The Art of Manliness - #139： The Secrets of a Perfect Shave With Mark Herro

00:00:00.000 rep mckay here and welcome to another edition of the art of manliness podcast so the very first

00:00:20.040 article i published on the art of manliness was an article called how to shave like your grandpa

00:00:24.280 and it's an article about traditional wet shaving with a safety razor and it's the article that

00:00:28.860 really it put art of manliness on the map that's how a lot of people have found us that was back in 2008

00:00:33.640 since then we've done some other articles about shaving how to shave with a straight razor how to

00:00:37.540 shave how to do about shaver shave nicks and things like that but today on the podcast i've got the

00:00:43.460 original godfather of internet wet shaving his name is mark hero probably have seen his youtube videos

00:00:50.120 goes under the name mantic 59 on youtube and through his wet shaving videos this guy's probably taught

00:00:56.220 more men to shave than any other guy that's taught literally millions of men how to shave properly

00:01:01.600 using a safety razor using the straight edge and using other implements as well besides his youtube

00:01:06.780 channel mark has this website about shaving called sharpologist and today on the podcast we're going

00:01:11.680 to discuss all things wet shaving the benefits of safety razors if you've been curious about trying

00:01:16.460 the double-edged safety razor maybe we'll convince you to do it we talk about what you can do to get

00:01:21.920 a better shave closer shave technique to get a close shave and comfortable shave as well talk a

00:01:27.580 little bit about straight razor shaving and we talk a bit about the future of shaving shavings is

00:01:31.120 something a lot of men do every day so you'll probably find this really interesting get some

00:01:34.860 great practical tips you can start applying right away if you got a beard this podcast you probably

00:01:40.080 want to skip and i'll have a beard guy on sometime later anyways really great show without further

00:01:45.160 ado mark hero and traditional wet shaving all right mark hero welcome to the show thank you thank you for

00:01:59.360 having me all right so i know a lot of our listeners are familiar with your work you probably hold the

00:02:05.060 world record for teaching the most men how to shave how did you become everyone's dad on the internet

00:02:12.860 when it comes to shaving actually the uh the whole thing is kind of random and uh it started about

00:02:22.020 oh almost six years uh almost 10 years ago when i had received a camcorder for uh a a prize for a

00:02:34.720 conference i attended and at the time coincidentally one of the uh forums i was on

00:02:42.860 related to old school shaving uh started talking about this new service called youtube and

00:02:51.400 how somebody should make a video on how to uh shave with old school equipment and i sort of took it as

00:03:02.300 the gauntlet being thrown down and uh made some test video and showed it to the guys on the forum and

00:03:09.900 they all seemed to actually like it so i put it up on the on youtube and it languished there

00:03:15.780 uh for a few weeks as i figured it probably would and then somebody

00:03:21.860 uh submitted it to lifehacker and

00:03:27.100 it exploded from there that was the first big

00:03:33.300 coincidental takeoff in fact i still to this day get referrals from lifehacker onto my video page

00:03:42.400 so that's one of the first things that really started it and i just kept on going and i think

00:03:53.780 partly organically and partly uh due to some uh uh lucky coincidences uh all of a sudden the the videos

00:04:04.980 took off and i now have over eight million video views of uh something that would normally be totally

00:04:13.800 random uh shaving uh and uh i'm i'm actually uh doing it full time now as of uh uh as of april i retired

00:04:27.000 from my uh nine to five desk job took early retirement and i'm doing videos and my sharpologist website full

00:04:36.220 time that's crazy so you're making a living teaching something that most guys should have learned from their

00:04:41.580 dad that's true and the thing is most people haven't learned uh to shave properly from their dad or

00:04:48.620 whoever and it's uh i've kind of become their second dad like you said yeah yeah and why do you think that

00:04:56.740 is because like you know shaving is one of those things you think that oh yeah dad should like sit

00:05:01.420 down and like tell his kid here's how you shave but for me like my dad didn't do that i sort of uh

00:05:07.660 what my first shaving experience was i snuck in to his bathroom and uh bogarted one of his razors

00:05:14.640 from his dop kit and then tried to shave on my own i ended up like taking off a chunk of my lip

00:05:20.920 and it was really embarrassing because everyone knew like i was like 12 right and i hadn't i hardly had

