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Hello, my experience so far

Hello, I’m a newbie in the old art of quality shaving that likes to push this short life that has been given to us with a fair dose of good mood.

I’ve been lurking alot here since my venture into wetshaving almost 2 months ago. Tried my first DE razor 1 and half month ago. It has been so much fun, something just for me, my Me time.
We adults are too big to play with plastic toys, so we have to entertain our hands with car tools and foreplay with our girlfriends and wives.
This has gave a new motivation to wake up and get out of bed, breakfast can wait. What better way to start a day than really wanting to begin the day, you are already starting with the right mindset.
During this last 6 or 7 weeks I gathered nice experiences.
If successful single mothers have forums where they proudly explain how they offload half of the parental work to the close family. This is my turn to recount the tale of my journey.

In the end of November I discovered DE razors and wetshaving accidentally, when I was looking where to buy bulk cartridges for my Schick/Wilkinson Sword Quattro and advice on how to shave the back my neck.

I read the advantages and took the plunge immediately. I thought: “I wanted the best.” Stumbled at shaving101.com where they praised the Ikon Bulldog. I didn’t care to read other reviews. Went to the Ikon store and the Bulldog wasn’t made, I bought the OSS. It was a blemished unit sold at discount, you know, “the ones” with “invisible” blemishes because we look and we can’t find them.

RAD kicked in even before I had the first DE razor in my hands, because then I started visiting B&B and alike. Hey it was 1 month before Christmas, I could weed out the razors that I disliked until I got the ONE, or the ONES.

I got hooked into wetshaving. Do any of you guys know the song “I want a new drug” by Huey Lewis?

My first two shaves was made with a cheap Chinese Big Roc with orange handle (€5) and german Wilki blades. I watched the sharp and thin blade sticking out of the razor without apparent protection. I admit I was a nervous wreck that first shave, and extra cautious. I had never used something like this.

Hands shacking, heart pounding. It felt like the first time I got out of an airplane’s door with a parachute strapped at my back. It felt like the first kiss, it felt like the first f**k, it felt like manning myself to talk to a pretty girl.

I loaded myself with courage and put the safety bar below my sideburn with the handle parallel to my face, slowly stroking down my face and slowly raising the handle until the assassin blade touched my face, ready for the inevitable bloodshed and cuts that I had read in the internet… but no, the blood didn’t flowed.
Not bad. Good razor (with awful chrome), not a bad shave, no weepers, no cuts. I WAS ALIVE! UNHARMED! I SURVIVED WITHOUT MAME!

A few days later the stainless trophy arrived “And it better be good because I paid a lot of money for this Ikon!” I thought to myself.

Half face shaved with a new german Wilkinson blade and half face shaved with a new Bic blade. It was easy to feel that the Bics where a notch up in sharpness. The cut had less tugging.
I used the same handle angle that I used with the Big Roc. Why not? Isn’t it the way to hold a razor? The shave was sub par compared to the Big Roc from the previous day. It left some stubble to be uncut. But the face seemed more comfortable. At that time I thought maybe this is what people talk in the forums, some said it was too mild and others said it was very comfortable and efficient. Whatever that means… Wetshaving had become a pleasant hobby of experimentation and finding myself answers for the questions.

The following week I received my golden Merkur 34G. Gold = bling. This thing is beautiful. And it shaved closer than my OSS that now I wanted to sell. I used the holding technique explained at shaving101.com, the feel in my hand was perfect. Perfect balance from that small handle. This was a keeper. And now I felt bad about buying the OSS, no one in Portugal would buy it for a fair price and it was to expensive to offer to someone else, even if it was a friend or close family.

The knurling of that OSS handle is good, I can grab it with my hands full of soap and it never slips. It doesn’t hurt nor it digs in the skin but it gives a sure grip without being sharp. This is quality.
I remember the first time I unpacked and assembled this 3 piece razor and hold it by the handle feeling the weight of the razor, enjoying a texture in my fingers that I had never felt before.

I decided to keep a rotation of the 2 razors. The OSS was the black sheep that was here to stay.

Third week, I received a slant Merkur 37C. WHAT! NO GOLD! I started becoming curious about the so called aggressive razors. I wanted to try the Merkur 37, I want to be a part of the elite warriors that were able to man this sword. I read about the people that failed and about the others that reached Valhalla. And I was not gonna be left behind!

Used a Wilkinson german blade from the day before. The first time I put it in my face I was very nervous, cautious about spilling blood, slow, after all, witnesses reported this to be an evil razor. Shaved my cheek and was surprised with the softness of the skin. But in the end it didn’t felt better than what my 34C can do. And it was the first razor to give me blood – 2 small weepers in the base of my neck, half centimeter apart because of blade stuttering, which was either lack of lather or dull blade tugging in my steel wires. I never used german Wilkinsons again.

My first and only shave with the Merkur 37C. I cleaned it, disinfected and packed it as part of a starter kit for my brother’s Christmas gift.

