Everybody on B&B has read my adventures with an old G-series Injector with cut-down Feather blades. I've managed to figure the technique out and get a pretty decent shave with it. I've been getting closer to BBS.
Most recently, I have been lathering up, doing a full N-S. I lather up again and do an ATG, and then wet the skin, apply a bit more lather, and do a final S-N as touch-ups in certain areas only, but not the whole face. I find that my chin and under my nose are not the easiest areas to do up or down. I'm scared of cutting my lips if the razor catches. There, I go across on the chin and kind of angle down away from my nose up above (because that's the way the beard - or should I say mustache? - grows in that area, around my upper lip).
I needed to change blades a few days ago (remember, I only shave this way on weekends), and, being too lazy to go down to my workbench and trim a Feather properly (it's not such a technical operation, but that is just where I keep my home sidecutters - I've got better ones for everyday professional use in the field), I just clicked in a regular name-brand NOS Schick blade. I ordered these online. They are in a chrome-colored injector with 7 blades and came on a yellow card in blister-packed plastic (as they might have looked hanging on a display rack in a store). There was a website on the card, so I imagine they weren't made that long ago. When I looked at the website, no mention was made of injector blades because Schick took them out of production since then.
I've just gotten used to shaving with the cut-down Feather in my old G8 razor. This razor has the two little guard-bars on either end of the blade, but it is very aggressive and those little bars don't really offer a lot of protection for the nervous newbie (such as I was only two or three months ago).
Strangely enough, while the Feather gives me a great shave, the standard Schick blade didn't seem quite as good, even going slowly with good angle and light pressure as I'm supposed to do with one of these. I got a couple of nicks as well, on my chin, and under my nose on the right side. I figured that the under-nose part (the "mustache area", I call it, because that's what you get when you don't shave that part of your face for a while) was from trying to squeeze the razor in tight enough to get right under my nose, and I might have caught the edge a bit cross-wise in starting it moving in there. On my chin, I felt the cut as I got it. I was changing direction while moving from the vertical chin in front to the section below, between there and my neck, and again, it was probably an inadvertent sideways motion that cut a little skin-flap open (yes, I know that's a major no-no with a sharp blade). I've really got to watch that and keep working on it, because otherwise, I like using this unit and want to continue to get good results with it. I've been getting better and have been feeling much better about it on the whole.
Last night, I bought a C & E Best Badger brush (actually Edwin Jagger). In Canada, I paid $54 for it. It's a rather smallish brush, with an "ivory" (I somehow don't think they make anything from real ivory anymore - as a piano player, I've enjoyed the feel of ivory keys in the past, but nowadays I don't have any problem with plastic ones, and it's definitely easier on elephants!) handle, and I just love it for spreading the ol' Proraso. I'll never go back to my beginner's boar one again.
After using the NOS Schick blade this morning, though, I wasn't really satisfied with the overall shave quality. I think I might just use it tomorrow yet, then chuck it and go back to a properly prepared Feather again. Those things are so sharp that they're dangerous, so I tend to be very careful with them and go very slowly. The result, of course, is a great shave!
I hate to be so verbose, but I do tend to like to explain things in detail. I'll continue to post my results.
Most recently, I have been lathering up, doing a full N-S. I lather up again and do an ATG, and then wet the skin, apply a bit more lather, and do a final S-N as touch-ups in certain areas only, but not the whole face. I find that my chin and under my nose are not the easiest areas to do up or down. I'm scared of cutting my lips if the razor catches. There, I go across on the chin and kind of angle down away from my nose up above (because that's the way the beard - or should I say mustache? - grows in that area, around my upper lip).
I needed to change blades a few days ago (remember, I only shave this way on weekends), and, being too lazy to go down to my workbench and trim a Feather properly (it's not such a technical operation, but that is just where I keep my home sidecutters - I've got better ones for everyday professional use in the field), I just clicked in a regular name-brand NOS Schick blade. I ordered these online. They are in a chrome-colored injector with 7 blades and came on a yellow card in blister-packed plastic (as they might have looked hanging on a display rack in a store). There was a website on the card, so I imagine they weren't made that long ago. When I looked at the website, no mention was made of injector blades because Schick took them out of production since then.
I've just gotten used to shaving with the cut-down Feather in my old G8 razor. This razor has the two little guard-bars on either end of the blade, but it is very aggressive and those little bars don't really offer a lot of protection for the nervous newbie (such as I was only two or three months ago).
Strangely enough, while the Feather gives me a great shave, the standard Schick blade didn't seem quite as good, even going slowly with good angle and light pressure as I'm supposed to do with one of these. I got a couple of nicks as well, on my chin, and under my nose on the right side. I figured that the under-nose part (the "mustache area", I call it, because that's what you get when you don't shave that part of your face for a while) was from trying to squeeze the razor in tight enough to get right under my nose, and I might have caught the edge a bit cross-wise in starting it moving in there. On my chin, I felt the cut as I got it. I was changing direction while moving from the vertical chin in front to the section below, between there and my neck, and again, it was probably an inadvertent sideways motion that cut a little skin-flap open (yes, I know that's a major no-no with a sharp blade). I've really got to watch that and keep working on it, because otherwise, I like using this unit and want to continue to get good results with it. I've been getting better and have been feeling much better about it on the whole.
Last night, I bought a C & E Best Badger brush (actually Edwin Jagger). In Canada, I paid $54 for it. It's a rather smallish brush, with an "ivory" (I somehow don't think they make anything from real ivory anymore - as a piano player, I've enjoyed the feel of ivory keys in the past, but nowadays I don't have any problem with plastic ones, and it's definitely easier on elephants!) handle, and I just love it for spreading the ol' Proraso. I'll never go back to my beginner's boar one again.
After using the NOS Schick blade this morning, though, I wasn't really satisfied with the overall shave quality. I think I might just use it tomorrow yet, then chuck it and go back to a properly prepared Feather again. Those things are so sharp that they're dangerous, so I tend to be very careful with them and go very slowly. The result, of course, is a great shave!
I hate to be so verbose, but I do tend to like to explain things in detail. I'll continue to post my results.
