Suggestions for your first Double Edge razor

I've received a few emails about which razor is best for a beginner and where to find one.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, YMMV.  What works for me, might suck for you so Your Milage May Vary when it comes to what you consider best.  But that being said, there are some guidelines for the beginner..

Keep in mind, I am still a beginner with but a few months of wet-shaving under my belt.  This possibly makes me a perfect resource as I can merely parrot what I am learning as I learn it from the more experienced folks.

Let's start with the options for the men..

This is a nearly endless list guys.  You'll have to sort through some of this on your own because your price range is a factor, but you can bet that spending more doesn't necessarily get you a better shave.  In fact, the cheaper options can yield an awesome shave.  Take the 1954 Gillette Super Speed I bought second hand and featured a few days ago in my Shaving on the Cheap post.  Amazingly, this thing cost me under $16 and it's "vintage".  It is an excellent whisker whacker; lightweight and well balanced.  Easy to load with it's top opening silo doors.  It's quite mild as far as DE's go, and can be found in relative abundance on ebay, and at flea markets.

Also priced at the low end is the Feather Portable..  It's super light weight and lacks some of the glitz other razors have, but that makes it no less of a good shaver and at $19 it cheap enough.. and new.

The Weishi Safety Razor has a decent following.. also under $20 and with an all metal construction.

If you fancy something a little nicer, Merkur has a line of double edge razors that is sure to please.  There are a few different handles to choose.  Models feature either a standard head, open comb design, the more aggressive slant bar heads as well as the Progress and Progress XL, which allow you to adjust just own mild or aggressive your shave is.

Want to step up to some real luxury??  Consider the Pils all stainless steel double edge safety razor.  It's got a real futuristic look and is reported to be one of the best DE's money can buy...but save your coins, this baby comes in at almost $250!

Mentioning Futur-istic, the Merkur Futur is a wonderful razor, albeit less conventional in looks and design.  I have one in the satin finish and love it!  It's adjustable and quite large compared to other DE's but it's most unique characteristic is the sound it makes.  You can actually hear the whiskers being sliced off...it has to be heard to be believe.  It's adjustability makes it a great first razor, but be fore-warned, navigating the big head of this razor around your nose and upper lip is a real challenge!

If I had to pick just one razor to recommend it would have to be the Merkur Progress.  It's been around for many many years and is likely one of the most popular adjustable razors.  Since you can dial your choice of blade exposure (less blade exposed = milder shave, more blade = more aggressive shave) it's a razor you can grow with and it's solid construction means you'll likely be passing it on to a future generation.  It's priced middle of the road at about $55.  A limited number of these razors go through a high level of modification to tighten the tolerances in the adjustment system and replace the cheesy plastic TTO knob... the result is The Mergress.  I shave with a Mergress XL which has a longer handle...I have zero complaints and if pressed could live with just this razor.

I haven't scratched the surface of what's available and it's tough to go wrong if you stick to a regular safety razor.

Ladies...stay tuned.  I have some recommendations for you as well!