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Coti edge post shave feel?

I've started to use a Las V coticule as an edge finisher (followed by plenty of stropping) and enjoying the smoother face feel the blade gives me. One thing I've noticed is that (so far) my shaves don't feel as close as they had when I finished off a diamond paste balsa strop - more DFS than anything else. But that's totally liveable. But the thing that really stuck me is that my shaves "settle" a few minutes after I've finished. When I rinse my face after the shave my skin feels like Stubbleville and I wonder what I did wrong. But by the time I'm downstairs drinking coffee or on the train to work, my face feels much smoother. I hadn't noticed that before I stared with the coti - is this a common experience? Or maybe just something to do with using a new soap or something?
 
May be a couple things going on. One, as your face hydrates from whatever post shave you use, it kind of swells to meet the stubble. So it feels closer a half hour later than it does when you rinse. It may be more noticeable since the coti edge isn't getting you quite as close as a diamond edge.

Second thing, harder to quantify, some edges seem to cut hair differently, as in they leave a sharper or softer point on the whisker. I've found a very smooth coti edge seems to leave softer stubble (even when it's grown out for several hours) than an AC blade for instance, which leaves my whiskers feeling sharp as they come back in.
 
is this a common experience
I'm not sure if it's a common experience, but I certainly also have the same experience as you and not only limited to coti edges. Only explanation I see is, that the preparation hydrates the whiskers, they swell which pushes them a bit out (part of the reason we are preparing them) after the shave they dry they retract a bit.
 
In terms of absolute laser sharpness I doubt most coticules could compete with a diamond pasted balsa edge but that’s only part of the story.
My own little piece of coticule makes an edge plenty sharp enough for a real perfect bbs shave with a day long beautiful post shave feel.
I personally much prefer my coti edge to a pasted balsa edge which I never even use anymore.
The same can be said for all my natural stone edges, slates, coticule, jnat, black Arkansas I just love them.
Not sure why a ‘less sharp’ edge can shave better/more closely/more smoothly than a admittedly ‘sharper’ edge but it’s just what I’ve found.
Not sure about why your face settles in the way it does, maybe the skin swelling slightly due to the rub of the razor or as you say, the soap or a aftershave.
 
My own little piece of coticule makes an edge plenty sharp enough for a real perfect bbs shave with a day long beautiful post shave feel.

Yeah, I prefer the blade feel of a Coti edge, but as I mentioned I've only just started using one to hone. The sharpness will get there eventually (I hope).
 
Yeah, I prefer the blade feel of a Coti edge, but as I mentioned I've only just started using one to hone. The sharpness will get there eventually (I hope).
I’m definitely no expert either.
I watched a series of three YouTube videos on coticule honing by dr Matt which I found very helpful. This is the first one -
 
Yeah, I prefer the blade feel of a Coti edge, but as I mentioned I've only just started using one to hone. The sharpness will get there eventually (I hope).

Your Coti edges will improve with experience - at least based on my experience. Took me several weeks to dial into my Cotis and then, bam, the edges were able to compete with those from my other stones in terms of sharpness. For me, finishing with lots of water produces the best edges.
 
I've started to use a Las V coticule as an edge finisher (followed by plenty of stropping) and enjoying the smoother face feel the blade gives me. One thing I've noticed is that (so far) my shaves don't feel as close as they had when I finished off a diamond paste balsa strop - more DFS than anything else. But that's totally liveable. But the thing that really stuck me is that my shaves "settle" a few minutes after I've finished. When I rinse my face after the shave my skin feels like Stubbleville and I wonder what I did wrong. But by the time I'm downstairs drinking coffee or on the train to work, my face feels much smoother. I hadn't noticed that before I stared with the coti - is this a common experience? Or maybe just something to do with using a new soap or something?


This is not specific to coticules at all... you just didn't notice it off your diamond paste because the shave was close enough even immediately post-shave the effect wasn't noticeable.

Coticules on avg aren't the closest shave out there... They're "close enough". For years I rarely used mine (even while collecting hundreds), preferring Thuri's for exactly the reason you note. There are exceptional coti's that are more in line with top notch finishers... but they're the exception not the rule and in some cases mean compromising on some of the coticule elements that most people want a coticule for.

That said, if your shave is close but not absolutely smooth... it will be easier to test/notice by far immediately after the shave. I always assumed this is due to the hairs that remain being wet/swollen and thus prouder. Once they dry out; they sink back down a bit. Even a fairly mediocre straight shave will be quite smooth once it settles out... the main reason you want a closer shave is longevity of the shave. Some guys can get 30+ hrs before they start to look like they skipped their shave... compared to maybe 10-14 hrs for most modern shaving methods and maybe 16-20 hrs for a mediocre straight shave.
 
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