Have you mapped how your beard grows? If not let your beard go for a couple of days if you can, and look closely at which ways the hairs point/grow. Follow how it grows, the whole WTG/XTG/ATG doesn't always work for everyone, you may need to adjust. I know I have to blade buff the bottom of my chin or I'll have a zig zap patch somewhere :happy102 Also pick one razor and blade and stick with it for a month straight, get used to one set-up and I bet like the rest of us you will be able get a DFS-BBS with just about anything that has an edge, broken glass included
Yes, I did map out my facial beard and was very careful to follow the pattern when shaving. I am at a loss, unless the Red Personna's are not sharp enough. Out of desperation today, I followed the usual prep and just used the Schick Quattro Titanium and got a very close, smooth shave.
Perhaps your expectations were to high out of the gate, just keep at it man and put down the cheese grater
Finally, success! Today I used St. Charles Shave shaving cream, a Merkur 23C razor and Gillette 7 O' Clock SS blade with superb results. With four passes, I finally got the smoothest shave ever. Thanks for the encouragement.
Congrats on the great shave Donato! Now they will only get better. :happy088 Aaron, thanks for encouraging him to keep going! :happy096
As it turns out, that is exactly what happened. I bought an EJ89L recently, primarily because of all the good things said about it in this thread. It is of excellent quality, with superb fit and finish. One fancy razor indeed! The EJ89L is more mild than my Merkur 34C, yet delivers closer and more comfortable shaves. Together with a Vidyut Super-Max Platinum blade and Em's Minty Menthol shaving soap, it makes for shaving nirvana. Thank you very much for the info in this thread. It has made my daily shaves just that much better.
I got my new DE89L in the post tonight; very nice indeed! As an acid test, I tried it with the same BIC blade that I tossed in the discard pile after only two terrible, bloody shaves in a Feather Portable earlier this week. It worked surprisingly well! I'll have to try a new Astra blade (also terrible in the Feather) and an Asco (excellent) to see how they fare - will the Astra be good, and the Asco too mild? And a Feather Hi-Stainless, of course.
Yeah, I know - but nothing I tried seemed to help with that BIC blade in the Feather Portable. There's too many variables to know for sure, but I now have the option to change the blade between razors during a shave to see if it's the blade or something else that's the problem. Anyway, I've only got the Crystal blade left to try in the Feather Portable; after that, I'll do a full cycle of blades with the DE89L and see what's what.
I got my EJ DE86 in September (same head, black handle) and have tried all of my blades in it. It is a superb shaver with any of my blades, but it especially shines with the sharper blades IMHO. I ventured into Feathers for the first time using my EJ, and now am hooked on 2 pass BBS shaves. Super Iridiums and 7-O'clocks shine here too. Thanks to my EJ DE86 I am rethinking the economics and shaving benefits of using the sharper, premium priced blades.
I got my EJ DE86 a couple of weeks ago and love it! I've only used it twice so far and both times with a Wilkinson Stainless blade. I have an order coming with some Feather Blades and some Crystals and I will give them a try. I'm thinking the Feathers will work great in the EJ DE86 going by how the Wilkies felt. I have to admit the EJ DE86 is a wonderfully smooth and comfortable razor that provides BBS shaves effortlessly!
Crystals worked very well in my EJ DE86, so well they are my "budget blade" choice now, as they are currently the one budget blade that work best in all my razors. Am till testing the Dorco 301. Also, back in the early fall there were some concerns aired about the black handle potentially being slippery. I read a suggestion here in the Den that the black handle will not be slippery if 2 things are done: first keep the little finger on the bottom end and 3 fingers on the handle. Second, simply rinse any soap off the handle (no wiping necessary). I concur with this advice and can honestly say I have never had a slip problem with this razor and love the black handle's heft, balance and feel.