Meanwhile a package of 100 Feather blades arrived. The following morning I put a feather in my mild OSS. “It should be no problem in this razor” I thought. But this was THE BLADE. The black ninja. The blade that made so much horror stories was in my razor and I was gonna put it in my face! I hadn’t start and this blade had already broke my will and put me down on my knees LOL
Again I was nervous, I stroked the razor slowly, gently, with my hands shaking. Good blade, turns the whiskers into butter. The second shave had nothing in common with the first. Fast and consistent. There was no vampire behind this blade, if you know what you’re doing of course. I got a perception from other people that didn’t quite match my experiences. I think the best advice I can give to newcomers is to be confident and don’t push the limits that you don’t know. Yes you can push them, but no in one step.

Be confident, RTFM and go for it.

This same week I started going more for the OSS than the 34C. Without thinking much to it, my hand moved upper in the handle, and the handle angle became steeper (raised) than the 34C.

Fouth week, I received a Muhle R41 from shaving.ie (€29.95). I couldn’t resist getting this razor for this price. The fame of the R41 was luring me.

I read about aggressive razor. But what is it? I could only speculate. Do they shave all beard in one pass with the same comfort? I read something that I couldn’t feel.

The razor comes in a pretty box where you can see the beautiful chrome work of razor inside. Getting it out of the box and having it in my hand was an odd surprised. The razor is very light. How could something with such a fearsome reputation be so light.

Muhle offers a pack of 5 Derby blades with each of the razors.

Loaded the Derby in my R41. Handle parallel to my face, slowly raising the handle. The weight is perfect, I think it helps to better fine tune a lightweight stroke because of the blade sticking out you need to respect the razor. The shaving was good and bad. I had the best BBS until then, but my face was sore. I had to wait one day without shaving. Second shave continued with the sense of scrapping in my face. Moved the blade to my 34G and: “What the **** is this ****!”. The tugging was uncomfortable. I had to stop. Brought a new Feather into the 34G and it was so much smooth. Since I was feeling brave, I moved that Feather to the R41, and gently finished the shave. I was still scrapping my face. I examined the razor blade angle and thought that the razor was useless, and never use it again or sell it cheap.

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But throwing my towel is not my style. My mind wasn’t satisfied. So 5 minutes later I was in the internet. There must be a solution and I will find it! Blades angles! I grabbed a toothpaste box and began testing the bite of my R41 on the box side. This is not good, near 45º, no wonder they scrap and no wonder people say that the blades last less.

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Grab the box with one hand and stroke the razor until the blade makes contact with the paper. Watch the blade angle of your razor, and memorize your handle angle.

Did the same with my OSS. Does this thing even bites? I kept raising the handle until it DID bite the paper of the box. And what a pleasant surprise! This is almost half of the blade angle of the R41. I had never used the OSS in this position.

The next morning I gave the Derby one last try in my OSS and went for the steep handle angle. Wow. What was once a tugging blade was now a shavable blade, but still dull. The following shaves I kept training my hand for this angle and grabbing the handle by the balance point like I saw in one of Geofatboy’s video. Nowadays my pinky finger holding the end helps controlling handle angle when I transition from cheek to neck.


After 2 weeks the ugly duck OSS blossomed into an elegant swan. I get BBS in 2 passes (WTG and ATG), but because of my square face and angular jaw each pass contains some XTG.

I know the Ikon brand isn’t warmly welcome here, and I understand it very well. I manage a family business in a small town, and I know how trust is important. But this is my best razor. The blade cuts stubble with less effort and faster. With Feathers it just glides. ATG in my coarse moustache is a child’s play because of that angle, and safer. Open comb for WTG, closed comb for ATG. The edge of the combs makes finding the right angle intuitive once you know how it feels in the face. Both combs shave equally once the beard is reduced, the open comb lets the long stubble stay straight when touching the blade.

I suspect people with the Feather Stainless razors to shave equally well. Is the OSS a copy of the Feather Stainless? Yes, lets be honest. And is the OSS a small refinement of the Feather Stainless? Yes.

Last week I received The Bluebeard’s Revenge Scimitar that uses the R89/DE89 head. I did just a few strokes in my cheek before cleaning, disinfecting and repackaging. It didn’t seems better or worst than my Merkur 34. I admit I didn’t gave much love to it.

Last week I also received my Ikon SB baseplate. One more chance to unpack the R41 and see how they compare to each other. I can do faster with the OSS 99% of what this razors do.

The R41 and the SB are very aggressive razors. Aiming for the sweet angle were the comb hardly touches the face and the blade wants to glide on the skin I have to shave slow. Every time I tried both razors they seem to achieve the same cutting results, but in terms of comfort the R41 is less harsh. The difference in my face is noticeable when I need to do multiple passes over the same area. Sorry Ikon, for me the SB is a loser I don’t like harsh scrapping in my face.

3 days ago the mailman knocked at the door and delivered my new shavettes. I had my eye on the Sanguine Feather XD20 for some time.
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/155175-My-review-of-the-DE-shavette-world!
This post made me curious, after reading that the Shaving Shack shavette was heavier I wanted to try both of them in my hand. This shavettes are cheap and gave me the excuse to order Gillette 7 O’Clock Yellows from shavingshack. The Sanguine Feather shavette I got from ebay.

