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Comment by arafa | Hacker News Reader

I'm quite surprised there's been so little focus on the shaving experience. I really wanted to like Dollar Shave Club. I went with them early. Their prices were great and I really enjoyed their marketing.

But after trying most of their razor models for months, they were far worse than even the Mach 3 razors I had. It was painful to shave with them, the handles had a bad design, the lubrication strips weren't working, etc. Maybe they're better now, but I get several months (or more) out of Mach 3 razor cartridges. I don't pay much at all for them and have little incentive to switch.

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I thought the same thing when I tried Harrys (which is a "higher class" version of the Dollar Shave Club's model, yet still cheaper than buying brand name razors). I also dropped over $100 on a nice electric razor and hated it.

Finally, I spent about $40 on a nice stainless steel safety razor and 100 blades for $11 on Amazon. Each blade lasts me probably 2-3 weeks of shaving every other day. It's a bit more time consuming and it takes a little practice at first to keep from getting nicked, but it's worth it in the long run. I find it sort of funny that I'm most satisfied with one of the oldest, simplest, and cost effective shaving systems.

Safety razor is the only thing I recommend to people looking for a high quality shave. However, I also make sure to emphasize my best analogy which is that of driving an automatic vs. a manual car.

It's cheaper to purchase a manual and you gain more control, but the average person will lose convenience and speed. It takes practice.

In my experience, you need to spend more than $100 to get a nice electric shaver.

I bought a Braun Clean n Charge 7000 series back in 1999 or whenever they first came out, it was $200. I loved the thing. It lasted me over 10 years. When the battery pack finally wore out, (after trying and failing to replace the cells), I threw it out. I was feeling frugal, and compared the various Braun CnC models and couldn't understand why the top-end 700 series was so much more expensive than the 300 series which seemed to have all the same important 'features'. Sure, it lacked the fancy LCD and some of those touches, but I figured it would shave just as well, and for $100 less. (IIRC it was around 80-100$ for the 300 series and close to $200 still for the top-end 700 series).

I used the 300 series (I think a 370cc) for over a year and hated every minute of it. Finally I wised up, cut my losses, chucked it, and spent the damn-near $200 for the 700 series.

The 700 is made in Germany vs Mexico for the 300. The 700 is heavier. The materials feel better. It looks nicer. The motor feels like it runs twice as fast.

Moral of the story, you get what you pay for.

I found my Harry's shave and experience to be entirely comparable to the old Mach 3 cartridges, personally. I know people love advocating for a safety razor, but I tried it for six months. I never found the shave superior enough to justify what I saw as additional hassle.

I did Dollar Shave once then ordered direct from Dorco and now use Harry's. It's so difficult to do comparisons because you tend to use the blade for different lengths of time.

They aren't better now.

Two months ago I tried switching from the Gillette Fusion Manual to what they call The Executive (6 blade inc. nose/sideburn trimmer). It was approximately a $1 cost saving per blade relative to Gillette on Amazon (both buying in bulk).

As you quite correctly said, the lubrication strips are simply terrible. It felt like using a really old Fusion blade where the lubrication strip had worn away, and razor burn increased noticeably. No cuts or nicks from either one, just discomfort.

The nose/sideburn back trimmer was also terrible. I use it regularly on the Fusion to, uhh, get under my nose and straighten my sideburns. On The Executive it felt like using a cheap disposable own brand blade.

I also want to mention the poor blade casing. On the Gillettes there is a gap between blades allowing the waste to easily escape, they clog a little but not much. The DSC's Executive had the blades much closer together, which caused waste to clog between the blades and it needed to be washed out frequently.

I wanted to like DSC's offerings. I wanted to switch. But after trying two The Executive blades, I've now switched back to Gillette. I'll happily give DSC another shot, but improvements have to be made.

I switched to a safety razor and never looked back!

Yep, $25 safety razor + 25 cent Feather blades are the best value for shaving bar none.

Some quick tips for someone interested in using a safety razor (you should!): Get a stainless steel razor so it lasts, and buy a variety pack of blades to determine your preference. I personally find the Feathers to be too sharp, but I don't have tons of coarse facial hair.

Same here. About $30-35 for an Edwin Jagger razor and $8 for a 100-pack of Derby Extra blades; I've been using that same pack now for about 4 years! I still have 25 left.

However, be careful: if you're not used to using a double-edged safety razor, it has a high learning curve. You'll probably cut yourself when you're first learning. Read online tutorials about how to do it right, and very importantly, don't be in a hurry. Once you've gotten the hang of it (after a month or so), it's pretty easy, but it does take time to learn the proper technique.

Have you ever tried a razor cleaner like a RazorPit or BladeBuddy (product names)? One where you clean a commercial razor on after use? I still use Gillette, etc razors for convenience, but they last many times longer when I clean them with such products. They usually cost less than a single fancy blade cartridge.

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