Feather Popular Double Edge Safety Razor

Update(s) will be at the bottom.This is my first safety razor. I'm a sucker for high quality. I'd rather buy a good thing once. The box is beautiful, the razor is hefty and very well made. I like that it isn't super mechanical, because mechanical parts tend to fail. Thats why I chose this over a butterfly style safety razor.Being my first safety razor I can say: it isnt too aggressive and it isn't hard to find the right angle for shaving*. (*Update here: shaving with a fresh blade everytime makes this less of an issue, but as the blade dulls the angle definitely matters more. Razorburn like crazy and ineffective cutting.) You do have to be mindful of the angle, because it stops cutting if you aren't. Honestly, thats a very forgiving fail-safe and likely one I can use to my advantage. It'll take some practice to get really good, but it's easy to use.I typically dry shave just to edge my facial hair. It does not tug more than my old Gillete fusion 5 blade razor. In fact, it tugs less; particularly on the "soul patch" of my beard. It did feel like there might have been a slight amount of razor burn, however I was not using the feather blades included in the box. I was gifted a cheaper brand. And again, I was dry shaving.I bought the Gillette over 8 years ago, and a refill of blades since then. The blades cost more than the razor and that is by design. They want you locked in so that you spend more money long term. With this style of razor I can buy any brand of replacement blade I want or like for very cheap. The ones I was gifted were $9 for 100 blades. At this price I can afford to change the blades more often and I'm not paying $30 for 6 like the Gillette. The alternative being disposable razors. And while they are cheap and cut well (better than Gillette TBH) I don't like throwing away all that plastic.Per blade and potentially per shave over a lifetime I still think this razor will be cheaper over all. Consider I spent ~180 to get started. With 105 blades that is only $1.72 per blade.Less waste, less money, quality product, good shaves. Worth the price.Short term update: I have started using this to shave my head once a week. I love the shaves and how smooth I feel afterwards.First shave I got razor burn on the back of my neck. Not on following shaves. I have gotten a few small nicks, but none of them even hurt. I tried my old Gillette fusion to see if it was better and immediately gave myself a nasty cut. I'm sold on this safety razor now.Short term update 2: When cutting against the grain: dull blades with improper angle will give you nasty razorburn. Dull blades are a risky situation in general. I am avoiding issues by shaving with the grain using the old blade, then switching it out for a new one to cut against the grain. This gives me a closer shave, less work, and less razor burn.Tips: A good shaving soap or cream is extremely helpful for a comfortable shave. It reduces tugging and cuts cleaner. More frequent shaving reduces jamming of the blade with hair. Moisturizing (with jojoba oil) afterwards sooths any razor burn.Longterm update will follow eventually.

I have shaved with an electric shaver/razor and have tried several types of "cartridge" multi-blade razors, including recent 5 blade contraptions that to me were uncomfortable to shave with. The companies that make these cartridge razors increase the price for every new blade they add. It seems at some point the quality of the shave became less important and the sales of ever more expensive cartridges became the goal.And they are all different, having various parts that snap together that are not compatible(between different razors). Sometimes looking at the cartridges I wondered whether they were designed to fail prematurely, spacing between the blades in some is limited and/or some plastic part would cause hair to become jammed in the crevice between the blades making the cartridge difficult to use, causing discomfort to my skin, and just failing to shave properly - result would be a need to replace the cartridge after a few uses. The price of cartridges did not go down when I used them regularly. I tried both store brand and "name" brand cartridge razors.During the Summer of 2011 I decided to give electric shaving a new try after using a Braun shaver/razor for some time with disappointing results about a decade ago. I bought a "cheap" Norelco 7310XL and used that together with Afta Pre-Electric lotion until recently. It gave good results, but frequently left me with razor burn on my neck(even after using the lotion).Electric shaving in my opinion has its strengths. The Norelco shaver/razor uses long lasting blades that are replaced after 6-12 months. This helps reduce waste and cost. The bottles of lotion lasted me several months and