did I make a good decision?

I would suggest using a higher setting first for initial reduction and then reduce the number for subsequent passes. I would also say try a feather or GSB, they are not to be feared as some say, just respected. Slow down, use short strokes and pay careful attention to ensure your wrist stays locked and stretch the skin. Taught skin is significantly less prone to cuts as loose skin. Try adding more water to your lather, I find that a wetter lather is a slicker lather and allows the blade to glide effortlessly across my face. I used to think a thick pillowy cushion of lather would be best but for me slicker is always better. Hope this help, even if only a bit.

Slim's have proven their worth for generations, so you have made an excellent choice. Focusing on technique is the key. To me, that includes making consistently good lather. It took me some time before I could do that, before I developed a feel for how much water worked for each soap. I probably would have learned faster if I'd stuck to just one brand in the beginning. Enjoy!

If your trying for the elusive BBS shave, you are in for a lot of anguish. I used a Gillette Tech loaded with a German Willkie today & got a near BBS shave with one pass & touch up pass. Thats a DFS IMO.

shavedgentleman said:

I only have two razors that cant give me a BBS 1 pass shave. a pal adjustable and a travel tech.

They both skip so much on my face that I have to redo them.

I personally feel the slim is not for everyone. But a used fat boy, aristocrat, heavy tech, standard tech, 40s super speed, black beauty,

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At this time a single pass BBS seems nigh on impossible.

I did 4 with the grain passes last night using 4 different razors. (tech, tech, rimei and slim). Testing the feel difference and ended up with barely a CCS, probably closer to SAS.

shavedgentleman said:

I only have two razors that cant give me a BBS 1 pass shave. a pal adjustable and a travel tech.

They both skip so much on my face that I have to redo them.

I personally feel the slim is not for everyone. But a used fat boy, aristocrat, heavy tech, standard tech, 40s super speed, black beauty,

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PS. you are not going to convince me to get any other razors. If I can't get the job done with what I've got then I should quit trying.

Try to simplify, instead of changing grain directions, settings, and or razors. Just stick with one for a couple of days. I would just set the Sim to 9 and do 2 WTG passes and see where you are. Don't worry about the angle, at 9 it will work at almost any angle, just remember no pressure. But even the Tech should get you a decent shave with 2 WTG passes, as long as you can keep the angle.

shavedgentleman said:

you really need better shave soap or cream to use. Arko in MY experience, is um 3 steps below shaving with spit.

I learned when I started shaving with the DE is that each razor has a "ideal" blade for it, in regards to stiffness and sharpness and smooth ness and edge holding.

And your FACE has its own requirements.

Personally it sounds like the razor/blade/soap combo is crap.

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Personally, I think it is 90% technique and 10% everything else. I've never tried Arko, but have read many posts about how good it performs. I have no problems with cheap soaps (VDH Deluxe and Williams Mug) and can get at least 10 shaves out of almost any blade (mid 30s on a few). I very rarely hit a true BBS, but always get at least a SAA, and it is usually in DFS territory. I rarely do more than 2 WTG passes and cleanup on my head and 1 WTG 1 ATG for the face. As long as you keep the razor within its effective cutting angle it will work.

You can get a great lather out of almost any soap. I know I can anyway. Technique, like Troy said, is 90% of it. There is something to be said about different blades performing better in different razors, although there is no such thing as an "Ideal" blade for every razor. Maybe YOUR ideal blade in any specific razor.

And unless you have very thin, soft facial hair and you don't shave your chin or mustache area, I very seriously question that you can get BBS in one pass from any razor. Unless your definition of BBS is radically different than everyone elses.

troy said:

Try to simplify, instead of changing grain directions, settings, and or razors. Just stick with one for a couple of days. I would just set the Sim to 9 and do 2 WTG passes and see where you are. Don't worry about the angle, at 9 it will work at almost any angle, just remember no pressure. But even the Tech should get you a decent shave with 2 WTG passes, as long as you can keep the angle.

