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newbie delurk

@thombrogan btw you were absolutely right about the r89 ( and I am sure the one you recommended would have worked as well ). I got a bit bored today and broke out the r89 this morning and not only does it work, it’s a bit easier to get ones head around than the feather. It’s great a 20 buck head works like this, super close and no nicks.
 

thombrogan

Lounging On The Isle Of Tugsley.
you were absolutely right about the r89

@Chef455 was right. I was an effete snob who was too inconsiderate to share your joy with your new toy. Then I tried my R89 clone (from a Gentleman Jon’s gift set) and it was an easy, comfortable shave and felt shame creep over my gently shaved face.
 
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I think I was going to go down a rabbit hole of perfection, it’s great to realize simple tools work well enough ( or better than my ability ). The positive side of the feather buy is I think I’ve accidentally covered the extremes 41 89 d2.
 

thombrogan

Lounging On The Isle Of Tugsley.
Awesome! Getting irritation-free DFS and BBS on the regular is the goal and you have the three modern icons of that path at your disposal.
 
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thombrogan

Lounging On The Isle Of Tugsley.
If you wanted dangerous enablement, I don‘t know how I found this thread, but it’s quite fascinating and makes me want to use my knife sharpening stuff on a razor I inherited:

 
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I was just talking about this new found "craziness" with one my colleagues and he said he uses a cut-throat on occasion. Not quite there yet! May break out the r41 again just because I am a bit masochistic like that! (r89 is a bit boring once you get used to it :)))
 

thombrogan

Lounging On The Isle Of Tugsley.
After using my clone of same, I think the R89 style head is all the excitement my face can handle even though my idiot brain keeps yelling “MORE!”

Naturally, I’m using more than I can handle instead and hoping I’ll develop a light enough touch to get both BBS and not look like my babby’s pet rat is chomping my neck and face daily. All well telling myself: “You’ve got the straight - get a hanging strop!”
 
Ha I actually do know what you are talking about. I have been using that pretty much exclusively and its one of those "WTG"... what so boring "ATG" argh that was stupid, but to be honest is it even shaving if you don't go ATG?


I accidentally bought a few too many "preshaves" (particularly as a pre-shave agnostic) - and my new crazy idea is using that strange motor oil AoS pre-shave on each pass - particularly those ATG passes. Whether its actually BBS or just such a well oiled face it just feels like BBS whotf knows but its all good ;)
 
As an aside who on earth came up with this "BBS" terminology.. As someone with a ~ 1 month old, experimentally speaking, the last thing that comes to my mind, when I change that munchkin's diapers.. is "Wow, I sure would like my face to feel like this child's butt!" :/
 

thombrogan

Lounging On The Isle Of Tugsley.
I usually do only against-the-grain. Three directions with my R89 clone more than fine, too.

If you’re not feeling hairs after your 5W20 preshave, yes, it’s BBS. On a recommendation from @Esox , I shaved with dishwashing liquid. Wish I used a brand name like Dawn as something in the store brand irritated my neck and face worse than any burn, nick, or weeper did. Otherwise, it was shallow solely against-the-grain the grain foolishness and I felt invincible. Later, a surfactant or fragrance additive vinced me.

Betting you not only have all kinds of achievements to unlock with your R89 head (all shaving ones, though, like “15 hour BBS” or “week without razor burn or weepers” and not “hover bike” or “increased area-effect damage” sadly), but also your AS-D2 and R41 as well. With the AS-D2; and other double-edged safety razors in the “Mild and Efficient“ class; there’s an angle - usually not too shallow or too steep - where you can get that DFS/BBS in 2-3 passes instead of 43. With the R41, it’s keeping most of your skin unbroken and on your face.
 
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thombrogan

Lounging On The Isle Of Tugsley.
"Wow, I sure would like my face to feel like this child's butt!"

We didn’t have as many similes to choose from in the olden days. Metaphorically speaking.

