Who amongst us choose cartridge razors?

I use cartridges to shave my head but stick to a DE to shave my face.  for me, cartridges are just so much easier to use on my head than  SE/DE razor.

Me too. I have a Sensor Cart for exactly this.

Thanks for starting this thread Lipripper660.   Please forgive me if I stray a bit from carts only.  Many cart users reading or responding to this thread will already be quite experienced with our hobby. But there may also be newcomers, and I would like to say a few things with them in mind too.

I usually take a Gillette Guard along when I travel, and I occasionally use a OneBlade Genesis.  The Genesis is not a cart in my book, but it does have a pivoting head, it is a forgiving razor, and it has already been mentioned in this thread. There are still times, at home or on the road, when the Genesis is the tool I reach for. I most often use badger brushes at home and synthetics on the road.  (I could probably get along just as well with synthetics only, but I have never seriously tested that idea.)  At any given time, I take roughly 90 percent of my shaves cycling through three or fewer “soap bases” (soaps from the same maker with the same recipe except for the scent).

If I were starting to expand my shaving hobby beyond carts and canned foam, I would keep whatever cart I was using, buy a synthetic brush, and learn to lather with a “real” shaving soap or cream, meaning one that requires a brush. I would suggest bowl lathering at first. The most important thing is to get good quality items and stick with the same brush and soap base for a few weeks or a month at a time. The one exception to the “stick with it” rule is if your skin doesn’t tolerate the products you are using. In any case, the items need to be good, but they do not need to be great, and not top-shelf expensive. Only after I was comfortable building lather would I consider whether I wanted to move to a more traditional razor.  This is by no means the only way to move on down the road, but with 20-20 hindsight, it is the way I wish I had done it.

I guess we’re all different. I have given the exact opposite advice, start with a DE, but keep the usual cream. Carts give me ingrown hairs, even if I use a soap/brush. I can even use canned foam with a DE, but it doesn’t work with carts. I wish I could use carts when I travel though. It would be so much easier. I agree with the basic point of your advice, no matter which way one chooses to change their routine, only change one variable at a time.

S

Thanks for starting this thread Lipripper660.   Please forgive me if I stray a bit from carts only.  Many cart users reading or responding to this thread will already be quite experienced with our hobby. But there may also be newcomers, and I would like to say a few things with them in mind too.

I usually take a Gillette Guard along when I travel, and I occasionally use a OneBlade Genesis.  The Genesis is not a cart in my book, but it does have a pivoting head, it is a forgiving razor, and it has already been mentioned in this thread. There are still times, at home or on the road, when the Genesis is the tool I reach for. I most often use badger brushes at home and synthetics on the road.  (I could probably get along just as well with synthetics only, but I have never seriously tested that idea.)  At any given time, I take roughly 90 percent of my shaves cycling through three or fewer “soap bases” (soaps from the same maker with the same recipe except for the scent).

If I were starting to expand my shaving hobby beyond carts and canned foam, I would keep whatever cart I was using, buy a synthetic brush, and learn to lather with a “real” shaving soap or cream, meaning one that requires a brush. I would suggest bowl lathering at first. The most important thing is to get good quality items and stick with the same brush and soap base for a few weeks or a month at a time. The one exception to the “stick with it” rule is if your skin doesn’t tolerate the products you are using. In any case, the items need to be good, but they do not need to be great, and not top-shelf expensive. Only after I was comfortable building lather would I consider whether I wanted to move to a more traditional razor.  This is by no means the only way to move on down the road, but with 20-20 hindsight, it is the way I wish I had done it.

I guess we’re all different. I have given the exact opposite advice, start with a DE, but keep the usual cream. Carts give me ingrown hairs, even if I use a soap/brush. I can even use canned foam with a DE, but it doesn’t work with carts. I wish I could use carts when I travel though. It would be so much easier. I agree with the basic point of your advice, no matter which way one chooses to change their routine, only change one variable at a time.

Yes, we are all different, and it is good to know your experience too. I am curious about one thing: Have you tried the Gillette Guard? I ask because IIRC some people say that the single blade of the Gillette Guard is good for avoiding ingrown hairs.

