I have been on and off here for the last few years and have finally decided to go all in and switch completely to safety razors for my face. I have to shave every day for work and don't have any say what so ever in that. I have been a head shaver (with a Trac II) for the last five or so years but always used an electric for my face. That worked fine with no problem except for my neck area. The electric just wouldn't cut it. I would end up doing a quick dry shave on the neck and never had any issues. Fast forward to the last month or so and I have been using the Trac II on my head and a triangle Tech on my neck and face. Works great on the face; however, the neck has irritation after every shave using the safety razor. Hoping after time, it will get better with better technique. Here is my question...I decided to give the Merkur HD a run this morning. It seemed much more aggressive than the old Techs. Is this just in my head, or are the HDs really more aggressive than the Techs? I decided to just go with one pass because I was afraid I was going to tear my face up, but I noticed when applying my alum there was only a slight burn on my lower neck. My shave looks presentable but I can feel noticeable stuble with my hand against the grain. I wonder if I should stay with the HD for a little while or go back to the Tech? The wonderful world of safety razors and endless choices.
I have three HDs - a 34C, a 34G, and a 34C with a red mallee burl wood handle. Love 'em!!! Yes, the HD is more aggressive than my Techs - two ball-end techs, a fat handle tech, and a travel tech. Of all my razors, I am more likely to get BBS with an HD/Astra SP combo than any other combo.
Make sure you begin with a WTG (with the grain) pass. Keep the pressure light and the angle consistent. Perfect this---and then move on to an ATG. Most gents' neck areas are sensitive. I meant to say move on to a XTG. ATG on the neck is the last pass when you have mastered your technique. Thanks to Clint for pointing out my error.
Primo, no issues as I know some that do more than one WTG pass and avoid even a XTG pass to reduce irritation. I think what both Primo an I are saying is that take a very easy approach with your neck until your technique is mastered. As Primo indicated many have irritation issues on the neck.
In my opinion, it is completely impossible to tell if a razor will be better for the neck just by taking the aggressiveness into account. There are so many other factors than just aggressiveness affecting a shave. If one got irritation, the solution is not always to get a milder razor, sometimes a more aggressive razor might be the right choice. Take for example the range of working angles. Some are having a very narrow range of working angles, other work with both steep and shallow angles. Some people have hairs laying flat, other hair standing up. I highly suspect this is a factor affecting what razor is optimal and what shave angle works best. Then two razors could be the same aggressive but one got more gap and the other one got more blade exposure and they will feel different. Then for some an aggressive razor works better because they are able to skip one pass and still get the same result. As the blade has rubbed the face one time less, the irritation might be less. For other this approach do not work. So if the slightly more aggressive 34C works better than Tech for you, then use the 34C! It simply might be a razor fitting you better.
The Gillettes are generally considered the smoothest razors available, so yes, the Merkur is a tad bit more aggressive. Though I think it still is a pretty mild razor - and one of my favourites! As stated before: don't use much pressure, let the weight of the razor do most of the work. And the more you use it, the better you'll become
