Okay, so you’ve decided on trying out the safety razor and now want to choose your cream or soap. We’ve got just the Best Shaving Cream For Safety Razor list for you, ordered from cheapest to most expensive.
If you’re like me, you’re absolutely tired of cartridge razors. While they’re the most popular kind of razors around and the most expensive ones, that doesn’t mean they’re the best. More and more men are looking for alternate ways of shaving because the traditional cartridges simply aren’t the king.
You have two other options: the classic cutthroat straight razor, and the safety razor. The safety razor is by the far the best of both worlds, and the one most men are heading towards (or rather backward) now. So, how exactly is it the best, and what’s the best kind of shaving cream for it? Let’s find out!
WHAT IS A SAFETY RAZOR?
The safety razor was actually the first commercially made razor that allowed men to shave at home. Unless you were slick with a straight razor, you had to go to the barber.
The safety razor for barbers hit the markets in the 1900s, completely changing the shaving game forever, by taking the traditional concept of wet shaving and making it far more accessible and easier.
The safety razor has a simple and effective mechanism; you’ve got the handle, a guard on top, and one blade giving two sides to switch between before rinsing. Over time, the safety razor became more and more advanced, while keeping the traditional look.
Hundreds if not thousands of different kinds of safety razors have appeared over the years, with differences in material, size, weight, blades, and more. If you’re looking to switch up your grooming game, you might want to consider this 20th-century marvel.
WHY SAFETY RAZORS ARE BETTER THAN CARTRIDGE RAZORS
Safety razors are simply unrivaled when it comes to utility. They really nailed that design the first time and it should’ve been kept the gold standard ever since, here’s why:
It Won’t Break The Bank: Shaving with a safety razor can save you tons of money a year once you realize just how much you’re spending on cartridge razors.
Firstly, the razor itself is affordable and much cheaper than your generic cartridge megashave 3000 with 5 blades and laser beams shooting out of its eyes.
You can buy a pack of high-quality razor blades and they will last you months, even if you throw them out after each use (you don’t need to, by the way). You won’t have to spend so much on cartridges each month.
It’s Good For The Environment: If you care about the environment, then the safety razor is for you. Cartridge razors create a massive amount of waste with the amounts of cartridges, plastic, paper, boxes, and even the receipts you throw out.
All of that goes straight into the ocean. Heck, in the U.S alone the number of disposable razors thrown out is in the billions.
This creates millions of wastelands. Don’t shave with a safety razor for yourself, shave with a safety razor for the planet.
Much Closer Shave: That’s right if you’ve never tried shaving with a safety or straight razor compared to the cartridges, the difference is night and day.
With cartridge razors, because they have so many blades, the hairs get stuck between them and snipped off like a guillotine. As a result, the blades simply don’t go deep enough or close enough to the skin to get you a closer shave, which is why we shave against the grain afterward.
However, with the safety razor, you get direct contact with the skin, mowing it off in a single stroke. There’s a myth that the more blades you have, the better shave you’ll get but it’s not true; one super sharp blade directly on your skin will take off those hairs like a lightsaber out of Star Wars.
Better For Your Skin: With cartridge razors, because the hair gets caught between the individual blades and because they have so many crevices and separations, the hair tends to get pulled between them.
This causes irritation, bumps, ingrown hairs, acne, and skin problems. Because dead skin, dirt, and debris sneak between the different blades too, all that gunk can come in direct contact with your skin.
With a safety razor, it’s one single clean blade that shaves off the dead skin on your face, exfoliates the skin, and even promotes the growth of new cells and collagen. With a good brush on hand, you’ve got a pretty good primitive skincare routine right there.
It’s A New Skill: It’s true, shaving with a safety razor will require you to learn a new technique and practice it every day because you’ll have to learn about angles, pressure, and so many different motions.
The process itself is different from cartridge razor shaving, so you’ll have to bust out the YouTube tutorials. This is actually good for your brain and gives you something new to work with.
You’ll learn precision and being calm, creating quite a therapeutic environment in your bathroom. If you’re looking to try something new and beat the mundane routine, give it a shot, it may change your mornings forever.
