Today you can't help but feel dumb-founded by the vast array of shaving products on offer. Something as simple as a razor is no longer the case; they come with with anything from 2 to 5 blades and who knows what other fancy little "features" all purporting to give you a closer, smoother, better shave. As for what you actually lather your face up with: soap? Oil? Foam? Gel? Nothing? Why so much choice for something that is an essential part of your lives, assuming you don't like the woolly look.
Next time you're in the supermarket take a stroll down the men's toiletries isle and see what I mean. Now take a look at the prices. The latest and greatest offering from Gillette: the Fusion Stealth Power. A pack of cartridges (you can't call them blades as each "blade" has 5 blades) costs £9.96 for 4 cartridges. That's £2.49 each.
If you follow the instructions on the pack, that one cartridge should not last you more than a week. That means each shave costs you 36p, assuming you shave once a day for 7 days, and that's BEFORE you've even coughed up for the matching fancy gel.
Now think back to how your grandad used to shave. He probably used a single blade razor that took "wrist slitter" blades. He probably also used a shaving brush and a soap bowl or soap stick (if he is a more modern grandad).
Your grandad would have started shaving like this because that was all the choice there was, but why hasn't he changed to a more modern implement? Why should he? His trusty single blade razor, brush and soap bowl have been serving him perfectly well for decades. Why should he change to something newer, fancier and more expensive?
This is my recommendation: go out to Boots or Tescos and pick up one of those old single blade razors (£3.99 and it comes with 5 blades), a bowl of shaving soap and a shaving brush. The whole lot should cost you about the same as a pack of 4 Gillette Fusion Stealth Power blades.
Use this from now on in your morning ritual. You should find that your shaves are just as comfortable and close, maybe even closer, and you'll get a lot more shaves per blade. The replacements are also dirt cheap at about £2.50 for a pack of 10 blades.
I made the switch several months ago and I won't be going back. Each blade lasts in the region of a month so it costs me about £3 a year to shave, excluding the soap. My shaves are actually closer than those I had with the Mach 3 and I no longer get razor burn.
Give it try. If you don't like it, you've only spent £10 at most.
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