JCinPA
The Lather Maestro
Note: I started this in another thread, but the ability to edit the OP timed out. Rather than turn this into a multi-page thread where you have to hunt to find my entries, I will update this as a new thread when I finish with a new blade.
Finished List:
Finished List:
- Vintage Schick Plus Platinums
- Derby Extras
- 'Barber' Personnas
- Personna Reds (Mexican)
- Astra Super Platinums
- Feather
Meh
First entry was on 5/17/11
Well, I have been DE shaving for a week (brush & mug guy for decades, though). Because I don't have a lot of experience with different blades I will refrain from using numerical grading because I have no base of reference to compare my blades to. So I will limit my comments to my impressions.
My intention is to add each new blade summary to this OP so you don't have to hunt for it on page 6. I started with an Edwin Jagger DE 86, which I love, and VDH Select soap with a Tweezerman brush. I have some Gillette adjustable razors, some Mama Bear soap and a custom made brush from King1976 on the way, and I have since purchased some Kiss My Face cool mint. In the interest of comparing things on a level playing field I will do the first few shaves for each new blade with the VDH and Tweezerman brush, and play with different stuff on the last shaves.
Obligatory photo ...
========== NOS Schick Plus Platinum ==========
I read here that these were one of a handful of blades throughout history that all other blades are compared to. It is also the blade I started shaving with in high school, albeit in injector format. I scored about a 5-year supply on the Bay, so I started with these.
1st shave: (5/13/2011) BBS smooth, no nick, weepers or irritation! Yaaaayyyy! Four pass with touch up. I was probably being very careful since it was my first time 'on the road' and I was lacking in confidence. Awesome shave! Very sharp, can hear the shearing of the whiskers, but no pulling, scraping or grabbing at all. You know it's sharp, but it is really smooth.
2nd shave: (5/14/2011) DFS in a three pass with touch up. One very tiny nick on chin, no irritation at all. Not aware of feeling it is sharp, just smooth sailing all the way.
3rd & 4th shave: (5/15&16/2011) DFS in a three pass with touch up. No nicks, weepers or irritation.
5th shave: (5/17/2011) Just as smooth as 2 through 4, no nicks, weepers or irritation, DFS, but I had to do a four pass to equal yesterday's three pass results. Used Kiss My Face cool mint cream this time, too. No pulling or discomfort, but clearly the efficiency of the blade is on the downhill slope. I think I could get more shaves out of this, but why do it? Even at 50 cents per blade this is a heck of a lot more economical than $2.50 cartridges. Besides, we're kidding ourselves if we think we are saving money eeeking another shave out of a blade. The money goes down the drain on extra razors, brushes, creams and soaps and accessories ... not blades!
This is a good 3 or 4 pass, five-shave blade for me. Then toss it! I will never push blades, it's pointless and kind of defeats the whole purpose of going old school.Summary: This was my first week of shaving DE and I had one very minor nick, no irritation at all, and got the closest, most comfortable shaves of my 37 years of shaving! This blade must be all it's cracked up to be. Smooth Comfort! I think these will be the standard others are judged against.
========== Derby Extras ==========
1st shave: (5/18/2011) A bit of a disappointment, actually. Of course starting with the vintage Schicks is going to prejudice me, but I guess that was part of what I wanted to know. The Derby was OK, I only have one other blade to compare it to, of course, but I probably won't finish 5 shaves with this one. I tried to do what I did with the Schick, a four-pass BBS, but alas, it was not to be. You could definitely feel this blade scraping a bit. I did four passes plus touch up, but the touch up was for all intents and purposes, a fifth pass. I got a DFS with it, but not BBS. No nicks or weepers, both smoothness of shave and level of irritation are about exactly the same as I got with my Gillette Fusion with a two-pass shave in the shower using a brush and VDH soap. That's not horrible, but what's the point? I don't consider the Derby in the EJ 86 to be an improvement over the Gillette Fusion cartridge.
I will give this a second try tomorrow because I have read that blades sometimes smooth up after the first shave, but I won't go the full test cycle, I have already decided this is not going to be a top contender for me.
