5 Best Straight Razors For Beginners
Straight razors are one of the most traditional ways to shave and, once perfected, produce extremely close and smooth results. Many men love the ritual of shaving with a straight razor which often requires more attention and care than with cartridge razors, but feels fantastic. We’ve put together our list to help you find the best straight razor for beginners, so you can hone your technique and enjoy the luxury of straight razor shaving.
This list is by no means extensive as we have a huge number of straight razors and shavettes available here at The English Shaving Company, all of which are fantastic. These are just five of our favourites!
Not only will the first choice on our best straight razor list make you feel like a pirate, it’s also a fantastic choice for beginners. Firstly, the blade can be changed, and secondly, it’s inexpensive.
Dovo have been designing and manufacturing straight razors for over a century, creating beautiful pieces that range from their best straight razors for beginners, like this one, through to stunning premium straight razors for the practised and dedicated experts.
While Dovo have a huge range of traditional straight razors, this is another shavette compatible with replaceable blades that make it easy for beginners to focus on the technique of straight razor shaving without worrying about stropping and honing.
It takes both double edge safety razor blades, like the Bluebeards Revenge, and longer shavette blades so you can choose which you prefer -- or try both to see which works best for you.
This shavette is also fantastic because it’s very lightweight, just 14g without the blade, making it easy to handle and control.
Pros:
This Boker straight razor is one of the best straight razors for beginners largely due to the shape and size of the blade. It’s made in Solingen, Germany, an area famous for its metal work including manufacturing some of the best straight razors in the world.
Unlike the first two straight razors on our list, this razor doesn’t have a replaceable blade. It means that you’ll get the full straight razor experience, including learning how to strop and hone your blade!
The blade is made from carbon steel, which helps it to stay sharp for longer, maintain an edge and produce a very close shave. It has a ⅝” blade width - a popular choice ideal for those new to straight razors. Combined with Boker’s rounded point nose, this is an easy razor on which tolearn the straight razor shaving technique, allowing easier access to the smaller areas and contours of your face.
This blade has an extra hollow grind; it’s the thinnest blade with a finer edge. It has the potential to produce one of the closest shaves. It also results in the blade being more flexible, lending itself well to fine shaving.
Pros:
Thiers Issard are metal working experts that manufacture and supply premium knives and straight razors all around the world. They are renowned for their quality craftsmanship of handmade straight razors. While ‘Le Dandy’ marks a step up in price in our list of the best straight razors, it is a beautiful razor that produces the finest results and is suitable for beginners.
The ‘Le Dandy’ razor has a singing hollow grind, another name for extra hollow. This extremely thin and fine edge to the razor blade produces a beautifully smooth finish. It’s combined with a carbon steel blade which helps to retain the edge, keeping the blade sharp for longer. Not only that, but it is also protected with a thin layer of grease which keeps the metal from rusting.
Like the Boker razor above, it has a rounded tip which makes it easy for a straight razor beginner to maneuver the blade around the more inaccessible areas of the face.
It’s a larger investment, but a well maintained Thiers Issard straight razor should last a lifetime.
Pros:
This is a stunning example of Japanese design that is one of the best-looking razors on our list. It’s not just how it looks though; the Feather Artist Club razor produces a superb shave.
This razor takes replaceable blades which don’t need sharpening. It’s the perfect choice for a beginner who values style, but doesn’t want to take the extra time required for stropping and honing.
Feather are a well known and established Japanese brand that have earned their spotlight in the shaving industry. They make some of the best razors and blades -- not just for straight razors, but for safety razors too -- which deliver an extremely close and smooth finish without requiring much pressure. You can use the Feather Pro Super Artist Club Blades or the regular Feather New Hi-Stainless DE Razor Blades with this razor. These blades allow even beginners to get the best out of each shave.
The blade holder is made from high grade stainless steel making it extremely strong and resilient, and the body is made from non-slip silicon resin. This means the razor should last a lifetime with little maintenance to the handle.The blade will need replacing periodically to ensure optimal performance. The handle material also helps to improve your grip when shaving, something that’s important for every shaver, but particularly beginners.
The Feather Artist Club SS Japanese Shavette Razor makes shaving a pleasure, even when just starting out.
Pros:
Best 5 Straight Razors
1. Bluebeards Revenge Cut Throat Razor
Not only will the first choice on our best straight razor list make you feel like a pirate, it’s also a fantastic choice for beginners. Firstly, the blade can be changed, and secondly, it’s inexpensive.
