I have been shaving with a double edged safety razor for about two months now and I feel ready to talk about it. In short, it’s far cheaper than cartridge razors in the long run and contrary to what you might think at first glance, you do not sacrifice safety or comfort for the value saved.

I decided to make my own starter kit because I didn’t feel like getting a stand and a fancy soap without knowing if I’ll even like wet shaving. I’ll go over each item in detail but here’s a list for now:

• an Edwin Jagger DE89
• a variety of razor packs to sample different brands
• a bar of Arko shaving soap
• a Proraso boar-bristle shaving brush

Edwin Jagger DE89 is a really forgiving safety razor, great for beginners. You would have to really try to cut yourself with it. It has a nice weight to it and the regular advice applies here: “Don’t apply any pressure to get a closer shave, just do another pass”. I just watched this video before my first shave, it went fine except I was too careful so there were a few patches left.

The razor came with a Feather blade and I also bought a variety of razors in five packs to try different brands. In my experience, the Feather blades started great and held their edge for at least 5 shaves (with 2 passes per shave). Astra is another brand I enjoyed shaving with for a reasonable amount of shaves. Permasharp blades started fine but lost their edges a bit quickly but they are pretty cheap so they might still be cost-effective. Finally, a pack of Shark blades was included with my package as a gift from the supplier but I didn’t enjoy them very much. They started okay at best and deteriorated pretty fast.

It took a few tries to learn how to get a good lather but I can recommend Arko soaps for a satisfying shave at a great price. Although, I have been taking the easy way with the leftover shaving gel for the last few shaves.