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The ink from sanguine was falling off from the handling of it, if it’s done on purpose by Sanguine it’s genius. The sanguine logo on the blade holder was tougher but a hard scrub with the corner of my thumb nail cleared it all. So now in one side of the scales it only says “Feather” and on the other it says “Made in Japan”.

In the hand the weight of the Shaving Shack shavette is better. But the finish is awful, the polished stainless has too many machine marks, it has a rushed polish and black residues in the crevices from the polishing process. Near the blade tip where the blade holder tips are grinded to a slop, one tip is thicker than the other. The black handle is dull and matt and the scales aren’t parallel. This unit has been rushly produced. It was also cheaper than the Feather. Judging by photographs this shavette is exactly the same as the Bluebeards Revenge shavette, but I’m sure the extra price paid for it will get you a pristine shavette.

The Feather shavette is lighter because the 2 stainless parts that make the shank are thinner. The finish is very well made. Blade holder tips are evenly grinded, and the grind is made to provide a slant effect which I think has no impact on the quality of the shave. Maybe? Maybe to glide away the lather? I don’t think so. ATG slant? I don’t know. The stainless steel is well polished, and the clamp holds together tighter. The yellow scales have a smooth shine.

Before the shaving the extra weight in the of the Shaving Shack felt better in the hand, which has let me a bit sad because I wanted the Feather to be my favorite and for that it had to shave better… And it did :)

One time I saw a video in you tube of a guy shaving with a western straight and using the japanese grip style. And it always seemed more natural to me.

I broke an old Bic blade in half. Loading isn’t foolproof as a quality DE razor is. It’s better to try several times until you learn the correct amount of blade exposure, because it may seem a good job with a parallel blade sticking out 1 mm of the holder tips when there should be almost half of that amount visible.

I started shaving first with the Feather shavette, carefully, there is no need to push the limits if I don’t know them. Blade flat, a few strokes, then lets try the Shaving Shack. It’s thicker, therefore the blade is more away from skin when flat/almost flat. Also the extra thickness of the S.Shack shavette makes the blade holder be sucked by vacuum/suction effect when using a watery lather with very shallow angles, which is pretty scary when doing ATG passes. The thinner Feather gave me more maneuverability in my uneven face.

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This is my primary grip style, I may change my fingers positions a bit when changing blade orientation or side of face being shaved. I use my two smallest fingers to change blade angle while shaving. So far I always shaved with my dominant hand.

The less weight of the Feather shavette had no negative impact on the shave. I transferred my grip style to the S. Shack and both feel the same in my hand.

If my hand is an extension of my arm, the shavette with its lightweight can be an extension of my fingers. Once you get confident the raising of the blade angle will be natural, but I don’t have plans to ditch the old blades and using new ones just yet. Tried using the conventional way of holding a str8 like in the videos of Geofatboy but the shavette shank is too thin for that. For me it didn’t provided a sure grip for stability and seemed like asking for trouble. In skydiving we’re always taught one of the main rules regarding safety: “In case of doubt there is no doubt.”

The first shavette shave was to only to see what how it was. The second shave had the objective of doing a complete shave, and the girlfriend even gave me more motivation: “No! It’s dangerous! Pleaseeee!” . Why do women freak out when they see a man with a knife in his hand? LOL

I managed to get a DFS WTG with a BBS ATG in my cheeks with NO cuts or weepers using an old blade. But the shave took forever. My jaw line is too angular, my face is too squared, my cheeks and my neck have no fat.

Instead of a watery latherin the first shave, this time I did the opposite and tried a thicker lather, and it had better lubrication, but only a small amount of lather must stay in my face. I have a Semogue boar brush, when applying lather I paint it in my face leaving only a narrow amount of lather. With a DE razor I need my lather not too watery nor too thick.

In the end of the shave my neck was not irritated has usual, only a part of my side chin was burning where I had scrapped the old Bic blade leaving my beard better than BBS. I think the jaw line didn’t like all the scruffing. Normally my neck has a small burning whether I use shave balm or not, which disappears completely after 30 or 45 minutes. It seems to be inflammation of the stubble’s base.

And for some days that I was becoming suspicious that my skin irritation is not about blade harshness but maybe cutting against the grain stubble that is too long. Because a new Feather blade gives me the more comfortable shaves.

This morning with the OSS I used my last Bic blade and shorter, much slower strokes on my neck, mimicking the fingers on my throat as with the shavettes looking for grain direction. Taking my time on my Adam’s apple and its sides. Did WTG, then ATG, and in the end, for the first time since wetshaving I had a fine neck and could fully button the shirt right away, where normally I go finish something else while I wait for things to cool down in my neck.

To end this, I even learned that the oil of my oily skin allows me to get away unpunished with a sloppy beard prep. Shave first, breakfast or shower afterwards.
 
That's quite the first post. Welcome to you. I had the same thing happen to my Sanquine, the print just wore off. It looks better though without it.
 
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