Thick flat laying hair. Maybe needs a new razor?

I have been shaving with a DE razor for about 2 years now. Ever since I started I have struggled with the hair on my neck and chin. The hair grows from my chin to the ear and flat against the skin. It also grows really think. It can stop a feather blade its tracks. This is a combination of the hair being thick and laying flat against the skin.

The first 2 passes cannot reduce the hair to the point where I can’t go against or even somewhere between across and against the grain. The first 2 passes being with and across the grain. Also tried across the grain and across the grain in the other direction. After the first 2 passes the blade stick or stop the blade for pass 3.If I try to pull the blade will skip and give me a lot of nicks. I have tried stopping at 2 passes but it not close at all and girlfriend says it feels like a brillo pad.

I have done a lot to make the hair easier to cut. I do Kyles prep for at least 5 minutes after a long hot shower. I have use pre shave oil after Kyles prep. I also bought a Semogue boar hair brush. I have tried many different types of soaps (my favorite being cold river soap works). I have tried different blade including feather, kai, and persona labs.

It seems like the only I have yet to do is use a different razor. My current razor is an Edward Jagger DE89L. Any suggestions? I am at a point where I don’t know what else to do.

It sounds like you have tried about everything that I can think of. Perhaps a new razor is in order. The EJ DE89 is a relatively mild razor, even with a Feather. If you have been DE shaving for two years, your technique might be up to handling a Muehle R41. It is legendary for being an aggressive razor.

Have you tried cold water shaving? In my experience cold water (cold lather, cold razor) causes my whiskers to stand up a little more.

Start by shimming the DE89. I have similar hair, and I get my best shaves with two passes, one WTG, one XTG, with an aggressive razor. Start with a single shim and work your way up to 4 or 5 and see if any of those combos work better for you. I like mine with 3 shims. Any more than that doesn't seem to make a significant difference for me.

BlackBard said:

Have you tried cold water shaving? In my experience cold water (cold lather, cold razor) causes my whiskers to stand up a little more.

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i have it just made my hair tougher to shave

gwsmallwood said:

Start by shimming the DE89. I have similar hair, and I get my best shaves with two passes, one WTG, one XTG, with an aggressive razor. Start with a single shim and work your way up to 4 or 5 and see if any of those combos work better for you. I like mine with 3 shims. Any more than that doesn't seem to make a significant difference for me.

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thanks for the advice i think i will try this and see how it goes.

xxvaleria said:

It sounds like you have tried about everything that I can think of. Perhaps a new razor is in order. The EJ DE89 is a relatively mild razor, even with a Feather. If you have been DE shaving for two years, your technique might be up to handling a Muehle R41. It is legendary for being an aggressive razor.

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I will keep the Muehle R41in mind when i look for a new razor. i kind of torn between slant or open comb

Try LESS prep... counterintuitive at first, but my guess is that all that heat and water is making your skin expand.
Once it cools down and contracts, more unshaved hair starts poking out again.

Maybe you need to try an open comb razor? I have thick hair too and I started with a Merkur 34C HD, later when I started to shave with my opencomb razor the shaves improved a lot because of the blade exposure. The razor I use is a Fatip Piccolo, great razor I bought it for 19 euros which is very cheap.

Go West Young Man said:

Try LESS prep... counterintuitive at first, but my guess is that all that heat and water is making your skin expand.
Once it cools down and contracts, more unshaved hair starts poking out again.

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+1

Go West Young Man said:

Try LESS prep... counterintuitive at first, but my guess is that all that heat and water is making your skin expand.
Once it cools down and contracts, more unshaved hair starts poking out again.

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i worked my way up too my 5 minute prep but i will try less prep in a few days.

I agree. Let us know how it goes.

Go West Young Man said:

Try LESS prep... counterintuitive at first, but my guess is that all that heat and water is making your skin expand.
Once it cools down and contracts, more unshaved hair starts poking out again.