00:05:29.240 any peach fuzz so everyone knew what i was doing it was really embarrassing um but i mean is that how

00:05:35.400 most guys learn how to shave they sort of do it on their own you know i i think though i think so

00:05:41.320 these days uh you know for me i actually learned with a electric razor i shaved with an electric

00:05:49.140 razor for 30 odd years my dad had an electric uh he handed me his old one and i stuck with electrics

00:05:57.920 for 30 years before i kind of saw the light and and uh tried uh traditional shaving uh largely due to

00:06:06.700 a young woman in my life who is now my wife uh who wanted uh to caress my smoothly freshly shaven face

00:06:15.140 and wanted it wanted it more smooth than i can get with an electric shaver but um getting back to

00:06:21.920 your question i think a lot of it is people relying on the media uh they they see uh tv commercials about

00:06:34.800 how easy shaving is supposed to be with the with the latest 27 bladed razor uh or uh or zip zip with an

00:06:43.460 electric razor done in two minutes kind of thing and i think the the skill set the learning curve

00:06:53.820 uh has largely been lost to external forces now it's not that difficult to pick up it's not that

00:07:04.060 difficult to learn in some cases you have to kind of unlearn some bad habits but uh i think part of this is

00:07:12.340 is the the time involved uh with just wanting to get something done and and get on with your life

00:07:19.200 and another problem is other people uh just don't want to spend the time uh to pass something on

00:07:27.900 yeah so and here's the i mean so why is there this just this interest right this explosion and interest

00:07:33.720 in traditional wet shaving like you said the video on lifehacker like i posted life has gone bonkers

00:07:39.340 you know over 8 million views i mean what's what's going on there you know i think it's it's two

00:07:46.520 different reasons i think one reason is purely economic purely financial uh i think when the the latest

00:07:56.600 five blade razor came on the market about oh four or five years now that people saw the

00:08:05.600 the prices for a cartridge refill and and thought to themselves this is insane why should i be paying

00:08:13.520 this much and so they go looking for an alternative looking for something less expensive the other

00:08:20.780 reason i think kind of goes back to what i was just saying about uh taking the time to to pass

00:08:29.160 something on i think some people are kind of longing for that that family connection that that connection to a

00:08:39.340 previous generation that maybe took things a little slower a little easier a little more leisurely or

00:08:49.140 just wanting to reconnect with a family memory you know there i don't know how many people have

00:08:55.980 mentioned to me their memory of when they were a child uh sitting in the bathroom watching their

00:09:02.820 father shave and i think they want to recapture that in some respect and this is one way of doing it

00:09:08.860 yeah yeah what shaving definitely provides it's a ritual in a lot yeah yeah in a lot of ways it is

00:09:14.520 yeah and uh yeah that connection between families so for example i have the uh gelette safety razor that

00:09:21.740 my grandfather used oh nice and i'm still using it and the things like i don't know 60 years old

00:09:28.060 yeah um and um i also have my great-grandfather's straight razor oh wow and you know have had it

00:09:35.460 restored and it's just cool the thing i mean the thing's over 100 years old yeah and it's like my

00:09:40.400 great-grandfather used this and my grandfather used this and now i'm using it and it's just it's nice

00:09:47.380 to have that connection right it's i get a lot of that kind of comment it's a real family or

00:09:53.140 historical connection that really appeals to people all right so a lot of your videos um and

00:09:58.800 instruction is geared towards the safety razor right uh i know if you're listening the art of

00:10:03.740 manly's podcast you probably know what a safety razor is but there might be a few who don't know what

00:10:07.720 it is uh can you describe what a safety razor is and what are the benefits of shaving with this type

00:10:13.380 of razor okay well at its base description a safety razor is a a bladed razor usually one blade now

00:10:27.100 the some people think that cartridge razors are a form of safety razors and that's fine but uh for

00:10:35.500 for our purposes let's assume a safety razor is a single blade with either one or two edges typically

00:10:42.500 two and what most people associated it with is the old gillette uh twist to open uh single blade

00:10:54.340 double-edged razor that as you said your father or grandfather might have used uh that really became

00:11:02.100 famous in the 40s 50s and 60s and so i mean what are the the benefits of of using this type of razor i

