The beard marketplace has different types of razors that exist within it. What is the difference between straight razor, safety razor, cartridge razor, disposable razor and electric razor?
Which is most preferable? Or are they all like two peas in a pod? Well, this article compares all these kinds of razors by giving their basic description and outlining their strong points.
Table of Contents
STRAIGHT EDGE RAZORS
So, first off I want to talk about the straight razor. The straight razor has been around for centuries. Now, straight razors still have a place in the market today.
However, they aren’t nearly as widespread as they once were. They are usually found in professional barbershops but can still be bought for your own use.
Straight razors usually come in two types. There is one type that is just a single piece of metal that is sharpened through the use of a strap or you’ll have one that’s an injectable blade.
The injectable blade straight razors are often found in many barbershops around the country today as barbers use them due to their sanitary conditions and the ability to easily swap out a blade with every client that they meet.
Straight razors aren’t really used too much by men nowadays in a more traditional sense. And the reasons for that is firstly they take an extraordinarily long time to get the job done.
Now, if you want to do it on the weekends, you could definitely do that, but expect to spend upwards to an hour in order to get the job done. Ofcourse, one of the pros is that you can probably do it a lot faster than an hour.
But whenever you’re a beginner and you start learning out, it’s a very steep learning curve. Secondly, straight razors are incredibly dangerous in the sense that you stand a high chance of cutting yourself.
It’s a good option whenever you are learning the shaving technique and the cutting angle and kind of getting used to the contours of your face.
For men who are looking to take up a new hobby or looking to really get the most rewarding shaving experience then shaving with straight razors is definitely a great option for that.
But for the daily grind, then some of the other different types of razors might be better suited for you.
SAFETY RAZOR
The next razor is the safety razor first introduced in the late 1800. This razor is similar to a straight-edge razor in the sense that still a single blade that does the cutting.
However, it has this closed bar that will actually largely protect the facial’s skin. This feature was a huge advancement when it was first introduced.
This was because men could basically get the same shave as a straight razor, as they could with a safety razor in just a fraction of the time.
Safety razors are still incredibly dangerous and do feature quite a learning curve in order to shave properly. You have to still dial in the exact angle in order to get the best cutting angle.
When going over the surface of your skin, typically for most men, they’ll usually get a handle on it.
After about a week or two, when using this type of razor, some men may be a little bit shorter, some men a little bit longer. Safety razors, however, are really a great system for men once you completely get everything under control.
The safety razor barber pole could cost about $50. Now that’s kind of steep, especially compared to cartridges and disposable razors.
But the best part about safety razors is that the blades themselves that go into the pole head only cost pennies on the dollar.
Moreover one of those safety razor blades will last an average about five shaves. So it is cheaper overall.
CARTRIDGE RAZOR
Probably one of the loathest yet most popular razor systems on the market today, the cartridge razor.
The flexible headset on these razors are terrific for conforming to the contours of your head and provide a really close shave.
One downfall with cartridge razors especially on the neck area is that these things can wreak havoc.
This wreak havoc is skin irritation. The reason for that is that the razor has this lifting cut system. One blade will lift up the hair and the one behind it will cut it a little bit closer.
And then the third blade will lift up a little higher, and the fourth one we’ll cut it even below the surface of the skin. This can actually cause some irritation for most men leading to bumps, burns etc.
Despite this downfall, some men are completely okay with cartridge razors. They are probably one of the most polarizing tools of all the shaving systems out there and not to mention to their high price tag is what probably makes it even more polarizing.
But fortunately in recent years there has been a lot of new shave subscription services starting to pop up. The subscription services have really started to push down the price for these cartridge heads.
So if you are running out the door in a shave that is close to the skin as possible, and as little time as possible, a cartridge razor is great.
You can essentially slop on some shaving cream and make a few quick passes and be good and ready to go, hence their popularity with so many men.
It’s therefore good in that sense. Unlike the safety razor and straight edge razor which actually with those blades you cannot take on some airplanes.
With a cartridges razor you can easily go on your next business trip with this razor system, no problem, TSA approved. That makes it a really great tool for travelling than the other different types of razors.
DISPOSABLE RAZOR
The disposable razor is similar to a cartridge razor, but just not nearly as good or as durable. The disposable razors are simply disposable.
You basically use the razor a few times and then you throw it out. The main problem with disposable razors is that they often don’t have that flexible head that is found in the cartridge razor.
The disposable razor is usually of lightweight because they are mainly made of cheap plastic. They therefore don’t really provide the most comfortable of shaves.
Disposable razors are almost on par with cartridge razors being that you can get like a 10 pack for about 15 bucks. With a cartridge razor that will yield you probably about a month’s worth of shaves.
You can get basically the same amount of shaves or probably even more for the same price point. So disposable razors are more so for convenience than anything else.
They are kind of like the middle child, if you will, of razor systems out there. Disposable razors not the most popular, not the most loath, they just kind of exist.
ELECTRIC RAZOR
The last on the list is the electric razor. If you are one of those men out there that are always running behind schedule and just want to shave in the car in the morning, you can’t beat the electric razor for convenience.
With an electric razor it’s incredibly quick to get a shave. It’s not going to be as close as any of the other shaving systems that we’ve talked about so far, but it is going to of course, chop down that facial hair of yours.
Electric razors come in a couple of varieties either have like the rotary one here. This is essentially like a weed whacker, three weed whackers on an electric razor.
It goes around in a circle, cuts your hair in a circular manner. The other one is like a coil based system where the blades go left to right left to right, extremely quick.
If you had to choose between one or the other, they’re kind of a toss up. This is because they both have their own advantages and disadvantages.
Coils tend to get a little bit closer to the skin, whereas rotaries can get around the crevices a lot closer. Many electric razors can definitely work in a wet environment like a bathroom.
You not always recommended to use electric razor when wet. If you suffer some sort of irritation or razor bumps with a coil or rotary shaver, you can apply shaving cream to your neck or cheeks and use them in the shower in most cases.
And it might provide a little bit more comfortable of shave in as far as the long-term costs. This type of razors are pretty much on par with cartridge razor.
You might be paying a couple hundred bucks upfront for an electric razor. But the main advantage is that you really don’t have to replace the heads frequently.
You will only replace it like once a year, once every couple of years. Replacing the head will retain their sharpness for a pretty long period of time.
Conclusion
So that’s it with all the shaving systems out there. I hope you guys got some good info. We hope you enjoyed our article on the different types of razors.
When choosing a razor, it’s important to know what options you have and which features might work best for you.
We also hope we were able to provide you with some information that you didn’t already know about some of the different types of razors on the market.
If you have any questions or concerns about the information provided, please contact us anytime. Thank you for reading. We are always excited when one of our posts is able to provide useful information on a topic like this.
