Safety razors hanging in stands beside white-handled shaving brushes on a shelf

Which razor should you start on?

Three ways in, one lather

Your current razorKeep the cartridge razor you have and change only the lather. It is the cheapest way in, and it teaches the half of the hobby (prep and lather) that matters whichever blade you end up holding.

Start here

Buy only the brush and the soap. Tomorrow morning, build a lather and shave with the razor you already have, using no pressure and short strokes.

Safety RazorA double-edge razor with a guarded head that holds one replaceable blade. This is where most people land. It takes a week or two to learn, shaves as close as anything, and works on legs and heads as well as faces.

Start here

Load a fresh blade, hold the razor by the very end of the handle, and shave only your cheeks with the grain for the first three days before you try the chin and neck.

Straight RazorA single open blade you maintain yourself on a leather strop. It has the steepest learning curve (expect a month of short, slow shaves) and the lowest running cost, since one well-kept razor lasts for generations.

Start here

Strop the razor 40 laps, then shave just the flat of one cheek below the sideburn and finish the rest with your old razor. Add one new area each week.

Interactive Guide to Straight Razor Shaving

Open a card to see what to do first. Your current razor needs nothing beyond the brush and soap. Safety Razor and Straight Razor each end in a button that adds that razor and what it needs to the kit, and takes the other one out.

Going deeper on straight razors

Badger & Blade: Interactive Guide to Straight Razor Shaving Free in-depth guide to stropping, honing and straight razor strokes

Your first wet shave, step by step

How to choose a first razor and keep it shaving well

Pick a mild, closed-comb head.

A closed comb has a solid safety bar under the blade and shows very little blade edge, which forgives a sloppy angle. Open-comb and adjustable razors can wait.

Check the head type.

A three-piece razor unscrews into a handle, a base plate and a cap, and is the easiest to clean. A butterfly (twist-to-open) razor loads faster but has more parts that can go out of alignment.

Look for some weight and a grippy handle.

A razor around 3 ounces or more does the pressing for you, and deep knurling keeps it from turning in soapy fingers.

Blades are personal.

The same blade that feels smooth to one person tugs on another, so start with a sampler of several brands and give each one three shaves before judging it.

Change the blade every 3 to 5 shaves, or as soon as it starts to pull.

After each shave, loosen the head a quarter turn, rinse, and let it dry. Never wipe the edge.

Straight razors

Choose a blade 5/8 to 7/8 inch wide with a round point, and confirm it has been honed by hand before sale. Strop it before every shave, edge trailing, spine flat on the leather, and send it out for honing when stropping no longer brings the edge back (usually every few months).

A badger brush with a wooden handle beside a safety razor on a stand and a steel blade tin, in front of a mirror — Brush, safety razor and a tin for used blades

The skills to focus on first

Seen from behind, a man in a black T-shirt draws a razor down through the lather under his jaw — A short stroke through lather under the jaw

Building lather

Most bad first shaves are thin lather. Too dry and it flakes off, too wet and it runs. Practice once in your palm with no razor in sight.

No pressure

Cartridge razors train you to press. A single blade cuts on contact, so let the razor's weight do it and treat every stroke as removing lather, not hair.

Holding the angle

Keep the handle about 30 degrees off your skin. If you hear nothing, the angle is too steep or too shallow. A light, even scraping sound means the blade is cutting.

Mapping the grain

Knowing which way each patch grows decides the direction of every pass, and it is the fix for most neck irritation.

Stretching the skin

Use your free hand to pull the skin flat ahead of the blade, especially along the jaw and under the chin.

What trips beginners up

What to expect

Expect a few nicks.

The first week usually brings two or three small weepers, mostly on the chin and upper lip. They close in seconds with alum or a styptic pencil.

Expect it to be slow.

A first shave takes 20 to 30 minutes. By the end of the month it is closer to 10.

Expect a merely decent shave at first.

A comfortable shave with a little stubble left beats a smooth one that burns. Closeness comes from extra passes later, not from pressing harder now.

Habits to drop

Drop the long strokes. Sweeping from sideburn to jaw in one move is how the angle drifts and the blade bites.
Stop chasing one stubborn patch. Going over the same spot without lather is the main cause of razor burn. Lather again or leave it for tomorrow.
Do not blame the gear too early. Change one thing at a time (blade, soap or razor) so you can tell what helped.

Handling and disposing of blades

Hold a double-edge blade by its short ends, never the long cutting sides, and load it with the razor over a towel, not a hard sink.
Used blades never go loose in the trash. Drop them into a blade bank: a sealed steel can with a slot cut in the top works. When it is full, tape the slot shut and check your local rules for sharps or scrap metal.
Never share a razor or a blade. Blood-borne infections can pass on an edge that looks clean.
Stop and press a clean cloth on any cut that keeps bleeding after a few minutes of pressure. If you take blood thinners or have a skin condition on the area you shave, ask your doctor before switching to an open blade.
Keep razors and spare blades out of reach of children, and store a straight razor closed and dry.
Flying: a safety razor can go in a carry-on only with the blade removed. Loose blades and straight razors go in checked bags.

The official rule for flying

TSA: Safety razor with blades The official rule on flying with a safety razor and loose blades

A black-handled straight razor laid open across a cream shaving mug with a badger brush leaning on it — An open straight razor, a mug and a brush

Where to learn more

Shaving is easier to learn by watching than by reading, so start with a lathering video and a first-shave video before you pick up the razor. The long-running forums are friendly to beginners and good at diagnosing a problem from a description (irritation on the neck, lather that dries out, a blade that tugs). Search before you post, since nearly every first-month question has a detailed answer already.

Free places to watch and ask

How the kit is put together

The brush and the soap are the only things everyone needs, and together they can cost less than two packs of cartridges. The razor is a choice, so it sits behind the two paths above: pick Safety Razor or Straight Razor, or neither if you are keeping your current razor for now. The money in this hobby is saved on blades. A double-edge blade costs a small fraction of a cartridge and lasts most of a week, and a puck of soap lasts several months of daily shaves. Spend on the razor if you want to, but a higher price buys nicer materials and finish, not a closer shave. The bowl and the stand are conveniences you can add later.

Stacked tubs of shaving soap with a black lather bowl and a blue lather bowl on a bathroom counter — Tubs of shaving soap and two lather bowls

A lathered shaving brush with a wooden handle, a steel bowl of lather, a safety razor and a pack of blades on a sink counter

Stock the shaving shelf

Every line, with its options side by side

Compare the options on each line, then set your tiers and check out from the cart. Clicking a card selects it there, and clicking the selected card again takes that line out. The brush, soap, alum and balm start in the kit. A razor and its blades join when you switch on Safety Razor, and a razor and strop join with Straight Razor. The bowl and the stand stay out until you add them.

No. 1

Synthetic shaving brush

Essential · Core equipment

The brush whips soap and water into lather and lifts the hair off your skin as you paint it on. Synthetic bristles lather easily, dry fast and need no break-in.

budget

Yaqi Black Marble Handle Synthetic Shaving Brush

4.8(12)

$14.99

Wet Shaving

Which razor should you start on?

Your first wet shave, step by step

How to choose a first razor and keep it shaving well

The skills to focus on first

What trips beginners up

Handling and disposing of blades

Where to learn more

How the kit is put together

Stock the shaving shelf

Synthetic shaving brush

Shaving soap or cream for brush lather

Alum block or styptic pencil

Alcohol-free aftershave balm

Double-edge safety razor

Double-edge razor blade sampler pack

Shave-ready straight razor

Leather razor strop

Shaving lather bowl

Razor and brush stand