Click to expand...

gwsmallwood said:

Start by shimming the DE89. I have similar hair, and I get my best shaves with two passes, one WTG, one XTG, with an aggressive razor. Start with a single shim and work your way up to 4 or 5 and see if any of those combos work better for you. I like mine with 3 shims. Any more than that doesn't seem to make a significant difference for me.

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+1 Then, you can see if you need a more aggressive razor. Also, have you tried stretching your skin and buffing?

+1 shimming my DE89 helped tremendously. Like gwsmallwood suggested, I also like mine with 3 shims. It made finding the angle effortless, and made it far more comfortable. I just did a 3 pass shave with a fresh Feather blade, and barely felt a sting with my alum block. Before shimming, I'd be on fire.

Go West Young Man said:

Try LESS prep... counterintuitive at first, but my guess is that all that heat and water is making your skin expand.
Once it cools down and contracts, more unshaved hair starts poking out again.

Click to expand...

An update i have had a few shaves from my last post. I did try using less prep. It my case it did not help. The blade would tug the hair and skip on the first pass. The next shave i did more prep and still had some tugging but no skipping. The third shave i went back to doing my normal prep and the tuggin on the first pass was gone.
Thank you for your suggestion

gwsmallwood said:

Start by shimming the DE89. I have similar hair, and I get my best shaves with two passes, one WTG, one XTG, with an aggressive razor. Start with a single shim and work your way up to 4 or 5 and see if any of those combos work better for you. I like mine with 3 shims. Any more than that doesn't seem to make a significant difference for me.

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I did start to shim my de89l. For the testing i used my favorite soap cold river soap works. I started with one shim. With one shim i did not notice a big difference but i did have a bit less tugging. With 2 shims i noticed a difference and had almost no tugging. I also had zero irritation. With three shims i felt like it was about the same as 2 shims but i had had irritation. I also used a different soap for three shims and that may have been it. I used razorock xxx but normally this is a great soap for me.

I am also still thinking of getting a new razor. The Muehle R41 was suggested but i after shimming i think it might be to aggressive. Any other suggestions under say $75?

NooB LoKi said:

I did start to shim my de89l. For the testing i used my favorite soap cold river soap works. I started with one shim. With one shim i did not notice a big difference but i did have a bit less tugging. With 2 shims i noticed a difference and had almost no tugging. I also had zero irritation. With three shims i felt like it was about the same as 2 shims but i had had irritation. I also used a different soap for three shims and that may have been it. I used razorock xxx but normally this is a great soap for me.

I am also still thinking of getting a new razor. The Muehle R41 was suggested but i after shimming i think it might be to aggressive. Any other suggestions under say $75?

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Merkur Progress or Vintage Slim. That way you can adjust the aggressiveness to suit you.

NooB LoKi said:

I am also still thinking of getting a new razor. The Muehle R41 was suggested but i after shimming i think it might be to aggressive. Any other suggestions under say $75?

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I also started with the DE89 and then got a Parker 26C, which is open comb. Even though the Parker is not considered aggressive, it does a better job on my neck than the DE89. Whether that's because it is OC or because of some other aspect of its geometry, I can't say, but it's a good razor. The Parker is inexpensive, made well, and might be worth a try. I understand that the Pearl OC razors are more aggressive than the Parker but less aggressive than the Muhle R41 and they are not expensive, either.

Don't discount the vintage Gillette Red Tip razor either. It's the most aggressive of the old super speeds. I second the Gillette Slim recommendation as well. It's a good adjustable razor, and nicer looking than the later Gillette Super Adjustables.

gwsmallwood said:

Merkur Progress or Vintage Slim. That way you can adjust the aggressiveness to suit you.

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PLANofMAN said:

Don't discount the vintage Gillette Red Tip razor either. It's the most aggressive of the old super speeds. I second the Gillette Slim recommendation as well. It's a good adjustable razor, and nicer looking than the later Gillette Super Adjustables.

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I also recommend the Gillette slim Razor, it has a variety of shave levels to try.