A longtime men’s grooming editor picks his go-to cartridge staples, sensitive-skin saviors, and the safety razors worth the learning curve.
There is no single best razor for men, and anyone telling you otherwise is selling something. There is, however, a best razor for your skin, your stubble, and your tolerance for technique. That is the useful question, and it is the one this list answers.
A quick framing before the picks: I am not a “more is more” guy when it comes to blades. Fewer blades means fewer cutting edges dragging across sensitive skin, which is why several of my cartridge picks below err toward two and three blades rather than five and six. It is also why safety razors deserve far more consideration than most guys give them.
We are only covering cartridge and safety razors here. If you want electric, start with our guides to the best foil shavers for men and the best rotary shavers for men.
Read on for the best razors for men, or watch my video on the topic below.
JUMP TO:
- Best Cartridge Razor Overall: Harry’s Plus
- Best Razor for Sensitive Skin: Gillette SkinGuard
- Best Razor for Body Shaving: GilletteLabs Body + Intimate
- Best Selling Cartridge Razor: Gillette Mach3
- Best Design / Hybrid: Leaf Two Razor
- Best Single Edge Safety Razor: Supply Single Edge
- Best Double-Edge Safety Razor: Bevel Safety Razor
- Best Safety Razor Upgrade: Tatara Masamune
WATCH: The Best Razors for Men
Keep scrolling to read my picks, all of which appear in this video.
Cartridge vs. Safety Razor: Which One Is Right for You?
The cartridge razor is almost certainly the one you learned to shave with. It carries anywhere from two to five blades in a disposable head, sometimes six if the brand is feeling excessive, and its whole design philosophy is forgiveness. You hold it at whatever angle feels natural, the pivoting head does the rest, and the odds of cutting yourself are low. That convenience is real, and for plenty of guys it is the right answer permanently.
Safety razors work differently. You get one blade, held at a fixed angle in a metal head, and you supply the technique instead of letting the tool supply it. That sounds daunting. It is not. Hold the razor at roughly 30 degrees to your skin, use a genuinely light touch, and let the weight of the handle do the cutting. Most guys have it down within a week.
So who should actually make the switch to safety razor?
Two groups, primarily. If you get ingrown hairs, razor bumps, or persistent irritation on your neck, a single blade gives you one cutting edge per pass instead of five, which means dramatically less trauma to the skin and far less chance of a hair getting severed below the surface and curling back in. And if your stubble is thick or coarse, a single sharp blade cuts through it more cleanly than a cartridge that tugs and clogs.
Safety Razor Comparison: Single Edge vs. Double Edge
A single edge razor has one usable cutting edge and generally shaves more intuitively, closer to how a cartridge feels in the hand.
A double edge blade has a usable edge on both sides of the head, which gives you the cheapest and broadest blade selection in all of shaving, often for pennies per blade, but asks for slightly more attention to your angle.
Both of my top safety picks below make that 30-degree angle easy to find. Just keep a light hand as you shave–easy does it on the pressure, alright?
The Best Men’s Razors: Our Picks
The Best Cartridge Razor Overall: Harry’s Plus
Harry’s Plus Key Stats:
- Blades: 5, with progressive geometry
- Head: Spring-loaded pivot
- Skin: Aloe lubricating strip
- Detail Trimmer: Yes
- Per cartridge: Around $3
- Per shave: ~15¢
This is my default recommendation for the largest number of people, which is a specific kind of praise. It is not the most interesting razor on this list and it is not trying to be. It is the one I hand to somebody who just wants an ultra close shave from a reliable brand without thinking about it again.
The Plus is an evolution on the razor that made Harry’s a household name, and the upgrades are practical rather than cosmetic. There is a detailing blade on the back of each cartridge, which handles your sideburns and the edges of a beard without a second tool. The head runs on a 45 degree spring-loaded pivot, and the difference in how it tracks your jawline is immediate.