00:11:10.240 mean like look i mean you the marketing on these multi-blade razors like well you got multi-blades

00:11:14.640 you can get done faster you can get closer to the skin are there benefits to this type of blade

00:11:20.260 absolutely uh absolutely the first is purely economic the cost of a safety razor blade in bulk

00:11:31.520 is a fraction of the price of the typical cartridge

00:11:35.520 um it varies slightly anywhere from under a quarter to maybe 75 cents so average about

00:11:45.520 25 to 50 cents per blade in bulk uh so there's a a huge difference right there from the typical

00:11:55.360 cartridge also a safety razor a single razor will tend to give you less irritation

00:12:03.120 uh than a multi-blade cartridge uh typically a single blade cartridge pardon me a typically a safety

00:12:17.440 razor blade uh does take a little longer to use but not much but the shave you can get with it

00:12:26.480 is equal to or better than a cartridge as long as you're using proper technique and proper products

00:12:34.320 yeah that's one thing i one of the reasons i made the switch over to safety razor shaving initially was

00:12:39.840 with the multi blades i was getting just really bad bumps my skin just my face was just red and just

00:12:45.520 felt terrible after i shaved it was really close right i didn't have any like super smooth uh no no uh

00:12:53.200 whisker sticking out but it just was irritated as all get out right and that's largely due to the

00:13:01.040 the lift and cut technology of the typical cartridge or what i like to call the the the yank and slice

00:13:08.160 uh the concept is called hysteresis and the the problem with that is that as you said it can really

00:13:19.680 create some real problems with the skin with a safety razor blade as long as you are properly

00:13:27.680 preparing the face and have a good lather you don't need a lift and cut technology because

00:13:34.800 the hair will be about 25 percent more flexible and slightly ease out of its follicle so using a single

00:13:45.680 blade will give you the same type of shave as a multi-blade but with a lot less irritation so let's

00:13:52.160 talk about the the prep that goes on because a lot of guys who are using the multi-blade cartridges like

00:13:57.360 they might some of guys i've seen guys just use like splash on water and then shave right with these

00:14:01.920 things um in order to get a good comfortable shave with the safety razor there's a little more prep

00:14:06.240 involved so what are the steps that are involved to get a super close comfortable shave with the safety

00:14:10.960 razor sure actually it should be the same as with any razor and as you said a lot of people don't do

00:14:19.040 it but the first step is properly cleaning and hydrating the area to be shaved which we'll assume

00:14:26.160 is the face and that means lots and lots of hot water and a gentle soap uh what you don't want to

00:14:35.360 use is a body bar or a deodorant bar because it strips away too much of the natural oil on the skin

00:14:43.600 that you really need in conjunction with the shave product to get a a good shave with so a gentle

00:14:52.560 cleaning with a facial soap or a facial cleanser kind of thing even something like noxzema will work

00:14:59.440 great along with lots and lots of warm water will clean the skin hydrate the skin and and soften the

00:15:08.000 stubble to the point where you can get a proper shave really with any razor and i mean what about

00:15:13.920 the badger brushes a lot of people associate like if you're going to shave with the safety razor you

00:15:17.680 need a badger brush do you need a badger brush you know a badger brush is not required but it sure makes

00:15:23.120 it a lot nicer uh and i should say a brush in general you know it doesn't have to be badger there

00:15:29.600 are certainly uh other hair brushes available anything from horse hair to boar hair to even synthetics

00:15:37.840 and as long as you get something uh reasonably well built it really can make a difference in that

00:15:45.520 it will spread that lather much more evenly kind of surround each individual hair follicle

00:15:53.920 kind of wash away or swipe away the tiny bits of debris that might be uh next to a a follicle of hair

00:16:06.000 and just generally performs better but it's not required okay well you talked about like it in a lot

00:16:13.760 of the shaving forms in the shaving content out there that everyone's like badger hair is the the standard why

00:16:19.280 is badger seen as like the standard for a good shaving brush badger hair is one of the few types of

00:16:27.360 animal hair that hold water really well most animals want to uh shed water off of their hair

00:16:36.560 or their fur but the badger can actually retain water and others can as well i mean as i said the

