TL;DR: I tried a lot of fine razors, expensive ones, and have found that the $12 Feather with the black plastic handle, matched with Feather blades, works best...why?
My profile: fifty years old, started with a double-edge at 15, but pretty quickly switched to a Trac II. I have a very tough beard, and have tried lots of razors - incrementally following the industry's blade inflation - and also a couple of electrics (a high-end Braun, the kind with the cleaning machine) and a Norelco.
My favorite disposables always tended to be the Schicks, but I've grown increasingly frustrated with the cost of blades - and that buying them slightly cheaper on Amazon often resulted in my receiving counterfeit blades.
So, I returned to double-edge; I watched all the videos and settled on a routine, more or less. But I couldn't - just couldn't - get the BBS shave I wanted. The area on the right side of my neck and jawline always got stubbly.
The first razor I used (lucky me) was a 1962 Gillette Fat Boy, grabbed from my Dad's medicine chest and cleaned up per B&B instructions. I tried a lot of blades, and settled with the Israeli Personas, though I also liked the Gillette 7 O'Clock greens. But that rough patch! I couldn't get it, no matter how hard I tried. Even if I did pass after pass, experimenting with multiple directions, angles, it remained stubbly - and the multiple passes, of course, gave me razor burn.
My wife gave me a Merkur Futur for father's day, which looked beautiful, but I didn't like the weight or size and found the handle slippery.
Next came a Merkur 180, mostly because I went on a business trip, forgot the Gillette, and could only find that at retail. I thought the results were even less good.
Of course, all this could be chalked up to a learning curve, but after two months, I felt my technique was in pretty good stead - I was getting super-smooth shaves all over the rest of my face, even the tough spots, but that troubling patch remained. (My wife even noticed it.) So I began systematically reviewing my existing collection again.) The results weren't so different; I tried the ultra-sharp Feather blades, but got a bit cut up and didn't get much better results, so I went back to the Personnas.
Revelation Number One: I found an NOS Schick injector. Amazing! It gave me, once I got used to it, the best shave by far, though not perfect. But I felt a little defeated, since I wanted to play the game of trying different blades, razors.
Of the single edge razors, the Fat Boy - adjusted to a six or seven - worked best. But I was still dissatisfied. Since I have a heavy beard, I decided to try the Merkur Slant. I used it with trepidation, but really didn't have too many issues getting used to it - but I still wasn't satisfied with the shave.
I was about to go on a trip, and didn't want to bring any of the fancy razors, so I bought a $12 Feather from eBay - the kind with the long, black, plastic handle - and loaded it with Feather blades.
Revelation Number Two! A three-pass shave came closer than any DE I'd tried to getting me BBS; four passes exceeded the inject and I got the BBS I'd been looking for, and in much less time than I'd experienced with my other razors.
So, that's what I'm using. But I long for a shiny, beautiful razor, though I appreciate the Feather's marvelous performance (for me, at least) and economy.
Since I'm not that experienced, I'm not totally sure what's going on here, except to guess that the (mild?) Feather razor combined with the (aggressive) Feather blade to provide the perfect shaving environment.
cheers!
But I'd love to hear some comments or advice.
The lightness of the razor made it much easier for it to glide at the proper pressure; and somehow, the super-sharp blade seemed tamed.
My profile: fifty years old, started with a double-edge at 15, but pretty quickly switched to a Trac II. I have a very tough beard, and have tried lots of razors - incrementally following the industry's blade inflation - and also a couple of electrics (a high-end Braun, the kind with the cleaning machine) and a Norelco.
My favorite disposables always tended to be the Schicks, but I've grown increasingly frustrated with the cost of blades - and that buying them slightly cheaper on Amazon often resulted in my receiving counterfeit blades.
So, I returned to double-edge; I watched all the videos and settled on a routine, more or less. But I couldn't - just couldn't - get the BBS shave I wanted. The area on the right side of my neck and jawline always got stubbly.
The first razor I used (lucky me) was a 1962 Gillette Fat Boy, grabbed from my Dad's medicine chest and cleaned up per B&B instructions. I tried a lot of blades, and settled with the Israeli Personas, though I also liked the Gillette 7 O'Clock greens. But that rough patch! I couldn't get it, no matter how hard I tried. Even if I did pass after pass, experimenting with multiple directions, angles, it remained stubbly - and the multiple passes, of course, gave me razor burn.
My wife gave me a Merkur Futur for father's day, which looked beautiful, but I didn't like the weight or size and found the handle slippery.
Next came a Merkur 180, mostly because I went on a business trip, forgot the Gillette, and could only find that at retail. I thought the results were even less good.
Of course, all this could be chalked up to a learning curve, but after two months, I felt my technique was in pretty good stead - I was getting super-smooth shaves all over the rest of my face, even the tough spots, but that troubling patch remained. (My wife even noticed it.) So I began systematically reviewing my existing collection again.) The results weren't so different; I tried the ultra-sharp Feather blades, but got a bit cut up and didn't get much better results, so I went back to the Personnas.
Revelation Number One: I found an NOS Schick injector. Amazing! It gave me, once I got used to it, the best shave by far, though not perfect. But I felt a little defeated, since I wanted to play the game of trying different blades, razors.
Of the single edge razors, the Fat Boy - adjusted to a six or seven - worked best. But I was still dissatisfied. Since I have a heavy beard, I decided to try the Merkur Slant. I used it with trepidation, but really didn't have too many issues getting used to it - but I still wasn't satisfied with the shave.
I was about to go on a trip, and didn't want to bring any of the fancy razors, so I bought a $12 Feather from eBay - the kind with the long, black, plastic handle - and loaded it with Feather blades.
Revelation Number Two! A three-pass shave came closer than any DE I'd tried to getting me BBS; four passes exceeded the inject and I got the BBS I'd been looking for, and in much less time than I'd experienced with my other razors.
So, that's what I'm using. But I long for a shiny, beautiful razor, though I appreciate the Feather's marvelous performance (for me, at least) and economy.
Since I'm not that experienced, I'm not totally sure what's going on here, except to guess that the (mild?) Feather razor combined with the (aggressive) Feather blade to provide the perfect shaving environment.
cheers!
But I'd love to hear some comments or advice.
The lightness of the razor made it much easier for it to glide at the proper pressure; and somehow, the super-sharp blade seemed tamed.