Plastic-Free Bathrooms // Three-Piece Safety Razor
This is the second in a series of overly honest product reviews, featuring some cringe-worthy experiences, one mention of my labia and a small amount of credit card debt. After the disconcerting success of the previous instalment – period pants and mooncups – here is my overly honest product review of the metal safety razor. Side Note: I'm not paid to say this and it’s not #spon or #ad.
Ditching Disposables
I did question whether it would make me a bad feminist to promote shaving body parts so that we conform to societal beauty norms, but hey ho, I still shave my legs because my socialised dislike of my own body hair runs deep, so here we go.
Billions of disposable plastic razors end up in landfill every year. I haven’t been able to find a very specific statistic, but it was said to be 2 billion in 2014 in the US alone. I had previously been using a Gillette Venus razor for years which had a reusable plastic handle but also disposable plastic blades which came in plastic packaging … (how often are you meant to change your razor blades? I was going to say every month but realistically I leave those blades on there until they are pretty much rusty). Razor blades might seem like small pieces of plastic but given 32% of plastic products end up in the ocean, and it’s the small pieces of plastic that kill our wildlife and enter our food chains, I thought it best to finally ditch my disposable habit and by a more sustainable razor.
There seem to be several different types of metal safety razors on the market. I went for the Mutiny three-piece safety razor. It’s a good looking razor and I do feel pretty smug when I go in the bathroom and see this alongside my bamboo toothbrush. The razor comes with 5 free blades to get you started and I’m hoping it will save me a fortune over the years as those Venus Gillette razor blades don’t come cheap. It also came in 100% recyclable packaging and from what I can tell, will not pollute the planet like a disposable plastic razor. So five gold stars for looking good and not being wrapped in plastic.
How the ruddy hell do you use it?
First things first, how the ruddy hell do you use it? If you are used to a plastic razor with four blades, then this thing looks truly terrifying in comparison. I gently poked around the head trying to work out which was the sharp bit but it took me several minutes to work out it didn’t have a blade in yet.
I then had to go on youtube to work out how to insert the blade, which now I know how is ridiculously easy. Just twist the handle so it unwinds and this allows you to place the safety blade into the head. On that note, I have no idea why it’s called a safety razor or safety blade, these things are scarily sharp.
My first few shaves with this were very slow and cautious compared to my normal quick whip around. My technique led to only one small nick on my shin. I’ve sped up the process a little now but I still proceed with huge care around my ankles, knees, Achilles and lady-bits. The result is a nice, close shave although more often than not I’m too scared to shave the bony parts so you may spot me with hairy knees and ankles.
I occasionally get a bikini wax and every now and then shave around my bikini line. I am in no way shaming the bush here; most often I rock a full hedge! Anyway, I always found women’s plastic razors never got a close shave and I was always left with stubbly labia. On the odd occasion that I’ve stolen my dad’s metal razor (sorry Dad) I always found it had a much closer shave. This whole paragraph was a long way around saying the safety razor shaves a lot more like the men’s razors that I’ve used before, which means no more bristly vulva. That said, do be bloody careful. It’s a very sharp blade and there are some awkward angles down there. No one wants a shaving cut on their flaps.
Pink Tax
The razor was £11.99 including postage and packaging which seems like a bargain compared to ones from the corporate goliaths currently dominating the shaving industry. These companies charge extortionate prices for over-designed razors that are non-recyclable. Women also tend to pay a higher price or “pink tax” on gender-specific products. Razors are the second most marked-up item when considering price disparity and women pay about 11% more than men for roughly the same product. Hurrah for this gender-neutral razor!
Plus Mutiny donates a percentage of their profit to various environmental organisations to ensure they are a carbon-zero company.
Zero-Waste
The Mutiny razor produces zero plastic waste, is eco & vegan friendly, cruelty-free and contains no harmful chemicals. I couldn’t find any information on where the razor is made or who makes them, so bear with me while I continue to research that one. If you know the answer please leave it below in the comments section. As far as zero waste, value for money and a close shave go, I have absolutely no complaints about my razor and I’m delighted with my purchase.
You can buy one here: http://www.mutinyshaving.co.uk/product/mutiny-razor/
I don’t get any commission. I’ll just rest easy knowing that I may have prevented some plastic pollution and diverted some money away from a giant corporation and into the hands of an indy artisan.
If you have any other requests for overly honest product reviews please leave a comment below. Over n out.