The 8 Best Eco-friendly Razors for a More Sustainable Shave

Read on for all the benefits of eco-friendly razors, a round-up of the best options out there, and a few helpful best practices.

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The good news is that eco-friendly razors are out there. And once you get the hang of these so-called safety razors, not only are you upping your environmental game by a long shot, but you&#;re also getting seriously smooth skin.

Most razors are designed for convenience, which is why billions of disposable plastic razors and refill cartridges end up in the nearest landfill every year. In , the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimated the number at 2 billion , and it&#;s likely only gone up since then.

Trying to reconcile a desire for smooth, hairless skin with an eco-conscious lifestyle can be, well, challenging.

Instead of applying pressure and shaving the same area again and again, a safety razor requires a much more delicate touch. There is a learning curve, but the reward is skin so smooth it feels freshly waxed, with none of the drawbacks of that more painful hair removal method. The kids call it &#;dolphin skin,&#; and the hype is real.

A general lack of irritation can also be credited to how you use a safety razor. Those metal handles, often made of chrome or stainless steel, are noticeably weighty &#; far heavier than a disposable plastic version. That&#;s intentional; the idea is to let the weight of the razor do the work for you.

A single blade, on the other hand, works on the surface of the skin to cut hair. You still get a super close shave, but it comes without the same risk of ingrown hair and general irritation. This is because the single blade creates far less friction.

When a razor has more than one blade, it&#;s using a lift-and-cut method. The first blade actually lifts the hair, while the second (and third and fourth and fifth) slices the hair off. The result is a close shave, sure, but also a greater likelihood of ingrown hairs. Plus, the more blades you have, the more friction you create. And friction means irritation (i.e., razor burn).

Advertising and marketing campaigns have taught us that more blades are better, but if you&#;ve ever experienced irritation and chronic ingrown hairs, you might already suspect that that isn&#;t the case.

The sustainability angle is a big selling point, but what about performance? Spoiler alert: Safety razors offer a superior shave. Your skin is left incredibly smooth, but it&#;s not just hair that&#;s missing &#; it&#;s the burn.

While not all municipal recycling programs accept blades tossed straight into the recycle bin, many companies have a workaround for that. Some, like Hanni and Leaf Shave offer a blade bin &#; a little metal tin with a slot for inserting used blades &#; that many recycling programs will accept. And there&#;s always TerraCycle , a robust recycling program that accepts all kinds of hard-to-recycle items, including used blades and traditional disposable razors.

The eco-friendly razor isn&#;t just low waste. With its built-to-last metal handles, it&#;s truly zero waste. All you&#;re replacing is the metal blade itself.

For this review, our writer tested one of the razors herself in order to bring you her first-hand review. She also scoured customer reviews for other razors to decide which products deserve a spot on the list.

In some cases, that means having our writers and editors test products to see how they perform in real life. In others, we rely on crowdsourcing reviewer feedback from retail sites.

Sifting through product descriptions and customer reviews can be overwhelming. We&#;re here to make researching products easier.

Clearly, eco-friendly razors have a lot going for them. Still, there are a few drawbacks:

Best eco-friendly razor overall

• Price: $$
• What&#;s included: razor, five blades, silicone travel cap

From the design to the accessories, Hanni is doing everything right.

The Weighted Razor has a 5-inch grooved handle made of powder coated metal. It comes in three colors, with a butterfly mechanism holding the wafer-thin blade firmly in place.

Twist the bottom of the razor, and the top opens for swapping out blades. Each blade comes wrapped in paper, and the old ones go straight into the razor bin. Zero waste, remember?

I&#;ll be honest &#; I was frankly scared to test this thing out. The heft of it in my hand was a little intimidating, along with the double-sided blade at the top. Decades of shaving experience had me automatically pushing too hard, and my first pass left a nick. I eased up on the pressure, and suddenly, I could see what all the excitement was about.

In addition to the quality of the handle and the thoughtful blade bin, there&#;s Shave Pillow, a truly brilliant shaving cream in stick form. It glides on like deodorant for the hands-down best dry shave ever. Zero hair, zero irritation, and a great amount of hydration.

Hanni sells a starter set for everything you need to start shaving sustainably, including the Shave Pillow. Now that I&#;ve tried it, I&#;ll never be without it.

Best eco-friendly razor for sensitive skin

• Price: $$$
• What&#;s included: razor, 10 blades

Available in rose gold and limited edition matte black, The Single is a decidedly stylish safety razor.

It&#;s also incredibly well-made. Each razor is engineered and manufactured in Germany specifically for sensitive skin, which involves considerations of the angle, weight, balance, and length.

What&#;s more, the company has a limited availability each month. It&#;s a sign of the workmanship going into the product, for sure.

The company&#;s commitment to sustainability extends to packaging &#; each razor comes in 100 percent paperboard.

