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" The magnitude of the current beard trend could easily leave a clean-shaven guy feeling pretty left out, but there&amp;#039;s reason for those free of facial fuzz to perk their bare chins right on up. Trends are cropping up for smooth faces, too. In the past few weeks, both Baxter of California and Jack Black have dropped old-school, double-edged safety razor sets, each vying to take the place of that jacked-up, multi-blade cartridge you&amp;#039;ve been beholden to for the past decade or so. The revamp of these ancient tools isn&amp;#039;t without merit. Those three-, four-, five-, and six-blade razor cartridges have become so robust they could take the wool right off a sheep, or actually, as dermatologists are now beginning to notice, the skin off your face. That can be a problem, &amp;quot;especially for guys with ingrown hair issues,&amp;quot; says board-certified dermatologist Peter D. Hino, MD who recently filmed a how-to video about using Jack Black&amp;#039;s razor. In the competition to out-blade each other, some of our favorite shave companies have gone a little overboard, it seems \u2014 all to the detriment of your mug. &amp;quot;Cartridges take off extra skin that can cause a lot of irritation for guys with sensitive skin. The safety razor takes off the exact amount you need,&amp;quot; Chris Ramos, a barber at Baxter Finley Barber &amp;amp;amp; Shop in L.A. says. And come winter, you&amp;#039;ll need those extra layers to protect you when frosty winds are licking the moisture off your face. Safety razors may visually resemble an outmoded past, but, like we said: They work. And like the AM/FM radio, they aren&amp;#039;t that hard to figure out. Just keep the blade at a 30-degree angle to your face and shave with the grain of your hair, never against. Also, be gentle. Both Jack Black and Baxter&amp;#039;s razors are handily weighted, and lay with just enough pressure to allow the blade to axe your beastly stubble. &amp;quot;Let the razor do the work,&amp;quot; Dr. Hino says.  You also get to use that mysterious badger hair brush (don&amp;#039;t let your lady friend use it for blush), which, aside from giving the process a bit of pomp, actually makes the shave smoother. Dabbing your cream on with the brush has the added benefit of exfoliating, thus forcing the follicles to lift, and allowing for a closer cut \u2014 a job previously assigned to one of those many blades in a cartridge. All of this, of course, comes at a price. Both sets range from $200-$300 depending on whether you get a stand or not (you should, good chap), but they never need to be replaced and the razors themselves cost pennies. The folks at Jack Black, in their attempt to convince a new generation of men to shave like their grandfathers, have figured that, depending on the frequency of your shaves, the set pays for itself within 10-12 months. And even if that&amp;#039;s off by, say 10-12 months, you&amp;#039;re still saving in the long run. And that&amp;#039;s a trend that brings a big ol&amp;#039; clean-shaven smile to our faces. Safety razor set with stand ($250) by Baxter of California, baxterofcalifornia.com; safety razor set ($200) and stand ($50) by Jack Black, getjackblack.com. Follow The Style Blog on RSS and on Twitter at @ESQStyle "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.esquire.com/style/grooming/advice/a25062/safety-razor-trend-1013/>