Hey all another newbie here starting with wet shaving, sharing my thoughts and experience so far. I've been cartridge shaving for probably 25 years or so, never really had trouble with it. It's fast, get's the job done and provides a decent result, but I was hoping maybe shaving could be a bit smoother. So was keen to give DE / SE razors a try to see if I find them better.
After a lot of reading of reviews / forums and general shaving info, I decided I'd like to try both SE and DE to see what they're like and which I like best. As you can see from above, I've started out with 3 razors and some soap and blade samples.
Yaqi Romulus Open Comb. Artist Club / SE (exposure / gap not published)
Timeless Titanium .68 Open Comb (exposure neutral, gap .68)
Timeless Aluminium Slim (exposure -.002mm, gap .86)
Brush is a Rudy Vey custom with 23mm Muhle STF synthetic
My skin is on the slightly sensitive side, and beard is fairly sparse and fine on the sides with really the only tougher coarse parts being around my chin. I usually shave every 3 or 4 days, and there's not too much growth or density to deal with.
So far I'm finding that every razor is good in their own way, generally it's a question of whether they're a good match for your skin and beard and finding what works for you and your shaving habits.
I first started by borrowing a spare Maggards V3 razor to see how it was, and to get a sense of whether it might be something that works for me that I could try further. And it was less intimidating than I thought, I was expecting I would need to be really careful and cautious with it, but actually it worked well enough. And being an inexpensive zinc alloy casted razor head, I was curious how much smoother and better a precisely manufactured razor would feel.
I was also curious about SE razors, and found the Yaqi Romulus could be a good entry point being a slightly cheaper clone of the vector, though apparently with slightly milder characteristics. My thinking was that being single edge with a stiffer blade and open comb perhaps that would have an advantage when cutting through a few days growth. Also the broader blade giving you more coverage, and nimble small head shape would be an advantage over the thinner and smaller coverage of DE blades. I had read this is a fairly mild razor as far as OC goes, and it has a little bit of blade feel.
So far it seems to be good razor, but maybe a little spicy for me. I'm still working on technique and finding which blade works best. The razor is certainly capable of a nice close shave, although I do tend to feel a little bit of razor burn depending on how well I did. Probably a combination of skill issue and possibly a little bit too much blade exposure for my skin. Feather Professionals and the Pro Guards and Kai Titan Protouch MG (Guarded) all seem OK, I haven't noticed too much difference with the blades so far, even the Titan Milds don't really seem milder. Too early days, and not enough experience / skill to comment on blades really.
The small slim head is fantastic for getting under the nose, I'd say that's the main SE benefit I've noticed. Having broader blade coverage doesn't seem to matter much for me, because the sides of my face that are flat and could benefit from that don't have much growth. And the areas around my chin with thicker growth have more contours so broad blade isn't really any benefit there. The handle of this razor seemed comically small to begin with but you actually get used to it, and since my hands aren't large it's actually quite nice to hold, and despite being smooth polished it's plenty grippy - basically in line with what others had said.
I do find that it can skip a bit on my first passes with longer growth, being SE I thought it would mow through growth a bit easier. But it could just be skill / not finding the right angle. Overall if I'm careful and patient I can get a nice clean shave, though I was hoping to find something that's a bit more autopilot while still being efficient. Perhaps the Vector lite or non OC Romulus may have been better choices. The Atelier Durdan La Faulx was on my radar too but I wanted something cheaper as a first shot as you don't really know what works until you try something.
So next I ordered the Timeless .68 OC and Slant (since I'm in New Zealand with shipping, it's better to just buy it at once if you want to try it). I really liked the design of the Timeless, true to name very classic style of designs and very precise manufacturing techniques used, and they seem like a good family owned business. These 2 razors are more in line with what I was hoping for in terms of smoothness. They both go through 3-4 days growth just as easy, if not more easily than I was finding with the Romulus. And they feel safer and smoother. For blades I'm using Astra greens and Nacets with them so far, both seem to be good and are lasting a good number of shaves e.g. 5+ (I haven't really been counting, just waiting till I notice it's not smooth or tugging and haven't had to change yet).