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Just to show what I am willing to do. Slim on 9, 2 passes wtg, using the wilkinson blade that was still in the razor = sas only and a fair bit of irritation. I am happy with the slim up to 7. The blade combinations I have tried to this point do not work with 9. At some point I will go down to 7 and try the same thing with several different blades.

My personal opinion is that my face combination needs at least cross the grain to get an acceptable (and no I am not chasing bbs) shave.

as to the comments from various people about blade / razor combos. The shark blades that I decided on quite early on seem to work reasonably with rimei razors, and only rimei razors. I can get a 3 pass ccs with a rimei and a shark blade with almost no irritation. Yet the blades don't work in anything else. If I could get a 3 pass dfs in the same situation I wouldn't be on this fools quest.

I am actually going to take a step back for a couple of days and re-familiarise myself with the rimei /shark combination as I was not doing to badly with that.

Worst thing about this is the recovery time between attempts. If you could just work at it for a few hours straight you would get it right so much quicker. Makes you wish for quick healing skin and fast growing hair.

Full reset remei shark derby soap normal 3 pass shave. Best shave in about two weeks. Far from perfect but mostly DFS with less irritation than i have had in a while. I will let my face recover this way for a few days before departure experimenting again.

Moody said:

Full reset remei shark derby soap normal 3 pass shave. Best shave in about two weeks. Far from perfect but mostly DFS with less irritation than i have had in a while. I will let my face recover this way for a few days before departure experimenting again.

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Glad to hear it's going better. Good idea to stick with what is working, healing up should help.

One other thing, and maybe it's already been said. Are you getting the 1/4 turn lock up on your Slim. Once the doors are closed it should turn another 1/4 turn. You should feel it tightening against a spring, if it's not locking up the blade will vibrate and chatter. If this is your issue a good long soak in hot soapy water should get it going again.

shavedgentleman said:

when I started shaving with a de last year, it would take me 4 or 5 passes with any blade to get as close a shave as I get in 1 pass now.

technique has improved, however the soaps I use are better now. I started with razorock classic cream, it made lather but it was more useless then shaving with cake frosting. althought cake frosting might shave better in hindsight.

lather is not always lather. I did get those lather porn shot style bowl latherings, and never could get a shave. I figure out how I need lather to be for my skin and facial hair, and the shaving got soo much better. So much better I was able ti figure out what blades and razors do not work in combination.

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All soaps require different amounts of water and product to reach full potential. Maybe you should have played with it a little more until you figured it out because plenty of other people lather just fine with RR. Then again, if you can get a 1 pass with the grain BBS shave with a tech I'm not sure why soap would matter at all.

troy said:

Glad to hear it's going better. Good idea to stick with what is working, healing up should help.

One other thing, and maybe it's already been said. Are you getting the 1/4 turn lock up on your Slim. Once the doors are closed it should turn another 1/4 turn. You should feel it tightening against a spring, if it's not locking up the blade will vibrate and chatter. If this is your issue a good long soak in hot soapy water should get it going again.

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Absolutely not an issue, and I know what a loose blade in a TTO feels like (my worst fault of the weishi is that it can loosen mid shave and start slicing you instead of the hair - has happened to me twice).

A day later and not long before the next shave and my face itself is feeling good. No healing cuts from the couple of blades that don't like me.

Moody said:

Absolutely not an issue, and I know what a loose blade in a TTO feels like (my worst fault of the weishi is that it can loosen mid shave and start slicing you instead of the hair - has happened to me twice).

A day later and not long before the next shave and my face itself is feeling good. No healing cuts from the couple of blades that don't like me.

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And for the next shave, still with the Remei and shark combination. Really went well for with, cross and cross the other way. Should have left it at that point but I went too far on a fourth / touchup pass and have a dfs with irritation - but not awful. 12 hours on and it's not feeling too bad.