00:16:45.040 boar and the the horse come to mind but badgers do it best okay yeah i've had a boar brush the one

00:16:52.400 thing i'd had problems with like it smells yeah the funk yeah uh been there done that yeah it takes

00:17:00.320 a while for you to go away it's sort of like soak your brush for a bit and then after a while the

00:17:04.560 scent will go away and that's really something any natural hair brush will have to some extent

00:17:11.120 some manufacturers treat the brush better than others so i've had plenty of badger hair brushes that

00:17:20.880 had quite a bit of funk on them uh horse can be pretty funky uh and as you said all it really takes is

00:17:29.680 some shampooing with a good uh a good animal hair shampoo or even just some some lather from a uh from a

00:17:40.800 shaving product massaged in really good rinsed a few times and after a week or so a week or two

00:17:47.440 the funk largely disappears and and you don't smell anything except uh the the shaving lather you're

00:17:53.840 working with okay so for those who are listening and they're like i want to start doing this

00:17:59.120 are there some brands you recommend that are like good starter brands because the one thing

00:18:03.520 people who get into uh old school shaving is that it can get really expensive really fast if you let it

00:18:09.840 uh that's true yes and it can become like a hobby and in a very expensive hobby um you probably know

00:18:17.600 well know this um but i mean are there some good like starter brands if someone wants to give you know

00:18:23.200 safety razors shaving a try yeah there are some actual some actually some some good brands out there um

00:18:31.120 um something that is widely available in the united states uh through places like uh the large

00:18:39.200 uh franchises the large department stores you'll often see a brand named van der hagen they have a

00:18:49.280 uh a set available uh that has a inexpensive boar hair brush and a a mug and some uh some uh some

00:19:00.560 shaving soap and you can find the basic version for under ten dollars or the much better premium set for

00:19:10.480 only about twenty five dollars and as i said you'll probably find them fairly widely available in the

00:19:16.720 united states uh as a as a side note i actually visited van der hagen last month by coincidence

00:19:24.720 uh and saw their manufacturing and distribution facility and it was incredible uh you often in in this

00:19:33.600 game you often talk to the shaving artisans where they make uh a few batches of shaving soap or shaving

00:19:40.400 cream at a time van der hagen makes their shaving soaps thirty thousand pucks at a time whoa and their

00:19:49.360 distribution center has semi trucks pull up to it with pallets of these things going out to

00:19:58.000 walmart walgreens target wherever and and it's that way every single day it's the place is just

00:20:05.120 insane i'm going to do a actually an article about it on my website sharpologist here and maybe next

00:20:12.080 month and with some photographs and everything because it really was impressive they're also starting to

00:20:18.880 sell a safety razor uh it's probably available in most of the same outlets it's a decent quality maybe not

00:20:28.480 the best out there but certainly adequate to start with and that's about twenty to twenty five dollars as well

00:20:35.280 for this safety razor so that is certainly one brand that is widely available amazon has a number of other

00:20:47.360 uh options obviously the the two most popular double-edged razors uh without a doubt right now are the mere core

00:21:00.320 model 34c which is also called the heavy duty and the edwin jagger de 89 which actually has a number of

00:21:10.960 different handle types but the same shaving head all to it uh and they're available in many different

00:21:18.880 online sources amazon is the easy one of course uh but those two are the easy recommendation because

00:21:29.760 so many people have them so many people have great uh uh great shaves with them and uh they're reasonably

00:21:37.760 well built and not overly expensive okay any shaving soaps you recommend sure uh again getting into sort

00:21:46.000 of the the mass market thing uh you're starting to see a brand now pacific shaving they have a

00:21:54.880 caffeinated shaving soap and aftershave that is excellent uh another fairly widely available brand it's uh

00:22:05.360 cream oh cream cream which is really a brushless cream but is brush friendly you can use it with a

00:22:11.440 brush if you wanted to uh that is also widely available uh of the other brands uh you'll start

00:22:19.280 seeing names like trumpers truefit and hill taylor of old bond street those are uh what's referred to as

00:22:26.160 the three t's in the hobby they are high-end but they are widely available and for the most part excellent

00:22:33.280 um another excellent name is dr harris and i should should mention all those brands are uh are british