I'll post some thoughts contrasting these 2 from my shave today. Overall I think they're a good entry point for someone who doesn't have an overly coarse beard or sensitive skin. The blade support on the .68 is really great, and having tried a basic cast razor head in comparison it's definitely noticeable how much better this design holds the blade steady.
In terms of brush and soaps, the Muhle STF synthetic has a really nice soft feel to it and enough backbone to work with. Rudy Vey (who's probably familiar to many here) made this one for me, he's a great gentleman to work with and was very fast to create / send and respond to questions. Would highly recommend anyone wanting a brush to check his stuff out. It's cool to have something a bit more unique that's not just an off the shelf product. I'm bowl lathering and it's great for that, I think it's fine for face lather too though possibly could benefit from a bit bigger or stiffer if you prefer face lathering. If I was getting another, I think I would try next size up 24 or 25. I wanted a nice small brush to start with, and this is great for that though I think for most people the extra volume / density from a size up or two would be the way to go.
In terms of soaps, I think to put it simply any of the soaps I've tried so far are better than canned foam. They all feel slicker and glide better, canned foam in comparison feels quite dry to me (I usually used to use Nivea sensitive foam, or occasionally Gillette which was not quite as good, they're passable but soaps are better). It's a trade of of speed VS a bit of effort to work up the lather. The creams like Taylor of Old Bond street lather up really easily, maybe not quite as foamy as others, but decently slick and good classic scents to them, good from the perspective of time saving. I quite liked the cedarwood TOBS. Barrister and Mann seems to be a good all rounder, a little bit more strength to some of the scents, and good slickness and cushion to them, takes a bit more work to get the lather going. I wouldn't say any of the samples I've tried performed poorly, some were milder in scent than I would have expected though. I had seen a few reviews rating Ariana & Evans as an S tier soap, though I wouldn't go that far to put any of the soaps on a tier above the others so far. Performance was good but not really better than others. House of Mammoth performed quite well too, and seemed to give a good amount of lather from a small quantity, but again not huge enough difference that I'd set it apart. In terms of scents, I'm finding I like the more classic ones like B&M Seville, Spice Le Grand Chypre, any of the TOBS. The fruity or floral scents, while not bad aren't really my jam. Some scents are quite hard to place, e.g. House of Mammoth Indigo, seemed almost like an incense sort of smell, I think I was noticing the oud and a hint of blueberry afternote. Very tricky to describe, not really my thing but it performed well.
Anyway, overall I'm enjoying the experience. I think it's nice to take the time and enjoy the shave and come away with a pleasing clean result, and enjoy the scents and feelings of the soap. Compared to cartridge, DE/SE is a little slower but does have a smoother feeling to it, which is what I was hoping for. For people like me who never got much irritation, or anything like ingrown hairs from cartridge shaving. It's more or less a tradeoff of speed to have a nicer experience. You can get a nice clean shave from either, but cartridge may feel more draggy and scrapey. And for me at least, I was always trying to get as much use from each cartridge as possible due to cost / wastage, making for an even more draggyness. With DE blades, they're inexpensive and can be collected and recycled so I just use them until they feel like they're pulling and need to be changed and it's not a big deal. The challenge is to find a razor and blades that works nicely for your skin and beard which could take some experimentation, for blades Astras and Nacets have worked well as a starting point so I haven't noticed much differences/issues with blades but might notice them more as I try some different ones.
In terms of SE vs DE, I'm preferring DE so far. It feels a little smoother for me, although I can imagine that SE could feel great too when you find the right exposure / shaving angle for your skin and beard. So far I don't find the thicker/stiffer/broader artist club blades to provide advantage, but maybe with a coarser beard and tougher skin that could be different. YMMV really holds true with shaving because there's a lot of variables, skin, beard, skill and experience being key.
Thanks to everyone that's posted reviews, it's been really useful in understanding what gear might suit and be good to try.