I am still confuse about aggressiveness of the razor. My first DE was MTO. I had difficulties using it. It was brutal. I couldn't get a good shave. The combination with Dorco blade was a horrible experience. Tugs, nicks and cuts. Told this story to a friend and he was kind enough to PIF me a 1920s OC vintage Gillette. It shaves beautifully. It just glides easily, cutting every whiskers on its path. I have the smoothest shave ever with the first try. So the term aggressive is confusing to me. For me, MTO is aggressive. It brutally maimed my face. While OC Gillette was very gentle and kind, shave everything without any efforts. That's why I think OC Gillette is mild. I really love how "mild" OC Gillette is and hated the "aggressiveness" of MTO. With that back story, what kind of modern razors should I get and try? I have Blackbird on mind but what else do you recommend?
I own no modern razor so take my advice with a large grain of salt but I would recommend an adjustable (futur perhaps?). That way you can dial in the perfect amount of "aggressiveness".
some thoughts ... i believe the micro touch one (mto) is based on the vintage gillette flair tip TTO. i'm not sure that i would call that aggressive, but i guess some might. what other blades did you try? remember, that the razor and blade come together to form a tool. a different combination form a different tool. for instance, a derby blade in my EJDE89 is a sweet combo for me. a derby in my slim or SS flair tip is another story entirely. now that you've found a razor that you like and that works, it'd be interesting to go through a blade sampler to find the best blades for you in that razor.
I tried using Astra with both MTO and 1920 OC Gillette. Still the OC was very kind and MTO was brutal.
This sounds like what the 30 day focus group helps to understand , hopefully fix. You take your Gillette, and your best blades, and only use them for a month. There are options, like try different blades, or soaps, but keep using the same razor to build skill.
I would have to say that at it's price point, nothing else competes. It wasn't available when the Blackbirds were, and they were a hot mess for quite some time before that. It's remarkable how they managed to retain the goodwill of the shaving community. Chalk one up for excellent customer service. My Blackbirds have pretty much quelled any desire to try any other modern razor. It's hard to top perfection.
I'm a firm believer in the vintage Gillette adjustables buy yourself a cheap one in poor condition and then send it out to have it replated it when you get it back you will have a nice brand new modern finished vintage adjustable razor. If you're not a collector re-plated Gillette Adjustable is a thing of beauty
I think "aggressiveness" is often confused with "efficiency'. I think of the term "efficient" as the razor's ability to quickly and comfortably shave without irritation or extra strokes. I find most TTO razors like the MTO to be less efficient making me to overwork the shave causing irritation, nicks...etc. The Old Type is commonly called "aggressive" when it's actually more efficient. I recently picked up a Merkur 39c Slant, a razor with the name 'Sledgehammer' because of its heft and supposed aggressiveness. I've found it to be incredibly smooth, comfortable and...efficient. So, IMHO your looking for a more efficient razor...i.e "aggressive" for better shaves. An adjustable gives you the best of all levels of efficiency.
Aggressiveness doesn't necessarily mean brutality. Aggressive to me equals efficiency. Efficiency to me equals a razor that can function as smoothly as a mild razor while removing twice the amount of whiskers with half the amount of strokes. I have found this in adjustables, RR Jaws OC and Muhle R41. However everyone's skin is different so as always a big YMMV.
I heard of the issues they had in the start, lucky me I purchased the final version of it which they used MIM moulding for production, and I can freely say the razor is a beauty and blades align perfect on all 3 plates every side. Price point considering fit and finish, good looks,adjustability, all SS is unbeatable in my opinion. Also I heard they did right by the people who helped them with the first razors and they are sending them new ones as replacement. Any body can make a mistake, it's what you do after that it counts. Props for their customer support
For your consideration a DE89. My 89 (and NEW SC) with a Barkey handle are my smoothest and most confortable shaver's in my den. They also give me a very close (3 pass) shave. I use a Voskhod with both.
It could be that your technique isn't too good yet. When I first started DE shaving I used a cheapo Utopia Long Handle and it did cut/nick me. But now I get an amazing 2 pass shave with the same cheapo Utopia Long Handle. So it wasn't the razor, it was my technique. I recommend you continue to practice. Find a comfortable cutting angle and work on keeping the angle throughout your shave. If you are set on getting a better razor, the Edwin Jagger DE89 or Kelvin are awesome choices !!!
I got one of those one's myself and it's a piece of crap that has it's head put on at an angle..maybe they were trying to make some kind of perverted slant razor..I don't know. The thing also screeches so badly when you you turn the tto knob I want to cover my ears. Your mto is probably defective and not shaving evenly and has such poor fit as to shave very roughly. Lets just say, even if greatly understated, that your old Gillette had better quality control...
A while back I was asking for advice in the thread Best safety razor for a noob? and I got some really good answers explaining the differences between aggressive and mild razors. On page three of this thread, @PLANofMAN posted an excellent picture that really helped explain things.
