Hey everyone! I'm Kyle Ingham from the Distilled Man.
Up next I chat with one of the founders of British shaving & grooming company, Stubble and Strife.
We get into the details about what exactly is so special about safety razors.
Plus we talked about the other essential things you need to know to start enjoying a traditional shave.
This is part two of a two-part interview so if you haven't already checked out part 1,
you can click the link below to watch it now.
Also don't forget to grab a free copy of my PDF guide,
"48-Hour Gentlemen: Your One Weekend Plan to More Confidence Poise and Manly Know-How.
Alright, without any further ado let's get to it.
So, yeah let's talk about safety razors and what's so special about safety razors.
Well, it's probably the number one question that we're asked.
So for those guys that are familiar with safety razors and there are many.
Of the last 10, 20, 30 years system razors very much more prevalent.
The system razor is just a regular razor that you might see with multi blades.
Correct, yet so we tend to call them systems because they have a
handle and then a cartridge and you put the blade out and it's very simple.
They're very good in the sense that they're fast to use, they're very good
in the sense that you minimize the cuts so there's nothing wrong with them per se.
So most guys that come to us don't perceive they have a problem,
Say, "Well, why would I use one of these safety razors?"
What piques their interest is the fact that their dad used one of them.
Or their grandfather and then when they pick up
the razor they realize it actually feels very different in the hand.
Substantial, really, right?
Yeah, because the way that these things are made is that
they're very much a piece of metal piece, a piece of steel.
So, the handle is steel and the head is still the two vice and components are steel.
So the weight in the hand is very different they feel very substantial as opposed to a
poly-carbonate handle which feels a little less weighty.
And with the system cartridges, the cartridge are very light.
So this is a very different type of sensation in the hand.
And then just working through why they're using them.
They're kind of curious as well why would I go back to that, surely this is old technology.
And we have to go some way to explain that natural fact
that there's quite a lot of technology
that goes into the old style razor blades
They may be old style but there is a load of technology that goes into those.
The mix of the the steel that goes into creating
the blade, the finishes can be a platen finish or a polymer finish.
Or designed to give you a little bit of extra glide.
There are a couple of benefits with those types and razors.
So first of all, I mentioned the fact that they are cheaper,
the actual razors themselves are cheaper.
So there's a cost saving, the handle is more expensive as a one-time purchase.
They tend to be better for sensitive skin because there's less metal rubbing across the the skin.
They do require more in terms of technique because they tend
not to have pivoting heads.
So you then have to learn to move your wrist and your arm around and and also pull the skin
taut on your face in certain places.
So you get a nice close cut they tend to be closer.
Now that's a general feedback that you get from some guys.
So there are a number of benefits.
It's interesting and as you talk about the system razors
it sounds like, I mean like we said it really is an advanced technology but it
and I hate to say it this way but it's almost like they made it more
idiot-proof, you know. If you don't have to think about your shaving and now
there's all these men who are sort of waking up and deciding, no actually I do
want to pay attention my shaving because of this ritual aspect that you talked about.
Yeah, I suppose the way I look at it is if we think about smartphones and there's lots of technology in those.
But if you want to use a phone you want to
talk to someone, there is an older piece of technology that you can use the work really well.
They have very clear signals, right?
Yeah, exactly right.
What is this land line?
Alternatively you just go and talk to someone, right? Face to face.
Well, I don't know that sounds kind of like...
So I think, again it comes back down to what's important to you.
But certainly for my perspective and many of our customers,
when they've moved to a safety razor system to a traditional system, if you like.
They never move back and they really enjoy.
Partly down to the ritual, partly down to the luxury you're spending live at
a time doing something purely man
focused if you like or or self focused.
Well, there's also that satisfaction of
some being able to conquer something
that does take learning or get technique
to say that, well you know you're not gonna be able to get it at first but
once you get it, you're almost like you feel like you're in a club or something
Where you you know you have achieved something.
So you know we talked a little bit about safety razors and
I know a lot of our viewers are gonna be kind of wondering well, what else do I
need to know what's the other component and the obvious thing that comes to mind
is when I think about my shaving experience I think about well the foam in the can.
so what else is there out there, what are the, can you talk to me
about the range of options that are available?
Yeah, I can do, but the key thing to remember is it the first other
constituent need is water and a lot of guys forget that.
Dry shaving is a hard way to shave.
Yeah!
Right, so that's the first thing.
Wait, do people really try that today?
Yeah we can...
Just put the foam on and they just run the razor of their face?