The reviews on this one are stellar. Roughly 92 percent of more than 550 reviews rave about the incredible shave, even on sensitive skin.

Most traditional eco-friendly razor

• Price: $$$
• What&#;s included: razor, 10 blades

If you love everything about a good disposable razor but the environmental toll, you&#;re in luck. The Leaf Razor is a plastic-free razor with all the bells and whistles you know and love.

You have the option of loading up to three blades, which is pretty unique, and the pivoting head makes shaving fast and easy. Embedded magnets make it a snap to load new blades properly.

The Leaf has a long, grooved handle, and you can pay extra for a silicone sleeve if you&#;re worried about it getting slippery. It comes with plastic-free packaging and carbon-neutral shipping. Plus, the Leaf is compatible with any standard safety razor blade.

Zhuzhijiang supply professional and honest service.

There are close to 2,700 overwhelmingly positive reviews, and customers are falling over themselves to praise the great shave they get.

Best eco-friendly razor for small places

• Price: $$$
• What&#;s included: razor, five blades

The Twig Razor is The Leaf Razor&#;s little sibling: a true safety razor that can tackle head-to-toe shaving but works especially well on smaller places, like the bikini line or underarms.

At half the size of the standard safety razor, it&#;s a maneuverable option for precision shaving.

It shares the same magnetic blade catch feature as The Leaf Razor, along with a twist-to-open design for simplicity.

Best eco-friendly razor for the price

• Price: $$
• What&#;s included: razor, five blades

The EcoRoots Razor has all the benefits of a well-made safety razor, plus it helps the planet and it&#;s stylish. With a chic rose gold color, it looks great in the bathroom, and it&#;s more affordable than other options on this list. Plus, this razor is made of entirely recyclable zinc alloy and stainless steel.

Reviewers say it&#;s easy to keep the razor clean, and changing the blades is a cinch.

Bonus points: For every razor sale, EcoRoots donates a portion of proceeds to the Ocean Conservancy.

Best eco-friendly razor for beginners

• Price: $$
• What&#;s included: razor, five blades

If it&#;s possible to improve on the safety razor, Rockwell Razors is doing it.

The Rockwell 6C double-edge safety razor comes with six shave settings, so it&#;s an excellent choice for beginners. Just switch the plates in the handle to adjust the angle of the blade for the precise amount of exposure to your hair and skin.

Different sizes accommodate sensitive skin, fine facial hair, stubble, and coarse or curly hair. According to Rockwell Razors, the design reduces the possibility of nicks and cuts, even for beginners.

The Rockwell 6C comes in three finishes, and it&#;s compatible with any brand of double-edged blades.

Best drugstore eco-friendly razor

• Price: $
• What&#;s included: razor, eight blades

When we&#;re talking about disposable razors, Gillette is top of the list. But the brand&#;s Planet KIND line is designed far more eco-consciously.

This is a traditional five-blade razor, so you won&#;t get all the perks of the safety razor. But if speedy shaving is your thing, and you want something you can easily pick up at the drugstore, this is a reasonable option.

The razor handle is made with 60% percent recycled plastic, and both the handle and the blades can be completely recycled through TerraCycle. Gillette will even supply a free shipping label, so you can collect a bunch of used blades and send them directly to TerraCycle.

The packaging is all recyclable, as well.

Best bamboo eco-friendly razor

• Price: $
• What&#;s included: razor (blades sold separately)

Public Goods offers another alternative to the metal safety razor, and this one is plastic-free. The version is a refillable bamboo handle that pairs with the brand&#;s three-blade cartridges.

If you go this route, you&#;ll want to investigate recycling old blade cartridges with TerraCycle, but at least you&#;ll have an elegant, sturdy handle that&#;s nicely balanced.

Reviewers are impressed with the quality for the price and the clean shave they get.

How to Use Your Bulldog Original Bamboo Razor for dry and normal skin

First prepare the skin for shaving by exfoliating the skin. This removes dead and dry skin and helps to lift the stubble from the skin. We recommend using Bulldog&#;s Original Face Scrub for men.

1. Wet face with warm water
2. Squeeze a pea size amount of Original Foaming Shave Gel onto clean fingers and massage into your stubble
3. Shave the skin going with the grain with a clean, sharp blade
4. Rinse off with warm water and pat the skin dry with a towel

Follow with Original Aftershave Balm, designed to soothe and moisturise the skin after shaving

Your Skincare Routine for Men

Use Bulldog&#;s bamboo razor for a smooth and comfortable shave. For simplicity&#;s sake all our Steel Blades fit all our razor handles.

Shaving is all about personal preference, that&#;s why we have a range of shave prep products whatever your style. A transparent and gel like Original Shave Gel, a traditional Shave Soap Shave Soap (with Shave Brush of course) and a luxurious Sensitive Foaming Shave Gel.

Contact us to discuss your requirements of Custom Bamboo Razor. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.