S

Thanks for starting this thread Lipripper660.   Please forgive me if I stray a bit from carts only.  Many cart users reading or responding to this thread will already be quite experienced with our hobby. But there may also be newcomers, and I would like to say a few things with them in mind too.

I usually take a Gillette Guard along when I travel, and I occasionally use a OneBlade Genesis.  The Genesis is not a cart in my book, but it does have a pivoting head, it is a forgiving razor, and it has already been mentioned in this thread. There are still times, at home or on the road, when the Genesis is the tool I reach for. I most often use badger brushes at home and synthetics on the road.  (I could probably get along just as well with synthetics only, but I have never seriously tested that idea.)  At any given time, I take roughly 90 percent of my shaves cycling through three or fewer “soap bases” (soaps from the same maker with the same recipe except for the scent).

If I were starting to expand my shaving hobby beyond carts and canned foam, I would keep whatever cart I was using, buy a synthetic brush, and learn to lather with a “real” shaving soap or cream, meaning one that requires a brush. I would suggest bowl lathering at first. The most important thing is to get good quality items and stick with the same brush and soap base for a few weeks or a month at a time. The one exception to the “stick with it” rule is if your skin doesn’t tolerate the products you are using. In any case, the items need to be good, but they do not need to be great, and not top-shelf expensive. Only after I was comfortable building lather would I consider whether I wanted to move to a more traditional razor.  This is by no means the only way to move on down the road, but with 20-20 hindsight, it is the way I wish I had done it.

I guess we’re all different. I have given the exact opposite advice, start with a DE, but keep the usual cream. Carts give me ingrown hairs, even if I use a soap/brush. I can even use canned foam with a DE, but it doesn’t work with carts. I wish I could use carts when I travel though. It would be so much easier. I agree with the basic point of your advice, no matter which way one chooses to change their routine, only change one variable at a time.

Yes, we are all different, and it is good to know your experience too. I am curious about one thing:  Have you tried the Gillette Guard?  I ask because IIRC some people say that the single blade of the Gillette Guard is good for avoiding ingrown hairs.

I have not tried the guard. I tried the personna twin that’s similar to the old Atra and it didn’t work for me either.

When I am in a hurry sometimes I use a gillette disposable 3 blade razor.

vtmax  where did you buy skin guard from?

I just ordered a sample https://gillette.com/en-us/skinguardsample

I won't use a cart ever again. For traveling, I have an inexpensive DE setup (less expensive, that way if lost of left no big deal). I don't worry about how long it takes me to shave. If I don't have the time, then I don't shave. I can't even imagine going back to the pain and irritation that carts (and canned goo) caused me.

I use cartridges to shave my head but stick to a DE to shave my face.  for me, cartridges are just so much easier to use on my head than  SE/DE razor.

Me too.  I have a Sensor Cart for exactly this.

I switch between a few carts and a headblade. lately I've been using my new defender cart and I'm quite happy with it...I believe I have 3 head shaves with it now.

I finish my head shaves with a gillette sensor on a headblade moto. There is no better finisher. If I use it on its own I need way too many passes to get a smooth clean shave.
On my face carts simply can't get me bbs.

HighSpeed was kind enough to send me a Gillettet Guard to try. I tried it on my last trip and it did not work well for me. I tried my normal light touch technique, but the razor just scraped the lather off of my face, so I applied more pressure. I only shave with the grain. After 2 passes, I still wasnyas close as 1 pass with a DE, but it was good enough to go to work. My face was burning for an hour or so after the shave, so I guess I applied too much pressure. On the plus side, I did not get any ingrown hairs. I also tried one of my personna twin blade cartridges and I did not get any irritation with it, but it still wasn’t as close as my DEs and I did not enjoy shaving with it.

I did learn that it is worth it for me to go through the trouble of mailing blades to the hotel and getting stopped by airport security to bring a DE with me when I travel. If I’m ever in a situation where I don’t have enough notice to mail blades before I travel, I’ll use the Personna twin cartridge, but that is the only way I’ll use one again.