I am going to try the tech / shark for a few days to see if I can duplicate the level of shave of the Rimei (Which should be possible). Then I am going to try doing some first passes with the slim followed by the tech or Rimei for the rest. (using two razors rather than adjusting the slim for each part).

I am starting to change my mind again on the shark blades. They seem to do as good and smooth a job as anything else I have tried so far. The sharks and rapira platinum lux seem to be at the top of the list with the Rapira working in some razors that the sharks don't. Astra slightly below (but I need to use these more to confirm) and everything else below that (derby, dorco, indian wilkinson, 7oclock yellow, I'm sure there are more).

Switching blades sounds like a good idea to me. I got 15 Shark SC in a sample pack, used 5 of them with very mixed results, a few great shaves and several bad ones. I wound up giving the other 10 away. of the blades you listed Derbys and Astras are the only ones I've tried. Derbys are OK, but not great. Astras, on the other hand, are great one of my top 2 the other is GSBs.

troy said:

Switching blades sounds like a good idea to me. I got 15 Shark SC in a sample pack, used 5 of them with very mixed results, a few great shaves and several bad ones. I wound up giving the other 10 away. of the blades you listed Derbys and Astras are the only ones I've tried. Derbys are OK, but not great. Astras, on the other hand, are great one of my top 2 the other is GSBs.

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I get the impression from what I have read that Shark SC and Shark SS are completely different. Some people love one and hate the other, others vice versa. I have personally never tried the Shark SC and don't have an opinion of them. I have a lot of SS and have a razor that they work well in so they are not wasted.

I need to try Astras more. I had underwhelming results the first two blades (not bad, but nothing special). I only have 3 blades left and will give them a decent run.

Used the 40's tech with sharks last night. Started well but made some mistakes with angle (both blade angle and direction - went against the grain too soon in a couple of spots). Ended up with a close but rough 3 pass shave.

I agree with what the other members are saying. Pick one razor and blade and learn master it. Use short strokes, and 0 pressure. Once you learn your correct technique it will be easier to master a new razor.

Oh why do I keep experimenting.

Did a shave with the tech and shark blade (the combo I am trying to get right before I go on to anything else).

Had a really nice first with the grain pass, and being so nice decided to try what I keep seeing various people do - straight to against the grain.

One against the grain pass which didn't seem bad as it was happening, but the end result was less hair removal than if I had done a normal cross the grain pass.

At this point I could have approached disaster by trying more cross / against the grain passes, but I just did a little bit of touch up on the very worst bits of my cheeks and didn't even worry about problem areas and got a CCS without irritation - but this is a method that really doesn't do a good job for me.

I congratulate myself for knowing when to cut and run though.

Independent of the last post (Only just saw it now).

Had an absolutely superb shave last night. Could be a couple of factors.

With the less than stellar shave the night before (more stubble than normal) combined with a late band rehearsal meaning a late shave I had a lot more hair than usual.

I don't think it had any effect but I was using a new brush.

With the sub par shave I decided it was time to change the shark blade which was on about it's 5th or 6th shave I think? Still using the 40's British tech. Rather than get a new shark blade, I had a 7'oclock yellow with two shaves on it that I really wanted to be finished with but didn't want to waste.

If you read previously in this thread, I have not had good experiences with this blade, or the other from the same tuck that I have tried - they tend to bite me unexpectedly.

Did a pass with the grain and managed to nick myself right in the middle of the bottom edge of my bottom lip, but that stopped bleeding before I finished the shave or got the alum block.

Having had a really good pass I did another with the grain, one cross the grain and one against the grain. Near bbs on the cheeks, DFS for the neck and around the mouth. No obvious irritation from the shave and only minor feedback from the Alum (mostly on the neck).

If every shave was like this I would be more than happy!

I think I will try to repeat this with the same blade and others from the same tuck to see if I can tame the nicks they give me.