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The razor types shown are a reflection of those used in the study outlined below. You can buy plastic, disposable safety razors, or different types of cartridge razor, the same differential is likely to apply.
To measure the effect of each, the researchers recruited 59 healthy, male volunteers. They were examined and showed no signs of a skin condition around the face likely to lead to redness of the skin.
To avoid bringing in individual, or environmental input, each volunteer was asked to shave left and right sides of their face with a different razor. An approach used in similar research, the difference in this case was how outcome was tracked.
A Visual Reflection
The degree of erythema (redness) was measured using multispectral, near infrared spectroscopy. A technique which creates images of tissue layers and identifies changes in their composition, oxygenation and blood flow.
Changes were imaged post shaving, after 5 minutes, then 10 minutes, the differences are evident in the type of image below:
In terms of physical area that has changed, the study showed around 40% impact for the safety razor and 60% for the cartridge razor. Significant in itself, although the degree of redness is more striking.
Whilst this did lessen over time in both cases, speed of recovery would also appear to be quicker with a standard safety razor.
An Inescapable Result
The researchers believe that a safety razor’s build contributes to better controlled razor chatter and gentler gliding, bringing lower erythema.
In reality, our understanding of shaving induced skin irritation is not perfect. This could come from superficial skin trauma, interactions with hair shafts causing signals to be sent to skin compartments, the dilation of blood vessels.
A subject requiring further investigation but the outcome of the study is clear. A single blade safety razor causes less irritation of the skin.
Should You Change Your Choice
The redness seen in the infrared images would not normally be so visible and in any event, would dissipate over time. We can’t make a dermatological recommendation from one study and you may feel a cartridge razor is more convenient, or effective.
The decision is yours but even this small scale evidence is quite compelling. If you have especially sensitive skin, or issues after shaving and don’t use a single blade razor, worth giving this a try.
Regular irritation of the skin is annoying and in principle, could lead to other, longer term conditions developing.