Shaving — What’s The Best This Man Can Get?

Below is a review of some razor products I’ve been trialling to get a better shave for less money.

Criteria for test:

• Comfort of shave with aqueous cream (I don’t use soap)
• Lack of blood / irritation after shave (I have very irritable skin)
• Durability: how many shaves the razors perform for
• Flexibility of contract
• Cost

Infuriatingly, I’ll admit it: Gillette is the best this man has gotten so far. I’m concerned that I’ve determined this out of familiarity. Perhaps my skin or shaving routine is just used to shaving with Gillette’s Fusion and Mach3 blades. They’re a comfortable shave, without much irritation, they last a good amount of time, the back trimmer blade is the best of all the razors I tried, and I can pick up Gillette products from pretty much any high street store, or from Amazon. I only once had a problem trying to find Gillette products in Budapest. I don’t know why.

However, be careful about the purported Gillette products being sold online: there are a lot of very low quality fake blades out there. I’ve made that mistake in the past. So I’ve linked to Gillette’s Amazon online shop above, so there’s no mistake. The thing with Gillette is that they’re ridiculously pricey. So, is there a compromise that achieves the same performance for a lower price?

Well, for me, there is. I’m converting to CleanShaven. It gave a very comfortable shave, without much irritation. The durability is only mildly less than Gillette’s, but that said I have put the CleanShaven blades through quite a lot, dealing with a large amount of stubble. The back trimming blade was more effective than other options I tried, but still isn’t quite as good as Gillette’s. I’ve decided rather than the 5 blade option, I am going to try the 3 blade option which might help me avoid relying on the back blade. (A 3 blade option means I can get under my nose more effectively.) The trial pack felt generous. I got a handle, and 2 x 3-bladed razor cartridges and 2 x 5-bladed razor cartridges with mine. At the time of writing, CleanShaven also happens to be the most cost effective option of all of the companies reviewed.

For quality of shave, my next choice is Harry’s. This was a really great shave, irritation levels were low, good back blade. The value for money for the trial kit is OK, but that’s probably because it only comes with one 5-blade cartridge. However, pricing after that is actually higher than you can purchase Gillette’s products. Also, one of the reasons I stopped my subscription is because they explicitly say that their razor isn’t for shaving heads. I did anyway. It actually worked quite well. The company says that they’ll be bringing out a blade specifically for head shavers, so I’ll try it again when they do that. However, their transparency about that made me feel like they were going for an optimum shaving experience, which I appreciated.

Sterling Shave Club gives a good shave to face and neck, but closeness of shave after the initial stroke wasn’t as good as I’d like. It meant i had to repeat strokes over parts of my face and neck. Also the back razor for under the nose really didn’t seem to do much for me. Also, the blades look identical to those of ShaveKit (see below) and are priced at the same rate. The only thing that might put Sterling Shave Club above ShaveKit below is that Sterling offers a variety of other products that ShaveKit doesn’t. If you decide to give Sterling Shave Club a go, use this referral code when placing your order: M18061922

As above, ShaveKit and Sterling Shave Club’s razors are interchangeable, so the only difference I’ll offer in the review, is that it’s easier to sign up for a trial with ShaveKit than Sterling Shave Club by clicking this link.

In last place comes Cornerstone. My experience is of their 5-blade cartridge, but I understand from their website that they have a new 5-blade cartridge, so perhaps it would be good to review them again. However, at present I will be sticking to CleanShaven.

The presentation and sense of value you feel from taking out a Cornerstone trial is great. The most defining factor is the handle: it’s chrome, weighty and they’ll even personalise it by inscribing your initials on it. That’s feels great. Also, you get five cartridges to use, so things were looking good.

However, the shave isn’t that pleasant. The blades seem to clog quite easily, so you can only perform very short strokes. Also, the durability wasn’t good. Soon after using the blade the shave was as bad as a disposable razor I’ve bought from a pound store. It was so incredibly uncomfortable and there was a great deal of blood on my neck. I stopped using them. I hope that Cornerstone has changed their blades and the shave experience is better. If you’re using the new Cornerstone 5-blade product, let me know how it’s working out for you.

Conditions of test:

I took out trial subscriptions of the top of the range product for numerous online razor suppliers. I shaved my head, face & neck in the shower using aqueous cream, not the shaving creams provided. (I don’t shave in soap stuff.)