadian Diabetes Association takes donations of clothes and other household items. They come to your house and pick them up. They clean them and resell them (via Value Village) and the funds are put towards Diabetes research. They're pretty much the perfect charity: Good cause, takes your useful-but-not-by-you stuff away, aren't murderous bigots who murder people through bigotry like The Salvation Army who are murderous bigots and should never be supported ever by anyone....
And yes, I gave them crap razors. The razors *worked*, they just *sucked*. I hope someone who needs some razors and can't afford good razors buys them for a discount at a Value Village, supports diabetes research, and can eventually afford better razors.
So sometime around this time last year I ran out of razor blades and went to Costco, as one does. I saw the refill cartridges for my Gillette Mach 5 for like $50, and right next to them I saw the Edge 5-blade razors for $16 with the razor *and* just as many cartridges.
So I bought two, figuring that's, like, a FOREVER supply, at a very good price!
I have never regretted a purchase more[1]. The blades dulled almost instantly (mitigated by the fact that I had a TON of spares, if I didn't mind burning through a new blade basically every second day), but the real killer is that the cartridge was designed with a near-solid back, so water couldn't pass through back-to-front, and the blades were very close together, meaning cut hair *jammed* in them constantly. Meaning the blades would stop shaving, and you couldn't clear them by running water through them from the back (no path) or the front (jammed things get more jammed, not less). You have to clear them by grabbing something small and thin and picking out between the blades.
Because I'm an idiot, I put up with this for way too long. After all, I'd BOUGHT the damn things, I might as well use them up, right? I cleaned the blades and I dumped the cartridges and I put up with the shit. FOR MONTHS.
Yeah no.
I gave the second unopened package to the CDA[2] and went back to Costco today and bought myself a Gillette Mach 5 Fusion Power and some spare blades. And OH MY GOD I AM SO SORRY SHAVING MEGACORPORATION I HAVE SINNED AND YOU HAVE STILL TAKEN ME BACK ahem um well, yes. Easy shaving. Easy cleaning. Stay sharp through at least one job HOLY FUCK WHY IS THAT MY BASELINE. But: One pass of the blades! Actually getting shaved! No need to do multiple passes or pick at clumps of teeny hairs stuck in the blades!
A Product Or Service That I Endorse: Gillette razors. They *look* fucking expensive, they *are* fucking expensive, and they're worth the money because you save in frustration and razorburn.
[1]: Well, maybe Bad Rats on Steam, a game where the *only* genuinely positive reviews are "I got it for $0.21 and made $0.32 selling the Steam Cards, $0.11 profit!" It's a "physics puzzle game" with a RANDOM ELEMENT so that the puzzle doesn't play out the same way from the same starting conditions, and also it's just terrible.
Typical review: "My Grandfather smoked his whole life. I was about 10 years old when my mother said to him, 'If you ever want to see your grandchildren graduate, you have to stop immediately.' Tears welled up in his eyes when he realized what exactly was at stake. He gave it up immediately. Three years later he died of lung cancer. It was really sad and destroyed me. My mother said to me- 'Don't ever smoke. Please don't put your family through what your Grandfather put us through." I agreed. To this day, I have never touched a cigarette. I must say, I feel a very slight sense of regret for never having done it, because this game gave me cancer anyway."
[2]: The Canadian Diabetes Association takes donations of clothes and other household items. They come to your house and pick them up. They clean them and resell them (via Value Village) and the funds are put towards Diabetes research. They're pretty much the perfect charity: Good cause, takes your useful-but-not-by-you stuff away, aren't murderous bigots who murder people through bigotry like The Salvation Army who are murderous bigots and should never be supported ever by anyone....
And yes, I gave them crap razors. The razors *worked*, they just *sucked*. I hope someone who needs some razors and can't afford good razors buys them for a discount at a Value Village, supports diabetes research, and can eventually afford better razors.
(no subject)
Date: 2015-01-01 03:02 am (UTC)No. Just no; you are wrong about this.
Go here.
Buy one of these and one of these blade samplers to go with it. I recommend springing for the $37 sampler, because the right blade is a matter of personal fit and makes a real difference. Get a decent shaving brush, and pick a shaving soap based on your partner's suggestions of how you should smell. Use hot water, take the time.
Once you've taken notes about which blades you prefer, return to that site and order them in quantity. You'll notice they hold an edge for two to four shaves and cost about 15 cents each, and that shaving is now a pleasant ritual, not an odious chore, and that in the most strictly comparative terms Gillette razors are some serious bullshit.
(no subject)
Date: 2015-01-01 03:18 am (UTC)Serious bullshit or not, they *work* and are easy.
(no subject)
Date: 2015-01-01 10:54 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-01-01 03:35 pm (UTC)*bookmarks*
(no subject)
Date: 2015-01-01 03:25 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-01-01 03:37 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-01-01 04:22 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-01-01 04:29 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-01-01 09:33 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-01-01 03:08 pm (UTC)It's the alternative to having a beard.
(no subject)
Date: 2015-01-01 10:39 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-01-02 01:33 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-01-02 01:44 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-01-01 11:34 am (UTC)Also, I'm fortunate enough to be in a place where I don't need to shave (just keep my face fungus neatly trimmed), which is good because I dislike shaving rather a lot.
That said, in the days before this happy time, I tried a number of different razors and methods, and yes, Gillette razors tended to be the best balance between cost, convenience and not leaving my face a bleeding uneven mess.
(I have tried both safety razor and straight razors - both gave a really nice shave, but felt more like the sort of thing I'd spend time on as a weekend hobby, rather than something I'd be able to face doing every morning).
Also, while many people like to quote the prescience of The Onion's "Fuck Everything, We're Doing Five Blades (http://www.theonion.com/articles/fuck-everything-were-doing-five-blades,11056/)", I'm still waiting for the Gillette 3000 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YleuLyCUx28), which the sadly-unknown-outside-of-Australia Late Show posited some ten years before the Onion article.
(no subject)
Date: 2015-01-02 02:53 am (UTC)Turns out, the Atra is one of the last cartridges that Gillette made before they started to patent the blade attachment mechanisms. In order to lock you in to buying their replacement blades, Gillette doesn't market Atra razors anymore, since there are compatible 3rd-party cartridges driving the prices down. Way down.
But, I got a compatible razor on the internet.
Surprise, surprise -- the best cartridges on the market are the ones without DRM.
(no subject)
Date: 2015-01-03 02:01 am (UTC)It took a little while to get used to a DE safety razor, but my skin continues to thank me for it. Just today I started researching whether electric razors had progressed to the point where they might be an option again - every article said nope, DE safety (or cutthroat if you're up for that) are still the best in terms of close shave + reduced skin irritation + price. I can't actually recall the last time I bought a pack of razors - I bought a bulk pack of 100 razors about 5 or 6 years ago for $30 and still haven't got through my supply.
Plus, a DE shave doesn't have to take any more effort than a cartridge razor shave. You can go as far with the 'ritual' as you want - at the moment I just use a general shaving foam, some balm at the end, and that's it. The lathering creams are much better, and I do like them, but I just got lazy and switched back to foam until I can be bothered going through the lathering process again.
In any case, if you dislike the act of shaving, paying through the nose for cartridge razors or are prone to razor burn or ingrown hairs, DE razors are definitely worth investigating.