So what is everyone's grail shave? What is your absolute best setup from start to finish, wash to AS/balm including all equipment? I am a noob still developing technique and looking for trends of "bests."
The one that is perfect that day. Some shaves are not not as good as you hope (still better than a cartridge). Some turn into a bloody mess (after intial learning these days are not common). Others are just really nice. I do look forward to shaving and have favorite creams and soaps brushes and razors but in the end it is what my face feels like after shaving that decides if it was perfect I have thought of razors to sell and which to keep and end up with them all being keepers and/or most being ok to sell. Really depends on mood I guess.
I have found over a long period of time when your technique becomes strong enoughhundreds of grail shaves can be had with differing price levels of products. Solid technique and knowledge makes even the lowliest of products (not defective products) become grail products. If you go away learning one thing it is the three Ts which is "Technique Trumps Tools." Now I mention defective products, no amount of technique can overcome a defective product so the products must be ones that can work correctly. No out of alignment razors, or poorly manufactured blades that have bad edges, can be overcome by technique. I know that is not the knowledge you wanted to receive but it is the knowledge you need. Here is the advice I received when I started with a DE and so I freely give it to new users. The most important things in shaving are, your skin and technique. All other things fall in line behind those two things and to support them. Since the skin is a given fixed item, the next major item is technique. It is called THE 30 DAY RULE. THE 30 DAY RULE is as follows: Find a razor, then a blade that will not cause issues with your skin (that may take a few different blades in a sampler pack to find a suitable choice or it maybe the first out of the gate) and select a soap or cream that is easy to generate good lather. Once you find those, and it may take a couple of weeks to find this combination, order a quantity of that blade, enough for 30 days, and then spend 30 days using nothing else until you build up your technique. (Note that only one brand blade is used for 30 days after each blade in the sampler pack is tested to make the decision on the blade brand to use for 30 days.) The 30 day clock starts when you have the right blade for you. After 30 days, change one and only one variable and work for another week then change another after another week. At that point you should be able to make better decisions because your technique is now in place. This will help you to avoid buying too much gear and stuff too soon without having the technique down to enjoy it all. Cheers. Welcome to the Den. We know you'll fit right in. So grab yourself a comfy chair, and give our threads a spin! Burma Shave
Yep. Technique is the King of the Shave. Blades are the queen, razors are viceroys, soaps and creams the king's ministers. Lilac Vegetal is the grime-covered peasant mucking about in the filth. (pictured: Lilac Vegetal)
I know its not exactly the types of answers you were probably looking for, but its very true. Grail shaves can be had with tons of setup variations if your technique is sound. The fun part is the journey....enjoy!
I agree completely with what the veterans here have said. Like many others, after about a month or two of DE shaving, I thought I needed razor X, (or razor XX, or razor XXX) and went on a buying/trading spree thinking I needed to find my "grail" razor. I went for months trying one thing, and then another, never getting the really good shave that I wanted. One day out of curiosity, (or maybe frustration) I went back to the very first DE razor I ever shaved with, the old Gillette Super Speed. I loaded a blade that had given me terrible results in many other razors, the Gillette Silver Blue. This combination gave me the best shave I had ever attained using any DE, and I just could not believe it. The razor I had run away from a few months before had just given me the first of many BBS shaves I was to enjoy. So, lesson learned. This is not to say that the previous months of playing musical razors was time wasted. Rather, it was the long (and expensive) way of learning what I would have otherwise learned months before had I paid attention to GD Carrington's 30 day rule when I first began DE shaving. There is no "grail" razor. (again, as long as you aren't using something that is broken/defective) You can learn to shave well with a Gillette Super Speed, Parker TTO, Schick Krona, Wieshi, Tradere, Pils, or Weber. Just read the 30 day rule carefully, and heed the advice contained therein. Once your foundation is solid, you can shave with nearly any razor you like and get good results. It's true. "Technique Trumps Tools" - GD Carrington "It ain't the tool, it's the operator" - swarden43
To me the Holy Grail is DFS on one pass...but I am a technique guy. DE shaving is technique driven. I am as big an advocate for 30 day rule as you will find. I hope you master your tools so that every shave is the best it can be!
No argument here with the whole 'Technigue over Tools' mantra. Make do with what ya' got and get the best you can from it! That being said, I did have one of the finest shaves in recent memory this morning. I was not using my favorite (best) soap nor brush, nor my favorite aftershave, and it was only the 3rd time using this particular razor. A grail shave if there ever was one…. So much for the concept of using my ideal and best set-up….