Changeable Blade
Most straight razors require the blade to be honed and stropped periodically to keep it sharp. This is in itself a skill as you have to learn when your razor blade needs sharpening and the technique involved in doing so. However, the Bluebeards Revenge straight razor is ideal for beginners. The blade can simply be removed and replaced every few shaves when it begins to dull. This means that you can focus on learning the straight shaving technique and save the honing until later!Inexpensive Razor & Blades
The razor itself costs just £9.99. This is ideal if you want to have a go at straight razor shaving without the big financial investment. If you discover that it’s not for you, you haven’t got too many sunk costs. Not only that, but the replacement blades are very inexpensive. It might seem that buying a razor with replaceable blades could lead to further expense in the long run, but The Bluebeard’s Revenge has taken this into account. Rather than requiring more niche straight or shavette replacement blades, it’s built for standard double edge safety razor blades which are extremely easy to get hold of and cheap to buy. Pros:- Inexpensive
- Low maintenance
- Well reviewed
- Replaceable blades
2. Dovo Shavette Razor - Blue Aluminium
Dovo have been designing and manufacturing straight razors for over a century, creating beautiful pieces that range from their best straight razors for beginners, like this one, through to stunning premium straight razors for the practised and dedicated experts.
While Dovo have a huge range of traditional straight razors, this is another shavette compatible with replaceable blades that make it easy for beginners to focus on the technique of straight razor shaving without worrying about stropping and honing.
It takes both double edge safety razor blades, like the Bluebeards Revenge, and longer shavette blades so you can choose which you prefer -- or try both to see which works best for you.
This shavette is also fantastic because it’s very lightweight, just 14g without the blade, making it easy to handle and control.
Pros:
- Lightweight
- Replaceable blades
- Affordable price
- Takes DE blades and shavette blades
- Looks great!
3. Boker Classic Straight Razor
This Boker straight razor is one of the best straight razors for beginners largely due to the shape and size of the blade. It’s made in Solingen, Germany, an area famous for its metal work including manufacturing some of the best straight razors in the world.
Unlike the first two straight razors on our list, this razor doesn’t have a replaceable blade. It means that you’ll get the full straight razor experience, including learning how to strop and hone your blade!
The blade is made from carbon steel, which helps it to stay sharp for longer, maintain an edge and produce a very close shave. It has a ⅝” blade width - a popular choice ideal for those new to straight razors. Combined with Boker’s rounded point nose, this is an easy razor on which tolearn the straight razor shaving technique, allowing easier access to the smaller areas and contours of your face.
This blade has an extra hollow grind; it’s the thinnest blade with a finer edge. It has the potential to produce one of the closest shaves. It also results in the blade being more flexible, lending itself well to fine shaving.
Pros:
- Carbon steel blade
- Rounded tip
- Moisture resistant handle
- Extra hollow blade
- Classic, refined appearance
4. Thiers Issard 'Le Dandy' Straight Razor
Thiers Issard are metal working experts that manufacture and supply premium knives and straight razors all around the world. They are renowned for their quality craftsmanship of handmade straight razors. While ‘Le Dandy’ marks a step up in price in our list of the best straight razors, it is a beautiful razor that produces the finest results and is suitable for beginners.
The ‘Le Dandy’ razor has a singing hollow grind, another name for extra hollow. This extremely thin and fine edge to the razor blade produces a beautifully smooth finish. It’s combined with a carbon steel blade which helps to retain the edge, keeping the blade sharp for longer. Not only that, but it is also protected with a thin layer of grease which keeps the metal from rusting.
Like the Boker razor above, it has a rounded tip which makes it easy for a straight razor beginner to maneuver the blade around the more inaccessible areas of the face.
It’s a larger investment, but a well maintained Thiers Issard straight razor should last a lifetime.
Pros:
- Carbon steel blade
- Singing hollow grind
- Rounded tip
- Greased metal
- Supplied with leather pouch
- Anti-slip
- Beautiful and stylish design
- Lasts a lifetime (if well maintained)
5. Feather Artist Club SS (ACS-NB) Japanese Shavette Razor
This is a stunning example of Japanese design that is one of the best-looking razors on our list. It’s not just how it looks though; the Feather Artist Club razor produces a superb shave.
This razor takes replaceable blades which don’t need sharpening. It’s the perfect choice for a beginner who values style, but doesn’t want to take the extra time required for stropping and honing.
Feather are a well known and established Japanese brand that have earned their spotlight in the shaving industry. They make some of the best razors and blades -- not just for straight razors, but for safety razors too -- which deliver an extremely close and smooth finish without requiring much pressure. You can use the Feather Pro Super Artist Club Blades or the regular Feather New Hi-Stainless DE Razor Blades with this razor. These blades allow even beginners to get the best out of each shave.
The blade holder is made from high grade stainless steel making it extremely strong and resilient, and the body is made from non-slip silicon resin. This means the razor should last a lifetime with little maintenance to the handle.The blade will need replacing periodically to ensure optimal performance. The handle material also helps to improve your grip when shaving, something that’s important for every shaver, but particularly beginners.
The Feather Artist Club SS Japanese Shavette Razor makes shaving a pleasure, even when just starting out.
Pros:
- Replaceable blade
- Stainless steel and silicon resin material
- Stunning, modern take on the traditional ‘Kamisori’ design
- Compatible with Feather blades
- Well balanced for easy handling