I am always looking for ways to save money when I am shopping. One thing that seems to cost more each time I purchase them are ladies razors. Most women shave some part of their body most of the year. Whether it is your legs and bikini area in summer and under your arms all year round, we all seem to buy razors of some sort nearly every time we go shopping. Some of us also have those annoying hormonal chin and lip whiskers that need to be kept at bay. The easiest way to get rid of body hair is to shave it off. You can choose from an electric razor from a well recognized company like Remington or disposable razors made by brands such as Gillette, Schick, and BIC. These three companies make over 90% of ladies disposable razors.
Some lady disposable razors have a cartridge that you can change when the blades become blunt while others you just throw the entire razor away and grab another one. You can also choose the number of blades you want from one to 5 and some have a gel or moisturizing strip to give you a closer shave. Whichever one you buy you will have to keep buying all year long. Surely there is a cheaper way to keep ourselves hair free.
Fact 1 – Regardless of the razors, they all do the same job in the same way. It is just the cost that will vary. Razors become more expensive if they have multiple blades and when they have added gel or moisturizing strips. In my experience the razors with the added gel or moisturizer run out of gel before the razors are blunt. This means that I am wasting money buying the gel stripped razor over a disposable razor that hasn’t got a gel strip.
Fact 2 – Always make sure that your razor is dried properly after you have finished shaving. Run it under hot water to remove any hairs and shaving cream from the blades. When it is clean blot the razor on paper towels or tissues until the blade is dry.
Fact 3 – Keep your razor sharp. The barber always strops his razors on a leather strap to keep them nice and sharp. At home you can use an old leather belt or a piece of old denim from a pair of jeans. The denim will also help remove any debris left in the razor. Take your razor and press it lightly onto the denim and move it away from you. This will help it to stay sharp and you might notice some small bits of whiskers coming out that you thought might not have been there.
If you use a razor every day the cost over a year can become large, and like me, I am sure you would like to save some of your hard earned income. There are so many to choose from, made by only a few manufacturing companies. I get overwhelmed by the choice every time I go shopping. So I was looking online and found that Yahoo had a price comparison for ladies razors. It lists hundreds of types of razors from a single razor in a pack to multiple packs, replacement cartridge disposable razors, electric razors and safety razors and their replacement blades. Wouldn’t it be nice to compare prices at home without standing for ages in front of the shelves at the supermarket or pharmacies wondering which brand to buy this week. If you are like me, I forget the name of the last razor I bought or I can’t find the name I bought last time. The manufacturing companies seem to delight in inventing a new name each month or so just to confuse me.
The price of an electric razor varies between $20 and $40. This is not a bad price but if you shave every day, sometime over the course of a year you will need to replace the cartridge head and the foils. These replacement items are generally under $20. So this is probably cheaper than buying disposable or cartridge razors for a year but a lot of ladies I know, including myself, don’t think that they give a close enough shave. These razors are more suited to our legs and underarms than other parts like our faces and bikini lines.
The cheapest option is of course the disposable razors, followed by the razors that have replacement cartridges. The choice is huge as each company makes a selection of each style.
Let’s look at Gillette first with their Daisy and Venus brands. The Classic Daisy disposable razor is a reasonable $8 for a 12 pack which is just cheaper than the 5 pack for $5. You can choose either yellow or pink. The Venus brand name covers a lot of different razors. Some are disposable and others are available as a single razor and then you purchase extra cartridges. The disposable razors are Venus Embrace with a gel strip at $11 for a 3 pack, the Malibu, Tropicana and Oceanic are $9 for a 3 pack. They also produce a sensitive skin variety that is available as a 3 pack for $9 or a 6 pack for $15. So if you have sensitive skin a disposable is more expensive.
Gillette’s disposable cartridge razors come under several different names such as Spa Breeze, Breeze, ProSkin, Divine, Embrace and Original. All of these razors you buy as a single razor and then you purchase extra cartridges as they wear out and become blunt or the gel strip wears out. The cheapest razor is the Venus Original at $9 and cartridges are $12 for a 4 pack. The other single razors are between $9 and $12. A 4 pack of cartridges can cost you between $13 and $16. The Venus Divine on the other hand is more expensive to buy and replace the cartridges at $21 for an 8 pack. All of these Gillette razors have multiple blades and some sort of shaving strip of gel so that all you do is wet the area, no need for any soap or shaving cream.
The Schick razors have a smaller range to choose from but are a similar price. Their disposable 3 pack of Comfort Plus that has a gel strip is going to cost you $6.50 and the Extreme 3 with 4 blades of the Quattro disposable razor is a 4 pack for the same price. It just shows that within the same brand we can save a few dollars just by comparing quantities. The popular Schick Quattro has 4 blades for a close smooth cut.
The BIC ladies razors are the cheapest of the disposables. A 12 pack of Lady Shavers is under $4.This is by far the cheapest ladies shaver on the market today. There is no moisturizing gel or strip just a single blade to do the job.
These razors can end up costing us girls a fortune over the period of a year even if we don’t shave every day. Here are some tips to save.
Money Saving Tip 1 – It is better to buy a bulk pack of whatever your favorite brand and razor is as this will be cheaper than buying a smaller pack more often.
Money Saving Tip 2 – The other way to save a few dollars is to buy the basic razor that has no gel or moisturizing strip as all this does it put up the price.
Money Saving Tip 3 – Razors with replaceable blades are more cost effective than the single or twin bladed disposable razors, and earth-friendly too.
Money Saving Tip 4 – The most cost effective way for all of us ladies to shave is to buy an ordinary safety razor. Probably like the one that your Dad or Granddad used to have.
You will only need to buy the razor once in a lifetime unless it is accidentally broken or the top piece is lost. Although this is dearer than one of the razors that you can buy replacement cartridges for it should not need to be replaced. It is a lot more hard wearing and made of steel so it much harder to break even if you tread on it for example. The blades are so reasonable too, just $10 for one hundred blades. If you look after the blade and take it out and clean it properly each time you shave, a single blade will last for a few weeks.
