Hell
Toupee
or, "How close is too close?"
By
James Whittall
MenEssentials President
Published November 2002
I remember a Saturday Night Live commercial parody that aired in 1975, just after the first dual track razor cartridges hit the market.
It was for a triple blade razor (an absurd idea at the time). The ad claimed that each blade angled progressively closer to your face until the final blade in the cartridge literally ripped the hair out by its root. The commercial tag line? "Because you'll believe anything."
How prophetic. Triple blade razors, as every man knows, are very hot items these days. And in a surreal instance of life imitating art, the original ads for these high tech products were virtually identical to the one Saturday Night Live broadcast on network television more than 25 years ago.
From object of ridicule to essential grooming tool, in a single generation. The multi-blade razor has come a long way — with the help of some inventive brand management and a $750 million advertising budget.
But in our hurry to embrace this new product, we've forgotten what made its predecessor a mainstay of every man's medicine cabinet.
I'm talking, of course, about the double edge safety razor.
19th Century Design, 21st Century Face
I bought my first double edge razor in university. My grandfather recommended
the switch when he noticed my face looked like raw hamburger with stubble
in it. He'd used a double edge razor for years, he said, and his father
had used one before him. There was no way in Hell he'd touch those new-fangled
cartridge thingies.
My great-grandfather? How far back did this thing go? I did a little digging and discovered that the double edge razor is one seriously old piece of technology.
King C. Gillette invented the first mass-produced safety razor in 1895, based on a primitive design that went further back to France in the 1820s. Gillette's flash of inspiration was to replace the dangerous straight razor and its complicated strops and oils and sharpening stones with an inexpensive, disposable blade set in an easy-to-grip protective handle.
Gillette sold 51 razors in 1903 and 90,000 in 1904. He hit the one million mark in 1908. By the time World War One unleashed its full fury on Europe, the US Government had issued Gillette's invention to its armed forces and thereby converted an entire generation of men, both here and abroad, into safety razor fanatics.
In fact, it wasn't until the advent of the dual track razor cartridge that the double edge safety razor truly lost its grip on the men's grooming market. Which is unfortunate. The double edge safety razor may be a 19th century design, but it's far from obsolete.
Too Close for Comfort
The blades in a multi-blade cartridge are each positioned to gradually
extend toward your beard. The cartridge achieves its famed closeness by
stretching skin with a layer of rubberized "microfins," then
by lifting hair and slicing it off at a point slightly below the surface
of the skin.
The primary benefit of triple blade razors — "the closest shave; superior comfort" (according to one manufacturer's web site) — is precisely what makes them so troubling to black men and guys with sensitive skin.
The edges of cut beard hair are remarkably sharp. Shaved too closely, cut hair can grow into the upper layers of the epidermis. For black men with beard hair like bed springs, this almost always results in painful ingrowns, razor bumps, and minor infections. Guys with oh-so-sensitive skin react strongly when their faces are scraped by the angled blades, especially along the jaw line.
Advantages of the Double Edge Safety Razor
Don't get me wrong; contemporary dual track and triple blade razors have
their places in a man's medicine cabinet. But if you experience irritation,
ingrowns, or razor bumps after shaving, you may find double edge safety
razors a compelling alternative.
• Double edge razors cut hair at the skin's surface, providing a close and comfortable shave with less irritation and fewer ingrowns or razor bumps.
• The blades themselves stay sharp three times longer than two- or three-blade cartridges, and they cost about 70% less. You can also shave with both sides of the blade before you replace it.
• For the ecologically minded, double edge safety razors are also completely biodegradable. Unlike cartridges, they consist only of stainless steel (no integrated plastic components) in a steel or recyclable plastic dispenser.
• Double edge safety razors feature a bar or comb at the base
of the blade. This provides much the same function as a multi-blade cartridge's
microfin and "lubricating strip."
(The lubricating strip, by the way, is nothing more than a marketing gimmick
intended to impart the illusion of enhanced comfort and to justify the
high sticker price. In reality, it provides no actual benefit. It is the
uppermost component of the razor cartridge, which is supposed to shave
in a single stroke. As such, it cannot possibly create a glide surface
for the blades if it's the last part of the razor to touch your skin.)
• Double edge safety razors come in adjustable models. This means you can customize the angle and proximity of the blade, until you find the most comfortable setting for your skin type.
Never Seen a Double Edge Safety Razor?
I'm not surprised. After dual track and triple blade razors took hold
of the North American psyche, the once ubiquitous double edge razor quickly
disappeared from drugstore shelves.
But you can still find them at MenEssentials. Go ahead, give one a try. Used with a badger brush and a fine shave cream, you're likely to experience one of the most satisfying shaves of your life.
Not bad, for a gadget that's as old as the telephone.
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