Neck looked like a connect-the-dots puzzle

[kjjb0204]

I've finally moved to the feather de blades from my sample pack, and definitely discovered that these are not for me! I've been through the derby, wilkinson, merkurs so far and just tried feather yesterday. My neck was so red and bloody, it took the styptic pencil, alum block, and balm to stop the bleeding, and that worked only after holding a moist towel on my neck for five minutes.

OUCH!

[jat9096]

LOL!!!

uhh, i was gonna use them today, but i think i'll give them away to a friend.

[A.de.Lioncourt]

I've finally moved to the feather de blades from my sample pack, and definitely discovered that these are not for me! I've been through the derby, wilkinson, merkurs so far and just tried feather yesterday. My neck was so red and bloody, it took the styptic pencil, alum block, and balm to stop the bleeding, and that worked only after holding a moist towel on my neck for five minutes.

OUCH!

Unfortunately, you can't use these like you can use any other razor.
But, fortunately you can use these like you can't use any other razor.

Specifically, you have to be more attentive and careful when using a feather, but no other razor allows you to use such a light touch to shear through stubble so easily.

You may wish to just hold off of them a bit until you have more experience before you judge. However, if your absolutely sure you don't want them, I'll happily buy them, just send me a PM.

[A.de.Lioncourt]

LOL!!!

uhh, i was gonna use them today, but i think i'll give them away to a friend.

It's different for everyone so you shouldn't let this thread dissuade you. However, I remember in another thread you said you were really prone to bumps; in this case, the feather might not be right for you. In my experience, they are very unforgiving of any uneven skin, but you never know how it will treat you till you try.

Oh, and same offer as above; if you don't like them PM me.

[v-g]

I'm pretty new to this, but Feathers are SO much better than Merkurs. Remember this is MY neck talking tho'.

As said, use a light touch, don't rake and yank.

[kjjb0204]

I'll try them a few more times this weekend. It just seemed when I came to the ATG and XTG passes, if I didn't use ANY pressure, the razor just sort of stuttered over the area and each time it came back in contact, it cut me. I'm finding that even with the derbys and other blades, a slight pressure works best for me with short quick strokes. When I tried a little bit of pressure with the feathers, I got cut again. So, pressure or no pressure, the feather cut me like Achilles' sword through Trojan armor.

[kjjb0204]

However, if your absolutely sure you don't want them, I'll happily buy them, just send me a PM.

I've only used one of ten, and I'm going to try a fresh one tomorrow and if still no better, I'll just send the rest to you. I'll let you know.

[SingleShotVictor]

I find the feathers give the best shave after 2-3 uses, the first couple of shaves can be rough sometimes. Some people cork the blades, this topic has been debated alot but some feel it works. If you use an adjustable lower the setting and see what that does for you. I have noticed I get different shaves with different soap and blade combos. For instance I get great shave with derbys and proraso but not when I use TOBS don't know why. I have to switch to either feathers or gillete swedes for the TOBS to come out BBS. Let your face heal a day before going back to the feathers they might just win you over in the end.

[Barbelus maximus]

I'll try them a few more times this weekend. It just seemed when I came to the ATG and XTG passes, if I didn't use ANY pressure, the razor just sort of stuttered over the area and each time it came back in contact, it cut me. I'm finding that even with the derbys and other blades, a slight pressure works best for me with short quick strokes. When I tried a little bit of pressure with the feathers, I got cut again. So, pressure or no pressure, the feather cut me like Achilles' sword through Trojan armor.

This sounds very much like a need for further reduction of the beard. To go against the grain and sometimes even across the grain, the beard needs to have been reduced significantly. Rather than going straight across the grain try going down and across in a diagonal direction first. If the whisker is too long and it gets hit at an acute angle it can tug rather than cut, this then raises the skin immediately around the base of the hair and gets nicked by the blade. Providing you keep the area lathered you should be able to do several passes, I often do 4 full passes plus touch ups with plenty of lather and have no irritation. I find that one technique is sorted, almost any blade can be used. If you have a tricky beard growing in all sorts of directions (like mine) I find I have more problems with a feather because it is more likely to cut the longer hairs left behind from previous passes and thereby cause some nicks and cuts, I would rather a slightly less sharp blade such as a Derby and do one more pass to reduce the hair properly and have no irritation. Hope this makes sense.

[kjjb0204]

I've used the feather blade twice now, so I'll try the same blade again tomorrow to see what happens. My neck beard grows in just about every direction, so the standard passes end up WTG, XTG and ATG all on the same stroke. That's why I seem to have better results with short quicker strokes.

[andrewinman]

Hello, looks like you've had some problems, have my fair share too... One thing I have noticed is that you use quick strokes. Quick strokes equal bad shaves for me. Plus make sure you dont overstretch your skin. Try slow, short, light strokes. Works well with me and my beard is dark, dense, coarse and in many directions. Hope this helps..

[kjjb0204]

Eh, third time with the feathers today, and still not much better than three days ago. I might shelve the feathers for a while and try again some other time. Less blood, but still lots of irritation.

[dax702]

The feathers are the only blades that seem to actually cut the hair. Everything else feels like junk on my face. The again the tradeoff is that they're so sharp and irritate my skin. Can't win

[bonusmarple]

Blade choice is probably second only to brush choice in terms of YMMV. I don't care for feathers myself, I think the extra sharpness over other blades brings more risk than reward.

[Groundhog]

if I didn't use ANY pressure, the razor just sort of stuttered over the area and each time it came back in contact, it cut me. .

Are you keeping a firm grip on the razor? This would account for any "stuttering" or "skipping" of the blade. It requires a conscious effort, but when I'm shaving my neck (especially ATG), I have to remember to keep a firm grip while applying very light pressure.

[kjjb0204]

Are you keeping a firm grip on the razor? This would account for any "stuttering" or "skipping" of the blade. It requires a conscious effort, but when I'm shaving my neck (especially ATG), I have to remember to keep a firm grip while applying very light pressure.

I do keep a firm grip, but if it stutters or hesitates, I pretty much stop that particular stroke.

[kjjb0204]

Just a quick update - I stuck with the feather blade and after slicing up my neck the first three shaves, the blade worked great for the next six shaves. I got six really good shaves out of that feather blade. So that leads me to this question:

What is corking?