OK, I will confess: I have been kinda mean and dismissive towards "milder" razors. I've only been DE shaving less than 2 years now and have not used very many, only one of which I would consider mild after today's experience. I also never "rotated" razors, each one replaced the one before it, so I was pretty comfortable with each razor.
VDH TTO: way too mild, used it for 2 months (total newb at this point)
Maggard V3: much better but rougher, always felt it around the mouth too much and had to keep going over the same areas, used for 5 months
Maggard V3A: better than V3 but still felt dangerous, used for 6 months
RR GC JAWS 84: the best of them all, yet way rougher with WAY more blade feel, which I came to tolerate and accepted as a necessary evil in order to knock down my tough chin stubble, used for the last 8 months straight
Back in April 2020, I bought a Gillette New Long Comb from fellow B&B member @NoScrubs. When it first arrived, I loaded a blade admiring its deathly accurate blade placement no matter how sloppy I would load the blade trying to misalign it, then ran my finger across it to test for exposure and thought "no way, this thing is way too mild". I put it in my drawer and was glad to have gotten a historical piece of shaving gear for a great price, so it was all good. I've done lots of dumb things in my life, not trying this razor right away was one of 'em.
Then a few days ago I started thinking about what many B&B'ers have been saying "mild razor/sharp blade" after having had a few less-than stellar shaves over my chin area which is almost always a pain in some way. I planned to give the New a try since I knew I didn't have to worry about blade alignment and it has a nice narrow maneuverable head for around my nose, like the JAWS. Examining the razor, the first thing I noticed was that the blade is secured at a shallower angle and more perpendicular to the handle, compared to the JAWS. I knew I was going to have to adjust my shave angle, and was ready. I loaded a fresh Gillette Silver Blue, face-lathered Tabac from a shave stick to perfection with my trusty Maggard Timberwolf synthetic, and ran.
Right off the bat, this razor was 90% more comfortable than the JAWS, so I thought "there's no way it's cutting". Then I'd run my finger across the area I just shaved.....and it was smooth, smoother than my first swipe with the JAWS. Um, WHAT? So I keep going and do everywhere else except the upper lip and chin as usual, and aside from missing a few tough spots on my neck due to the wrong angle, this is the smoothest most efficient shave I've had to date, without question. Then I do the upper lip, super smooth again and LESS tugging than with the JAWS(!). I am truly baffled as to how this is even possible at this point. Then the chin, the dreaded chin, smooth and not irritated in the slightest with almost no blade feel. I rinsed, completely baffled as to how my face was a DFS after one pass with a razor than didn't feel dangerous in the slightest. Did the second pass, which has NEVER been comfortable on my upper lip and chin, of which I had just accepted as "what it is" from what I thought was sensitive skin/coarse hair, or whatever, and I was done, smooth and irritation free.
Maybe someone can explain how this is possible. No huge blade gap, no crazy blade exposure, yet super efficient and comfortable. I am truly shocked, and delighted at the same time. One for the books to be sure!
VDH TTO: way too mild, used it for 2 months (total newb at this point)
Maggard V3: much better but rougher, always felt it around the mouth too much and had to keep going over the same areas, used for 5 months
Maggard V3A: better than V3 but still felt dangerous, used for 6 months
RR GC JAWS 84: the best of them all, yet way rougher with WAY more blade feel, which I came to tolerate and accepted as a necessary evil in order to knock down my tough chin stubble, used for the last 8 months straight
Back in April 2020, I bought a Gillette New Long Comb from fellow B&B member @NoScrubs. When it first arrived, I loaded a blade admiring its deathly accurate blade placement no matter how sloppy I would load the blade trying to misalign it, then ran my finger across it to test for exposure and thought "no way, this thing is way too mild". I put it in my drawer and was glad to have gotten a historical piece of shaving gear for a great price, so it was all good. I've done lots of dumb things in my life, not trying this razor right away was one of 'em.
Then a few days ago I started thinking about what many B&B'ers have been saying "mild razor/sharp blade" after having had a few less-than stellar shaves over my chin area which is almost always a pain in some way. I planned to give the New a try since I knew I didn't have to worry about blade alignment and it has a nice narrow maneuverable head for around my nose, like the JAWS. Examining the razor, the first thing I noticed was that the blade is secured at a shallower angle and more perpendicular to the handle, compared to the JAWS. I knew I was going to have to adjust my shave angle, and was ready. I loaded a fresh Gillette Silver Blue, face-lathered Tabac from a shave stick to perfection with my trusty Maggard Timberwolf synthetic, and ran.
Right off the bat, this razor was 90% more comfortable than the JAWS, so I thought "there's no way it's cutting". Then I'd run my finger across the area I just shaved.....and it was smooth, smoother than my first swipe with the JAWS. Um, WHAT? So I keep going and do everywhere else except the upper lip and chin as usual, and aside from missing a few tough spots on my neck due to the wrong angle, this is the smoothest most efficient shave I've had to date, without question. Then I do the upper lip, super smooth again and LESS tugging than with the JAWS(!). I am truly baffled as to how this is even possible at this point. Then the chin, the dreaded chin, smooth and not irritated in the slightest with almost no blade feel. I rinsed, completely baffled as to how my face was a DFS after one pass with a razor than didn't feel dangerous in the slightest. Did the second pass, which has NEVER been comfortable on my upper lip and chin, of which I had just accepted as "what it is" from what I thought was sensitive skin/coarse hair, or whatever, and I was done, smooth and irritation free.
Maybe someone can explain how this is possible. No huge blade gap, no crazy blade exposure, yet super efficient and comfortable. I am truly shocked, and delighted at the same time. One for the books to be sure!
