Notice I did not say trouble getting a close shave. Or trouble getting a comfortable shave. I got no shave.
Backing up a little. I tried a Gem once before. A micromatic. It was ok, but I nicked myself a lot. Now, a month later, and with generally much improved technique, I wanted to try a Gem again. I decided to try the G-Bar, since our local Gem fanatic wink: ) suggests that it shaves at least as well as any other, and is more gentle.
It was gentle all right. Problem was, on two day stubble, after one pass I still had 1 day worth of stubble. After two passes I still had almost 1 day worth of stubble. Yes I am holding this thing with the large flat surface flat. This is kind of frustrating, as so many people love these so much - I just cannot figure out what I was doing wrong. Maybe I will try a micromatic tomorrow, or a push-button.
The other thing is that I find these things rather unwieldy. The large flat surface may be idiot proof for getting the right angle in theory. But that theory only works on parts of my fact that are not difficult anyway (cheeks). I cannot figure out how to navigate this thing around my chin neatly yet. And under the nose? People complain about the Vision being too big!? This thing barely fits with enough room to do N-S on my BOTTOM lip. Hopefully with so more practice, some of these issues will iron out.
At any rate, after two passes, I got a phone call which was my que that I needed to be outside my apartment in 5 mintutes or less. Dressed, preferably. So I grabbed my #66, which had a feather in it, and did my fastest non-cartridge pass ever. Less than 30 seconds for a full face N-S pass. Without cutting myself. Since I luckily had a feather loaded, this left me with a presentable, if not totally smooth, shave. With just the weeest bit of razor burn right at the bottom of the neck.....
Backing up a little. I tried a Gem once before. A micromatic. It was ok, but I nicked myself a lot. Now, a month later, and with generally much improved technique, I wanted to try a Gem again. I decided to try the G-Bar, since our local Gem fanatic wink: ) suggests that it shaves at least as well as any other, and is more gentle.
It was gentle all right. Problem was, on two day stubble, after one pass I still had 1 day worth of stubble. After two passes I still had almost 1 day worth of stubble. Yes I am holding this thing with the large flat surface flat. This is kind of frustrating, as so many people love these so much - I just cannot figure out what I was doing wrong. Maybe I will try a micromatic tomorrow, or a push-button.
The other thing is that I find these things rather unwieldy. The large flat surface may be idiot proof for getting the right angle in theory. But that theory only works on parts of my fact that are not difficult anyway (cheeks). I cannot figure out how to navigate this thing around my chin neatly yet. And under the nose? People complain about the Vision being too big!? This thing barely fits with enough room to do N-S on my BOTTOM lip. Hopefully with so more practice, some of these issues will iron out.
At any rate, after two passes, I got a phone call which was my que that I needed to be outside my apartment in 5 mintutes or less. Dressed, preferably. So I grabbed my #66, which had a feather in it, and did my fastest non-cartridge pass ever. Less than 30 seconds for a full face N-S pass. Without cutting myself. Since I luckily had a feather loaded, this left me with a presentable, if not totally smooth, shave. With just the weeest bit of razor burn right at the bottom of the neck.....