I can remember growing up and seeing my mom and dad both shaving with a double-edge razor. I can’t remember if I started shaving with it or not, the only razor I remember using is a Gillette lime green handled, injector twin blade mens razor – for years! I used it until my daughter’s started using the Gillette Venus, which came out in 2001.
Short back story; in order to keep the shower tidy with four girls using it, we have shared a razor over the years. I’ve just gone along with what ever they wanted, which I’m sad to say has been the Venus in one form or another. Now that my youngest is going to college in the fall I decided I was going to research razors and buy one that does a better job as well as fun and enjoyable to use. To my surprise, DE razors are back in vogue.
In my search for the ultimate razor, I came across an entrepreneur who recently started a women’s shaving company that addresses women’s shaving needs and aesthetics to make women feel like the queens we should all be. Karen Young, founder of OUI Shave is raising the bar for women’s shaving. This rose-gold, stainless steel beauty is manufactured in Germany with a blade that is designed for sensitive skin. It claims to eliminates ingrown hairs, razor burn and chafed skin. I was a bit shell shocked at the price, the razor and 10 blade sell for $75, but the more research I did it became clear that it was really at the low end for razors of this quality .
Why would anyone spend that kind of money on a razor you might be asking. Well, besides the self-claimed benefits of a better shave, after the initial cost of the razor, if taken care of, it will last for decades. The blades are far more economical than any other one on the market. Venus blades lead the pack at a whopping $2.50 a blade(Costco, 12 pack $29.99). DE blades range from $.0824 a blade to around $.30. At time of writing, OUI Shave sells a box of 10 blades for $11 which is very high for DE blades coming in at a little over a $1 a blade. Because DE blades are made of steel they are recyclable making them very sustainable and environmentally friendly.
With further investigation I’ve come to learn that single edge (SE) razors are making a comeback as well. OUI Shave had one called the Charlotte, which is not available at the time of writing, but it is being redesigned for better sustainability. With that being said, I will probably hold out until the OUI SE is available again so I can evaluate wether or not I want to go DE or SE before I purchase.
Let’s explore a couple of SE razors that have recently hit the market place as well. Primarily designed for men but have fabulous features and both were brought to market funded through Kickstarter and not a major player in the razor industry, which I love.
This is a redesign of Luke Webster’s original Occam which is still available and comes in the silver shown and a rose-gold. It comes with interchangeable plates marked with dots one thru three, as you can see in the picture. They allow how much of the blade is revealed, one being a more mild shave, two a moderate shave and three is for a more aggressive shave. Although this is a SE razor its blade is not an injectable type but has to be installed manually. The tool pictured to the right of the razor is for loading the blade. The Silver sells for $85 and the Rose Gold for $110
Supply is an injector-blade razor comes in four colors: Classic Matte, Polish Mirror, Classic Black and Jet Black. This a beautiful razor and according to Kensurfs in his Youtube video gives a very impressive shave. All razors come with six months worth of blades. The Matte and Polish Mirror sell for $79 and the Black and Jet Black for $99. This razor really appeals to me, especially the shinny Jet Black one.
UPDATE: I bought the starter set for my husband for Father’s Day 2019. He loves the shaving products and razor. He admits that there is a little learning curve coming from a tilt/flexible head razor. Nice clean shave and enjoyed the experience well enough to work through the learning curve.
I thought it was a little funny that another company, Mave New York, founded in 2016, was established to “reimagine the world of women’s shaving”. Along with shaving lotions etc. they make a resin base and handled razor to use with venus blades that sells for $75. Now, I personally can’t see any benefit to this product, other than if you like the look of it, but I did find their take on reimagining shaving humorously interesting.
There are many beautiful DE razor’s out there ranging into the hundreds and only a handful of SE. Sadly there are only a very few designed with women in mind. I have to admit that I’m more than a little curious if razors truly need to be gender specific, maybe it’s just the blades that need to addressed. I haven’t done enough experimenting yet, but I have to believe it is a personal thing to some degree other wise they wouldn’t sell sample packs on amazon of different brands of blades so you can find the one you prefer. I would love to see more on the market that are sleek, elegant and tantalize the feminine sensibilities – after all we shave more of our bodies than the average man.
So now that you are in the know, isn’t it time to make your shaving ritual fun, beautiful, rewarding and something to look forward to — not dread?
UPDATE: Since time of writing I have tried the Weishi long handle DE razor, sold on Amazon for $16.98. Although the shave was nice I did manage to cut myself a few times and that was with me taking great care. I personally am not very patient I used it for three weeks but I didn’t see a benefit in shave or enjoyment. I also didn’t not try using different blade I only used the ones it came with.
I tried the Gellette Mach3. It gave a nice shave more like what I remembered getting with my old Gillette Twin Injectable. I did feel like dragged on the skin somewhat so it would probably work best with a shaving cream instead of body wash lather. The razor with four cartridges sells for $7.
I also tried the Schick Intuition FAB. I really liked the concept but in actuality it didn’t work very well. The over all look is cheesy and old lady looking. It took twice as long and I never came close to getting the clean shave I got using the Weishi DE, Venus, and Gillette Mach 3. I bought it at Target for $8.99 and refills are $8.43 for a box of three.
There is a new razor that has taken the market by storm, the Flamingo. It comes in three different colors Taro & Rose Gold, Mint & Gold and Pomelo & Silver which is a coral orange color. It’s made in Germany and is a trademark of Harry’s Inc, NY. Harry’s was started in 2013 by Jeff Raider and Andy Katz-Mayfield. They wanted to solve the problem of over priced razors for men. Today they have a mission to help 500,000 men by 2021 by donating 1% of the companies sales to charitable organizations to provide mental health care to men everywhere. When I read this I wanted to do my part in supporting that mission. Flamingo is a worthy opponent for the Venus. With smooth, clean shave, it sports the same 5 blade cartridge, but far surpasses the Venus with its elegant style. At time of writing, it is priced at $9.99 at Target and comes with 1 – razor, 2 – 5 blade cartridges and a clear shower holder. A box of 4 cartridge refills sells, also at Target, for $8.99 making them $2.25 a blade which is $.25 cheaper per blade than the 12 pack of Venus blades at Costco.
Two of my three daughters having been using it for a couple of months now and both like the shave they’re getting.
In conclusion:
If your goal is sustainability and don’t mind living with a few cuts along the way until you master a DE razor that would be the way to go with lots of options and price points.
An observation that I did have was that by leaving my metal DE Weishi in the shower it did rust a little where the blade rests in the razor head. This may be a difference between the lower priced DE’s and the more expensive ones. If you plan on leaving your razor in the shower this may be something you take into consideration.
I really liked using the Gillette Mach 3. It definitely doesn’t have the elegance of some the other options, but it gave a decent shave and if your main concern is cost it’s initial cost of $7 with 4 cartridge and refill blades at $1.47 a piece on Amazon this razor is a great deal. I found that I am very accustomed to the wider handle of the Venus type razors and the thiner lighter weight handle of the Mach 3 feels a little awkward but I think in time I would get use to it.
And finally I checked back with Oui Shave and they have a single blade DE razor but there was no more info on the SE razor that was suppose to be in redesign, but their DE is definitely a beautiful razor but pricey at $75 and has the most expense blades I found for DE razors at a little over a $1 a blade .
Happy shaving,
Leave a Reply