How to choose a safety razor? From best seller to best fit
Like with a cartridge razor, the blades on a safety razor are sheathed and preventing them from protruding too far. It’s fairly easy to use a safety razor without any adverse effects and actually, they can greatly reduce irritation and razor burn compared to cartridge razors. Of course, though, with improper technique, the likelihood of irritation and small injury is still there.
Safety razors work well and are safe, so why is Gillette no longer developing them? Because for Gillette, the economic benefits of cartridge razors far outweigh those of safety razors, and it would be better to maximize the input/output ratio by foregoing the high cost of safety razor development and investing in cartridge razor development. But, if you enjoy a fine shaving experience and like to spend more time on manual shaving, I would recommend that you get a safety razor for yourself.
Types of Safety Razors:
There are mainly single edge and double edge safety razors. Today we are going to talk about how to choose a great double edge safety razor. Firstly, double edge safety razors can be divided into 3 types according to their function and structure:
1. 3-piece structure safety razor
3-piece structure is the longest history of DE razor structure, but also the most common and most conventional popular models, representative of Gillette, Merkur, MÜHLE, Parker and other brands of safety razors... consists of a cap, a plate, and a handle; the blade is fixed between the cap and the plate, attach the handle for use, making it ideal for beginners. Each 3-piece safety razor blade exposure angle is fixed, so you can not determine whether it is suitable for your skin, want to pick a suitable for your safety razor trial and error costs will be relatively high.
2. TTO (Twist-to-open) safety razor
TTO safety razor is also called butterfly-open safety razor. The butterfly-open structure optimizes the safety and convenience of loading the blade to a certain extent. However, while optimizing the way of installing the blade, the butterfly-open razor has to give up the best angle of blade exposure. The blade angle of the butterfly-open razor will be more perpendicular to your skin, which is more aggressive and makes the shaving experience more irritating, and causes the possibility of shaving burns to be greater.
3. Adjustable safety razor
If you want to choose a safety razor that fits your needs, an adjustable safety razor can certainly save you the high cost of trial and error. Adjustable safety razors are designed with an adjustable dial that can be set to 3, 6, 8 or even more settings, enough to match your skin and hair. However, adjustable safety razors are relatively expensive, and as you surely know, “the simpler the construction, the longer the life”, the more parts that make up an adjustable safety razor, and the more likely that the dial will break down as you use it day in and day out.
TTO adjustable safety razor: Adding adjustability to the butterfly-open design, it satisfies both the simplicity of loading blades and the need to customize multiple shaving settings. Representative products include VIKINGS (VB-SR5X), RockWell (T2), Gillette (Fat boy)....The TTO adjustable safety razor is more expensive and better suited for professional wet shavers, and it gets the job done with excellence and precision.
The safety razor is enough to meet all your needs:
1. Save money and protect the environment: metal safety razors have no plastic waste, the blade can be disassembled and recycled more environmentally friendly, do not need to buy expensive multi-layer blade replacement refills, only need to regularly replace the blade will leave a lot of money.
2. Safe and non-irritating: Safety razors have only a single layer of blades, the less the blades come into contact with the skin, the lower the chance of damaging the skin and pores, the lower the possibility of irritation, and the safer it is for sensitive skin.
3. Unisex: Safety razors are not only suitable for men, but also for women.
4. Simple, convenient and durable: The safety razor is made of high quality metal, which is stronger and more durable. A quality safety razor can meet your daily use, travel with you, and accompany you for a lifetime.
5. Suitable for most body parts: The safety razor is suitable for face, chin, arms, legs, armpits, private parts and so on.
So let me give you some tips on how to choose a safety razor.
Best sellers: For safety razor beginners, choosing the best-selling model will allow you to cut down on the cost of trial and error, as it will be in line with most people's tastes. In terms of best-selling safety razors on Amazon, there are a variety of brands such as BULIMICA, BAMBAW, VIKINGS, King C. Gillette, Merkur... You'll find that if you buy a best-selling safety razor that only costs $9.99, it will do the job just as well. So I would recommend that beginners go for the best-selling and relatively inexpensive safety razor, because if it's a top seller, it's been tested for you by thousands of people and you don't have to worry about its quality at all. After you have successfully touched the safety razor and fully adapted to the shaving experience of the safety razor, you will know exactly what your skin looks like. You will know if your skin is more suited to a gentle razor or an aggressive razor, and then you can choose a safety razor that is best suited for your daily use. You may want to consider an adjustable safety razor.
Know the parameters: I would recommend knowing the parameters of the safety razor such as material, blade clearance, blade angle, handle length, etc. before you buy, as each parameter has a huge impact on the performance of the safety razor. If you need a larger counterweight to ensure better balance and feel of the razor, you should choose a razor made of copper or stainless steel; if you need a lighter handle, you should choose an aluminum alloy, zinc alloy, or other alloy that is less prone to rusting. The length of the handle also affects the feel of the razor. Women may prefer a long, thin handle, while men may prefer a thicker handle for a firmer grip. Blade clearance and exposure angle are the main factors affecting the shaving experience, even a thousandth of an inch difference will bring different shaving feelings. After more than 1,000 tests on more than 50 safety razors, THURLADY safety razors have obtained parameters suitable for most skin types.
Try different blades: The quality of the blade also affects the shaving experience, and a good quality blade will give your safety razor a better shave. For example, if you buy a safety razor, use the included blade, and find that it doesn't work well, don't immediately return it for a refund or throw it away. It's not necessarily its fault; you can test it with a different brand of blade before deciding whether to keep it or throw it away. So when you choose a safety razor, test it with different blades, and a safety razor needs to find the best partner for it to perform at its best.
Product Comparison:
Brand | THURLADY | BAMBAW | BULIMICA |
Price | $19.99 | $20.49 | $9.99🥇 |
Contains | 1 razor + 5 blades | 1 razor + 5 blades | 1 razor + 10 blades🥇 |
Material | Zinc alloy | Copper + Zinc alloy🥇 | Aluminum + Zinc alloy |
Blade gap | 0.029 inch🥇 | 0.039 inch | 0.043 inch |
Blade exposure | 0.48 mil🥇 | 0.55 mil | 0.76 mil |
Available colors | 10 colors🥇 | 8 colors | 5 colors |
Weight | 2.75 oz | 3.28 oz | 1.94 oz |
Handle length | 3.78 inch | 3.86 inch | 3.7 inch |
In comparison, you can see that the THURLADY safety razor has better parameters in terms of blade clearance and exposure, which means that it is gentler, less irritating, more suitable for sensitive skin and better at removing stubble.
2. THURLADY adjustable safety razor VS Amazon best sellers
Brand | THURLADY | MERKUR |
Price | $34.99🥇 | $79.95 |
Contains | 1 razor + 10 blades🥇 | 1 razor |
Material | Alloy | Alloy |
Available colors | 2 colors🥇 | 1 color |
Feature | Magnetic attraction | Magnetic grip |
Settings | 8 sizes🥇 | 6 sizes |
The THURLADY adjustable safety razor is a great value for money, with a magnetic design that allows you to load the blade more safely. 8 shaving settings are suitable for most areas of the body. Easy for both beginners and professional wet shaving devotees to get their cleanest shave.
Wrap up
Choosing the right safety razor for you is a process, and if you're having a hard time deciding, prioritize the best-selling model, it won't let you down! Once you get used to the razor and fall in love with it, do your homework on the razor's parameters and choose the one that best suits your skin. "From best seller to best fit" is a more efficient process.