00:22:41.200 brands um then there are a number of artisan uh soap and cream manufacturers that uh make very good

00:22:53.680 products but are less widely available okay so i mean what about you do a lot about safety razor

00:22:59.360 shaving do you do anything about straight razor shaving i do uh i'm not a big fan of straight

00:23:05.520 razor shaving myself frankly i'm just not as good as it as i'd like to be i suppose if i practiced a

00:23:11.920 little more i would be uh i just prefer the double-edged razor for some reason uh i do use a a straight

00:23:22.320 razor in fact i'm just in the finishing stages of putting together a sort of an online class for

00:23:30.640 straight razor shaving where i kind of go through some uh i don't want to say shortcuts but some

00:23:37.040 things you can do to shorten the learning curve and make it a little bit easier but i must say that for

00:23:44.960 myself for some reason i just prefer the the weight and the technology of the double-edged razor over

00:23:54.240 the straight but a lot of people love straight razors don't get me wrong yeah yeah yeah i've i've

00:23:58.960 do this right i don't do it all that often because you're right there is a very uh steep learning curve

00:24:04.320 with the straight razor um and if you don't do it right you'll slice your ear you're not that corner

00:24:10.880 um so yeah i'll probably do it just every now and then when i want to when i got some time i want

00:24:15.760 to treat myself yeah exactly a nice straight razor shave i know we've been dogging on the multi-blade

00:24:21.760 cartridges but have like have the big companies that make the multi-blade cartridges have they

00:24:27.440 responded in any ways are they doing anything to improve the shaving experience because of this uh

00:24:34.080 i mean there's a return to safety you know single double blade double-edged blade razors shaving

00:24:40.880 uh i think uh they've noticed it but they are uh so ingrained in their walled garden that provides a

00:24:56.880 uh a known profit margin for them that they are unwilling to really take a big step back now that

00:25:05.040 does not mean that they haven't for example in the india market uh gillette tried to introduce

00:25:14.880 a multi-bladed cartridge and the population just didn't really go for it mostly because it was too

00:25:20.880 expensive for them so they came up with a razor called the gillette guard which is a single blade

00:25:28.480 in a in a cartridge but it's one blade and very inexpensive except for the blade it's it's all

00:25:36.880 plastic but it does have a pivot to the head and reintroduce that into the market of india and has been

00:25:46.160 quite successful with it but they've used the gillette guard as sort of a third world low-cost entry product

00:25:55.520 uh and haven't haven't really taken it anywhere else now some enterprising vendors have actually

00:26:03.920 imported the gillette guard from india and you can buy them online here in the united states if you

00:26:10.960 want to try them they're only like two dollars and they work okay i mean they're not bad so that is is

00:26:19.120 one thing another i think is uh they are getting a little more into the pivoting technology which is

00:26:27.440 nice to see that's kind of one thing i will credit the uh the the large shaving manufacturers for i think

00:26:38.000 the the pivot is a good idea um and lately they've kind of taken it to the next step with the the ball

00:26:46.240 type concept which i don't really think personally gets you that much more but it's still an interesting

00:26:53.280 technology to investigate and if someone would make a single blade with a good pivot i think it would uh

00:27:02.320 i think it would work very well for a lot of people yeah one thing i noticed they've been doing is you

00:27:06.880 know especially gillette in their marketing talking about the the economy of shaving with their blades so

00:27:14.880 they'll talk about well you know you buy this blade it's gonna last you four weeks or five you

00:27:20.640 know five weeks because i think they're responding to that criticism that man these things are really

00:27:25.280 expensive to buy um and and you can you you can shave for a lot less a lot less money using a safety

00:27:33.520 razor why would i shave with you guys so i've been seeing their marketing on tv and in the magazines like

00:27:37.680 oh well you know if you look if you do the the dollar the average you know the cost per use it's

00:27:41.840 actually really affordable but if you look at the uh the fine print on that they also say they are

00:27:49.360 assuming that you only shave two or three times a week ah okay there's the rub there's the rub if

00:27:56.320 you shave every day the the the cartridge life is pretty much the same uh no matter what the brand you

00:28:04.720 get you will get slightly longer life out of some cartridges than other cartridges some brands versus

00:28:11.760 other brands but uh they kind of play fast and loose with uh with the longevity by assuming that

