Old guy here, with decades devoted to Mach 3 against tough, dense gray beard. What follows defies simplicity, a good bit of advice for beginners. Criticism and warning are warranted. It's just the way I role. 3D chess. First few trials in return to safety razors were with Qshave 700 Adjustable [and supplied Qshave (?) blades] to recall techniques and maneuvers of adolescent days with Gillette adjustable and Schick Injector model L. That went pretty well, ending at a 4 setting with DFSs and confidence that I remembered how to shave with a non-cartridge razor. Why move along to other razors? The Q's head, for me, is bulky and difficult to navigate around nose,lip and chin areas. (At, this point, don't want to use two razors per shave. For the money, very happy with the Q. along with its copious supplied add-ins. Bang-for-the-buck I'd say, especially for we beginners. Muscle memory in tow, I switched to a "safety razor with training wheels," the OneBlade Core (with supplied Feathers). Felt a bit like cheating, going from the Q "down" to a foolproof pivoting, mild razor. Judged solely by the shaves to date, without regard to advancing my techniques, I get a consistently DFS shave with two passes (buffing during the ATG phase), the only weepers being blemishes. The one disappointment, though, is the longevity of the Feather blades, two shaves and gone. Since the blades are proprietary to the OneBlade razors, I am denied the joy of experimenting with different blades. Is it my beard or the Feathers themselves that dull the longevity of this blade? I'll never know with the Core. On deck (but not just now) is a Supply V2 with all 3 plates. Blade experimentation of the limited injector SE brands will accompany that phase. At the end of testing the Supply, I'll know whether or not to abandon SE for DE. Now, onto the next phase in my relearning progress, a mild DE razor which folks-on-forums recommend highly, the Razorock Gamechanger. I have both base plates and can therefore start with the .68 and then step up to the .84. Forum experiences tell me to try the .68 with an "aggressive" blade (wow, that is a challenge to identify), then advance to the .84 with a "milder" blade (ditto challenge). Have two sampler packs of DE blades to make this a much longer learning phase than the OneBlade Core. Waiting in the wings? The Winning Razor (Yates). Whilst having great fun reading/learning and experimenting with hardware, I have also accumulated some habits that are serving me well: 1.) slow down, 2.) short strokes, 3.) find the angle, stay with it, 4.) treat each curve, crease, and facial divot as it's own challenge, 5.) take more time around the problem areas, lips, chin and nostril areas, and 6.) relaxed concentration, i.e. slow down. I sincerely hope that my limited experience, and this tome, might be of some help to beginning safety razor shavers as well as those who are contemplating a try of the OneBlade Core. Thank You!
We usually refer to razors as being mild or aggressive, and blades as sharp or smooth. Choosing an "aggressive" (aka "sharp") DE blade is easy. Feather, Kai, Gillette Silver Blues, Personna med prep, or Wizamet Iridiums will all (generally, YMMV) fall into the 'sharp' end of the spectrum. 'Mild' blades are anything other than the above list of blades with a few exceptions. Also, GEM single edge blades can be modified to work in the one blade razor. They last longer and are cheaper.
Ive have the oneblade genesis and core and only use gem blades. You just need to wiggle off the spine with a pair if pliers. Its seconds to do.
I have a Oneblade core and use de-splined Gem blades, I just stack 2 Gem blades , one slightly shorter as a shim and just stack and load. This system works for any One blade and works excellent in my Core. I can make the core slightly aggressive using this stack method(optional). I got this hack recently from Subie on Youtube(shaving with Subie) I get 10> great shaves with one Gem blade($.02-.o4 ) per shave.
