Sounds like you have very sensitive skin. Before making any big purchases, I recommend going back to basics with a design that keeps the blade very rigid. My best suggestion to you is an Old Type. It is easy to find the Old Type sweet spot. Start by shaving neutral and slowly lift the handle up. As soon as those OC shaving cream lines disappear on your skin, this is the sweet spot.
The Flexi-Rex debate: another perspective
- Thread starter HabanaRon
- Start date
Sounds like you have very sensitive skin. Before making any big purchases, I recommend going back to basics with a design that keeps the blade very rigid. My best suggestion to you is an Old Type. It is easy to find the Old Type sweet spot. Start by shaving neutral and slowly lift the handle up. As soon as those OC shaving cream lines disappear on your skin, this is the sweet spot.
I jumped the gun. lol Timeless .95 will be here Friday. I looked at that Old Type. I have a travel Merkur much like that except it's a SB. Never used an OC. Someone mentioned Voskhod that is what I ended up using.
As far as sensitive skin goes. I would say mainly on my neck. I also shave every other day despite having a thick beard. I can't just shave until it's OK. Once I start it has to be BBS. My neck looks like swiss cheese after a few days in a row. I just don't like mild razors either. I was shaving with a Futur full open with Feathers for years. Either my skin got old or I can't find real Feathers? Feathers do not seem to like me any more. I have a bunch of sample blades on the way too. I dug my old Futur out for tonight's shave. I stopped using that because the cap wasn't aligned properly. One side sits higher than the other. Merkur offered zero help on it.
I am really looking forward to the Timeless. The reviews seem to be overwhelmingly positive.
You can never go wrong with a Timeless.
First shave started out with unknowns. I ordered a lot of samples. I loaded a Nacet with some TOBS soap. It was like glass. I couldn't believe how smooth it was. Well despite my BS that I said it's not a hobby for me, I got really stupid because I couldn't leave great alone. I had to see if I could handle the Feather. I also wanted to know once and for all if my Feathers were counterfeit because they stopped playing nice with me out of the blue. I lived to talk about it. It was also smooth. I felt I tamed the Feather back into submission. They are indeed genuine. I was starting to get a little raw not going to fudge. I was doing multiple passes. I put the Nacet back in but I was done.
I am thrilled if I don't over do it, I can handle a Feather in this. My Mergress seems more aggressive but also doesn't retain the blade like the Timeless. So I think this will end up my daily driver. Going to try all the samples to find a good pairing for me. That will be fun. In the future I am thinking about trying the Ti Slim. Also trying a new Rudy Vey syn brush. That just arrived. Never used a syn before. Been using a Rudy Vey with a shavemac knot for a few years. Wanted to switch it up. Rudy had it ready in day and had to make a cut on the handle to fit my stand. Perfect as always.
I've got genuine Feathers with security strips on the packaging, gathering dust in my closet. To me, it's like shaving with a serrated steak knife. Using them in a razor with a wide gap like an adjustable would be foolhardy. It would be more accurate to describe them as a scalpel, as they have a knife edge, rather than a razor blade edge, which is supposed to be a little rounded so it doesn't dig into your skin.
So no need to apologize if you can't get a comfortable shave with one. It's no coincidence that Feather makes one of the mildest DE razors in the world.
Obviously, some people think Feathers are the sharpest blade in the world. I think they are the most over-rated blade in the world. Eventually, I will test them again, one day, and if I am wrong, so be it. But I've already scheduled my blade and razor rotation for the next five years.
For those mentioning the Ambassador that's rougher than others, it was the M series, not the N. I think it was only one or two of the M date codes. Matt made some adjustments to that batch based on customer feedback. He then decided he didn't like the adjustments, and enough of the customers didn't like them either, so he tweaked things back toward where they were before. He talks about it a bit in his Janus video.
