Hi, I didn't get an answer on the shaving forum so I'm going to post here. Hope someone can help.
so I've been looking into shaving and I've bought myself a better shaving cream for my skin, but I also learnt I'll need a new razor. I currently use a five blade Gillette Fusion razor, but it's better to have a one blade razor apparently.
Does anyone else agree with this one blade razor theory?
Also my Gillette razor has a one blade precision trimmer on the back of it, can I just shave with that instead of buying a new one blade razor?
Prepackaged safety razors are great because you have to try to cut yourself. Yours has five blades so you can get a close shave at a safe angle. However, having five blades is roughly equivalent to doing five passes over the same area. In theory, this could mean you are shaving off five layers of skin per stroke.
Straight edge razors and a double edge safety razors let the user determine blade angle. Using a tighter blade angle lets you get a close shave in 1-2 strokes. Straight edge shaving makes you a bamf but you can cut your face very deep if you mess up. Double edged safety razors give you more flexibility to determine angle than a prepackaged safety razor but less than a straight edge. They also use disposable blades so they are wayyyy easier to take care of.
Switching to one of the two will be a trip compared to what you are doing now. You can only cut yourself by moving the blade horizontally but at tighter angles the blade is less forgiving to horizontal movement. You flirt with disaster trying to find that perfect angle to allow one pass but push the angle too much and you risk cutting yourself. It's hella fun.
I think switching might help but my best advice is to shave less. I get basically no acne under my beard when i let it grow out. If shaving is a must Merkur makes very good double sided razors. Get the short handle the longer handle gets in the way.