00:28:19.040 you're not going to shave as much as you did before okay let's get in some some brass tacks

00:28:24.720 tips about how to get some better get a better shave uh what can you do for shaving hard places like the

00:28:32.000 neck and the jawline okay well part of it goes back to uh adequate preparation making sure that skin

00:28:42.240 and that stubble is as ready as it can be for the shave and then when you do shave uh shave

00:28:52.240 the flattest parts first even if you're even if your razor has a pivot it still works best if you

00:29:04.400 don't actually follow the contours of the area but sort of look at it like a diamond and shave the the

00:29:12.960 flat parts the facets first uh then go back and re-lather and shave again from a different direction

00:29:22.640 and slowly reduce the stubble to an acceptable uh level rather than try and lop it off all at once

00:29:32.320 so yeah let's talk about that that whole reduction versus removing um this brings up the point like

00:29:38.160 shaving with the grain or against the grain what is the best way to go about that sure well and for

00:29:44.720 those who need to understand the concept if you rub your your face in different directions it'll feel

00:29:52.400 rougher in some directions and smoother in others the direction that it feels the smoothest is the grain

00:29:59.600 of that beard area and it might change depending on the the area of your face you're you're touching so

00:30:06.880 the idea is to get the safest most comfortable shave by first shaving with the grain reduce the bulk of

00:30:16.160 the stubble so it's comfortable and does not get irritated and then go back and re-lather and shave

00:30:24.000 across the grain that is a direction 90 degrees from the direction of the grain and then if you want

00:30:33.280 uh re-lather again if you want a still closer shave and shave uh against the grain but the one thing

00:30:41.040 that will be uh sure to produce irritation right away is if you try and shave against the grain right

00:30:48.960 away because you want to reduce reduce the bulk of the uh the uh beard uh most carefully what happens

00:30:58.400 if you i mean is what's happening is is it you're increasing the chance of ingrown hairs by doing

00:31:03.200 that is that what the irritation comes from that is partly that is partly the uh the the issue yes uh

00:31:09.840 ingrown and just razor burn redness uh uh taking off more hair than the skin is ready to give

00:31:18.800 up at that point gotcha what can you do about razor bumps and irritation that you might get even if

00:31:24.320 you're super careful it might come up what can you do to help uh treat that right well the best way to

00:31:31.840 treat it is to prevent it and the best way to prevent it is to use a a good quality sharp blade uh don't

00:31:39.280 try and use your blade for longer than its lifespan uh use a really good shaving product and take it

00:31:49.360 carefully take a little time to do it correctly rather than just take mindless swipes at your face

00:31:55.200 that being said there are a few treatments you can do uh afterward uh a good uh shave balm

00:32:05.120 will certainly help uh something that is relatively inexpensive and widely available i like to

00:32:11.280 recommend is nivea for men sensitive uh the sensitive version does not have dyes or artificial fragrance

00:32:21.520 and it works very well to calm the skin um i would advise against using a high alcohol content

00:32:31.200 aftershave splash because that will just dry out the skin even more and make make it even worse 0.73

00:32:38.000 uh there is a new product by grooming lounge called the shaver s-h-a-v-i-o-r that is made to treat

00:32:48.160 bumps irritation and ingrowns with regular use and it actually works pretty well i i used it uh

00:32:55.680 i evaluated it for several months a while back for myself and and it works pretty well um beyond that

00:33:03.680 uh a good rinse with warm water followed by cool water after the shave is also uh can be helpful for

00:33:12.800 avoiding those little uh little white pimply looking dots that often come up for some people

00:33:19.440 uh which is in a lot a lot a lot of times just simply lather residue that's been left on the face

00:33:26.480 and just rinsing that off thoroughly will will take care of that and then of course if you get a serious

00:33:32.560 cut a nick uh something like uh a uh a nick stick uh or uh an alum block or something like that will uh

00:33:45.360 treat those types of uh more serious cuts okay what about uh toilet paper is that like last resort

00:33:54.400 yeah if you need to sure yeah i let plenty of people do it i've done it myself on occasion

00:33:59.120 the toilet paper yeah i had to get put a band-aid on my lip when i my first shave it was pretty bad

