LORD Premium Safety Razor
Name: Premium Safety Razor - L6
Make: LORD Razors
Price: Expect it to set you back anywhere from $5-$15
Somewhere along the line, in the mix of my immigrant ancestors, there had to be a man nicknamed "Thick Beard" and whoever he was, I wound up with his genes. All my youth I've been cursed with an unmanageable dense mass of hair on my head, and when my facial hair finally started filling in, it was just as unruly. From an early age I've been looking for a good method to take out this terrible affliction, and my search has brought me to try almost every method I could think of. First I went to the crappy disposable plastic razors, but they didn't last long and after a week my face would be a bloody mess. So I gradually moved up the ladder. I got a double blade disposable, then a triple disposable, then one with swapping heads, then one with four blades, and one that's name sounded like a spaceship, and electric razors and the free razors that they send you in the mail. Nothing worked, and I just couldn't figure it out. No matter how careful I was, my morning routine would end with me mauling my face. I'd get cuts and burns and ingrown hairs, and then be pissed for the rest of the day. They broke the bank too, those stupid cartridges are about $5 a piece and last for only a few weeks before they get dull. I knew there had to be a better way, but I couldn't figure it out.
Then someone introduced me to safety razors, and as ridiculous as this sounds, they changed my life. I checked the local drug store but they didn't stock them, so I went on Amazon and to my surprise I found one that got decent reviews for only $7, with free shipping: the LORD Premium Safety Razor - L6
Razor on Stand
Shaving with a double edged safety razor is totally different than the plastic garbage that is so popular. For starers, it's a wet shave not a dry shave, and by wet shave I mean more than pouring some warm water over the blades. It works best after a hot shower, with a good brush and some good shaving cream. (A nice menthol or sandalwood cream, not the green synthetic stuff.) What you do is get a nice badger hair brush, soak it in warm water, mix it with the shaving cream to get a nice lather up, and then you shave. Unlike modern razors, the key here is not to apply pressure to the razor. It takes some getting used to at first, but it helps if you hold just the tip of the handle, and then go with the grain down your face. Most of the time going over it once should suffice, but if it doesn't, you lather up and go over again, letting the weight of the razor head cut the whiskers, rather than rip them out. Instead of finding myself dreading getting up in the morning, and sometimes skipping shaving because I didn't want to deal with it, I find myself looking forward to getting up and shaving. And at the end of the day, I find myself feeling better too, now that my face isn't completely destroyed. To me, it was amazing what one small change could do.
LORD Safety Razor
For all of this, I thank the LORD razor. For what I paid (about the price of a 2 or 3 blade plastic disposable razor) I can't speak highly enough of it. The head is weighty, smooth, and just the right angle to get a great shave. The handle is longer than I've seen on other safety razors. As a beginner with safety razors, this is good since the extra length helps keep you from pressing down on it. The handle's also light aluminum, to keep a proper balance with the head. When shaving, it doesn't unscrew like other cheap safety razors, which is a plus. The finish seems to be pretty good so far as well, as I've owned it for a few months and it's still just about as shiny as when I got it. It takes the standard safety razor blades, which last for about a week a piece. The one it comes with is OK, but I bought a pack of 100 Astra ones for $10, and they're working great so far.
Disassembled
Sure there's better razors, with perfect plating and sure some people have complained about the weight distribution being slightly off, or the head threading stripping after changing a lot of blades, but for the price it really is the perfect razor. It's a low risk investment into the world of wet shaving, and it doesn't just provide an adequate shave, it provides a good shave. So if you're just looking to experiment a bit, or use it as an everyday razor, you'll be doing yourself a favor, and I'd buy it again in a split second. Since I started shaving with it (a few months ago) I haven't had a single cut or burn. I went from hating shaving to looking forwards to it in the morning.
LORD Safety Razor
It gives a good shave, which in turn boosts your confidence, and makes you a happier person even before you've had your morning coffee. Why subject yourself to something bad when only a few dollars could start your day off in a great and manly fashion? This is one purchase I do not regret at all.