this post was submitted on 05 Jan 2024
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Soap. My mom and sisters always complement my hair and skin, asking what products I use. I just use 2$ Yardley bar soap for skin and hair. I also like them because they smell nicer than other cheap brands that just have a generic detergent smell.
Razors. For all shaving I use a safety razor. The initial investment is somewhat expensive but after that each blade is mere cents. Also much less wasteful. Make sure to store your used blades in an old medicine bottle to dispose of them safely (and for the garbage man's safety). Also find these to be way nicer on skin, 5 blade or whatever cartridge razors don't make a closer shave and remove and irritate skin much more.
Kitchen knives. Most cheap knives (and a lot of expensive ones) suck because of bad design. Most knives today are way too thick and chunky, to make them look more robust etc. what you need is a thin blade and a sharp, long lasting edge. Victorianox fibrox ($35) is excellent for the money and for most people you don't need any more performance. You can also use kiwi knives (10$). They are super cheap, perform well, but dull fast, a good cheap option if you know how to sharpen and hone. If you want more performance than the fibrox you can get a Japanese tojiro basic. These aren't very fancy but have excellent performance, being made of laminated vg-10 steel and having a much longer lasting edge. These are around 50$
If you cook and chop a lot and want a knife to take pride and pinnacle of performance then you'll want a hand forged Japanese knife. DO NOT fall for Japanese knife scams and do lots of research on YouTube. These will be around 200$ to 500$ (more expensive knives are for prettier, or famous blades). They are very thin, highly polished (it'll glide through food) and made of extremely sharp, extremely hard, hand forged laminated steel.
Didn't you just make an argument for buying the more expensive knives and that they are worth it?
Definitely! I used to chase the largest number of blades. Mach 3, then Fusion. And then noticed that it was getting a bit insane paying $30 for a pack of four replacement heads. About ten years ago, I noticed a resurgence in double edged safety razor popularity. Bought a $50 Edwin Jaggar handle (which they replaced with a sturdier version for free when I broke it!), and have been picking up my Dorco blades $10 for 100 since. The shave is just as good, if not better, and getting straight lines is actually much easier. I feel like if more people knew, Gillette would just go out of business.
Yeah it's the early version of enshittification. When the current product is too cheap and effective , make a newer "advanced" one with all of their "technology" and "precision".
I've seen this in knives and tools. For much of woodworking all you need is a bench, saw, hammer and chisels, however today, people are convinced you need a hardware store's worth of power tools to even think about building basic furniture.
Or in cooking, everyone tries to convince you to buy their stupid expensive set of fake Japanese knives with some thermo plastic resin handle and their special unbreakable stainless super steel.
Many modern knives are actually worse than their contemporaries because now they are designed for marketing. Big heavy oversized bolsters and super thick blades to market them as invincible, tough knives that can chop through a cinder block or some goofy shit. In reality you just need a thin knife and a small bolster, of which older chef knives had, because they were built for actual use.
I ALWAYS compare new products vs old, because oftentimes the new version only exists because it's more profitable.
Agree on going with safty razors, but once you are there, you don't want to cheep out. The one option my local grocery store carries is a $20 that is complete junk. I invested $70 in a Henson safty razor and never looked back. They also have a $250 offering for people who want the benefits of a safty razor without the cost savings.
For blades, I actually splurge and buy the $0.20/piece offering from Feather instead of the $0.10/piece ones that Henson sells. Still cheeper than the $0.80 safty blades the grocery store sells, or the checks app $4.50/piece cartridge blades the store sells?!?
Moral of the story: go cheap, but don't be afraid of spending a little money to do so.
Skin is waaay too individual to make recommendations. Some people can use dove bar soap on their face and never have acne or other skin problems. Others are acne prone and have to do multiple things in order to keep it under control.
Too real! Bioderma body wash is expensive AF, but it's the best one on my skin. Most other ones would render my skin into a desert.
For my shaving needs, I've had a lot of luck with the Norelco One Blade. The upfront cost is similar and the cartridges last for a good three months. It's not a sharp blade, so not only is it very safe to use but the TSA will let you take it in a carry on.
It's called Victorinox, from "Victor-" from Victoria, the founders Mother, and "-inox" from "acier inoxydable", i.e., non-oxidizing steel.