The economics are the quiet argument, though. A single cartridge holds up for as many as 21 shaves before it starts to feel dull, which puts your cost per shave in the mid-teens in cents. Cartridge shaving has a reputation for being the expensive route, and this one largely dismantles it.
Best Razor for Sensitive Skin: Gillette SkinGuard
Gillette SkinGuard Key Stats:
- Blades: 2, widely spaced
- Head: Pivoting cartridge
- Skin: SkinGuard bar + dual aloe
- Detail Trimmer: Yes
- Per cartridge: Between $3.50 and $4.00
- Per shave: ~19¢
Here is where the ‘fewer-blades’ argument stops being theoretical. (I am not a ‘more is more’ person when it comes to blade count, btw.) The SkinGuard runs two blades instead of five, spaced widely apart, with a protective guard bar sitting between them. Less blade contact means less drag, and less drag means less of everything that goes wrong on sensitive skin.
If you are ingrown prone, bump prone, or you simply finish a shave with an angry neck, this is exactly where I would lift off. Do not go looking for the five-blade solution to a sensitivity problem. Start small, start with two… so, start here.
It is also the pick I give to guys who keep a beard but want a clean neckline, since the neck is where most of the trouble lives anyway. You get the smooth line without paying for it in bumps three days later.
Best Razor for Body Shaving: GilletteLabs Body + Intimate
GilletteLabs Body + Intimate Key Stats:
- Blades: 5, widely spaced
- Head: FlexDisc contouring
- Skin: Triple Defense System
- Per cartridge: $4 to $5
- Per shave: ~40¢ to $1
Full disclosure, we are about to go on something of a Gillette run between the previous pick, this one, and the next one. (And no, nobody is paying me for it.) For body shaving specifically a cartridge is going to beat a safety razor for most people, and GilletteLabs is where the interesting innovation in that category is happening. (Their heated razor is a separate delight, for another day.)
The blades here are spaced further apart than anything else in the lineup, which matters because body hair is longer than facial hair and will clog a tightly packed cartridge in two passes. The FlexDisc head hugs contours that a standard pivot cannot manage, which is the entire game when you are working around shoulders, a chest, or anywhere the surface is not flat.
The cartridge also carries dedicated anti-irritation and anti-ingrown elements, and body shaving is where those earn their keep. This is your ticket to the smoothest and longest-lasting-est results below the neck.
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The Best-Selling Razor: Gillette Mach3
Gillette Mach3 Key Stats:
- Blades: 3, open architecture
- Head: Pivoting, individually mounted
- Skin: Lube strip + prep guard
- Per cartridge: $2.50 to $3.50
- Per shave: ~17 to 25¢
I cannot do this roundup without acknowledging one of the all-time best sellers in the category. Between Gillette’s two workhorse cartridges—the Mach3 and the Fusion5—I am Mach3 all day.
The brief is simple (a kinda the point): three blades, perfectly spaced, a generous pivot, inexpensive, and refills available at every drugstore on earth. There have been decades of categorical innovation in razors since this thing launched, and the Mach3 keeps proving that a classic stays a classic. You do not need five or six blades all the time. A well-designed three-blade cartridge goes a very long way.
Each cartridge should hold its edge for roughly 15 shaves before dulling, which keeps the running cost reasonable even at drugstore refill prices.
Best Design and Best Hybrid Cartridge/Safety: Leaf Two Razor
BUY ON AMAZON | 50-count Blades
Leaf Two Key Stats:
- Blade: 2 guarded half-DE blades (purchasable as single-edge blades too)
- Head: Pivoting
- Guard: Individually guarded, no lube strip
- Material: Zinc + stainless
- Per load: ~40¢
- Per shave: ~4¢
Before the full pivot into safety razors, there is this, and it is the most beautifully designed razor on the list. The Leaf Two is a safety razor blade with cartridge razor function, which is a genuinely useful category of one.
You load two half-DE blades into the head, or just one if you want to go gentler still, and then you shave the way you always have. The intuition is entirely familiar, like a cartridge shave. It pivots, it tracks contours, and there is no angle to learn. What you get in exchange is the safety razor benefit that matters (which is far less inflammation, irritation, and ingrown hairs than a multi-blade cartridge produces).
