Thread: Does your shave last longer with a straight than with other methods?

I shave at night and agree with the post a few above. When the sun comes up the next morning, after I've been working for hours, is when I find out how my shave went as far as closeness. Now I feel my Straights do a tiny bit better than one DE I had. It was the Muhle R41 (2011). That DE was hard to beat when it came to a close shave. Sometimes I think it took a layer or two of skin with it. But now days after almost a year with the S.R., my shave are now closer than with the R41 and a lot more comfortable!

Aloha!

Depends on the razor, blade and skill level of the operator. I can give myself a very close shave with any of my straight blades, but I can also give myself a BBS shave with a DE Feather blade in the Merkur 34c or the Edwin Jagger DE89. Especially the Jagger. Both of these DE razors have a mild blade reveal that mates up well for the extreme sharpness of a Feather blade, so I get super duper close but no razor burn. Put a Feather blade in a more aggressive razor on MY skin and I better damn well back WAY off and put on the kit gloves or I get some nasty razor burn and that ruins the entire shaving experience. With the Merkur and especially the Jagger, no worries. These razors seem they were made for a Feather blade on my skin. Match made in heaven, actually.

So I have to say to the question of the OP long ago, that My Straights give a closer shave than MOST of my DEs and blade combos, but that my Straights are tied with a Feather Blade in the razors I mentioned. As with ALL things wet shaving, YMMV.... greatly. We all have different skin and skill levels. What works for me may or may not work for anyone else.

Mahalo!

-Zip

My straight shaves last quite a bit longer (3-4 hrs) than my DE or SE shaves.

Technicaly...straight shaves should last a bit longer then safety razors...

Skin is elastic and comprsable structure.
Hair is just elastic.

So skin reacts to tension by reducing thickness when pulling the skin.
And skin reacts to pressure by sinking at the pressure spot.

Hair does not react to pressure or tension in the same way...

Hair pops up while you pull on the skin....a razor's edge has less surface of contact with the skin then a safety razor or a cartridge...while gliding across the skin...the edge deforms the skin underneath it...making the hair pop up even more....

Once the edge has passes and the pull of skin is released the skin rises back up to its usual level....but the hair has been cut ... actualy...underneath the skin line.

This can happen with a safety razor but to a smaller extent because the bar keeps the blade from sinking to deep.

This is why you feel the BBS...
This also explains why some people get ingrowth hairs...
Some people have folicules growing hair at a realy low angle...these te d to catch the skin while growing out the folicule and hurt the skin...local inflamation and infection due to local flora set in until the hair is free and the area cleaned.

So yes my opinion is a straight razor shave is closer....

But no way a hair grows faster if you cut it with straight razor.