are recyclable. If the shaver/razor is well made and lasts a long time overall waste is reduced. That can't be said for "disposable" razors that just fill up landfills, cartridge razors are only slightly less wasteful. I was looking for a shaving product that produces low amounts of waste, produces good results as far as shave quality, and would be relatively cheap(affordable).I decided to give Double Edge Safety razors a try together with "wet" shaving. This was all new to me, my grandfather used to shave this way. My father still has an old DE razor he received as a gift, with an old blade(which is like 20 years old) he virtually never uses. I wanted a newer one with a long handle. I decided to try this Feather razor with a Van Der Hagen brush, bowl, and soap kit.My initial cost was around $30. Which was slightly more than the cost of replacing the blades on the Norelco shaver/razor. I did not want to spend a lot of money for something that I was not sure I would use for a very long time. I really did not want to buy a more expensive Parker, Merkur, or Edwin Jagger (etc.) razor so I went with the more affordable Feather. It likely has a lower price because it has more plastic parts(than other DE razors), which will likely reduce the razor's service life. Although the moving parts appear to be made of metal(from the outside).I was not really expecting much in shave quality, after all, I thought to myself, this is an "older generation" of shaving technology.The Feather razor arrived packaged with 2 Feather Hi-Stainless blades, which seem to have a reputation for being the "sharpest DE blade". Many claim that the Feather blades are almost dangerous for beginners. I did not experience anything life threatening with these blades.This razor is a "butterfly" design/type. Meaning the "head" opens up(into 2 identical metal pieces) through internal machinery, which is moved by a rotating mechanism on the upper part of the handle. The head is not removed like on certain (more basic) 3 piece razor designs. This makes replacing the blade a much simpler task. There is a metal "retainer"(best way to describe it) that holds the blade in place and divides the head into 2 distinct sides.The handle is mostly plastic with a good grip surface which prevents you from dropping the razor. The connection point between the head and handle is also made of plastic.I did a few practice strokes on the neck with an un-even amount of shaving soap lather. After several shaving sessions I came to the conclusion that the Feather blade just seemed wrong for my skin(dry and easily irritated) and hair type. It left me with mild razor burn that went away after a few minutes, but made shaving my beard area somewhat uncomfortable. On my 3rd or 4th shaving session I tried a Wilkinson Sword blade, this too felt uncomfortable, plus I cut myself more often than I had with the Feather blade.I next moved to an Astra blade, which did not cause me as much discomfort around my beard area although I was left with some cuts. After I started using a glycerin based soap the shaving experience improved significantly. I still use the Astra blades(they work well with the glycerin soap, lasting up to 6 shaving sessions per blade), being much cheaper than Feather blades I do expect to run into some "bad apples" while using them, which I won't feel bad about replacing instantly because they are cheaper(especially when compared to cartridges).I developed my own shaving regimen for this razor. The neck area receives 3 passes(2 up and 1 down), the sideburns 2 passes(1 up and 1 down), mustache 2.5 passes(1 down, 1 across, and some spots receive half of an upward pass), the most tricky beard area receives 3-5 passes(1 down, several across and up). I rotate the razor to use both sides of the blade. This regimen leaves me with smooth skin for up to a day.One thing to note. It now takes me about 30 minutes to shave properly. I don't do it in the morning, I shave in the evening before going to sleep(it helps to take a shower beforehand to soften the hairs and skin before shaving). This gives me the maximum amount of time to shave, because if you rush with DE razors you are more likely to cut yourself and leave behind some stubble.The best part of Double Edge razors is that you do not feel like you are forced to conform to some Monopoly. You choose the blade you want to use, you choose the cream or soap you want to use, you choose the razor you want to use. What it could be called is "open source" shaving, like with computer software. I minimize the waste I produce - all I need to throw away are shaving soap packages(mostly paper) and used blades. I also purchased a Wilkinson Sword DE razor as an auxiliary razor.I recommend the Feather Double Edge razor to beginners, but the Feather blades are not for me.