Blades By Mail

My shipment from Blademail.co.uk arrived this morning:

I put the order through on Monday morning for a “Pillar Pack” of 100 double-edge razor blades which I’m hoping will last me for the duration of the next year:

The pack contains 20 dispensers, each delivering 5 blades:

I originally read about the traditional wetshave on Lifehacker, but paid no heed to it until one fateful day in Boots when I was in need of blades and low on cash and noticed how much of a difference in price there was between the “novelty” multi-blade shaving systems and the traditional single-blade setup. I was game and took the plunge. The next morning I gave it a go: my hands were trembling and my face was left resembling a butchers block but something about the experience kept me coming back for more.

As the calendar progressed my skill with the blade has improved and the time required each morning has decreased. I still get a bit of razor burn but I don’t nick myself anywhere near as often. I’ve also upgraded from a shaving gel to using a brush, mug and shave cream to produce a lather for my face.

It’s all time consuming and the perfect shave still eludes me but this purchase (including postage) only left my debit card £14.85 worse off. To buy that quantity of blades in packs of 10 would have cost me £30 in Boots, so that’s a possible saving of £15.15 over the course of a year. 4.15p per day, I feel like I’ve beaten the system!