Safety razors can handle cutting through the toughest beard hair on a regular basis. How frequently you should shave depends more on your personal preferences than your razor’s performance abilities. A good quality safety razor will last well over a lifetime so you don’t need to worry about overusing your razor.

You do, however, need to think about blade quality and care. Unlike the razor, blades don’t last forever. Blades get dull, dirty, and cheap blades can even rust. If you don’t take care of your blades, you won’t be able to shave as frequently as you want.

Ultimately, how often you should shave depends on your style preferences, how fast your hair grows, the body part you’re shaving, the quality and cost of your blades, and how well you care for your skin. Let’s dive into each of these factors one at a time.

What is your style?

If you shave your head with a safety razor, you’ll probably need to shave every day or two to keep stubble at bay. If you don’t mind stubble or a little fuzz, you can shave your head every few days to a week.

Beards are more complicated with a couple of exceptions.

There are only two simple beard styles: all or nothing. In other words, if you’re growing your beard or you prefer to stay clean shaven, you don’t have much of a challenge.

When you’re growing a beard you don’t need to shave at all. When your preference is clean shaven you’ll shave daily. However, for many men, beard maintenance isn’t that simple.

Complex beard styles require daily maintenance

Is your beard style complex? Do you trim your beard around a particular line, wax your mustache, or sport some kind of stylish design like a faded beard? If so, you’ll need to keep your beard in check daily with your safety razor (and probably several other tools as well).

Beard styles shaved to the skin require daily maintenance

Even if you let your beard grow long, if you trim your neck hair in a specific line you’ll need to shave daily. If your employer requires you to keep your beard neat and trimmed you’ll want to trim that line every morning before heading out to work.

When you maintain any beard style that leaves a portion of shorter hair on your face while the rest gets shaved, it’s best to shave every day or two so you don’t lose track of the line you’ve created.

Working from home? You can shave whenever you want

When you work from home, don’t have to attend virtual meetings, or look presentable on a daily basis, you can shave less frequently according to your preferences. Your safety razor will miss you, but you’ll reconnect eventually.

Don’t shave your body hair too often

Technically, body hair should be trimmed and not shaved – it’s there for a reason. Body hair protects your skin from the sun, collects sweat and particles, and prevents harmful debris from entering your body.

Despite body hair serving a purpose, many people feel compelled to shave it off.

Shaving your upper body isn’t a big deal, but it will itch like crazy when it grows back. How often you should shave your chest, shoulders, and back really depends on how frequently you’re willing to tolerate feeling itchy.

If you shave your armpits you can expect serious itch and potential hygiene consequences. Maybe it’s better to let your armpit hair grow freely, yeah?

Pro tip: if you must shave your body hair, don’t use a safety razor

You might be able to shave your chest with a safety razor, but don’t count on being able to shave your back or your pubic hair the same way. Companies make back razors with long handles for a reason, and the only safe way to trim your public hair is with an electric razor or disposable/cartridge razors wrapped in wire.

Shaving too often can dry out your skin

Dry skin is itchy, flaky, and can turn red from being scratched too much. Unfortunately, shaving too often can cause dry skin. The good news is that most people with shaving-induced dry skin see their issues disappear when switching to a single or double edge safety razor. That’s because the irritation is usually caused by multiple blade razors and drying ingredients in shaving cream. A single, sharp blade and a puck of shaving soap makes all the difference.

If you still get dry skin shaving with a safety razor, you might just have dry skin. In that case, limit your shaving frequency to a minimum of every few days, get high quality shaving cream, use pre-shave oil, and moisturize your face regularly.

Coconut oil is an excellent pre-shave oil that will also add moisture to your skin. However, avoid using coconut oil as a daily moisturizer because it can clog your pores.

Can you afford to shave daily?

Shaving with a safety razor is cheaper than using disposable or cartridge razors. However, it can get expensive when you’re using poor quality blades.

Low-quality safety razor blades don’t cost much, but you’ll have to replace them more frequently, which raises your cost of shaving. For instance, a poor quality blade might only last a couple of shaves before it gets dull or rusty. Then you’ll have to spend your time, gas, and money buying more blades at the store.

On the other hand, high-quality safety razor blades generally last a week or more when used daily. You can get between eight to twelve shaves with a single razor depending on your beard hair and how much you shave off.

High-quality, stainless steel blades won’t rust, either. Provided you keep your razor in a dry spot after each use and not in the shower, your blade will last quite a while no matter how much time passes between shaves.

The verdict is in: everyone has a different ideal shaving schedule

For the most part, a person’s style preferences and professional requirements will dictate how often they need to shave. Some people will need to shave every day, while others only need to shave once a month. Some may only shave once every few years. Your mileage may vary.