If you're the type to shave with a safety or straight razor then you probably already know it's best to keep the shaving cream warm for the most comfortable shave. The Art of Manliness points out it's easy to do by storing your shaving cream cup in the sink and filling it with hot water.

For a lot of people a cold shave is uncomfortable and creates a lot of irritation on the skin. The remedy is to keep the lather nice and hot. The Art of Manliness tip is simple to implement. Just make up your lather as you usually would, drop it into your sink, and then fill up the sink with hot water until it gets near the top of your mug. Even if you use a canned shaving cream you can warm it up the same way to get a nice hot shave without splashing your face repeatedly.

Combine this with our previously mentioned tips from Merlin Mann and you'll have the smoothest skin on the block.

How to Keep Your Shaving Lather Nice and Warm | The Art of Manliness

If you're the type to shave with a safety or straight razor then you probably already know it's best to keep the shaving cream warm for the most comfortable shave. The Art of Manliness points out it's easy to do by storing your shaving cream cup in the sink and filling it with hot water.

For a lot of people a cold shave is uncomfortable and creates a lot of irritation on the skin. The remedy is to keep the lather nice and hot. The Art of Manliness tip is simple to implement. Just make up your lather as you usually would, drop it into your sink, and then fill up the sink with hot water until it gets near the top of your mug. Even if you use a canned shaving cream you can warm it up the same way to get a nice hot shave without splashing your face repeatedly.

Combine this with our previously mentioned tips from Merlin Mann and you'll have the smoothest skin on the block.

How to Keep Your Shaving Lather Nice and Warm | The Art of Manliness

Remember Dollar Shave Club? It's the service that delivers fresh razors to your doorstep, monthly, for a fraction of the cost of the grocery-store equivalent. They had a killer viral video (above), but their high quality razors? Looks like they come from an online store called Dorco, and guess what: Buying directly from Dorco, you get the same great razors for about a third of the cost of Dollar Shave Club.

That's what friend-of-Lifehacker and former editor of The Consumerist Ben Popken discovered when he dug into Dollar Shave Club. The main catch: You have to buy in bulk rather than receive your monthly supply.

In order to get the best deal, you need to make a bulk purchase about the size of a Kleenex box. Consider: The highest-end Dollar Shave Club razor is "The Executive," with six stainless-steel blades, lube strips and a pivoting head, runs $90 over 10 months (razor plus 3 catridges per month). Dorco sells a six-blade model with the same features, the SXA1000. Buying directly from Dorco, a 10-month supply — the razor plus 30 cartridges — costs just $28.66.

Popken later discovers that Dorco actually is the supplier for Dollar Shave Club's six-blade razor. So what do you get with Dollar Shave Club that you don't get buying bulk at Dorco?

[Dollar Shave CEO Michael] Dubin said his service offers greater "convenience." "Are there similar razors out there? Sure. But our goal is to create value." I pointed out that I can get the Dorco razors delivered conveniently to my front door, too. "Not once a month," he said.

Fair enough. For the money, I think I can carve out a tissue box worth of space to store all those cheap razors. For anyone interested in trying the same route, I'm not sure if this is the exact combination Popken found, but this six-blade handle with 10 cartridges ($10.50) plus this six-pack of six cartridges ($17.99) got me to $30 at checkout, which is essentially the same situation. I think I can do without the monthly delivery from Dollar Shave Club.

Update: Dollar Shave Club writes in:

Bottom line, if people want to buy in bulk, there's a bazillion other places on the web to do that. Dollar Shave Club offers value beyond just the price of blades & convenience.

Fair enough. My biggest frustration with DSC was that I don't like the idea of that recurring monthly bill, especially since to me, razor blades aren't like clockwork. Getting the same blades from Dorco in bulk, for me, actually is more convenient. Obviously you should choose whichever sounds better to you, as well.

Note: As always, when we discuss razors, I'm obligated by our (very correct) commenters to point out that you'll never find a less expensive way to shave than this classic.

Does Dollar Shave Really Save? | SmartMoney

Everyone knows shaving's a racket. Manufacturer's make blades for pennies, mark them up over 4,000%, and try their damndest to convince us to pay the markup—and most of us do. You could learn to shave with a straight razor, but you haven't done that yet, either, have you? Enter Dollar Shave Club.

For a relatively very low price, Dollar Shave Club sends a new batch of high-quality blades your way every month. $1/month for five cartridges of their twin-blade razor, $6/month for four cartridges of their four-blade razor, or $9/month for three cartridges of their six-blade razor. (When you sign up, the handle is included for free.)

For the sake of comparison, a 12-count of Mach3 blades on Amazon cost $26, or about $2.17/cartridge. Dollar Shave Club's 4-blade razor is $1.50/cartridge (and it's one more blade, if that sort of thing matters to you). The $1/month twin blades seem like the best deal, but either way, it does seem like you'd be saving money. The big catch: Presumably you'd need to use your blades each month for it to be cost effective. That's for you to decide. You could potentially share blades with a friend or your significant other, but it would be nice if they had the option to postpone refills for one or two months at a time, as needed.

I signed up to try it out; for the $6/month blades, tax in California put me at $6.50; shipping was free. You may or may not have to pay tax or shipping in your state.

Dollar Shave Club's site is marketed toward men, but it's probably safe to assume these razors are capable of cutting hair across gender lines.

Dollar Shave Club