And feel is different from smell or trust and assumes the compared tuchus isn’t experiencing a rash.

Assuming a relative absence of callouses, scar tissue, eczema, plaque psoriasis, contact dermatitis, or subcutaneous implants, one may compare their freshly shorn mug to the skin on the inside of one’s own, living elbow. Also, babies have cheeks on their faces, so aiming for that level of smoothness might work?
 
At some point I will revisit the as-d2 but must admit it suffers from a classic beginners conundrum (particularly those of us who are now used to magic ball/pivot/gizmo heads) - which is if you get the angle wrong the feather is not really doing anything and the first inclination is to press harder until it does something - and as mild as it is - you definitely don't end up in a happy f/place w/ that instinct. The r89 at least does stuff which is vaguely useful.

Actually to be honest I pretty much have 11am shadow these days but lets not talk about that :)
 

thombrogan

Lounging On The Isle Of Tugsley.
Before we get into stuff I know helps, but don’t yet know how to do (like skin stretching), all safety razors - regardless of intricacies and idiosyncrasies - rely on three, intertwined dependencies:

The correct angle
The right amount of pressure
Not grunting piggishly thinking about the first two issues while in the middle of shaving.
 
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If you wanted dangerous enablement, I don‘t know how I found this thread, but it’s quite fascinating and makes me want to use my knife sharpening stuff on a razor I inherited:

After reading that love affair I needed a cold shower and a cigarette.
 

thombrogan

Lounging On The Isle Of Tugsley.
@Avi

Writing to share a recently read and enjoyed treasure trove with you and apologize if these are videos and posts are old hat to you (jealous, also):

The Nick Shaves Beginner series on YouTube:

@AimlessWanderer guide to DE shaving:

@AimlessWanderer intermediate/advanced guide:
This guide even has advice for difficult parts of the neck
 

thombrogan

Lounging On The Isle Of Tugsley.
:eek2: Luckily, my blade-under-back-of-chinbone scar is from my RazoRock BlackHawk V2 and Fatip Grande so my R41 is completely exhonorated.
 
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As I've been trying / practicing these mornings (preventing war wounds), working on grip, I realized I missed the pivot nature the cartridges but wondered if there was a way of replicating this. I'd been holding the handle somewhat solidly (but lightly) and I think the idea of a solid and yet light grip is not really a possible task and results in cuts / scrapes etc (at least for me).

Pondering the pivot nature of the cartridges, I thought I'd try replicating it. As such, what I've switched to over the last 3 days holding the handle in the middle of the handle but super lightly so it more or less pivots btwn the fingers freely.

There is still a slight amount of control for steep vs shallow but enough flexibility to follow contours of the chin etc w/out thinking too much about it. I've noticed this forces one to have a super light touch (since the head really just rests on the face, pivoting away if too much pressure is applied) and further absolutely no cuts and importantly "stuff disappears".

After a few days of this I thought I'd google around to see if this is "a thing" and I think this is what you guys call the two finger balancing point method?


regards
Avi
 

thombrogan

Lounging On The Isle Of Tugsley.
I’m real bad with names and glad we’re both getting less chomped-looking faces. You, from your two-finger balancing point method and me from similar handling experiments and shaving less frequently.

Which razor has been your accomplice on this mission?
 
I’m real bad with names and glad we’re both getting less chomped-looking faces. You, from your two-finger balancing point method and me from similar handling experiments and shaving less frequently.

Which razor has been your accomplice on this mission?
I've standardized on the feather for now. I think the r89 works well enough for me (well no differently ) but given they both work similarly, I am trying to keep the variables at a minimum till I work out a "routine"

Lets not get into the unused BST / eBay .. ahems .. I am honestly not too different than the other newbie delurk and way too embarrassed to post about it


-- go safety, they said --
-- will save you money, they said --
-- really we're trying to save the economy here with some vapid consumerism, I said :) --

Regards
Avi
 
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