Reddit mentions of Edwin Jagger Double Edge Safety Razor

Here's what I would suggest:

Razor: either this one if you want to stay frugal or this one if you want to splurge a bit. I'd stay away from the QShave. It's a clone of a razor with a lot of design issues. One being that the head is so large it's hard to get under the nose, etc.; another issue is that it is extremely aggressive even at its lowest setting.

Brush: This synthetic brush. I think it's much better to start with a synthetic than a boar brush. Boar brushes are less comfortable on your face and actually make it more difficult to make lather until they break in. No reason to mess with those variables when you're just trying to get the hang of it. As for this specific synthetic brush, I have one and it is an amazing value for the money. It is one of about a dozen brushes I own, some of which were $200+, and this $12 brush holds its own with them.

Shaving soap: Lots of options here. Barrister & Mann's Latha line performs extremely well and is a great value. Several scents to choose from. Barrister &
Mann's Glissant line is a bit more expensive but has even better performance and more complex scents. Seville is a particularly good starting point with B&M, just an extremely clean, classic, masculine scent. Pre de Provence and Pre de Provence No. 63 are classic french soaps that smell great and perform very well.

Aftershave: Even more options here. You could go with Thayer's witch hazel with aloe, or if you want a traditional high alcohol aftershave, Fine Accoutrements is excellent. There are several scents, all based on popular and/or classic colognes. Or you could splurge and get the world's greatest aftershave product, L'Occitane Cade After Shave Balm.

Blades: Amazon has some good deals on blades in bulk but just sucks for sampler packs, and you want to start with a sampler pack because reasons. So head on over to TryABlade and order two of the "Top 10 Sampler." You can't use your Amazon credit there, but it's going to come to less than $10 including shipping.

So, if you go with the cheapest option in each category, you come out to fifty dollars or so if I'm adding right, which leaves you room to pick out one or more of those splurge options I mentioned.

Neither.

The Baxter razor is a re-branded Muhle R89, which shares a head with, and is functionally identical to, the Edwin Jagger DE89-series razors (example). It's not a bad razor, but they're selling it for 2-3 times what it should cost.


The Last Razor is new to me, but the fact that they call their razors "shavers" is not a good sign. The razor itself appears to be a mid-quality twist-to-open; there are dozens of them coming out of China these days, and the going price is ~$10.

$35 for that razor appears to be the opposite of the original "razor and blades" sales model - they're charging way too much for the razor and using the price to subsidize the blades. But while $5 is a pretty good deal for a tube of cream and 60 blades, it's not unbeatable, and only makes sense if you like that cream and those blades. You can get blades for under $0.07 each and Arko shave sticks for a buck apiece. But you're better off trying a variety of blades to find the one you like best. Ditto with soaps and/or creams.

Instead of either of those, just get the Maggard Razors Basic Starter Kit. Use promo code KITSHIP for free shipping (expires at midnight tonight). You'll only be spending $30, and you'll get better stuff.

Sounds like the razor head you tried had too much blade exposure and/or too little blade angle. If you're willing to give it another shot, try the Edwin Jagger razor handle -- I'd suggest this one or maybe this one if you want more knurling for grip. They developed this new head design together with Mühle to be very forgiving for beginners yet still effective enough to satisfy old hands.

I use a knurled-handle Mühle variant that I love, but the head is the same regardless of which Jagger/Mühle handle style you choose. BTW, they also have an open-comb head variant that has the same blade angle but more aggressive blade exposure for dense/coarse whiskers, but sounds like you'd want to steer clear of that.

The usual safety razor advice applies: don't apply any pressure against your skin, don't grasp the handle, and don't go for long swaths; rather, hold the handle by your fingertips, let the weight of the razor head maintain light, gliding contact with your skin, and use short, overlapping passes.

So I have a short beard for the past 3 years and I feel like when I'm cleaning it up it's about time I did it right. So I've bought a heap of recommended stuff over the past couple weeks I've seen people on here recommend. It's not all here yet but once it is...

Edwin Jagger Short Handle, Chrome Lined Safety Razor

Semogue 620 Shaving Brush

Tabac Original Shaving Soap

Razor and Brush stand

Nivea Men Sensitive Cooling Aftershave Balm

Also restocked on my usual face treatments for my skin which include:

Eucerin Dermatoclean Mild Cleansing Milk

Simple Rich Moisturiser

Avene Cleanance Mask Scrub


I think this is everything I should need.