A colleague of mine liked the Derby, he even had hauled in a large amount 'cause it was good and worked well for him. I then gave him an Astra SP blade to try.. he had to trash his stash of Derby after that! But all the time he had only assumed that that was how DE shaving was and the Derby was no different than other blades. I've really wanted to like the Derby, alas, to no avail.
Ive only got 10 so its not too bad but I'll save them to try in other razors. Will be putting a astra sp in today.
Wow, best shave yet. Didn't want it to end. I got the closest I've been with absolutely zero irritation. Got the best lather I've done to date and to make it better, once made up the lather I filled a jug wwith hot water and put the lather bowl on top. Which kept the lather lovely and warm right through to the end.
Thats the thing about blades(good or bad) you really don't know how any particular blade will work for you until you try it on your face...I wanted to like Derbies wound up hating them,I didn't particularly want to like Feathers(because of the cost and hype) and found them close shaving, but harsh...You just never know which blade/blades will give you that "GREAT" shave until you try it...One thing I have found out is that it's not about blade cost, it'd about the relationship between the blade and razor, your face and your technique.. I look at that(trying different blades) as part of the fun, as well as the price of "traditional" shaving..One size "DOES NOT FIT ALL"....The quest for the perfect blade continues...Everytime I think I've found it something better or cheaper or both comes around...
Amen brother! Holy Smokes, just revisited the Gillette Silver Blue blades, have been using the Astra and perma sharp with incredible results but the Gillette sb's produced one DFS This morning. Cant for the life of me remember why I stopped using them. One thing to note however, they did produce a nick on my neck. Cant remember my last nick and I religously do 4 passes and some buffing. Thease blades are sharp. Extremely close shaving, but sharp.
Went with the astra again, very close and BBS on my face but caused a bit of red on my neck pushing for BBS. But it cleared up straight after the witch hazel splash.
just a suggestion but have you tried blade buffing on your neck? Blade buffing is much easier on your skin than repeated passes and for me gets much closer too. Just a suggestion as it works for me. YMMV of course but it may allow you to use a much sharper blade (feather, med prep etc.) without burning up your neck.
Is that xtg or atg? I am finding atg is fine on my face but I have to leave it till the 4th pass on my neck and it can still feel as though its struggling slightly.
For me when blade buffing, Its after my 4 pass (wtg,xtg,atg,atg) I find I can buff in any direction with no ill effect, but as a habbit I buff atg .
Ill give it a go tomorrow mate and let you know how it goes. Also contemplating taking of the tache just to shave a bit more.
Oh I definitely won't be mate. I'm really enjoying spending the time shaving and the different scents. I can't see my self going back to shaving with a electric razor and itching all week.
hey im new to this stuff too, but prep will def help. wash your face with warm water first, then lather your face up with your cream/soap/gel, and for me i keep it watery, while i dont like it running down my neck, i find if i keep it not so thick it really helps. and you def should give gillette blades a try. the astra sp are good blades. but for me i like the gillette silver blues, and i actually like the blubirds alot. personna are supposed to be great too.
I too Sir, am a huge fan of the Gillette Silver Blue blades. The only blade so far to give me a 100% bbs.
I have got a few different Gillette's to try but only 1 of each so Im saving them for testing in the de89. I'm going to try a rapira next as I've seen a few good reviews on those, also since the buffing advice off cool breeze I think I am getting a lot better shave. Last night was a 98% bbs again. Prep is like this - Hot wet flannel for 2/3 minutes Face wash/ face scrub 2 days a week Whip lather up in bowl Rinse wash/scrub off hot wet flannel a good minute Work lather onto face 1/2 minutes Shave Hot water rinse Cold wet flannel a few times Witch hazel for a few minutes Asb Bath Splash of as
