According to three men of varying hairiness.
For a Clean Shave:
The Truman by Harry’s, $10
“I’ve got pretty aggressive facial and neck hair, and since high school, I’ve used disposable double-bladed razors (you know, the ones that come right out of the value pack). Those have always worked okay, but I definitely noticed that I had to shave more often, going over spots I had already shaved. Of course, that meant I was also more prone to irritation because I had to scrape my skin repeatedly and never really got that even shave I was looking for. It wasn’t until maybe three years ago that I discovered the Truman razor from Harry’s, which is a shave “disruptor” from one of the co-founders of Warby Parker. The blades are beautiful, of course, and if you look at the website, they’ll tell you all about the German manufacturing. It’s got five blades to give this ridiculously close shave — in fact, any closer would probably be too close. What I really love about Harry’s is the pivoting head, which allows it to go across every curvature of the face and neck without too much pressure (and irritation). It’s weird, but there’s also something very satisfying about how the handle feels in my hands. Most important, though, is that with the Truman, I can go over each section of my skin just once and still get a reliably close shave — even over that weird little spiral hair patch (it’s like an unruly shrub) I have on my neck.” —Thomas Pardee, 28
For a Five O’clock Shadow:
Groomsman Micro Cordless Trimmer by Wahl, $15
“I use a simple Wahl cordless trimmer to trim, and always maintain a five o’clock shadow. It does a pretty good job of giving me a clean look, but leaves just enough of a five o’clock shadow. When I used to go clean-shaven, the Mach 3 was perfect because it’s just three blades and not a lot of bells and whistles. Any more than three blades is too much, and I get razor burn — and, also, too many blades I feel can’t go smoothly over the curves of the face shape (i.e. jaw line). I also can’t stand when there’s all these gel shave strips and bonus add-ons like a motorized handle. The Mach 3 is simple and as long as you practice a good shaving technique — with the grain! — all you need in a decent razor.” —Garrett Bryant, 30
For a Beard:
Dollar Shave Club, from $1
“I don’t shave all that often because I actually like having a beard, but when I do need to clean it up about once a week, especially the neck area, I go for Dollar Shave Club, which is just so much cheaper than a Schick or Gillette. I don’t notice that the blades do that much of a better job, to be honest, but if we’re going to make a case for cost per use, the service makes so much more sense than throwing your money away on drugstore blades.” —Scott Rising, 27