Truman Razor

The Truman is for the man who has been spending £20-plus on Gillette Fusion cartridges out of inertia and would quite like to stop, but isn't ready to commit to the safety razor hobby (and yes, it is a hobby — don't let YouTube convince you otherwise). It's also for anyone who finds Dollar Shave Club's build quality slightly depressing and wants something that feels like a real object in the hand without the Braun tax. Harry's sits neatly in that gap, and the Truman is the entry point — rubber-grip handle, five-blade cartridge, flex hinge, lubrication strip. Nothing that needs explaining.

What it actually does: removes facial hair. Specifically, the five German-steel blades (Harry's manufactures at its own facility in Eisfeld, which is worth noting because most cartridge brands just white-label from the same two factories) deliver a close shave in two to three passes on a week's growth without significant drag. The flex hinge tracks reasonably well across jaw contours. The lubrication strip is aloe-based and functions as one — it reduces friction without leaving a greasy film that makes you feel like you've applied hand cream to your face mid-shave. Irritation on the neck — the traditional test of a cartridge razor's quality — is mild at worst, provided you're using a proper shave cream and not performing the catastrophic dry-shave that looksmaxxing TikTok somehow keeps recommending.

Real performance, compared honestly: the Truman doesn't shave quite as close as a Gillette Fusion ProShield or a Schick Hydro 5 on coarser hair. If you're a daily shaver with medium stubble, the difference is negligible. If you're a Monday-Wednesday-Friday shaver with thick, fast-growing hair, you may get a slightly less baby-smooth finish. Against the Gillette SkinGuard — which is specifically designed for sensitive, prone-to-irritation skin — the Truman is comparable on irritation, slightly better on cost, and slightly worse on closeness. Against a Merkur 34C safety razor in experienced hands, it's less close and significantly more convenient. Cartridge replacement works out to roughly £1.80-£2.00 per blade (buying the 8-pack), compared to £3.50-£4.50 per Gillette Fusion cartridge. Over a year of weekly replacement that's a meaningful saving — not life-changing, but not nothing.

The cost/value case is the point. The starter kit (handle plus two blades plus travel cover) runs about £9-£12 depending on retailer. Ongoing refills through Harry's subscription are where the model makes sense — but the blades are also available via Amazon and Boots now, which removes the subscription dependency that made early DTC razors mildly annoying. At full retail the value is still solid. At subscription pricing it's genuinely one of the better cost-per-shave propositions in the cartridge market. The handle itself is well-weighted and built to last, which matters because you're ideally buying it once.

Jamie's verdict: the Truman is a softmaxx workhorse — not a revelation, not a cope, just a competent tool that costs less than the brand you're probably using for no real reason. If you want to optimize your shave more aggressively, a double-edge safety razor with Astra blades will get you closer for less per shave, but that requires two weeks of technique investment and a willingness to bleed slightly during the learning phase. The Truman requires neither. It's the product equivalent of sensible shoes: not exciting, never embarrassing, and perfectly adequate for the actual task.