Not so long ago, it was all about the ‘au naturel’ look for men.

But a new study last year revealed that 55% of men felt embarrassed about their body hair to the point that it actually prevented them from participating in certain activities.

In fact, Research reveals that men are feeling the same pressure as women to be hair-free. And whilst young men are leading the trend of body hair removal, older men are also feeling the pressure to keep up with appearances.

Initially one would think since safety and multiple cartridge are both razors, they are technically the same right?

Wrong – there are some major differences between the blades.

When using a double edge safety razor you get a lot more control and better shave that you might ever experience with a cartridge razor.

Why? .. Because when you use a cartridge razor be it 3 or 5 blades, those are several blades that are being dragged across your face at any given time and a couple important things that are going on.

First off, when a cartridge razor has several blades, they are going to me much more likely to get clogged whereas with a double edge safety razor you only have just one blade and there are no chances of clogging to occur.

But what’s so bad about clogging... you can just rinse it under water and keep going right?

Well yes, kind of…

You see when the blades are caked with your discarded hair and shaving cream, but also sebum oil as well.

What’s sebum oil?

That is the natural oil that your skin produces on a daily basis.

This is a vital part of your body that keeps your skin well hydrated and looking healthy.

In addition to stripping away the natural healthy oils in your skin, a cartridge razor is also taking off quite a bit of skin particles as well.

When all of this adds up you are opening yourself up to all sorts of problems – namely razor burn and also perhaps an uptick in acne production as well.

Which leads me to my first of two sections…

Contrary to a cartridge based razor, a double edge safety razor may help reduce the risk of that dreaded post shave razor burn. There are a few details at play here though.

First off, when using the double edge safety razor – its all about technique.

What’s that exactly?

When you go across your face you want to make sure it is at a flat surface (don’t pull your skin too taught).

When making the strokes with your double edge safety razor, you want to approach your skin at about a 30º angle. This is the optimal angle to go at in order to both cut your hair closely and help prevent any sort of skin irritation and post shave razor burn.

If its your first time ever with a double edge safety razor, its a learned process that does take a fair bit of time getting used to it.

The other part of the post shave razor burn as I was eluding to earlier was the fact that many of your pores are wide open when you are shaving, and when passing a clogged cartridge razor stuffed with oils, shaving cream, and hairs – your chances of filling the pores up with bacteria are much greater – of which causes general skin irritation.

While a double edge safety razor is by no means perfect – it can help many guys out with reducing their razor burn.

A good thing to always have on hand when shaving whether its a double edge safety razor, cartridge razor, or even a straight edge razor is a decent aftershave.

You don’t have to break the bank for this stuff, but we always recommend a witch hazel based aftershave. Witch hazel is an all natural ingredient that acts both as an antiseptic (kills of bacteria), and an astringent (closes up pores).

So with witch hazel is splashed on to your face you are giving it the unequivocal 1 + 2 punch.

Much like the problems that I outlined about razor burn in the section above hold true for combating acne.

There are a ton of guys who experience acne after shaving.

When you think about it, it makes total sense.

A cartridge razor is not only dragging across the excess oils and dirt from your face, but its dragging them right into pores that have been opened up during the regular shaving process!

This is completely bad news for anyone dealing with acne.

A double edge safety razor is great in that you can do more shaving with less passes.This way you are scraping off less of the skin on your face and less likely to transfer the grime to open pores.