Plus, it looks really really cool and you’ll be that one friend who’s like “Pft, I shave with an old-school double-edged safety razor.”
CAN YOU USE SHAVING CREAM WITH A SAFETY RAZOR?
The short answer is yes, but there’s a catch. Safety razors are different from cartridge razors in that the density and thickness of the creams are different for both.
Obviously, you can use any kind of shaving product with a safety razor but that doesn’t mean they’re ideal for it. Not all shaving methods were created equal and with that, we have three main options for lathering up before a shave:
SHAVING FOAM
Probably the most commercial thing available. Foam comes in a pressurized can, but it’s by far not the thing you want to use for a safety razor. Foams are convenient, but they’re dry and not great for your skin.
Because it’s so thick, it can get stuck in your razor, making things much more difficult than they need to be. It also contains large amounts of water and alcohol. Foams are made with cartridge razors in mind, which is why they’re so thick. For safety razors, you want something lighter.
SHAVING GEL
Shaving gel has the advantage of being transparent, allowing you to see when you’re shaving. It also doesn’t need any water or lathering, so you can take it to your face directly from the tube. Because of that, however, you can end up having to use more for each shave.
SHAVING CREAM
It’s a classic, and the one most men still use with safety razors nowadays. Shaving cream is mixed with water to create a lather that you can apply with your hand or ideally with a brush. Creams come in tubes or tubs.
There are soft, light, and they moisturize your face pretty well before taking an ultra-sharp piece of metal to it. There are two types of shaving creams:
Regular Shaving Cream
It’s your average over-the-counter one; it’s thick and might contain some synthetics such as propylene glycol, triethanolamine, and mineral oil which aren’t great for sensitive skin. Regular shaving cream is fine for cartridge razors but for wet shaving, you need an extra kick.
Safety Razor Shaving Cream
These are made especially for safety razors, and they come in three types:
Tubes: They’re easy to squeeze out and widely available
Bowls: The containers look like bowls, so you can grab some with your fingers and mix it with your hand to create the lather
Shaving Soap: It’s the granddaddy of all shaving lathers. Shaving soap was the one used with the safety razors back in the day and for good reason.
They’re good for lubrication and hydration while you control the lather yourself. They also give you that classic barbershop feeling.
You’ll have to mix the lather in a bowl with a brush yourself, and it takes time, but you can’t deny the results. Soaps are slick and they slide easily, making them perfect for the safety razor.
CAN YOU USE SHAVING BUTTER WITH A SAFETY RAZOR?
Shave butter is another option that actually works without a lather. Kind of like a gel or lotion, you use it directly from the tube to your face. Because there’s no lather and you don’t need to mix it, it’s much easier and more convenient than even shaving foam.
The one downside to shaving butter is thickness, which can clog up your razors. You can use it with a safety razor since it doesn’t have multiple blades that will get clogged.
Shaving butter is finding wide audiences these days, so while it’s a little thick for the safety razor’s liking, you can still try to pair them up and see what happens.
Best Shaving Cream For Safety Razor 2024
#1. VAN DER HAGEN SHAVE BUTTER
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The Van Der Hagen shave butter lives up to its name with smoothness, slickness, softness, and silkiness. It’s made from enriched Macadamia Oil Extracts, Shea, Mango, and Cocoa Butters to give the most pleasurable experience possible.
There’s no foam and no lather, meaning you can apply it directly on your face. It moisturizes and gives off a nice scent of butter and because it creates such a thin line, the safety razor will have a fun time sliding across it on your face. It’s irritation-free for all types of skin, making it also very good for women.
Despite being shave butter, it’s not greasy and can even pull double duty as an aftershave. Reviewers were impressed by how smooth the butter is and its pleasant smell but commented on how it’s not transparent and more akin to shaving cream than butter. It may also contain nuts if you’re allergic. Ultimately, it’s a good choice for a leather-free smooth ride.
#2. CREMO BARBER GRADE ASTONISHINGLY SUPERIOR ULTRA-SLICK SHAVING CREAM
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The Cremo ultra-slick is a good combination of affordability and quality. It’s excellent for sensitive skin, and its formula is specifically made to prevent nicks, irritation, and razor burn. It’s got a rich sandalwood scent that will freshen up your face and make the experience of shaving more pleasurable.
