Coming back to Wet Shaving has been a gas- learning more about what makes a great shave and learning about the ... Ahem the addiction of a close shave and RAD. Recently I acquired a beautiful Symmetry Open Comb Razor - since I never used this style of Razor I put in - what I thought would be a "mild" blade Astra AP. Well I got an extremely close shave - my face felt like sliced baloney! I stuck with the Astra Blade for 2 more shaves but it just was irritating - on the 4th day I switched to a Shark Blade and what a difference - the blade and razor worked to perfection. Today is Day 5 and I switched to my Maggard MR3 just to give my face a break - I had irritation from the Symmetry around the jaw line on both the left and right side - from the Astra blade. BTW - since I only used the blade once - I just moved the Shark blade from the Symmetry into the Maggard and shaved beautifully. Anyhoo I relate this to my title I am finding how much there is to learn about Razor and Blade Combos and even with a Great Razor - it's all in the blade!
If you are getting a bad shave with a new blade, be sure to visually inspect your blade exposure. I have run across situations when the blade is misaligned or the razor had not completely closed. So, sometimes it is not just the blade. Before you discount the blade, do that inspection.
I would tend to agree that certain blade and razor combos click extraordinarily well. However, I think the biggest thing is technique. When I started DE shaving, I discounted many blades based on horrible shaves, but have revisited them and can get really good shaves out of them. I use the same razor 90% of the time (I only have two). While I definitely have my favourite blades, I have found that as my technique has improved, so has my ability to use different blades. As always, YMMV. Happy shaving
Ironically the HTGM site includes a pack of Sharks with their Shaver Kit. However I got just the Razor and not the Kit.
It's all in the combo of razor and blade. To make things worse or better depending on how you look at it, everyone has different combo's.. While finding the correct combo for your face can be intimidating at first, it sure is ALOT of fun for those of us uhh dedicated, uhhh addicted, uhhh really in like with "traditional" shaving.. This is one reason why a large blade sample pack is important and you should keep all your blades even ones that don't particularly work with your current razor(I actually have a couple packs of Derby saved)..
@Richard Dunbar You might want to read this. It will provide a lot more information than just one variable. http://theshaveden.com/forums/threa...ild-sharp-or-smooth-a-general-overview.37813/