Safety Razor Shaving Ritual

I switched to a safety razor 6 months ago because the blade refills for cartridge razors cost $25 for a 4-pack and a 100-pack of double-edge blades costs $10, and the math alone justified the change. But the experience itself is what kept me using it. A single blade sits at an angle in a heavy chrome handle. Weight of the razor does the cutting so you don't press down, you just guide it across your skin and let gravity and the edge do the work. The shave is closer than a multi-blade cartridge because there's no guard lifting the hair before the blade cuts it. Irritation I used to get on my neck has mostly disappeared. The ritual takes longer, maybe 10 minutes instead of 5. You have to pay attention to the angle and the direction of your strokes, and that forced attention turns a chore into a practice. I use a brush and a puck of shaving soap rather than canned foam. Lather smells like sandalwood and eucalyptus and the bristles feel warm against my face after I soak the brush in hot water. Blade changes are satisfying too, unscrewing the handle, placing the new blade on the post, and tightening it back down, a small mechanical ritual every 5 or 6 shaves. But the learning curve is real. I cut myself twice in the first week, and the technique requires patience that not everyone has. People I know who have tried it and gone back to cartridges all cite the same reason: they don't want to think about shaving, they just want it done. I understand that position. The safety razor is for people who find the process itself rewarding, and that is a smaller group than the marketing around traditional shaving would suggest.