Hello All,
I just started shaving with a DE razor about two weeks ago. I've got about ten shaves under my belt, and so far it's gone a lot better than I thought it was going to. The catch to my story is, I do not shave my face, only my head. I have grown a full beard year-round since I was eighteen (about seven years now), and shave my head completely bald. As a disclaimer: I am an extremely over-analytical person, and I enjoy researching, analyzing, and reading every little thing I can about my interests. This has lead me to begin questioning razor aggressiveness vs. blade sharpness, above all other things.
I think that, for all intensive purposes, head shaving with a DE is about the same beast as is face shaving with a DE. That being said, hopefully some of you veterans (even if you aren't head shavers) will be able to help me out with my questions and concerns regarding the small issues I've had so far in my DE experience. Here goes...
*Basic Information: Razor - Parker 99R, Blade - Derby, Crystal (intermittently switching off)
Am lathering using a cheap brush that came with the set, combined with EJ cream or Straight Razor Designs soap
I shave my head every day, so I have been starting right off with ATG shaving (my stubble is extremely short)
1. My biggest issue so far with the physical shaving itself has been pulling/tugging of the hair on the sides and on the back of my head. Based on some research, my first guess was that the blade I received with the razor (Derby) was not sharp enough, and thus was not cutting my hair. Before switching blades, I tried using more pressure during my next shave, and it went very well. Very little irritation, maybe one or two very minor nicks, and a very smooth shave. Afterwards, I went and grabbed some Crystal blades (I'm lucky enough to live and work within twenty minutes of Imperial Shaving in Medina, Ohio) and popped one in my razor. Contrary to my expectations, my shaves with the Crystals were not great. I was still experiencing pulling/tugging in the same areas of my head, and I was feeling more irritation on my head after the shave, although it did seem to be a bit closer of a shave than with the Derby blades. With both blades, I've had to go over the sides and back of my head as many as four to five times to fully remove all the stubble to a BBS condition. See below for the questions/concerns that this situation poses:
- Due to the lack of information available on my razor (Parker 99R), I have not been able to pin down whether or not it is believed to be an "aggressive" or "mild" razor, based on the gap/blade exposure measurements. Thus, I'm not sure whether a different (milder or more aggressive?) razor, or increasingly sharper blades in the 99R (terminating at the Feather blades) is the way to proceed. Based on my research thus far, I would guess that this a fairly aggressive razor. The angle of the line connecting the ends of the top and bottom safety bars is in the high-30's, if I were to guess just eyeballing it. Since my hair is always so short when I shave my head - do you think I could benefit from a mild to medium aggressive razor (Merkur 34C?) with a sharper blade (Wilkinson Sword, Feather)?
- The purpose of an "aggressive" razor and a "mild" razor have become extremely clouded for me, partially due to the varying opinions I've found on what each type of razor actually DOES. What are the FUNCTIONAL differences between the two that make them different? Do more aggressive razors actually "allow more hair" to reach the cutting edge? That concept doesn't really make sense to me. What does make sense to me, is that an aggressive razor would be more effective in cutting LONGER beard hair than would a mild razor. I've read that aggressive razors are better for "coarser" hair, but what defines coarse hair? The toughness of the hair itself? The density at which it occurs on your head? My beef basically with the "aggressive" vs. "mild" situation, is that if both a mild and aggressive razor are designed to have the blade in contact with your head, why and for what physical reason would an aggressive razor remove more hair (eliminating the whole hair down to BBS in one pass) than a mild razor (which would supposedly leave some of the stubble there?)? This might be really over-analyzing it, but I just have to understand it. Does a milder razor actually slide OFF the hair without cutting the full length of it down to BBS due to the reduced cutting angle? While an aggressive razor has more of a straight-up-and-down (figuratively speaking), guillotine type cutting action that doesn't allow the hairs to bounce back before being cut down to BBS?
I'm sorry for the long-winded nature of this post. Just trying to figure this out for myself, in order to improve my shaves. They haven't been bad though, in my opinion, just not good enough. My goal is to eliminate any tugging and pulling on the sides and back of my head, while maintaining a very small amount of pressure on the razor. Another piece of information, I've read and can personally feel that this razor's weight is ALL in the handle. The head is extremely light compared to the handle. My though is that this could also be causing this situation. Also, my opinion is that I have really coarse hair in these areas. If I grow out my stubble for three days, I can very forcibly try to drag my hand against the grain in these areas and it sometimes doesn't even budge haha. Not the most scientific experiment, but I think it gives a pretty good idea of the resistance of these hairs in the ATG direction.
If you require any further information in order to help me out, please just ask, and I'll provide it for you. Thank you in advance for your help.