There's a surprisingly large number of guys based
on the fee that we've had that don't even bother with the foam.
My goodness!
And would just dry shave and then they come to us and say,
"Yeah, my shaving it doesn't work so well."
And in many cases it's clearly those guys that have
really strong stubble they know it doesn't work.
It tends to happen mostly to young guys.
And they'll say, "Oh, I tend to show you before I go in the shower,
so I get up on the bed and I start shaving.
And I don't really use me water because I'm gonna go to shower.
And then they wonder why they've got cuts or the skin feels sore it feels kind of raw.
So that's the first part is remember, irrespective anything else you need water.
Use water, okay.
Then after that in terms of products,
you can generally look at the products is 5 different types.
Alright, so shave foams, shave gels, there's shave soaps, shave creams and shave oils.
All of them come down to price of the shave
creams and the shave gels, sorry the shave foams and the shave gels, they tend to be
very much mass produced designed to maybe with some silicon or something
like that the more chemical base.
And typically come in an aerosol can, okay.
Then you get shave creams which are much more moisturizing.
They tend to be thicker the foam that they produce is a deeper type of phone, okay.
They're really good for four guys were sensitive skin
They're what you would use with it with a shave brush, you couldn't use a shave brush with firewall or with gel.
So you need to use the brush to sort of stimulate the gel or the cream.
And the brush helps to to bring up the the hairs,
soften the hairs themselves so pull the
hairs away from the skin so that they're ready for cutting with the razor.
That's an interesting point because I think a lot of people who aren't
familiar with that, would think that the brush was just to put the shave cream on
itself but it actually has an effect in in making your shape more effective.
Absolutely.
Then shave soaps, they tend to have the lightest fragrance.
They last longer so typically shave soap in my last unit between six
months and a year so you don't want to spend a lot of shaving that's the way to go.
You need a brush you can't use your fingers you need to add water and you
need to agitate the soap itself to build up a lather
and the lather is a different type of lather, it's a more soapy lather so less dense.
Kind of varies but it can be little bit more drying because by the nature of it is soap.
I think it would provide less lubrication for the actual shave, is that true?
Part of it is actually down to putting a layer of something in
between the skin under the blade to give that extra bit of line.
But there's also an element of the that it's purely visual you can actually
see where you're shaving, so because if you're running over the same spot time
and time again you're going to actually make the skin more sensitive.
But the water and the product work together to
give you that little layer and that buffer to what is a pretty sharp piece of metal,
running across quite a sensitive skin.
And then lastly shave oils, these tend to be really good
for guys that have sensitive skin.
Because they tend to be made from essential oils.
They're also really good for travel so I've used them traveling.
Typical bottle is really small, quite a strong little glass bottle.
It's a slightly different sensation so it takes
a little bit of time to get used to that.
But the key thing there again is water
because the oil works with the water to give you the slip.
So you don't just apply the more the oil and start to
shave the water is still an important component of shaving.
So you know, I really enjoy talking to you today and I've learned a lot.
And the viewers have learned a lot.
So to wrap this up I know a lot of guys are watching and they're probably interested in shaving
but maybe don't know what next step to
take so I'd be curious to hear, you know,
what are the two or three investments I could make or I should make if I want to
get more serious about shaving and taking care of my skin but maybe more so for shaving.
Yeah, I think if you're looking purely shaving then number one is time,
to spend a little bit more time with it.
You find it really very relaxing
and there's nice to get back to learning a technique that involves a knife.
And that is an investment actually I haven't thought of it that way but really,
investing time is a big thing.
Yeah, and so using using a razor itself is it something that
you should really enjoy first thing in the morning, right.
It's your moment in the morning to just relax get
your day sorted and your head and hang on to approach things.
But the second thing I'd probably sense anyone investing is it as a badger brush.
There's something, something really
relaxing about taking a badger brush and
massaging your face with first thing in the morning.
It just helps to wake you up it helps awake the skin up gets the
blood going and there's obviously fantastic shaving.
So that is those are my two recommendations.
That's excellent!
Well, thanks again for your time and I really appreciate it.
My pleasure.
Hey everyone thanks again for watching if you like this video please hit like below.
If you didn't catch part 1 of this 2-part interview you can click below to watch the first half right now.
We talked about the recent men's
grooming revolution and delve into the ritual of traditional shaving.
Finally if you haven't already grabbed a copy make sure to download my free PDF guide,
"48-Hour Gentlemen Your One Weekend Plan to More Confidence Poise and Manly Know-How.
Alright, well thanks again for watching and see you soon.