Cremo promises that no matter what razor you use, you’ll get a comfortable close shave with no burns. The lather itself is quite distinct, being slicker and denser than traditional thick lather. The ingredients are all-natural, which is good for sensitive skin that might suffer from synthetics.
However, because it’s so dense, you want high-quality powerful safety razors with them, as the lighter ones just won’t cut it (Ha-ha, get it?). Cremo promises that you’ll get the same barbershop feeling with their “barber grade” branding which refers to the ingredients and slickness.
Reviews praised the lack of cuts and nicks you get with it and the longevity of it (It can last you over a month or two). The only downsides are that it’s difficult to wash off, doesn’t give you a heavy lather, and isn’t the best with cheaper blades.
#3. TAYLOR OF OLD BOND STREET LAVENDER SHAVING CREAM BOWL
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While we’re going up slightly in the price range, we’re certainly getting quality for the bucks. The street lavender is a classic English shaving bowl with over a hundred years of use.
Even though the tub is quite small, it will give you more shaves than you think once you mix and lather it. It’s smooth and doesn’t clog up your razor, with a very medium lotion-like consistency that’s not too thin and not too thick.
As the name suggests, you get a nice lavender smell out of it, and there are alternative smells like peppermint, almond, sandalwood, and others too. It’s moisturizing, smooth, easy to work with, and gives you a lot for a tiny amount.
You can mix it with a brush or with your hands with no problems. Reviewers loved the smell and texture of the cream and the overall quality. With it being a high-end shaving cream, it’s a little pricier but you get what you pay for in a good way.
However, you may want to think twice if you have sensitive skin, as it contains some ingredients that may trigger your skin such as myristic acid.
#4. BILLY JEALOUSY HYDROPLANE FOAMLESS SUPER-SLICK MEN’S SHAVE CREAM
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We’ve saved the most luxurious for last, as the Billy Jealousy hydroplane is among the highest quality shaving creams you can get.
Not only is it incredibly smooth and slick, but it’s also perfect for sensitive skin as it doesn’t contain any irritating substances.
It’s foamless, and doesn’t contain any alcohol, so no dry skin! With the hydroplane, you can shave as close as possible without fearing cuts and nicks.
It’s also transparent, so you can see where you shave and how the razor glides carefree across your face without any bumps.
The micro-silicone and natural fruit oils help with that. Not only is the hydroplane a shaving cream, but it also triples as pre-shave oil and moisturizing aftershave.
Reviewers praised the silicone base and how smooth it is but were disappointed by the high price tag and some experienced razor burn.
The lack of a classic lather is also a downside for some. While it’s the most expensive and high-end, there might be better alternatives out there.
IS A SAFETY RAZOR GOOD FOR PUBES?
Shaving the land down under is extremely temperamental and should be done very very carefully, for obvious reasons. The skin on your pubic area is way more sensitive than the skin on your other body parts, so you need to be a master of wet shaving before taking a safety razor down there.
Generally speaking, a safety razor works very well on the pubes as it does in other areas, and it can eliminate the issues of ingrown hairs that some suffer from when it comes to pubic hair. A safety razor would also give you a very close and clean shave, and speed up the process once you get the hang of it.
However, we advise that you become adept at using the razor first by trying it on your face, chest, armpits, and other areas. Once you can shave completely cut-free, you’re ready to go down.
Also, you might want to invest in a high-quality cream that will moisturize as well as make the razor glide smoothly. Oh and, please do clean the razor afterward.
VERDICT
All in all, the double-edged safety razor is a masterful invention that has gone unrivaled for over a hundred years. You just can’t beat old-fashioned sometimes, despite the technological advancements.
With the safety razor, you’re getting closeness, style, and easiness on the wallet and on the Earth. Behind every great razor, there’s a great shaving cream that will make the process smoother and easier.
With a good cream, you want good gliding, moisturizing, and a good price tag. Ultimately, pair up a safety razor with a good cream and you’re on your way to shaving heaven.
See Also: Best Straight Razor for Beginners.