Astra razor blade review

It's time to give reviewing shaving products a shot! Asking around the shaving community, they believe you should address; price, quality, sharpness, longevity,smoothness, and packaging. I will be reviewing the Astra Platinum razor blades, the ones that come in the red package. Let's start this off!

• Price: I purchased 100 of these blades from Fendrihan.com at the amazing price of $16 Canadian
• Quality: These blades are made in Russia, they were initially made in Czech Republic but then Gilette bought the company and moved production to Russia
• Sharpness: The first time I used these blades I was amazed by the sharpness compared to other milder blades such as Wilkinson Sword or Merkur. They provide a great shave, they might not be the best blade to start out with due to the sharpness as they are not a very forgiving blade if used incorrectly
• Longevity: This blade had lasted me a while, I would say around 3 or 4 shaves, you can still shave after that with it, but I like to keep my blades sharp
• Smoothness: This is where the blade really shines, you can really feel how smooth this blade is AFTER your shave, it glides over your face like silk
• Packaging: The packaging is fairly average, which is not bad, it comes in a simple wax package to protect the blade and then a paper cover with the name on it.

Overall, this is a great blade, I recommend it to anyone  who is looking for the most bang for your buck!

Shaving creams, soaps, and gels.

"All these options, which do I choose?"

Ditch that aerosol can! Shaving foam does not tend to be liked by most experienced shaver. Even though it has a fluffy texture, it does not provide enough skin-protection, lubrication, or moisture. Gel formulas are one step up from shaving foams, companies are starting to realize that they need to add more moisturizing ingredients, but most of these gels are still filled to rim with chemicals, artificial coloring, and an overpowering scent that can irritate your skin. So that means if you are going to stick to gels, use one that works with your skin, and not against it. Or throw in some old school barber shop products into your routine, like creams, soaps or anything with a good fat content. While they maybe a lot of options to choose from, try to experiment and find one that works for you!

Shaving Brushes

Wow, self lathering?!?

Ahh the shaving brush, one of the most important elements of wet shaving. If you are really interested in having a great shave and taking care of your skin, you will want to read this closely. There are many kinds of shaving brushes, ones with natural hair, ones with artificial hair, short ones, long ones, and all types of handles. A quality shaving brush is with the finest grade of badger hair, these two go hand in hand with shaving soaps and creams. Before you start using your brush you should wash it well with warm water and soap. After using it, rinse the brush with warm water to get all the soap and dead skin off. To dry it, put the shaving brush in its holder with the tips of the hair facing down. Allow the brush to dry because a wet or dank brush may harm the hairs. The grades of shaving brushes are very important the order goes as so; silver-tip, super, best, and pure badger hair.

Razor Burn

How some people see their razor

Razor burn is usually from the friction between your blade and your face. It is basically a post-shave irritation or rash. Thankfully, it is easily remedied with good products and being attentive when you are shaving. Use a pre-shave oil before the shaving soap. The oil will help lubricate your skin and reduce friction. Use a sharp blade. For those of you who shave with a cartridge razor, I know new blades can be expensive, but they are not worth shredding your face over. Try to change your blade about every 3 or 4 shave.Don't apply too much pressure, let your blade do the work, if you press you are just causing more and more friction. Make less passes. The more times you shave the same area, the more likely you are going to experience irritation  if  you use one of those cartridge razors with 80+ blades it's just overkill for your skin. That goes into another point, you can try to use a razor with fewer blades.Avoid going against the grain. And to sum it all up you want to use a moisturizer or aftershave that does not have alcohol to help heal your skin, alcohol based aftershaves only irritate your skin even more.

Pre-Shave Oil

How you'll feel after a razor burn free shave!

Throw in a little glide your next shave with a pre-shave oil! This wonderful product is applied to your face before shaving soap, it helps make your skin and whiskers softer, cutting friction down between your razor and your face, which means, much less pulling and tugging, reduced ingrown hairs, and little to no razor burn! This is a great tool for anyone with sensitive skin. Now you might be thinking clogging your face down with an oil is a bad idea, you can relax knowing that the oils that are used don't clog pores or cause you to have breakout!

Part III: The Post Shave

Others see the difference, you feel it!

Wow, you've come this far! Now that your face is whisker free and as smooth as a baby's, its time to protect it from the elements. Now why would you want to take part in a ritual that just dries your skin out or makes you look older? That is the problem with alcohol based aftershaves, they dry your skin out, therefore making you look older. After you've shaved you are going to use cold water to close up your pores, cool your face off, and reduce irritation. Since you do not want to use alcohol, try using an after shave balm or lotion, these keep your skin hydrated and also protect your skin from irritations. An extra step you might want to take if you get ingrown hairs or razor bump(razor bumps look like pimples or zits and very uncomfortable) is a razor bump cream. You simply put some on your hands, and apply it to your skin, this will greatly reduce the chances of razor bumps. Now before you say "Oh what a great shave that was!", you are going to need to clean up. After you're done your ritual you need to put everything in place and dry out your tools so they stay in great shape. Take your razor blade apart and dry out each piece including the blade, drying out the blade will make it last longer and keep it sharp for your next adventure. Next, we want to dry out the brush, this is quite easy, all you do is rinse any soap or cream off of it and twist the bristles or hairs gently, after this you can either put it on your bathroom table or let it air dry in your stand. So that sums it up for this how-to series. I hope you have enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed making it!

Part II: The Shave

Fedoras and shaving, what's manlier? 

Now we are getting into the real fun part of the ritual, the actual shave! Because you have prepared for the shave, your skin should be soft and your whiskers ready to cut! So unlike shaving with a cartridge razor, there is a lot of technique used with safety razor shaving, while it may take a while to learn to get the perfect shave, it will all be worth it in the end. The first rule of shaving is to remember that you do not apply pressure, I can not stress how important this is, if you apply pressure you will simply be cutting and hacking skin off. To help not apply pressure, try holding the razor at the end and as farthest away from the razor as possible, the weight of your safety razor should be enough to cut all the hair off. Next is how you angle the blade, and this is the part that takes the most time to learn, because each face is different so there is no exact angle, but it is usually around 45 degrees. If you do not want to learn proper angling on your face, try your arm, see where the blade is the farthest angle away from your skin, while still being able to cut hair off. If you have a lot of facial hair, you are probably going to need to shave multiple times, this is due to gradual beard reduction. Gradual beard reduction is taking a bit of hair off each time instead of trying to shave everything off in one sweep. Trying to get the perfect shave in one sweep will not work, and if you try, your razor will simply clog up and you will probably end up damaging your blade, or even worse; your face. With gradual beard reduction, you'll want to shave with the grain multiple times, now shaving against the grain might give you a closer shave, but you are much more susceptible to razor burn, razor bumps, and general skin irritations. So if you follow all these steps and have a nice sharp razor, your face should be thanking you for the most comfortable shave it has ever gotten! Remember to be careful and enjoy a great tradition men have passed on for centuries!