Update later that day: Derby's are toast. I'm not gonna even bother with shave #2. It's not very hot today, about 70, mildly humid, and my face is a little irritated 6-7 hours or so after the shave. I should not let others opinions sway me, but I see it is, along with the Merkur, one of the most disrespected blades around. See this thread.
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=198176&page=3
But some folks love them! Feathers get raves from many, but they show up in that thread, too, as hated. Feel free to try them yourself, I shouldn't prejudice you, either, but since this is my review and my subjective observations ...
Summary: They
Next up are the Barber Personnas, Dave from Razor Blades and More recommended to me. I'll be giving the other four Derby's away when I'm done with this thread.
========== Barber Personnas ==========
1st shave: (5/19/2011) Much better than yesterday, thankfully! Because of the irritation/burn I felt yesterday, I did not attempt my 4-pass BBS first shave but simply did a 3-pass utility shave and got the same results I had yesterday with the Derby, with 2 less passes and no irritation. I'd call this a DFS, but I am back to being comfortable. No nicks, weepers or irritation, I'm still slow, but that's fine. I'm learning without any injuries, yaaayy!
I am glad I started with the Schicks, since I had nothing to compare them to, they set a standard for me to gauge future shaves. I'll never use another Derby, but I am looking forward to the second shave on these Barbers, and will try a 4-pass BBS tomorrow. Oh, I got my Mama Bear soap and chucked the VDH. I will make that the standard from now on out.
2nd shave: (5/20/2011) Not bad! I did get a BBS today, 3 passes plus touch-up, no nicks or weepers. These are much better than the Derby blade for me, but not as smooth to use as the Schicks. I used Aqua Velva today and boy, did I feel it before the cool set in! That did not happen with the Schicks. An hour later, I feel great, though! These are definitely decent blades.
3rd shave: (5/21/2011) I was thinking of taking a day off, just to let my face rest, it was getting a little red. But I have to shave for work every day, sometimes you can't just "take a day off". So I changed it up a bit and tried my Gillette Slim Adjustable. I know it kinda blows the whole blade comparison thing but I didn't want to chafe my face too much. I also tried "SuperLather" using unscented Kiss My Face and my Mam Bear soap. I put the razor on #2 and did a 2-pass SAS. Not too close but I could put on a shirt and tie and go to work. Finished with Thayer's Witch hazel and some old Gillette Wild Rain balm. It was a not too close but comfortable 'utility shave'. No nicks or trouble at all.
Two things I learned from this. A Gillette adjustable on #2 is tough to get a good shave with. And though some have called the Edwin Jagger a 'mild' razor, it definitely is not. It can be called mild in comparison to a Red Tip I suppose, but on an absolute scale it is not 'mild'. It's clearly a medium on the aggressiveness scale. It is still perfect for me at my stage of experience, I think.
4th shave: (5/22/2011) I put the blade back in my Edwin Jagger 86. I missed it! Three-pass DFS today. Rather than continuing to indicate no problems at all, Ill dispense with that and just tell you if I have a nick, a weeper or some irritation. Today I did not, and my technique around the chin and corners of the mouth is getting better. Practice makes perfect, and I still learn something by watching a Mantic or Geofatboy YouTube. For beginners, keep reviewing the videos, they help. This shave was smooth and comfortable enough I will take it to five shaves tomorrow.
5th shave: (5/23/2011) Three-pass DFS again today! It did take a little more touch-up than yesterday's shave, though, so this is it for this blade. This is not a longevity test, but rather for me to find what I like best in my EJ. Just for giggles, I tried my Irish Moos stick and face lathered. Nice! Finished with Thayer's WH, then Aqua Velva, and a dusting of Pinaud Talc.
Summary: These work for me in this razor. They yield CCS with no irritation. Smooth and comfortable shaves.
========== Personna Reds (Messicans?) ==========
These guys.
No "made in Israel" tags anywhere, looks like Mexican blades. I included the photo because I've seen a couple of different packaging for reds and I find it confusing.
