Thread: straight vs Mach 3

I started shaving with a straight about 1.5 years ago. I was wearing a beard for about 3 years before that. So that means I hadn’t used a cartridge razor in 4.5 years, so I pretty much forgot how they felt. Now that I feel very comfortable using a straight, I thought it was time to put the straight & the cartridge head-to-head for comparison.

The first thing I noticed is that you really need to put significant pressure to get the mach 3 to work well. Light pressure barely cut anything. This being said, after adjusting the pressure, in no time I got a pretty darn smooth face. So I got great “performance” with minimal effort. I got a bit more sting from the Alum than I’m used to, but barely.

Anyways, I shaved in the morning, having a real smooth face, and could feel significant re-grown by lunch. I though this whole “straight razor shave lasts longer” thing was baloney, but it turns out it’s true for me.
2 days later, I take a look at my face & see some redness under my chin. I take a closer look, and guess what I saw. About 10 hairs, growing under the skin, all surrounded by magnificent white pus. IN-GROWNS !!! I’ve never had a single in-grown hair since I’ve been using a straight !!!

Anyways, I took care of the in-growns, but they did their damage. I’ll be waiting a few more days to get the skin to heal before I’ll shave again.
So I’ve learned my lesson. I’ll never steer away from enjoying the ritual of using my beautiful vintage blades.

"Faith... must be enforced by reason... when faith becomes blind it dies." --- Mohandas Gandhi

I used to shave with mach 3 and fusion a few years ago. Then I had a massive breakout on my face for which I had to go to the hospital. After that I switch to DE shaving and never had that problem. This year I started using straight edge. I love the shaves I get with DE and straights. About a week ago I went on a trip and was not able to carry my straight (because I was flying) so I took my old fusion. It was a big mistake. The fusion tore my face apart and did not give me the close shaves I am used to. I am never going back to multiblade razors.