I just started shaving with a DE razor about two weeks ago. I've got about ten shaves under my belt, and so far it's gone a lot better than I thought it was going to. The catch to my story is, I do not shave my face, only my head. I have grown a full beard year-round since I was eighteen (about seven years now), and shave my head completely bald. As a disclaimer: I am an extremely over-analytical person, and I enjoy researching, analyzing, and reading every little thing I can about my interests. This has lead me to begin questioning razor aggressiveness vs. blade sharpness, above all other things.
I think that, for all intensive purposes, head shaving with a DE is about the same beast as is face shaving with a DE. That being said, hopefully some of you veterans (even if you aren't head shavers) will be able to help me out with my questions and concerns regarding the small issues I've had so far in my DE experience. Here goes...
*Basic Information: Razor - Parker 99R, Blade - Derby, Crystal (intermittently switching off)
Am lathering using a cheap brush that came with the set, combined with EJ cream or Straight Razor Designs soap
I shave my head every day, so I have been starting right off with ATG shaving (my stubble is extremely short)
1. My biggest issue so far with the physical shaving itself has been pulling/tugging of the hair on the sides and on the back of my head. Based on some research, my first guess was that the blade I received with the razor (Derby) was not sharp enough, and thus was not cutting my hair. Before switching blades, I tried using more pressure during my next shave, and it went very well. Very little irritation, maybe one or two very minor nicks, and a very smooth shave. Afterwards, I went and grabbed some Crystal blades (I'm lucky enough to live and work within twenty minutes of Imperial Shaving in Medina, Ohio) and popped one in my razor. Contrary to my expectations, my shaves with the Crystals were not great. I was still experiencing pulling/tugging in the same areas of my head, and I was feeling more irritation on my head after the shave, although it did seem to be a bit closer of a shave than with the Derby blades. With both blades, I've had to go over the sides and back of my head as many as four to five times to fully remove all the stubble to a BBS condition. See below for the questions/concerns that this situation poses:
- Due to the lack of information available on my razor (Parker 99R), I have not been able to pin down whether or not it is believed to be an "aggressive" or "mild" razor, based on the gap/blade exposure measurements. Thus, I'm not sure whether a different (milder or more aggressive?) razor, or increasingly sharper blades in the 99R (terminating at the Feather blades) is the way to proceed. Based on my research thus far, I would guess that this a fairly aggressive razor. The angle of the line connecting the ends of the top and bottom safety bars is in the high-30's, if I were to guess just eyeballing it. Since my hair is always so short when I shave my head - do you think I could benefit from a mild to medium aggressive razor (Merkur 34C?) with a sharper blade (Wilkinson Sword, Feather)?
- The purpose of an "aggressive" razor and a "mild" razor have become extremely clouded for me, partially due to the varying opinions I've found on what each type of razor actually DOES. What are the FUNCTIONAL differences between the two that make them different? Do more aggressive razors actually "allow more hair" to reach the cutting edge? That concept doesn't really make sense to me. What does make sense to me, is that an aggressive razor would be more effective in cutting LONGER beard hair than would a mild razor. I've read that aggressive razors are better for "coarser" hair, but what defines coarse hair? The toughness of the hair itself? The density at which it occurs on your head? My beef basically with the "aggressive" vs. "mild" situation, is that if both a mild and aggressive razor are designed to have the blade in contact with your head, why and for what physical reason would an aggressive razor remove more hair (eliminating the whole hair down to BBS in one pass) than a mild razor (which would supposedly leave some of the stubble there?)? This might be really over-analyzing it, but I just have to understand it. Does a milder razor actually slide OFF the hair without cutting the full length of it down to BBS due to the reduced cutting angle? While an aggressive razor has more of a straight-up-and-down (figuratively speaking), guillotine type cutting action that doesn't allow the hairs to bounce back before being cut down to BBS?
I'm sorry for the long-winded nature of this post. Just trying to figure this out for myself, in order to improve my shaves. They haven't been bad though, in my opinion, just not good enough. My goal is to eliminate any tugging and pulling on the sides and back of my head, while maintaining a very small amount of pressure on the razor. Another piece of information, I've read and can personally feel that this razor's weight is ALL in the handle. The head is extremely light compared to the handle. My though is that this could also be causing this situation. Also, my opinion is that I have really coarse hair in these areas. If I grow out my stubble for three days, I can very forcibly try to drag my hand against the grain in these areas and it sometimes doesn't even budge haha. Not the most scientific experiment, but I think it gives a pretty good idea of the resistance of these hairs in the ATG direction.
If you require any further information in order to help me out, please just ask, and I'll provide it for you. Thank you in advance for your help.
