I will start this with a disclaimer. I have not tried a ton of different razors. In fact, I have used exactly 2. I was PIFed a Gillette SS when I started off and I purchased a Ri Mei for myself. I have been through a ton of blades, trying to find something that would cut my thick, coarse beard. I was getting decent shaves with my SS, but I could never get over the hump to a BBS. I narrowed down the blades I liked best, with the Gillette 7 O'Clock Yellow and Feather coming out on top.
The rest of this post may induce laughter in some quarters, but bear with me. My best move to this point has been the purchase of the Ri Mei. I didn't use it for months after I received it because I was using the SS and trying to keep things the same to evaluate blades. When I finally broke out the Ri Mei a month and a half ago, I was shocked. It was a much closer and more irritation free shave than the SS. In fact, I achieved a BBS the second run through with it. It is a more aggressive razor and I think that I needed that.
I have since improved the razor. My Ri Mei is the older 4 piece model (ball tip on handle unscrews). My only complaint was that it was extremely light weight. A co-worker obtained the newer 3 piece Ri Mei model. It had a defective head, so he got another one. When his second Ri Mei arrived, he gave me the handle from the first. It is significantly heavier than the original handle on my Ri Mei. We did note that the head on my razor seemed to be much better made than the head on his newer Ri Mei. I now have the head from the older Ri Mei with the much heavier handle from the newer Ri Mei. I love it! This razor rocks and I can't imagine a much better shave. Any improvement would be so marginal as to be nearly imperceptible and I can't imagine dropping a huge chunk of change for a small improvement. It is as close as can be and I am getting better blade longevity with it (why would that be?)
In any case, laugh if you will, but my Ri Mei Frankenrazor with 7 O'Clock Yellow/Feather is the bomb!
The rest of this post may induce laughter in some quarters, but bear with me. My best move to this point has been the purchase of the Ri Mei. I didn't use it for months after I received it because I was using the SS and trying to keep things the same to evaluate blades. When I finally broke out the Ri Mei a month and a half ago, I was shocked. It was a much closer and more irritation free shave than the SS. In fact, I achieved a BBS the second run through with it. It is a more aggressive razor and I think that I needed that.
I have since improved the razor. My Ri Mei is the older 4 piece model (ball tip on handle unscrews). My only complaint was that it was extremely light weight. A co-worker obtained the newer 3 piece Ri Mei model. It had a defective head, so he got another one. When his second Ri Mei arrived, he gave me the handle from the first. It is significantly heavier than the original handle on my Ri Mei. We did note that the head on my razor seemed to be much better made than the head on his newer Ri Mei. I now have the head from the older Ri Mei with the much heavier handle from the newer Ri Mei. I love it! This razor rocks and I can't imagine a much better shave. Any improvement would be so marginal as to be nearly imperceptible and I can't imagine dropping a huge chunk of change for a small improvement. It is as close as can be and I am getting better blade longevity with it (why would that be?)
In any case, laugh if you will, but my Ri Mei Frankenrazor with 7 O'Clock Yellow/Feather is the bomb!