Plenty of people buy it for body shaving. I love it on my face, and it works well on a shaved head too, since it goes around contours easily. It is also entirely plastic free, which Leaf prides itself on, and it comes in five colors. At around four cents a shave it is also the cheapest running cost of any cartridge-style option here.
BUY ON AMAZON | 50-count Blades
The Best Single-Edge Safety Razor: Supply Single Edge
BUY ON AMAZON | Read the Blue Ribbon review | Get Side-Injector Blades
Supply Single Edge Key Stats:
- Blade: Single injector
- Head: Fixed
- Guard: NickStop bar, 16 fins
- Material: Steel handle, zinc head
- Per blade: ~$1 from Supply, ~40¢ generic
- Per shave: ~10 to 13¢ Supply, ~5 to 8¢ generic
This one holds a Blue Ribbon from Blue Print, the award we reserve for the all-time best men’s grooming products, and it is the first razor I point to when somebody wants to leave cartridges behind without a rough transition.
As a single-edge razor, it is cartridge-like in motion, so the learning curve barely exists. The detail worth understanding is the blade format: Supply uses injector-style blades, which load from the side rather than being sandwiched between plates. You can buy generic injector blades rather than Supply’s own, which drops your cost per shave to single digits, and the loading mechanism means your fingers never touch a cutting edge.
Beyond the mechanics, it is simply sleek and perfectly weighted in a way that makes you want to shave. If you are making the upgrade from cartridge to safety, this is the one I would start with, and it will likely satisfy you for the rest of your life.
BUY ON AMAZON | Get Side-Injector Blades
The Best Double-Edge Safety Razor: Bevel
BUY ON AMAZON | Get Double-Edge Blades
Bevel Double-Edge Safety Razor Key Stats:
- Blade: Standard DE
- Head: Fixed 3-piece
- Guard: Not published
- Material: Brass-weighted
- Per blade: ~50¢ from Bevel, ~10¢ generic
- Per shave: ~7 to 17¢ Bevel, ~1 to 3¢ generic
My favorite double edge safety razor, and the first thing anyone notices is how sleek it is. The second thing is the weight. The brass build is balanced so precisely that a light touch is all it takes, which is exactly what you want from a DE.
For technique, the whole process is quite easy: Bring the head at 90 degrees onto your skin flat, angle it down to about 30 degrees, and once the blade makes contact let the razor’s own weight carry it. Pressing hard is the only mistake you can make from there; keep it light!
Bevel built its entire shaving line around people with ingrown-prone, thick, or coarse facial hair, and this razor is designed with that reader specifically in mind. It takes any standard double edge blade, so you can buy the cheapest ones in bulk and still get a superb shave, which puts your running cost somewhere near a penny.
BUY ON AMAZON | Get Double-Edge Blades
The Best Upgrade: Tatara Masamune Safety Razor
BUY ON AMAZON | Get Double-Edge Blades
Tatara Masamune Key Stats:
- Blade: Standard DE
- Head: Fixed 3-piece
- Gap: 0.63 mm closed / 0.73 mm open
- Material: CNC stainless steel
- Per blade: ~10¢ generic
- Per shave: ~1 to 3¢
Tatara is based in Portugal, and they build razors across every level of expertise. We visited their factory and filmed the whole thing, so if you want to understand how these are actually made, that video is worth your time:
For a gift to a shaving enthusiast, or for yourself if you already consider yourself a master shaver, this is where I would send you. The Masamune is the right entry point into that lineup: well engineered, entirely CNC machined from stainless steel, and set up to deliver a standard, efficient, extremely repeatable shave.
One specification decision to get right: It comes in ‘open comb’ and ‘closed comb’ options. Open gives you a closer shave and a more aggressive feel, while closed is more forgiving. If you are new to double edge shaving or you have any sensitivity at all, go with the closed comb.
BUY ON AMAZON | Get Double-Edge Blades
