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A necessary RELAPSE today. Am I going back to CARTS!

No I am not.

So I woke up really late and hungover this morning:blushing: and knew I would not have the time for my daily two pass straight razor shave. I have heard many tales of people trying carts after years of shaving with superior products and coming to realize that improved technique and better software made shaving with a cart tolerable. This was not the case for me.

I grabbed the old gilette fusion from the closet and built and adequate lather with my AoS pure badger brush and EJ sea buckthorn soap. I applied the lather and let it soften my beard, not knowing what to do with myself as I would normally be stropping my razor while this took place. Rinsed off the lather and reapplied (loving the smell of the sea buckthorn by the way) and grabbed my plastic foe. As I dragged the fairly new cartridge blade (it had only been used for light touch ups before I converted to straights completely) across my face I was not impressed. The flimsy tilty head bounced around and almost vibrated over my thickly stubbled face. The sensation was almost itchy?!?! I was going to relather for a second pass but event thinking about going xtg or atg made my skin burn! I finished off with the alum block and the VEG and was surprised that there was not much burn. Maybe it wasn't so bad.

I made it to work and looked in the mirror and that is when my opinion shifted to completely negative. I had a frickin 5 o'clock shadow two hours after I shaved! Also, those little red bumps/splotches along my neck that I used to be plagued with had returned in full force after they had been diminishing steadily over the last few months. In short, although the cart may have not caused much burn that comes with the occasional "extreme exfoliation" that novice straight users often incur, it did not provide a smooth shave and it also came with itching and tugging. Had I done multiple passes I believe that the resulting shave might have increased marginally while the irritation would have multiplied exponentially.

So while, I do keep the cart beast in the closet for an emergency BARELY SAS or for more "base" tasks, I have truly seen the light and could NEVER go back!

nrv216
 
If you are that late and a Fusion tears your face up something fierce, don't even worry about shaving. A days growth is better looking than an irritated, just barely SAS.
 
I would have just gone without but I just finished giving disciplinary action to an employee over improper grooming and could not do that. I would have looked pretty silly and hypocritical.

nrv216
 
Haha, you are surely correct but the redness from the fusion was definitive proof that I did shave today; even if it was poorly.

nrv216
 
What about keeping a Schick injector around? I use mine for quick shaves when I'm running a little behind. Much better than cartridges but easy and quick, even if you're hungover.
 
Going from a straight to ANY handled razor (DE, SE, injector, cart) would probably give you at least one bad shave, the techniques are completely different. Heck, going from one DE to another takes me a couple days to get used to sometimes!
 
The fusion used to really chew up my neck. If you need a cart for quick shaves try a Gillette Sensor 2 blade. My experience has been more blades = more irratation.
 
Why is everyone around here so anti-cartridge?

They're just like DE razors, some work well with one's particular skin/hair/soap combination, and some don't. YMMV applies to them too.

I tried a King of Shaves Azor a few nights back, and it didn't work well on me. I tried Gillette Guard, it worked pretty well. Last night I tried a local supermarket's house brand, cheap three blade cartridge razor, and got one of the closest shaves of my life with zero nicks or irritation - better than Fusion, Mach 3 and the Schick equivalents. I've been rubbing my face in wonderment all day. Now I know what I have to look for in a DE.
Regards,
Renato
 
I have a few gillette disposables in the deep dark reaches of my bathroom cupboard in case I ever need them. Though I'd never go back to one of those cartridge monstrosities...
 
Private Security eh?
When I was a security officer I would go a couple days without shaving...back then my facial hair came in slow enough nobody noticed. :lol:
 

musicman1951

three-tu-tu, three-tu-tu
I often think I could stop after one pass if in a hurry. It ain't BBS, but it's as good as I used to get with my electric shaver.
 
Why is everyone around here so anti-cartridge?

Not everyone, but yes, the "carts are useless" members can be very vocal. with some even going as far as to see the most prominent cart manufacturer, Gillette, as the shaving version of the evil empire:a45:. As for the OP, perhaps a combination of being late, under the weather and wielding a used blade may not have helped your shave?
 
Not everyone, but yes, the "carts are useless" members can be very vocal. with some even going as far as to see the most prominent cart manufacturer, Gillette, as the shaving version of the evil empire:a45:.

Yes, and a lot of them seem to forget that Gillette still makes many of their beloved brands DE blades.
Regards,
Renato
 
I still use carts, but only when I need to.

Now that I have my DE technique down and have found a DE that really works for me, I have no desire to use a cart. A week or two ago I tried an experiment. I shaved the left half of my face with my FaTip and the right half of my face with a Schick Hydro 3. I got a good shave on both sides of my face, but the advantage went to the FaTip.

Still, when I travel I carry on a Trac II, a Guard, or an Atra. And when I don't get up with the alarm or have to go in especially early to work, I resort to the Trac II (mostly).
 
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