Charles Hill writes that he went looking to replenish his stock of Schick Super Twins, and ended up looking at the ladies' version of the same product. He doesn't make clear which one he ended up taking home to Surlywood (although he does, tantalizingly, aver that he's "not too proud to shave with something pink.")
I'd only shaved with one Schick product, prior to discovering and entering the world of wetshaving -- the Schick Quattro cartridge razor. I still have it -- and the same cartridge which was in it the night I tried shaving with a single-blade safety razor is still in it. That's right, I never looked back.
As I opined in the comments at Dustbury.com, single-blade shaving is the way to go.
Strictly on an economic basis, there's no arguing with using a safety razor: blades come in packs of five or ten, each one lasts about a week (your mileage will vary here, of course), and you'll definitely come out ahead of the guy using the Schick Quattro or Gillette Fusion cartridges, each package of which costs about as much as an iPod Shuffle. As for disposables, a lot of guys find them too light to handle or perform well (I am one of them). I do use the Bic Sensitive, at times, for touch and cut at the end of a shave, but I'm more likely to reach for one of my antique Schick Injectors.
And that brings us to quality and comfort: for me, shaving was always something to be hated and, if possible, avoided. I've said it before and it's time to say it again: I have a barbed wire beard, underneath which is sensitive skin, and I have to shave my entire neck. I can't use electrics. Well, I can, but I can't get a decent shave with them (I've owned Remington, Norelco, and Braun). Disposables meet their Waterloo with my beard. I never knew how to shave with a safety razor and I never knew anyone as I was growing up, to my knowledge, who used a straight razor. Certainly no one in my family, immediate or otherwise. That left cartridges and, with the introduction of Gillette's Trac II in 1971 -- about the time I began to shave -- that's the path down which I trod.
It's easy to avoid catastrophic cutting with a cartridge razor. It's also easy to burn the hell out of your neck with one, while still leaving lots of whisker behind. But I was a Marine for twelve years, and they look askance at beards, so it was a scary scrape every day. I showered after shaving, because of the blood, and weekends were a vacation because I didn't need to shave.
Now? Now I own and use about ten safety razors (almost all of them Gillette Super Speeds and Schick Injectors made before the mid-1950s). I load 'em up with the sharpest blades known to man and I wield them without fear. I look forward to each shave, and I look forward to using my straight razor for the first time. Do I get a perfect shave every time? Nope. Do I come close? You bet. No cartridge can compare to the close shaves I get with a single blade, and you can forget about electrics. Irritation? I use alcohol-based aftershaves for the first time in decades, because I am no longer irritating the skin of my neck. Blood? I haven't used my styptic pencil in months.
And I like it all so much, I started a company! We enjoyed a few more sales today, among them a cake of our Bay Rum to an admitted straight razor user. I was pretty proud of that. Yep, I'm the Victor Kiam of wetshaving.
Posted by Craig Ceely at December 10, 2006 10:39 PMIn fact, I bought the prosaic grey/blue version, once I found where they were concealed.
Although had I not found them, I would have bought the pink ones without hesitation.
Charles,
Exactly. If it works for you, then you're using the right device. As they say on the shaving boards (yes, there are such things): Your Mileage May Vary.
(That having been said, I do want everyone to try the soaps from West Texas Shaving Company!)
Posted by: Craig at December 14, 2006 09:32 AM