7 months with DE

[Noclue]

I took all the suggestions in this group - stuck to shaving with same brand of blades for weeks at a time (daily shaving / alternate day shaving).. and here is my experience summary.

Razor Head: Ds cosmetic s9 T (replica of .84 GC), Yaqi Tile SS (replica Henson medium?) - hands down prefer S9.. the Tile just isn’t efficient enough though it’s super easy to use.

Had a few nicks in first month but since I now do WTG / XTG (face only).. have zero nicks for months.

With a mix of shaving creams and soaps - TOBS/Gillette/Yaqi/Prosaro


My take:

I prefer WTG\XTG and my hair hates ATG. So these days mostly a double pass WTG or a mix of WTG/XTG is good to go.

XTG: My neck gets a bit bumpy and dislikes XTG.. though ATG is passable but I don’t prefer it… Not sure if it’s my XTG technique on neck? Since I did mirror a few from YT…

Shaving brushes: I think Highmountain Silvertip Badger hair trumps all others based on my experience (tried a few variants with YAQI). I do want to try a synth that could be similar - any recommendations? (I will order of ALi)

Blades: Gillette Platinum (tried like 6 others that I don’t fancy). Have ordered some Feather (retry since my initial week) / KAI and some Silver Blues to see how they fair against GP!


Cream / Soap: I like soaps but I love creams more. Easy when rushing and don’t need a bowl. Prosaro and Tobs are my GoTo… tried Gillette which isn’t to my liking. I will move 100% cream once my one year supply of soaps is done



So now for next steps:

Razor Head: I feel like I can now perhaps graduate to Open Comb (and maybe in a year or so get on straights!) - so would appreciate a recommendation keeping in view my 6 months of .84? And only WTG (I would like to move towards WTG only).

 

[Jay21]

Nice work! My skin also doesn’t like ATG, so I don’t do it anywhere except occasionally on my cheeks. If you like the Gillette Platinum, you’ll really like the Silver Blues. Other blades that you may like include Silver Star, Shark Platinum, and Treet 7 Days Platinum. I think these all shave fairly similar to the Gillette Platinum but cost significantly less.

 

[spacemonkey42]

Thanks for sharing your path, it looks like all the hard work paid off!

If you wanted an OC (I wouldn't call it graduating) and love your S9, what about getting the GC 84 OC baseplate? It should work with your S9 top cap, my GC parts are interchangable with the S9.

 

[Noclue]

Options for razor head for Yaqi on my list for options

Vostok DC .7 or .9
Harlequin
Bohemian

 

[Noclue]

Thanks for that!! Will try sourcing those blades!! I am now worried my blade stockpile might last a 100 years!

Nice work! My skin also doesn’t like ATG, so I don’t do it anywhere except occasionally on my cheeks. If you like the Gillette Platinum, you’ll really like the Silver Blues. Other blades that you may like include Silver Star, Shark Platinum, and Treet 7 Days Platinum. I think these all shave fairly similar to the Gillette Platinum but cost significantly less.

I thought OC were a lot more aggressive. I will look up the GC .84 OC and thanks for updating on the compatibility… I do love the top plate of S9!

Thanks for sharing your path, it looks like all the hard work paid off!

If you wanted an OC (I wouldn't call it graduating) and love your S9, what about getting the GC 84 OC baseplate? It should work with your S9 top cap, my GC parts are interchangable with the S9.

 

[spacemonkey42]

I thought OC were a lot more aggressive. I will look up the GC .84 OC and thanks for updating on the compatibility… I do love the top plate of S9!

All other things held equal, an OC itself doesn't really make it more aggressive. They are better for cutting longer hair and not clogging. If you wanted more aggressive, and love the S9, you could try a GC 1.05 baseplate. That would be more aggressive.

 

[Noclue]

All other things held equal, an OC itself doesn't really make it more aggressive. They are better for cutting longer hair and not clogging. If you wanted more aggressive, and love the S9, you could try a GC 1.05 baseplate. That would be more aggressive.

Main concern now is I need more passes with .84. I was under the impression that OC will make the shave a bit closer and therefore it would be more clean with one pass? If it’s just about not clogging - then yeah I am looking at it wrong. Never tried OC.

Would a .9 instead of a 1.05 be a good leap to get that closer shave or really need to anchor the 1.05?

 

[Jay21]

A note about OCs…I have the Game Changer 68 in SB and OC, and the Lupo 95 in SB and OC. For daily shaving, I find no difference between the corresponding OC and SB plates. I think because the “OC” in this regard for RazoRock are simply SBs with notches cut in them. If you look at other “true” old style OCs, like the Merkur 15C, you’ll see the blade is basically resting on top of a comb without a large blade gap.

I suggest saving your money by not buying RazoRock OC plates if you already have that gap in SB. Look at other OCs like the SLOC, Fatip, or the stainless steel Mellon by Yaqi.

 

[Noclue]

So I have ordered two:

Shield Razor DE3 with a gap of 1.15, expo:0.12
YAQI Harlequin with a gap of .9 but I hear it’s aggressive… let’s hope I don’t bleed.. if I don’t show up next month.. then blame @Iridian

 

[ButterfaceX]

Again, blade gap does not dictate Aggressive. It is a very overused, misleading term used by a lot of users. In terms of design, there are four key factors together that make up the shaving characteristics. There are also others, but the main ones are blade angle, blade clamping, blade exposure, & blade gap. Others are the users (face, skin, shave process, pressure, technique or lack of), weight, metal type, & blade used. One man's Aggressive could be another man's Efficient.
Lots Yaqi's razors seem to be listed by Yaqi ( if they do list it!) at .05 blade positive exposure.
So I see that the last post is months again.
Tell us, if you would....how did you and the razor do?
BFX