Thread: does age affect razor choice?

recently I had my first two shaves with de razors. I found that with the same blades in both I prefered the gilette red tip to the gilette blue tip that I have. now here's where the age thing comes in. my uncle when he was my age loved the red tip also but now that he's twice as old he finds that he prefers the bluetip when they both have the same blades. what this leaves me wondering is weather our age makes a difference in the way a shave feels to us. perhaps younger skin is more tolerent of an aggressive razor than older skin or is it just our tastes in razors change like our tastes in everything else?

Originally Posted by nickedNsliced

what this leaves me wondering is weather our age makes a difference in the way a shave feels to us. perhaps younger skin is more tolerent of an aggressive razor than older skin

I would have thought it to be the other way around; older skin being able to tolerate aggressive shaving/blades due to weathering and nerve desensitization. Of course this is only my opinion, as I have nothing to back this up. I suppose looking back, though my skin is still sensitive, my face can tolerate more now than it could years ago when I started shaving.

Gentlemen:

I choose a razor for myself for its quality of shave and excellent workmanship. My age has nothing to do with my choices.

The classic Gillettes are well made, but too aggressive for my taste. I like the Merkurs, especially the 38C "barber pole." My favorite is the Edwin Jagger line for its overall comfort of shave and excellent workmanship.

Since I have not tried the new Feather stainless steel double edge razors, I'll reserve my comments. Should the price come down to a reasonable level, I might buy one and try it out.

Regards,
Obie

Originally Posted by Ryan82

older skin being able to tolerate aggressive shaving/blades due to weathering and nerve desensitization. Of course this is only my opinion, as I have nothing to back this up.

Skin definitely thins and atrophies as part of the ageing process. Some ladies notice this more markedly after the menopause. Really old peoples skin seems almost translucent. My skin doesn't heal as fast as it did 30yrs ago.
So I would say that the opposite is true.

Fixing to turn 62 in a month and I wouldn't say I'm old but I'm getting there. When I shaved with DEs the red tip was my choice of the Gillette color tied to aggressiveness series. Other favorites were the Barbasol and best of all the Merkur Slant. All known to be on the aggressive side of the equation. Those with a Feather or a Gillette Swede. A straight razor beats them all by a mile in smoothness and efficiency IMHO.

Thinning of the skin would preclude using anything that would make the skin thinner. If I am going to hone a razor for someone I will ask their age and what kind of edge they want on it. I would think that the choice of blades for a DE could also present the same dilemma.

Take Care,
Richard

I just realized I didn't provide a lot of details about the shaves I was getting. the first shave was with the gilette blue tip. although it did shave close, I just couldn't feel the blade against my face. It felt like shaveing with an empty razor, which is the only thing that bothered me. my second go around with a de was with the red tip. what I liked about that one was that it was still smooth but I could actually feel the blade. I still prefer a straight razor when I have the time to use one, but depending on how the new blades I have for my old injector work out (I still have some old ones I have been hording) I think the red tip will be my "go to" razor when I need a quick shave. after discussing both de razors with my uncle who used them back in the day my understanding is that he liked what I disliked (not being able to feel the razor as much with the blue tip). his explination is that he doesn't think his beard is as tough as it used to be back when he liked the red tip.

Well, no doubt your skin and beard change as you age so it could very well be, no different than certain foods you loved to eat when you were 25 you can't eat 20 or 30 years later. They would make you one sick puppy.

Not really, as long as I stay away from Proctor and Gamble Gillette products my beard could care less. Same as fifteen years ago, no change at all.