I have never found an adjustable where the 1 setting was not too mild. In fact I think they should have started the scale on 3. But then 3 would be 1...
yeah after using it yesterday on 1 and then doing a quick third pass with 2 my chin was a little raw. Maybe I should have started with 2 so it was more efficient. Also I think I might try doing 1 pass shaves for a while. And shaving at night. The redness and ingrown hairs are starting to get to me lol I usually just shave WTG down and then ATG up but I noticed that most of my hair on my face and neck just grows down and then on my neck above my adams apple it sort of sweeps to my left. Weird. Anyways im still figuring this all out. I shaved with a henson mild for my first month of wet shaving and that thing is super efficient and very very good for sensitive skin. Older razors and different adjustables have more of a learning curve for sure. The only other razor that even compares to my henson mild but isnt as efficient is my merkur 34c
Hey nice work. This has been a good read. I'm still new, about ten months. I have the adjustables you're talking about. I haven't used them a ton, especially the Rockwell; it doesn't shave the same as the Gillettes, I wouldn't compare them. My Super is a 109 though. I find it is a little more efficient than the other two. I don't have skin issues, just a couple small irritable areas. The next time I use my Gillette adjustables, it's going to be in a couple months, I'm going to try settings (4, 3) for the Fatboy and Slim and (3, 2) for the Super. I've settled on shaving every other day, my skin seems to like that best. Good luck.
nice! yeah my trouble area is primarily my neck. My face looks generally amazing after using any razor really. I get problems under my chin and around my adams apple usually. I also just purchased a revamped fatboy aswell so im eager to use it. Every other day seems to work for me aswell and I think ill switch to shaving at night time to help the irritation clear up if there is any. How many passes do you do? which direction? I am still learning most definitely. Its not the same as cartridge shaving at all. I dont use my rockwell alot but when I do its usually setting 1 or 2 depending on the blade. I plan on trying my super adjustable at level two on a one pass shave ATG. I want to see if that helps because doing one pass WTG seems to be almost useless. It doesnt feel like it cuts anything at all until I do the second pass against the grain tbh. Not sure if anyone else shaves like that but maybe its worth a try. I dont go for BBS anymore I limit it to two passes usually with some small touch ups arond the jaw line.
I'm pretty settled into two complete passes. First WTG; second I go ATG on my neck, XTG on my face. Yeah, I think what I'm after is comfortable and efficient. Maybe some blade feel. Something like that.
Your stroke and pressure should be constant.
You see if I use a mild razor like the merkur 34C or the henson and I got WTG for one pass and ATG for the other pass I get an almost perfect shave I dont go for bbs after that. I definitely prep well. I even tried a night shave because I shower at night and I usually do a cold water shave. I use pre shave soap. And then I face lather with a brush. I went on setting 1 with the grain and setting 2 against the grain. The shave was not even close especially on my neck. I got lots of razor burn. Either its the razor or the blade. I even do some thayers and then after shave balm after wards. Theres definitely some factors going on here.
I discovered that with some blades, particularly a Feather, the second day is better than first day. I believe some folks "cork" their blades prior to the first use. I guess that gives the same effect as one shave. Never tried it though.
Yeah I have heard of that before. Not sure if that applies to this particular gillette wilkinson sword or not. I have shaved with a feather before in my henson and I get the closest shave ive ever got with no irritation. On the flip side If I use one in my rockwell 6S on plate 2 or 3 it gives me razor burn. But I have also been following another piece of advice I had heard which is only using a blade for 1 shave if you have sensitive skin. Previously I have only gotten 2 or 3 shaves out of a blade before it feels like its not doing a great job anyways and I heard somewhere that if you have sensitive skin it might be a good idea to kick it after every shave. It also reduces the bacteria factor aswell. So idk the craziest thing and most beautiful thing about wet shaving is that there are so many variables that can change the shave. This is both detrimental but also amazing because it can make or break a shave. It adds to the customization of it all but it also adds to the possibility of getting a bad shave.
I agree with you about the Slim, same goes for the Fat Boy! I have several 84's and 109's . A recent purchase of a re-vamped 109 with the plastic underneath, seemed to shave much more aggressively than the rest of my vintage flock. I believe they brought it up to factory standards which with my older, non revamped, the gap has slumped down to milder territory. Just a thought, when shavers review this razor, what is the gap, compared to the published, official gaps. May affect their opinion. My revamp works well on 3 where I used to use setting 5-6.