1st shave: (5/24/2011) My first impression is favorable. It was a little scrapey but not bad at all. Did a 3-pass CCS with this. I cant compare it to the first Barber Personna shave because that was a utility shave on a day my face was kind of recovering. But I was happy with this shave. Used just Mama Bear soap in my new toy, a Dirty Bird large scuttle I traded with a member for. Fun toy!
2nd shave: (5/25/2011) Nice! 3-Pass BBS shave! Comfortable results using my standard procedure. This blade definitely has promise!
3rd shave: (5/26/2011) 4-Pass CCS shave. I used my Mama Bear soap and EJ razor, but I changed my procedure to try Kyle's prep. Despite its popularity, it's not for me. Takes too much time and I seem to get a better result with the shower first. This is very much a YMMV activity so I'm glad I tried it, and its popularity is enduring for a reason, but I'm definitely a shower first kinda guy.
Because I had to do 4 passes to get only a CCS I'm not going to go for a 4th shave on these. As I've said this is not an endurance race and frankly the economic impact of the blades is minimal. Like everybody else, I'm already thinking of my next soap purchase and I have soap/cream to last the rest of the year already. Getting a blade from 3 to 5 shaves is spitting in the ocean, cost-wise. The barbers are more durable for me.
Summary: These are not bad blades, but I would rate the Barber Personnas I tried last higher. This is a very popular blade, though, so try them out in your razor to see what you think.
========== Shicks again! ==========
First Shave 5/27 Mixing things up a bit, I used KMF Cool Mint cream & Gillette Slim Adjustable at #4. 3-pass SAS. Right jaw needs work. Unbelievably smooth.
Second Shave 5/28 using Mama Bear and Slim at #5. 4-pass BBS shave again! Comfy!
Third Shave 5/29 in Slim adj set on #5 - 3-pass DFS, 1 weeper through lather no irritation.
Fourth Shave 5/30 Back to my EJ 86 - 3 Pass CCS, no issues at all. Using Irisch Moos stick and Tweezerman on the road. Love that soap stick!
Fifth Shave 5/31 DFS 3-pass EJ 86 w/ Provence Sante that I got at Merz Apothecary in Chicago. Wonderful soap!
Sixth Shave 6/1 DFS 3-pass w/ Irisch Moos - still feels good, this might be a one-week blade.
Summary: These are still the blade to beat. I don't think I'm prejudiced, I think I'm being objective, but I admit I may be suggestable at my stage of experience. But I just love these vintage Schicks!
========== Astra Super Platinums ==========
1st shave: (6/2/2011) Astra Super Platinums - CCS with 3-pass. no issues, but boy, the Schicks are the smoothest, best shaving so far, by a mile. I like this one, but I think the Barber Personna was maybe a little closer
2nd shave: (6/3/2011) on Astra SPs - CCS 3-pass, but one weeper through the lather at corner of upper lip
3rd shave: (6/4/2011) CCS, no issues, 3-pass
4th shave: (6/5/2011) DFS 3-pass, one tiny weeper on neck through lather, but gone by time I got to cold water rinse. Feels good.
Summary: These work for me in this razor. My sense is this is very close to the Barber Personna for me, I like these blades, but I'm going to have to try a Barber Personna and one of these again in a head to head to see where these fall.
========== Feathers! ==========
I think I'll move on to another blade tomorrow. Given all I've heard about them, especially with the Edwin Jagger razor, I think I will try a feather tomorrow morning. It's time!
1st shave: (6/6/2011) Feather - BBS with a 3-pass and touch-up! No issues, no irritation. I was a little nervous because of the rep these have, but they were wonderful. I think they Edwin Jagger is perfect for them.
2nd shave: (6/7/2011) Feather - BBS with a 3-pass and touch-up! These are very nice!
3rd shave: (6/8/2011) Feather - DFS with a 3-pass and touch-up! Not quite as close as the last two, but still very close and smooth. And comfortable.
4th shave: (6/9/2011) Feather - OUCH! I got a close shave, but a weeper and two nicks! This thing starts to bite fairly quickly, I've read many posts saying people only get 2 or 3 shaves out of this. It turned to crap on me on #4. It is not technique that's for sure. I've had 28 DE shaves with remarkable success, including the first three with this Feather, it clearly just starts to fall apart quickly, albeit after giving some terrific first shaves. In the first 27 shaves I had one nick. ONE. And way back on shave #2. Then I get this experience? When I put the aftershave on it certainly got my attention, yowza! I looked like the famous shot from Home Alone!