00:34:05.120 yeah um are there any myths out there about what you know wet shaving that you see even in the wet

00:34:11.040 shaving community like you know set over and over and over again sure yeah certainly in the major

00:34:18.400 mainstream media the number of blades uh is largely one of the least important things about a razor uh

00:34:31.680 really the fewer blades the better in a lot of cases uh if somebody is getting a better shave with

00:34:38.480 with with a razor that happens to have more blades it is more likely due to the

00:34:45.680 uh blade technology of the razor that is not related to the number of blades it might be the

00:34:53.440 metallurgy of the blade has changed there may have they may have changed a non-stick coating they may

00:34:58.240 have changed the design of the razor head and that plays more of a role than the actual number of

00:35:04.240 blades in fact uh to my knowledge there has never been a peer-reviewed uh survey or or

00:35:14.880 test of multi-bladed razors that concluded more blades was better from somebody that did not have

00:35:23.680 the test funded by one of the big razor blade brands um another semi-myth is

00:35:33.760 the idea of the grain certainly if you are using a multi-blade cartridge you you really do need to

00:35:40.800 go with the grain but if you're using a safety razor you can cheat uh you can go in the general

00:35:49.040 direction of the grain uh without going through every little nook and cranny in fact i advocate when

00:35:57.840 you're learning a single blade safety razor to simply go straight down don't follow the grain

00:36:04.480 at all just go straight down it's more important to learn how to hold the razor properly and maybe not

00:36:11.600 get the best shaves in the world at first uh then to try and follow every little direction of

00:36:19.440 the the grain of your beard so that's sort of a myth um

00:36:24.320 um uh the uh another myth is uh that the the high-end badger brushes that cost several hundred

00:36:37.040 dollars and are uh gathered from badgers that are living high up in the mountains in some uh far

00:36:46.800 off land they're magical badgers the magical badgers will give you a significantly better shave

00:36:52.640 uh than a low-end brush uh certainly they can feel a lot better uh and at some point

00:37:02.640 some of the mid grades do perform noticeably better than the lower grades but after a point

00:37:09.680 after some price point and level of hair quality uh the amount of uh performance you get back

00:37:22.560 is not related to the hair itself but simply the the luxury of the experience gotcha so there's no need

00:37:29.360 to spend two hundred dollars on a shaving oh absolutely not you can spend for a good solid uh really

00:37:36.480 good performing brush you can do that for well under 75 dollars and it'll last you years uh some people

00:37:44.400 say that uh shaving brushes can last a lifetime personally i i don't go for that uh a badger brush is a

00:37:54.400 is a tool that does wear out but you can certainly make them last five to ten years with with no problem

00:38:00.800 at all and then uh get yourself uh something else down the line awesome well mark where can people

00:38:08.640 find more about your work okay well obviously my youtube channel is is where i become uh known first

00:38:16.320 and that is uh my youtube channel name is mantic 59 and then my related website which also has links to

00:38:25.760 the videos and a number of other resources is sharpologist.com awesome well mark hero is uh

00:38:34.080 thank you so much for your time it has been a pleasure thank you i appreciate your time our guest

00:38:38.880 there is mark hero he's the owner of the website sharpologist.com and you can also find his youtube

00:38:44.880 channel check that out if you want to see some great instructional videos about shaving under the username

00:38:49.120 mantic 59 well that wraps up another edition of the art of manliness podcast for more manly tips and

00:38:58.080 advice make sure to check out the art of manliness website at art of manliness.com speaking of wet

00:39:02.320 shaving if you guys didn't know this we actually have an art of manliness safety razor shaving set

00:39:06.640 on our art of manliness store putting a little plug store.artofmanliness.com it's a mercure razor and

00:39:12.640 it's got art of manliness engraved on the handle and it's got john l sullivan on the head of the

00:39:17.280 razor got also got a badger brush and uh some shaving soap as well so if you're interested

00:39:22.400 check it out uh your purchases there will support the art of manliness podcast as well as the content

00:39:26.560 we produce on artofmanliness.com really appreciate it until next time this is brett mckay telling you to stay

00:39:32.560 manly

The Art of Manliness - September 18, 2015

#139： The Secrets of a Perfect Shave With Mark Herro

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