Can You Use Regular Shaving Cream With A Safety Razor
For the shaving beginner men out there, you probably have many questions surrounding the use of safety razors and shaving cream. One such is, can you use regular shaving cream with a safety razor?
Yes, you can use regular shaving cream with a safety razor. In fact, you can use any topical lubricating medium to assist with your shaving.
Let’s get into more detail about this. To begin, we must understand facial hair. Firstly, beard hairs are not the same as those that grow on top of your head as they are sharper and thicker.
Why Use Shaving Creams?
Shaving creams work by creating a thin layer of protection between the blade and the skin.
This protection layer ensures that there is friction between the blades and the skin which then minimizes the risk of razor burn and irritation.
So shaving cream acts as a buffer between razors and your face, but no solution is perfect. Mishaps can happen, even with the shielded blade of a safety razor, and using both can have additional problems.
Safety razors already struggle to cut hairs off at the base, leaving stubble behind. Using shaving cream helps to guarantee a cleaner cut as well.
Well, if stubble is what you are looking for, problem solved, However, most men are looking for a good, clean shave. If that’s what you want, you’ll need something a little more specialized.
What Are Shaving Creams Made Of?
The first shaving cream, dating all the way back to 3000 BC was made from wood alkali and animal fat.
Soap, being of similar ingredients, was used up through the 20th century. These, however, made for mediocre shaving creams and often caused uneven trims.
Modern shaving creams however commonly consist of an emulsion of oils, soaps or surfactants, and water. These solved the consistency issues, but it wasn’t until the 1970s, with the creation of shaving gel, that the technique was perfected. Check out our comparison of shaving gels and foams to learn more.
We should mention that since the 70s, some shaving cream brands have abandoned using soap in their formula. If you are concerned about this, check out this list of shaving creams for sensitive skin and find one without any soap.
How Does Shaving Cream Affect Your Skin?
Remember, shaving cream is not just applied to your hair, it is also applied to your skin. As such, you also need to consider how these products affect your skin.
Your skin will always produce some degree of oil and soaps, such as those found within shaving cream, break down oils so they’re washed away at the end.
This can be incredibly damaging in the long run, in ways you might not even be able to imagine. Dried-out skin is more than just unattractive- it can lead to cracks in the skin and which can even cause physical pain.
Shaving Cream vs Shaving Gel
So we did mention that you can use many different types of topical lubricants on your face to aid your shaving and in general that’s true. However, the two main acceptable shaving lubricants are shaving cream and shaving gel.
But is a gel all that different from a cream? Yes, they are!
How?
Well, gels can generally clean your pores, promote hair growth, and are designed to give your face a brilliant glow. In general, they don’t have some of the disadvantages of shaving creams.
The only advantage creams offer is that they are great cleaning agents (which has its own disadvantages).
However, shaving creams are generally better known because they have been accepted into popular culture because they offer very quick shaves.
Moreover, the aesthetics of the white foaming cream has existed for a long time and just looks better, even though it doesn’t offer more benefits than shaving gels.
Nonetheless, there are some excellent shaving creams on the market. There are excellent shaving creams with aloe vera as well as good shaving creams even for sensitive skin.
In addition to that, you need an excellent safety razor like the [easyazon_link identifier=”B002A8JO1Q” locale=”US” tag=”shaving_club-20″]Merkur 34C Heavy-Duty Short Handle Safety Razor[/easyazon_link]. Why is this great? Well because the shorter handle offers better control. This razor enjoys one of the best track records for safety as well.
Is It Hard to Shave with a Safety Razor?
No, it’s not difficult to shave with a safety razor. One thing that makes safety razors efficient and easier to use is that they are very sharp and require less effort on your part.
Nevertheless, when using a safety razor, it’s important to allow its weight to do most of the work.
You only need to apply minimum pressure to keep the razor head against the skin.
How Often Should You Shave with a Safety Razor?
You can use a safety razor for shaving daily or as often as you want. That’s because this razor is not only safe to use, but also easy and efficient.
If you’re using the safety razor to shave your head, you can do it daily or once in two days.
What is the Difference Between a Safety Razor and a Disposable Razor?
The major difference between a safety razor and a disposable one is the blade itself. Disposable/straight razors have removable blades that connect to the head of the razor. Whenever the blade becomes dull or dirty, you can simply throw the razor away.
On the other hand, straight razors use a fixed blade and require regular maintenance and sharpening to keep them sharp and in proper working order.
Why is a Safety Razor Better than a Cartridge?
Safety razors are better because they are more environmentally friendly than cartridges.
They don’t harbor plastics and their handle is mostly made of highly durable metals.
They also feature double-edged blades, which are made from sharpened metals.
Conclusion
As we have said, you can use shaving cream with safety razors. This is in fact one of the primary uses along with being used with straight razors. as long as you are wet shaving, ensure you choose a proper razor and an excellent shaving cream.