I also am a "STRONG" advocate of the 3T's! I'll give you my "current" daily set up just FYI. Safety razors: Weber DLC "solid bar" mated to a Weber "BullDog" handle and a Cadet "OC" head mated to a Weber "Classic" handle. This setup allows me to use two different safety razors daily. Blade: Vikings Sword in Weber DLC and Astra SP in Cadet OC Soap: Arko stick mashed into a small Ziploc storage bowl. I bowl lather in a SS bowl. Brush: bestshave #6 horse(?) hair. Pre shave lotion: Corn Huskers Lotion. Post shave lotion: Nivea sensitive post shave balm. After shave choice of the day: Aqua Velva Ice Blue & Sport, Mennen, Barbasol, Brute, Old Spice, Clubman (Original, VI Bay Rum, The Veg, Special Reserve), Proraso, M&L Florida Water, Gabel's & Superior 70 Bay Rum, Bootlegger Bay Rum, Pashana, Figaro, Arko) I begin my shave after my morning shower Kyle prep while making my lather, 3 tap water hot towels to soften beard, rinse off remaining soap with hot water, then apply CHL, lather, First pass is with the Cadet OC, follow up and finish passes are with the Weber DLC, After finishing shave I rinse first with hot water(to remove soap), then cold water(tighten/refresh facial skin), Apply Nivea post shave balm to damp face and allow to air dry, Choose & apply AS of the day(allow to air dry), Apply and then wipe off a bit of baby powder to absorb excess moisture and I'm done. These tools and methods, while subject to change, give me a consistent irritation, razor burn and nick free DFS+ and on occasion BBS. NOTE: I've used this method with HOT, COLD and LUKEWARM water and have achieved similar results using any water temp.
The setup I like most is this...it is also the one I am most familiar with. Proraso Green Omega 48 Pro (Boar) Utopia 3 piece Razor Gillette Silver Blue. I invested over two months to mastering it, and it pays off every time I shave.
My "grail" shave is one that is very comfortable, with no tugging or pulling, no nicks or cuts, and baby bottom smooth. Although that is my grail shave, chasing after the grail can be counterproductive. Time and time again wetshaving forum members have posted how their shaves are rough and irritating when trying to get a super smooth shave. The problem is that they were trying to force their grail shave, often pressing too hard on the razor or making way too many passes. The result is a bad shave. I think end of this video by the owner of the Gentlemen's Shop in Hungerford, England puts it best: It really is more important to get a comfortable shave than a close shave. Once a comfortable shaves have been achieved, then different razors, blades, soaps, etc. can be tried to get a closer shave. If a change does not work well, the original, comfortable shave provides a fallback. All of this ties in with what the other members have said: Technique is a very important thing. While technique is important, my take is that the tools are equally important to get a grail shave. So why should technique be mastered first? Because it is easier to get to a comfortable, very smooth shave from a comfortable, average shave than from an uncomfortable, very smooth shave. It is also a lot less trying. OK, so what is my very best setup? Razor: One of the following combinations Edwin Jagger DE89 + Silver Star or Rapira Super Stainless blade Gillette Slim (set to 5) + Gillette 7 O'clock Super Platinum blade Merkur 34C + Derby blade Soap/cream: Any one of the following Institut Karite soap Kell's Original soap L'Occitane Cade soap Prairie Creations Tallow and Lanolin soap Tabac soap Valobra Van Der Hagen Deluxe soap Art of Shaving cream Kiss My Face cream Aftershave: Krampert's Finest Acadian Spice bay rum Alumn block I got mine at Art of Shaving, but any one will do Brush: I use a Dovo 918052 pure badger brush at home and an Omega 50014 when travelling. In all honesty, I think there are many other brushes that would work just as well. If you want to emulate my or anyone else's grail shaves, keep in mind "to each his own". My recommendation is that once your technique is well developed, try different types of blades in your razor. Writing down your observations for each blade can make selecting the eventual cream of the crop easier.
One other thing about working on developing your technique. When you advance your technique and you use equipment that you are familiar with, (note hardware price / prestige is not the factor here) you will find that your mind and body can relax while you remain vigilant on the shave at hand. This may equate to "getting in the groove", "in the zone" or however you want to describe it. Then seeming from nowhere, you get a grail shave.
That is a very good point. It is like learning to drive - at first you have to think about every little thing you do, but eventually you just do all those things without explicitly thinking about them. I read somewhere that the part of the brain used to process repeated tasks changes over time, and the tasks then become autonomous.
Most of us probably fear finding the 'grail shave' - that would mean no more buying, trying, experimenting, discussing, asking, seeking, longing...for more/new/different gear... Why would one since perfection had already been achieved. Ugh..nasty thought
I see it a little different...I have had no Grail shave from an SE, injector, or anything other than my very inexpensive Utopia. I wanna shoot for it with every razor I acquire. I am working my way through razor world...slowly...but I am loving it! I really have had only a couple of bad shaves since starting, but @GDCarrington and his methods got in my head early. I think the emphasis on technique accounts for most of that. I am at the point now where a bad shave is DFS on three with no irritation. Some days are just a little off...no real blood other than a stray weeper or two in I don't know how long now...that could mean...time to acquire the techniques needed to get the Grail from another razor...My choices would be a 64 Slim Adjustable, and a couple of injectors...may have a 50's Ball end tech soon as well. I am thinking the Slim next...oh wait the injector...ahhhhhhh RAD..... Edit: 2 Grail shaves on a Weishi 9306 right at first...no idea how I made it happen at that point, but it caused me to chase BBS every shave...and that's a different mistake.
Thank you for all of the advice! I will definitely keep searching for my own favorite gear and honing my technique. I was mostly just curious what everyone else's favorites are. I am looking forward to the slow process of finding my favorites (but my wallet isn't).
