A shaving cartridge has a housing with at least one blade having a blade edge. The housing has a first guard in front of the blade with a plurality of projections defining a plurality of open slots extending generally transverse to the blade edge. The open slots have a width of about 0.20 mm to about 0.49 mm and a pitch of about 0.40 mm to about 0.85 mm for allowing the free passage of hair during shaving.