I’ve never used a safety razor so I can’t comment on the quality of shave, but I think the main difference is price. A very high quality straight razor will be cheaper than a shitty safety razor. The main thing that causes irritation is the blade itself flexing, it takes quality machining for the gap to be so narrow that the blade can’t flex at all.
It takes some practice to get used to holding the razor correctly and to not cut yourself, but once you do it a few times it becomes pretty much second nature. A lot of people recommend practicing on a balloon, I just dealt with cutting myself the first few times.
But while the difficulty goes away, the feeling of manliness while shaving with a straight razor never fades
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