I'm not sure exactly where to start. It was absolutely, unbelievably awful. I've been DE shaving for over 2 years now, shaved with a fair number of different razors, had a few bad shaves along the way but I haven't had a shave this bad, well, since I nearly blistered my face with a feather blade in month 2 of my shaving experience.
I loaded up my smoothest blade, a Gillette Silver Blue, built a great bowl of Proraso Red and went to town. Normal number of passes, normal directions...everything. But it started out odd. Tightened up the doors good and made my first 2 passes. I had to rinse it off to make sure I had actually put the blade it. Yep, it was there. Finished my face, did my neck and still barely felt the blade, although I did feel it a bit more on my lower neck passes. I was trying hard to keep the blade angle shallow and just go slow. So for the second pass I messed around with the blade angle on my cheeks until it felt a bit closer to my R89 and I could feel the blade cutting. Finished the 2nd pass and I still had a great deal of stubble left, in places I usually don't after 2 passes. It was like I almost hadn't shaved. So, maybe it's a bad blade? I took the blade out and put a new one in, same brand.
Pass #3 didn't produce much more stubble reduction. I'm 3 passes in and don't have a shave anywhere close to good enough for the day. I should have made a tactical retreat and picked up the Muhle to finish it off. OH NO. This is a pristine Aristocrat. Everyone loves how it shaves, you can do it. It's you, not the razor. So I decided I would just try to clean up the worst spots with some blade buffing and just make the shave work. Made sure I was extra lathered and slicked up.
You can all see where this is going. It ended up horribly. In trying to make the shave even livable I ended up with a razor burned, irritated, bumpy necked mess. I always and only use Weleda ASB, which has only the faintest hint of a sting and is so soothing. It felt like I put gasoline on my face. I would have been happier if one of you would have lit my face on fire from there and then put it out with a bag full of nickels.
Let the Nivea soak in, cold water splash and a cool washcloth on my neck for about 10 minutes. Felt a bit better. Another Weleda....errrr.....gasoline treatment and I resolved not to touch my face again for at least 48 hours.
So, back to the drawing board on the Crat. It's a beautiful piece of artwork. It's in absolute pristine condition. It feels as good in my hand as any razor I own....including my R89. It's obvious it does not like the Gillette SB's. I'll have to try it again with an Astra I guess. Later though. Post face healing and ego rebuilding. I really feel like I took my technique back to the first month I started DE shaving. Part of it was stubbornness on my part. But that's not all of it. There was something about this razor, the blade in it combined with my face and my technique that was the problem. I thought I attacked it logically (until the end). Kept the pressure light, tried to let the weight of the razor and the number of passes do the work. Maybe I really didn't do that.
All I know is my face feels like I used a cheese grater to shave this morning. Would you like some ground parmesan with your meal tonight?
I loaded up my smoothest blade, a Gillette Silver Blue, built a great bowl of Proraso Red and went to town. Normal number of passes, normal directions...everything. But it started out odd. Tightened up the doors good and made my first 2 passes. I had to rinse it off to make sure I had actually put the blade it. Yep, it was there. Finished my face, did my neck and still barely felt the blade, although I did feel it a bit more on my lower neck passes. I was trying hard to keep the blade angle shallow and just go slow. So for the second pass I messed around with the blade angle on my cheeks until it felt a bit closer to my R89 and I could feel the blade cutting. Finished the 2nd pass and I still had a great deal of stubble left, in places I usually don't after 2 passes. It was like I almost hadn't shaved. So, maybe it's a bad blade? I took the blade out and put a new one in, same brand.
Pass #3 didn't produce much more stubble reduction. I'm 3 passes in and don't have a shave anywhere close to good enough for the day. I should have made a tactical retreat and picked up the Muhle to finish it off. OH NO. This is a pristine Aristocrat. Everyone loves how it shaves, you can do it. It's you, not the razor. So I decided I would just try to clean up the worst spots with some blade buffing and just make the shave work. Made sure I was extra lathered and slicked up.
You can all see where this is going. It ended up horribly. In trying to make the shave even livable I ended up with a razor burned, irritated, bumpy necked mess. I always and only use Weleda ASB, which has only the faintest hint of a sting and is so soothing. It felt like I put gasoline on my face. I would have been happier if one of you would have lit my face on fire from there and then put it out with a bag full of nickels.
Let the Nivea soak in, cold water splash and a cool washcloth on my neck for about 10 minutes. Felt a bit better. Another Weleda....errrr.....gasoline treatment and I resolved not to touch my face again for at least 48 hours.
So, back to the drawing board on the Crat. It's a beautiful piece of artwork. It's in absolute pristine condition. It feels as good in my hand as any razor I own....including my R89. It's obvious it does not like the Gillette SB's. I'll have to try it again with an Astra I guess. Later though. Post face healing and ego rebuilding. I really feel like I took my technique back to the first month I started DE shaving. Part of it was stubbornness on my part. But that's not all of it. There was something about this razor, the blade in it combined with my face and my technique that was the problem. I thought I attacked it logically (until the end). Kept the pressure light, tried to let the weight of the razor and the number of passes do the work. Maybe I really didn't do that.
All I know is my face feels like I used a cheese grater to shave this morning. Would you like some ground parmesan with your meal tonight?
