Retro Cool

Like so many people, lately I have become increasingly frustrated and baffled by the rising prices of razor blade cartridges.  Especially over the last decade or so it seems like they have really gotten out of control.  Also, the ever increasing number of blades per cartridge has just become ridiculous.  What are they up to now, 5, 6, 7?  I'm not quite sure I even know anymore. 

Currently one of the most popular razor cartridges is the Gillette Fusion.  Five blades that can be had in a regular or vibrating power version.

 

The cost of these monsters of course varies depending on where and how many you buy but when I checked them out recently down at the local Try-n-Save the per blade price was over $4.

Returning home I felt thirsty and went to my cupboard to look for a straw but found that the last one had disappeared.  Hearing a strange kind of thud out in the yard I rushed outside where I immediately discovered the whereabouts of my last straw.  It was balancing nicely on the fractured back of a completely collapsed and obviously hopelessly lost camel.

The proliferation of big box retailers and malls full of the exact same chain stores has given us ever more square footage to shop in but with a much more restricted and controlled variety of products to choose from I think.  However, thanks to the wonders of the internet, now even those of us whose home towns are not written on the shopping bags of famous fashion houses have access to products we had previously assumed to have long since vanished from the planet.

Enter the retro world of safety razor shaving.  A double edged single blade housed in a razor designed to last GENERATIONS not merely a few days.  After some research I decided on the Edwin Jagger DE87 model.

Although there are several websites in the states dedicated to old school shaving Canada even has a very good one called Fendrihan.com.  It's where I purchased my extra ossum EJ-DE87 razor.  Actually most razors you'll find are fully chromed but I kind of liked the classic look of this genuine faux ivory version.( Although the use of regular ivory from regular elephants has been banned for decades faux ivory from real faux elephants is still allowed. Some people actually think that faux animals don't exist but if that's the case then why do you always hear about their paws?)  This lovely faux ivory handled razor seems like the kind that would have been found inside large heavy steamer trunks on trans-Atlantic voyages.  I imagine that there are several still resting on the bottom of the ocean inside the Titanic.  OK just to be clear, I'm not saying I want to drown in the Atlantic, just that I like the classic image of the old ivory handle. (Maybe if I was with Kate Winslet it would be worth it.  Actually instead of giving up so quickly and freezing/drowning I'd probably just ask her to try one more time to move her ample butt over just a bit so I could share her massive hunk of wood with her.)

At $35 the EJ-DE87 costs about the same or less than an eight pack of Fusion blades and instead of being all used up and thrown out within a couple of months these razors will last until they are flushed down a toilet by a two year old, swallowed by a dog or pilfered by a nosy neighbor during a dinner party.  (It's when parents would invite other couples from the neighborhood over for dinner and talking and the kids were banished to their bedrooms until the  next morning with a wide mouth mason to pee in.)

You might also want to look into shaving soaps and creams, a brush and bowl to make the lather and of course the thing that makes this whole venture most appealing the razor blades themselves.  Upon starting out, it is recommended to buy a sample pack of razor blades and try them all to see which ones work best for you. It is definitely not a one size fits all or one brand is best for eveyone type of deal.  I'm still just starting out myself but I bought ten blades of four different kinds to try.

 In the end once you are set up with a razor, brush and the other accessories you need, the ongoing cost difference between shaving with a retro classic safety razor and the newest and most hyped multiblade catridges is the cost of the blades themselves.  Once you decide on which double edge blade is for you, you can buy most of them in packs of 100 for just under $20 or $0.20/blade. Even the sharpest and most expensive Feather blades (made in Japan) cost less than $0.60/blade in 100 packs.

From what I've read, it seems like the average usage for a DE blade or cartridge is about 5 days.  If you're changing a fusion blade every 5 days it will cost you about $292 per year.  If you change a DE blade (other than a Feather) every five days it will cost you $14.60 per year. even if you decide to shave with the finest blade in our solar system (the Feather) it will still only cost you $43.80 per year.  That still saves you about $250/year compared to shaving with a Fusion or similar.

Besides the huge money savings, I also find it surprisingly refreshing, relaxing and possibly theraputic to shave like men did way back when.  I love the fact that there is no recycling symbol anywhere to be found on my Edwin Jagger razor. ( It's not intended to be discarded before your next trip to Costco.) It looks and feels like it is made to last forever.