Do you guys compromise?

[Sharp&Shiny]

Weird thread title I know, but bare with me for a second. These findings are entirely based on my experience and want to see if some have experienced the same thing. I have noticed that some razors do not feel as smooth as others when shaving but the end result being a really smooth face (almost BBS) and very very little to no irritation. Some razors that I own that are like this are The General SS V1 and V2, Rex Ambassador and the Envoy. Awesome razors that I’ll never part with. These razors are also very forgiving.

On the other hand there are razors that during the shave are really smooth and a pleasure to use and just feel amazing but after the shave, no matter what I do I feel a bit of irritation, not a lot that my face is red but enough to notice. Some razors that feel like this that I own or used are the RR Gamechangers, Paradigm SE, PAA SS Ascension, RR Mambas, etc.

Of course there are razors that are smooth, shave awesome and skin feel amazing after the shave. For me that’s the Wolfman WR2 1.25 SB, but it can bite sometimes. So my question is, have you guys experienced something similar to this and what have you compromised on? I personally prefer my skin to feel great over a super smooth shave, so I put up with the bit of drag most user seem to sell razors over. Comfort after the shave over comfort during the shave.

 

[shave/brush]

I know what you mean. Some razors do shave smoother than others and some will feel less irritation than others. And of course you want a BBS shave when possible. I find the General by Colonial Razors fits the bill for me.
It's close shaving with no irritation. I have an aluminum one with an iKon short handle on it. I love the way it shaves.

 

[shave/brush]

I would also have to say for a DE my cheap Parker 97R also fits this bill. Very smooth and very close.

 

[Sharp&Shiny]

Yeah, I keep buying new stuff and I try so hard to like them while the ol’ reliables sit unused.

 

[Sharp&Shiny]

I know what you mean. Some razors do shave smoother than others and some will feel less irritation than others. And of course you want a BBS shave when possible. I find the General by Colonial Razors fits the bill for me.
It's close shaving with no irritation. I have an aluminum one with an iKon short handle on it. I love the way it shaves.

I would have loved an Aluminum one. The old SS and brass are heavy.

 

[@ngel]

I guess I do compromise, never though of it that way, but for me is definitely comfort after the shave, although with my Feather SS Artist Club I can enjoy both: the shaves are bliss and the aftershave feel is just butter smooth, no irritation whatsoever, but it took a while to dial in the technique to be able to have such good shaves

 

[ChunkyOwl]

Isn’t this just a matter of blade exposure? Are you finding that razors with positive blade exposure are unpleasant afterwards vs those that have neutral or negative blade exposure are more comfortable? My guess is that it comes back to the razor geometry, but I don’t have the data to hand to back that up

 

[Sharp&Shiny]

Isn’t this just a matter of blade exposure? Are you finding that razors with positive blade exposure are unpleasant afterwards vs those that have neutral or negative blade exposure are more comfortable? My guess is that it comes back to the razor geometry, but I don’t have the data to hand to back that up

That’s what I thought in the beginning and was buying mild razors as a result but not any more. I now believe it has more to do with geometry and the blades cutting angle and the blade itself. Rex Ambassador and 1.25 Wolfman are blade forward yet skin feels great after the shave.

 

[Sharp&Shiny]

I guess I do compromise, never though of it that way, but for me is definitely comfort after the shave, although with my Feather SS Artist Club I can enjoy both: the shaves are bliss and the aftershave feel is just butter smooth, no irritation whatsoever, but it took a while to dial in the technique to be able to have such good shaves

That’s on my radar, they recently went up in price so held off on buying it. Should have bought it when it was cheap. Oh well.

 

[@ngel]

That’s on my radar, they recently went up in price so held off on buying it. Should have bought it when it was cheap. Oh well.

I actually bought it half price ($60 dlls) about 5 years ago on a special offer, I’ve seen some suppliers do reduced price in them very often and even on the buy and sell they go for cheap, keep an eye out for one, you won't regret it!
Honestly if I knew I would love it as much as I do most likely I would’ve paid full price, is worth it!

