Tidbits of Shaving Savings
I wrote a little about shaving last week in my post about 99 Cent Razors*, but I have a few more things to say that didn't fit in that post.
*99 Cent Razors = great site to get cheap, high-quality razors with little packaging.
So.
This is kind of a shaving miscellany post.
Shaving Cream
I haven't bought shaving cream in eons.
Why?
Well, it's kind of expensive, there are alternatives that work fine, and it comes in those metal cans that are hard to recycle.
Plus the metal cans always seem to rust in the moist bathroom environment.
I mostly use bar soap (Third Day Naturals) to shave. It lathers up really nicely, and like most bar soap, produces very little trash compared to shaving cream cans.
If I don't have bar soap handy, I just lather up some "body wash" (a.k.a. basic shampoo, which doubles nicely as body wash).
Also, many of you have written in to say that cheapie conditioner works great as well. That's a fairly low-trash option too, as it comes in recyclable bottles.
Making Razors Last
A reader sent me a tip last week to make razors last, and though I obviously haven't had time to test it out personally, I thought I'd throw it out there.
She says giving your razors a quick dip in rubbing alcohol post-shaving will make the razors last longer.
Apparently (from what I read on the internet), this is useful because it helps to completely dry the razor, which will keep the metal in better shape.
I'm pretty dreadful about drying my razor, but I'm gonna try to be better in the future, and I'm going to add the rubbing alcohol trick to my routine.
Electric Razors
Mr. FG is not a particularly whiskery male specimen, which means he doesn't need a super close shave every day. So, he opts to use an electric razor. This means no shaving cream is necessary, and his razor lasts for years and years.
(I believe he's on his second or third since I married him 18 years ago, and Joshua's using the one he last replaced, since Joshua hasn't exactly got an enormous beard going on at this point.)
I don't know the stats, but I doubt his razor uses much electricity, plus it requires no water, and lasts for years. So, I'm pretty sure it's a frugal option.
Though men with very thick, fast-growing beards may find the not-as-close shave to be annoying, less whisker-iffic men will probably be fine.
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Alrighty...that's all I've got to say about shaving for now. What did I miss? Share your shaving savings ideas in the comments and help your fellow readers out.
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P.S. I know that many of you are fans of straight blade shaving, which I haven't personally tried yet. But it is a very frugal and low-trash option.
P.P.S. I also know that just skipping shaving/trimming altogether is probably the cheapest options. But the men in my house haven't got enough whiskers for a beard. And I'm not really anxious to give up shaving. 😉 So, $0.99 razors and soap it is for me!
P.P.P.S. The girls were so gratified to read all of your kind comments yesterday about their kiwis. 😉
For me it is a razor and liquid soap, it works well and it is really cheap 🙂
Liquid soap! I never thought of that. I bet foaming hand soap would work really well too.
To make my razors last as long as possible, I rinse the blades (duh), but then use my toothbrush to get the junk out between the blades. I then give another quick rinse and blow out the blade. So, it is relatively dry and clean. I also learned to just use water in basic training almost ahem, 37 years ago. So, that is uber frugal.
Safety razors work great, the razors last forever, and the replacements are super cheap! My husband says that he used to get a lot of ingrown hairs on his face with a regular razor, but this one is gentler on his skin and he hasn't had as many problems since the switch. Definitely give it a try! I hate throwing razors away.
I don't actually use anything - just water, in the bath. If I feel like pampering myself I'll use a bit of natural soap, like you (I feel like soap lasts forever whilst liquid soap/conditioner runs out quite quickly). I've also seen articles on sharpening razor blades using old jeans, but I haven't tried it myself. Another thing that saves money is using a mans razor - the womens ones over here (UK) are more expensive because of the fancy packaging!
My other half uses an electric one too, and finds he never gets ingrown hairs anymore and it's a much easier affair.
My husband is a very whisker-y guy, and when he was in the Marines he would have to shave twice a day to stay within regs. He uses a straight razor, and sometimes a vintage safety razor with replaceable blades.
We have also used Dollar Shave Club for cheap razors. I like their customer service, and they throw in freebies often enough that we have stuck with them for a long time. I'm still using their razors, and my husband just doesn't shave now!
My first experience with shaving my legs was with my dad's electric shaver. It was the best. The trick was to make sure it was cleaned out after use so that dad wouldn't find out. The peach fuzz was a giveaway.
Hi Kristen!
I don't know if you already answered this, but have you compared 99cent Razors with the Dollar Shaving Club? The Modern Mrs. Darcy recommended it. (I checked her blog out at your suggestion). I could be wrong, but that company seems to have a better deal on getting replacement blades. Is the quality the same or similar? Thanks. Either is a much better deal than Target, even with coupons!
Shaving cream, lotion or conditioner will dull your razor much faster. Use bar soap and apply lotion later. I don't know if it is a conspiracy by personal care product companies to make shaving products dull razors…But it is widely known, I used to work in R&D for a personal care company and we all laughed all the time about the fancy shaving products we developed. In testing they never worked better than plain soap. Also, we all knew that they dulled razors and laughed about it across our lab benches.
Oh PS, most liquid soaps are not soaps… Dr. Bronners for example is soap, but Softsoap is not. Most liquid soaps are detergents (i.e. Sodium Laurel Sulfate, etc…) Also some bar soaps are also detergents, they are technically syndet bars (syndet stands for synthetic detergent). Read the packaging, legally if it is not soap, it cannot say soap. The package will say "cleansing bar" or "moisturizing bar" etc...
That is SO interesting. Huh. I do know that Third Day Naturals soap actually IS soap, but now I'm curious if things like Irish Spring and whatnot are soap.
As I've said before, Double Edged safety is the one for me!
I use an Arko shaving soap stick. It smells like Ivory soap and is really cheap (I paid $4 for it and am still using it years later.)
I also have a beard which makes life easier.
My favorite thing to shave my legs with is coconut oil. It smells and feels so nice, but unfortunately it leaves the tub very slippery, so you should probably only use it if you can sit down while shaving, or if you just like living on the edge 🙂
I just got an email from the shaving company who were overwhelmed with all Frugal girl fan orders they got. So, if you ever think you don't make a difference in this world, here's me saying, nonsense! You rock!. 🙂
I either use some of my homemade soap or coconut oil. Oils are great for winter or if you have dry skin. My legs get really dry, but I can usually skip lotion when I shave with oil. I do plan to make a soap that's formulated to have a little more "slip" for shaving. I'm curious to find out if it makes a difference.
I have to try using shampoo when I run out of my shaving oil (aka coconut oil). Try it sometime! It is really cheap and effective!