I've been DE shaving for long enough now that my technique has gotten pretty solid. I haven't been prone to too much acquisition disorder, so the variables I've been working with have been pretty much standardized by this point. Except for blades. I'm still working my way through the various sample packs I received several months ago when I started.
Let me backtrack. I currently work as a chef, but I am a scientist by training and by disposition. I started with Feather blades, whose universal reputation is well known, because I know that there is nothing smoother than a sharp edge. But I had been only using each brand for only 2-3 shaves before moving on to the next one, just to play the field. For a while there, each shave was better than the last one. Again, as a scientist, I hesitated about declaring each new brand of blade better than the last one, because I was still learning to perfect my technique. Anyway, I finally reached a certain plateau of essentially perfect shaves over the last few weeks. I lingered over the last two brands I tried - Astra SP and 7 O'Clock Green - because shaving with them has been so extremely pleasant. Tonight I decided to treat myself to the supreme shave of shaves, so I loaded up a brand new Feather, did some serious beard prep, and went at it.
Sidebar: Let me just say that I love the B&B community. You are a great bunch of guys (and a few gals) that I have learned a tremendous amount from. I have to say, though, the scientist in me sometimes chuckles at all the anecdotal evidence that gets thrown around here. YMMV is a great expression, and it is certainly true in most things. Scents are subjective things, and there are many different skin types and beard types that may respond differently to different pieces of equipment or techniques or creams and soaps. This is not what I am talking about. I am talking about sharpness. Sharpness is an objective fact. YMMV does not apply to sharpness, strictly speaking. There may be other pertinent factors to a blade's edge, such as coatings, which have a significant effect on performance, but degree of sharpness is theoretically verifiable.
During blade reviews, I sometimes see statements such as "I find X brand to be the sharpest, but YMMV..." This confuses me. More often, I see statements like "X brand feels sharper, but Y brand gives a smoother and closer shave..." What??
Back to tonight's episode with the Feather. You guessed it; I had a thoroughly unpleasant shave, even though I wanted and expected it to be a brilliant shave. The last part of that last sentence is important; what we want and expect usually colors our experience. My mind was most likely ready to deceive me and let minor imperfections go unnoticed. But this was not the case. The blade was nasty. It pulled. It jumped. It was painful, but not because it was sharp. It acted for all the world like what I would expect in the kitchen from a knife with a less than sharp or even jagged, unaligned edge.
I would really like to see a microscopic or otherwise scientific analysis of the edges of the various razor brands. I'm calling bull**** on Feather. I understand that many people here get beautifully smooth shaves from Feathers. I expected to be one of them. I wanted it to work out. Feather: it's not me. It's you!
Let me backtrack. I currently work as a chef, but I am a scientist by training and by disposition. I started with Feather blades, whose universal reputation is well known, because I know that there is nothing smoother than a sharp edge. But I had been only using each brand for only 2-3 shaves before moving on to the next one, just to play the field. For a while there, each shave was better than the last one. Again, as a scientist, I hesitated about declaring each new brand of blade better than the last one, because I was still learning to perfect my technique. Anyway, I finally reached a certain plateau of essentially perfect shaves over the last few weeks. I lingered over the last two brands I tried - Astra SP and 7 O'Clock Green - because shaving with them has been so extremely pleasant. Tonight I decided to treat myself to the supreme shave of shaves, so I loaded up a brand new Feather, did some serious beard prep, and went at it.
Sidebar: Let me just say that I love the B&B community. You are a great bunch of guys (and a few gals) that I have learned a tremendous amount from. I have to say, though, the scientist in me sometimes chuckles at all the anecdotal evidence that gets thrown around here. YMMV is a great expression, and it is certainly true in most things. Scents are subjective things, and there are many different skin types and beard types that may respond differently to different pieces of equipment or techniques or creams and soaps. This is not what I am talking about. I am talking about sharpness. Sharpness is an objective fact. YMMV does not apply to sharpness, strictly speaking. There may be other pertinent factors to a blade's edge, such as coatings, which have a significant effect on performance, but degree of sharpness is theoretically verifiable.
During blade reviews, I sometimes see statements such as "I find X brand to be the sharpest, but YMMV..." This confuses me. More often, I see statements like "X brand feels sharper, but Y brand gives a smoother and closer shave..." What??
Back to tonight's episode with the Feather. You guessed it; I had a thoroughly unpleasant shave, even though I wanted and expected it to be a brilliant shave. The last part of that last sentence is important; what we want and expect usually colors our experience. My mind was most likely ready to deceive me and let minor imperfections go unnoticed. But this was not the case. The blade was nasty. It pulled. It jumped. It was painful, but not because it was sharp. It acted for all the world like what I would expect in the kitchen from a knife with a less than sharp or even jagged, unaligned edge.
I would really like to see a microscopic or otherwise scientific analysis of the edges of the various razor brands. I'm calling bull**** on Feather. I understand that many people here get beautifully smooth shaves from Feathers. I expected to be one of them. I wanted it to work out. Feather: it's not me. It's you!
