I agree that would be interesting. I'm still a newbie and trying to figure out what works for me. Right now the Derby blades are in the lead.

I got back on the horse this evening with a gentle one-pass shave using some Arko and an Astra blade. Ahhhh, like a small helping of comfort food following a case of food-poisoning from an exotic street vendor. A few surviving whiskers are still loitering on my face, but they knows what's coming tomorrow. I remain convinced that I need to complete a "razor + blade" spreadsheet where I collect SOTD experiences and run some statistical tests on them to find most probable matches...and if that doesn't work, then "razor + blade + male + caucasian + married + new-to-wet-shaving + faulty blade angle" ought to narrow it down even further.

Love the thread, Steve.

Maybe I'm looking at the blade vs razor analysis too seriously, but ....

There's an important variable that you might want to consider for you regression analysis ... I'll call it coarseness/thickness of facial hair. (Someone may have a better descriptor.)

Here's a generality that I suspect most folks would agree to: Having coarse facial hair would likely limit blade choice to the relatively sharper blades. Having fairly fine hair would likely open up the world of blade choice. I'm not convinced that the razor is that significant of a factor here ... though I could be wrong ... as some of the more aggressive razors certainly can accommodate some relatively less sharp blades (I've seen it in my Merkur Slant).

Now, I've got relatively coarse facial hair. If the blade cuts without pulling and tugging in my razors ... then it's a viable option, but I'll still weed out my preferences using the comfort variable. I suspect comfort is entirely YMMV as long as the blade is sharp enough not to pull and tug. There may be patterns within these subsets though.

Unfortunately in an EJ DE89, I personally would probably never use a Derby. That's more a reflection of the coarseness of my beard and Derby's ability to tug and pull my beard into submission, not the razor. This would probably hold true for most razors except for the most aggressive ... maybe I'll try a Derby in my slant someday .

It's getting late ... I'm starting to ramble!

Good points, Mike—I like your rambling! You've caused me to think of it this way: there are certain food items with textures and hardness that don't demand the sharpest knives to process. There are other items that, because of the difficulty of cutting particular layers, require specialized equipment and/or a certain blade sharpness. In the case of shaving, you've got the same thing happening on a much finer scale (combined with cutting boards that are angled differently, rounded, etc.) and your options are certainly narrowed in accordance with your whisker hardness.

But by golly, there are patterns, even if they seem scattered on a macroscopic level in forum discussions.

This isn't likely an option in the near future, but theoretically you could break the whole wet-shaving field down into very specific categories. Motion capture could determine hand motions, velocity, how well the person maintains a proper cutting angle, direction, and so forth. Magnified analysis could assess a person's beard including direction of growth, whisker diameter and hardness, density, moisture, and so forth. Follow-up assessments could determine the condition of the skin following a shave, recovery time, etc. and you could even conduct psychological evaluations to determine a person's opinions of shaving, preferences, complaints, etc.

If you could do this, you could offer recommendations that would be quite accurate. Consider Netflix: they only look at a handful of variables in the movie selection process and have developed a relatively accurate recommendation engine for their users. Are there exceptions? Clearly. But the more variables you can measure and store, the more accurate your predictions can be. Weather reports aren't always on the money, but they're pretty good. I can imagine scenarios where a shaver could be offered a list of razors, blades, and other recommendations most likely to offer them success based on their own chosen criteria.

Steve's Custom-Tailored Shaves...

Hmm, now who's rambling?

Whew ... you're opening up quite the project!

Another food analogy? Hmmm ... wonder if that's a little window into your psyche? LOL.

Food just seems to relate to everything. Or everything just seems to relate to food. Or I just like food. Can we just stop talking and pass the corn on the cob already?!

No, no, but that's where Gillette and I are different! Rather than producing a single "magic razor" for everyone to use, I'm talking about creating a custom razor that matches the individual. You want a generic suit, you go to Dillard's. You want a great suit, you go to a tailor. You want a generic shave, you go to Wal-Mart. You want a great shave, you come to me! "You're gonna love the way you shave. I guarantee it."

I'm the world's first consulting detective. Of shaves.

Hmm, the more I think of it, the cooler it gets. I've bought running shoes after having my form analyzed on a treadmill. What if I ran the tests mentioned a few posts ago, including skin sensitivity, etc. and was able to offer up a custom-tailored shaving package with the equipment that most closely aligned with statistical success, satisfaction, and comfort?

It will be an intriguing day, though, when I meet up with the guy whose report suggests I sell him a pack of Dorco blades, a $5 synthetic brush, and a can of Edge gel. My face would turn grim, and I would look up from my clipboard and mutter, "I'm sorry, Mr. Jones, but I have bad news..."

Corn on the cob? How about ...



[edit: format]

You know, I watched much more of that than I should have. And yes, I began to feel like Augustus Gloop by the end. Mmmm, chocolate! Quit distracting me!