People make fun of me for frequently changing the way I do things. This is not undeserved. I like to try things. That’s me ¯_(ツ)_/¯.
But as a counterpoint, sometimes I stick with things for a long time. Today’s example is shaving. I was so annoyed by the price of disposable blades for my razor that I started shopping for alternatives.
What I found was safety razors, nice shaving cream, and a brush. I use a Merkur safety razor, Vulfix brush (Warning1), Taylor of Old Bond Street Almond shaving cream, and Shark double edge razor blades. I’ve been using this exact setup since 2005.
It costs a little extra up front, but everything after that is better, including costs. And no overpriced, plasticy blades. The last time I bought blades was in 2018 and I paid $8.00 for 100 blades. I have many left. It costs much less than $1.00/month for blades. And a jar of shaving cream lasts for many months.
Aside from saving money, using the kit simply feels better. I don’t anticipate any of this changing, which is a nice…er…change of pace for me.
Note that brushes using badger fur are made from, well, real badgers. Those badgers are sometimes badly mistreated. I didn’t know that at the time I bought mine. Today, I would recommend a synthetic brush instead. ↩︎