After shaving exclusively with SEs now for about 3-4 months I decided it was time to give those neglected DEs another chance. I was given my uncle's old Gillette Slim adjustable so I thought I'd give it a spin one day a while back. I was already comfortable with the Gem OCMM so I thought what the heck, let's open this baby wide and load her with a Feather. Well I proceeded to have my best DE shave yet and it was quite close to the results I get from the OCMM and even a bit smoother. Well fast forward a couple months and I pull out the Slim again on the same blade and get another excellent shave. So now I'm trying to determine if Feathers are just the blade for me, or if the Slim is the DE razor for me, or if it's the combination together that is great. Enter my other neglected DE razors; Merkur Classic (33C), Rivolia OC, and a Gillette Knack. I've loaded each up with a fresh Feather and I'm going to see what happens. I'll give it my best and let the shaving chips fall where they may. The Razors (L-R): Gillette Knack, Gillette Slim, Merkur 33C, Rivolia OC Blade Gap (L-R): Gillette Knack, Gillette Slim (@9) Blade Gap (L-R): Merkur 33C, Rivolia OC The Slim @9 seems to have the largest blade gap with the Merkur and Knack trailing behind. The Rivolia has me asking "What blade gap?". I am looking forward to seeing how these razors fair while loaded with a Feather as my previous attempts with blades from Merkur, Derby, & Wilkinson Sword were less than stellar with lots of tugging and pulling.
Shave #1: Merkur Classic (33C) & Rivolia OC I shaved the left side with the Merkur and the right side with the Rivolia. The Feather in these blades easily gave me the best shaves I've ever had from either razor. That being said, the shaves were still sub-par compared to either my OCMM or the Gillette Slim. The left side of my face and neck is noticeably smoother than the right. The left also incurred about 2x as many weepers as the right. There is also a slight sense of burn along my entire neck and jaw-line. To me it's quite obvious that I don't have the angle of these razors down yet. The angle for an SE is much easier to obtain and maintain, IMO, than a DE and my SE muscle memory did not help me today. This was by far the most blood I've seen from a shave in at least the last 3-4 months. Neither side of the face is near as smooth as the Slim can get it and I don't get many weepers from the Slim either. I'll use both razors again on opposite sides of the face tomorrow morning. I'll really have to focus on even less pressure even though I already have a light touch from using a OCMM regularly. The Feather blades seems to cut effortlessly and it's possible that I used more pressure due to the lack of feedback which has resulted in the burn; the Rivolia especially as this razor is quite light. The jaw-line and neck will be the proving ground but I do expect better shaves I get tuned into the proper angle for these razors.
You will continue to be amazed with the Slim... It still remains the "hidden gem" of the Gillette Family!
Well the Rivolia didn't make the cut. It's lack of performance really stood out when I didn't shave yesterday and the right side of my face was noticeably darker with stubble then the left side. I literally felt like Two-Face from Batman... Today I went with the Merkur Classic (33C) for the entire shave and I am quite pleased with the results. I would say that I achieved BBS on 85% of my face with the remaining 15% being DFS. Those DFS spots are my trouble areas below the jaw-line, under the chin, and on either side of the adam's apple. No weepers after the first pass and I was impressed with the amount of reduction this razor handled on a 2-day growth. 2nd pass resulted in 3 weepers (1 under chin, 1 @ adam's apple, 1 on left side of adam's apple). 3rd pass gave me an additional weeper under the jaw-line on the left. So a total of 4 weepers is much better than the 12+ I had from my last shave on Tuesday. I think I did much better today with my angles and really focused on less pressure. This not only resulted in less bloodshed, but also very little (almost zero) irritation. Overall a much improved effort and result from my previous use of this razor. The Feather being on it's 2nd day may very well be part of the improvement as I read regularly that the best shave from a Feather blade is the 2nd day (makes me wonder if hand stropping and corking a Feather would improve results on the 1st day). I used an alum block mainly to check on any irritation since I had so much last time and I was happy with the slight amount of sting that I noticed throughout. Didn't seem to have much more in any specific area and overall it really wasn't much sting. The Osage felt excellent while the Kiehl's smoothed, soothed, and moisturized! I haven't decided yet what my shave will be with tomorrow. Part of me wants to try the Knack which I've never used while another part of me wants to see how the Merkur and a day 3 Feather will leave my face feeling on back-to-back shaves. Tune in next time as the drama continues to unfold...
I have this great picture in my mind of your face with half stubble and half smooth. Way to go above and beyond for the sake of the experiment. I vote for the Mekur and Feather again. I am curious to see how the Merkur and the day three Feather perform for you. I am up to five or six days on my Feather (I can't remember exactly as I switch between DE's, SE's, and st8's) and it is still performing very well.
So I couldn't resist the temptation to find out how much a Feather changes from day 2 to day 3. I went with the Merkur Classic for the second day in a row & I was not disappointed. Yes, I could feel a difference with the blade immediately. It did not slice through the hairs like a hot knife through butter as it did on the first two shaves, but it still cut easy enough that I will be able to keep using it. Now I want to see how long before it's unusable. This day 3 Feather still easily outperforms fresh blades from Derby, Merkur, & Wilkinson Sword; at least for my face. Only 1 weeper today just to the left of my adam's apple. An easy 3-pass shave giving a nice DFS result. A little stubble left on the jawline when feeling ATG & a bit more on my lower neck. Pretty happy with these results & once I see how long a Feather can last for me I'm looking forward to trying some other blades.
Day 4 Feather & Merkur Classic (33C) What a nice & smooth shave this morning. I've found the angle for the Classic & I'm being rewarded with some easy & smooth shaves. The day 4 feather felt a little smoother than it did on day 3. I can definitely tell why people drop the Feather after 2 shaves but it's still better than many others I've tried even on day 4. Only 1 weeper today on the left side of my adam's apple & I was able to get better reduction on my jawline today with no blood. I'm getting a little anxious now with how the Feather is performing. Part of me wants to keep using it until it dies to see just how many great shaves I can get with it. The other part of me is really wanting to see how some other highly regarded blades compare. I may just have to alternate back & forth so I can do a little of both!