 

[KW Driver]

I gravitated towards more aggressive/efficient razors early. I kept a Fatip, a Gem 1912 and MMOC when I transitioned to straights.

my compromise I guess was putting up with irritation, weepers, cuts, etc while mastering technique that gave me a smooth, comfortable, imminently close shave, during and after.

 

[ChunkyOwl]

That’s what I thought in the beginning and was buying mild razors as a result but not any more. I now believe it has more to do with geometry and the blades cutting angle and the blade itself. Rex Ambassador and 1.25 Wolfman are blade forward yet skin feels great after the shave.

Are the Rex Ambassador and 1.25 Wolfman positive blade exposure? I haven’t tried either. I know it’s a high blade gap but not sure of the exposure.

For what it’s worth I am finding most comfortable these days a high blade gap and negative blade exposure.

Angle is interesting but I haven’t given much thought to...

 

[Sharp&Shiny]

I actually bought it half price ($60 dlls) about 5 years ago on a special offer, I’ve seen some suppliers do reduced price in them very often and even on the buy and sell they go for cheap, keep an eye out for one, you won't regret it!
Honestly if I knew I would love it as much as I do most likely I would’ve paid full price, is worth it!

Like six months ago the pink and lime green kamisori were 55 and I think 60 or 65 for the traditional with 20 feather pro blades. Should have bought one.

 

[Sharp&Shiny]

Are the Rex Ambassador and 1.25 Wolfman positive blade exposure? I haven’t tried either. I know it’s a high blade gap but not sure of the exposure.

Pretty sure yeah.

 

[@ngel]

Like six months ago the pink and lime green kamisori were 55 and I think 60 or 65 for the traditional with 20 feather pro blades. Should have bought one.

Yea, keep looking, their price go up and down, I am positive their prices will go down again after a while, their prices have being doing that for years now.

 

[KW Driver]

Like six months ago the pink and lime green kamisori were 55 and I think 60 or 65 for the traditional with 20 feather pro blades. Should have bought one.

amazon seems to run in that range pretty consistently if I remember right.

 

[santamariasteve]

As ever, YMMV. Let's never forget that.

 

[shave/brush]

I would have loved an Aluminum one. The old SS and brass are heavy.

The brass one is really heavy. Still nice but heavy.

 

[Sharp&Shiny]

As ever, YMMV. Let's never forget that.

Agreed, that’s why I said in my experience but as with all things life, most times the experiences align with others experiences as well. But this is something that I have never seen anyone talk about.

 

[SCh5]

Weird thread title I know, but bare with me for a second. These findings are entirely based on my experience and want to see if some have experienced the same thing. I have noticed that some razors do not feel as smooth as others when shaving but the end result being a really smooth face (almost BBS) and very very little to no irritation. Some razors that I own that are like this are The General SS V1 and V2, Rex Ambassador and the Envoy. Awesome razors that I’ll never part with. These razors are also very forgiving.

On the other hand there are razors that during the shave are really smooth and a pleasure to use and just feel amazing but after the shave, no matter what I do I feel a bit of irritation, not a lot that my face is red but enough to notice. Some razors that feel like this that I own or used are the RR Gamechangers, Paradigm SE, PAA SS Ascension, RR Mambas, etc.

Of course there are razors that are smooth, shave awesome and skin feel amazing after the shave. For me that’s the Wolfman WR2 1.25 SB, but it can bite sometimes. So my question is, have you guys experienced something similar to this and what have you compromised on? I personally prefer my skin to feel great over a super smooth shave, so I put up with the bit of drag most user seem to sell razors over. Comfort after the shave over comfort during the shave.

That is the question :
One should choose his tools
that fit with his technique,
or
one should tune his technique,
according to his tools?

At the beginning I was having some occasional irritation after shaving with GC 0.84-P ,yes indeed.

After selling my whole den of DE razors ,keeping only three GC .84-P sb ,one GC .84-P oc and the 316L BBS ,slowly I’ve
fine tuned my technique and with the acquired muscle memory I’ getting only super smooth BBS or DFS shaves,
without any sign of irritation.

...I’ve almost 30 years of driving experience .But I bet if was given to drive a F1 race car ,most probably I would be off track in no time.
....At least ,at the beginning.
Later on for sure things would have been much better.

Crude example ,but with a point .