I think I'm done here. I've determined that there are good quality blades available today. I've determined that one MUST experiment because one man's experience with particular blade may not be the same for someone else with a different skin type and beard growth. However, when there are a large number of reviews, like for the feathers, the comments have some validity which makes them worth something despite the idiosyncratic nature of the exercise. For instance many rave about the feather in a medium aggression razor like the Edwin Jagger (many call it mild, but this is definitely a mischaracterization, mild/medium perhaps) and I found it to give remarkably close and comfortable shaves.
Three of them. Then it tries to eat your face. Given the fact that even after trading to get some more blades and PIFing a few to military folks, I still have a 4-year stash of Schicks which are my hands down favorite and I can get 6 decent and very comfortable shaves out of them. The Feathers cost as much as vintage Schicks, but if I get twice the shaves out of it, what's the value proposition?
I will continue to try other blades that I have from time to time, but I will settle on my Schicks as my go to blade. I also won't add to this review for a couple reasons. The comments in Reviews by much more experienced shavers are very helpful, I'm not likely to add to the body of knowledge here. And, as mentioned, the details of my experience are not likely to be transferable to you anyway.
What I do hope folks, especially Noobs to DE shaving can come away with is this ....
It is possible to get great results with a DE right away, BUT YOU HAVE TO BE VERY CAREFUL. I still watch a Geofatboy or Mantic video from time to time. Maybe shaving on a Schick injector back in the 70's helped me with blade angle and pressure but that was a long time ago. Watch lather videos, too. But 27 good, close, comfortable shaves with one nick right out of the gate should give noobs hope they don't have to risk disfiguration to learn this stuff!
If I had any advice for a noob it would be this.
1. If you are using a cart now, stick with that for another month but switch to a good quality soap and brush. I suggest either a tallow like Tabac or a good glycerin like Mama Bears. Do not collect soaps! Learn to lather that ONE soap like a pro, remember I was brush/mugging it for decades.
2. Start practicing light pressure with multiple passes with your current cart. You will learn two things from this...how your whiskers grow, and what light pressure means. If you stick to becoming an expert latherer in a known high-quality soap and learn to slow your shaves down to three passes you'll learn your face and be amazed at the closeness and comfort dividends this pays.
3. After you feel pretty good with this process, maybe a couple of weeks, THEN switch to the DE razor. I think you can then get into this without a lot of the wailing and gnashing of teeth some fellows have with this. I ain't no genius, it just happens i naturally evolved this way. But the ease with which I slid into DE shaving, I'm convinced, was helped because I staged into it. I did not turn my whole shaving world upside down all at once.
My advice for noobs, recognizing I am one myself, so this is not gospel by any means ... start with one of these razors
Gillette Slim Adjustable start on #3
Edwin Jagger any model (the heads are all identical)
Merkur HD
I have the first two, do not have an HD, but the HD and EJ are similar in aggressiveness but the EJ is slightly less aggressive. They are very close though. On blades, I have read enough about the Derby's being harsh on the first shave from others that I don't know why that is the seeming go-to blade for noobs. I would recommend a Barber or Red Personna for a first shave, but definitely get a sampler right away. You need to discover your blade. If you get a horrible first shave on a blade like I did on the Derby, don't be afraid to toss it and move on. I will come back to it later. But you want to get comfortable with your blade first.
Final thought ... Resist the urge to buy all sorts of stuff early on. Once you make the switch to your razor, let's say the EJ for sake of argument, continue using that one razor and your one soap for a few weeks changing only the blade. Then start collecting soaps and razors. The key to my process is gradual, controlled change.
Summary of Noob DE Shave Entry Plan:
- One soap with your cartridge for a few weeks-multiple passes
- One razor with your one soap for a few weeks changing only blades
- Then go crazy
Good luck!
but after reading your post/journal I think I will take it slow.
