Advice on more aggressive razors

Tempus

Tempus

Active Member
DE noob here. Got my first safety razor a couple weeks ago but it’s not what I’m looking for.
I got a feather popular with their hi-stainless blades, since I’d never used a sr before and didn’t want to sink a lot of money into one before I knew whether I liked it

I’ve never found a cartridge razor that would give me a good enough shave without multiple passes against the grain (baby butt is my standard). The feather is better but I still need to go against the grain, sometimes for multiple passes, especially on my neck

All this seems to be telling me that I need a more aggressive razor. It looks like an adjustable would be the way to go. My suspicion is that the most aggressive setting would make for less irritation in one pass than 3-4 with the feather. Maybe a Rockwell 6s? That’s probably at the top of my budget, just to guide you in the right direction (around there or cheaper).Also planning on replacing my Edge with cremo when I get to the store today.

Y’all are the experts on this so what are your thoughts?
 
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chazt

chazt

shaver
As far as other razors to try, there are so many well regarded products available, be prepared for a massive number of suggestions. Your head will spin. Before buying another razor blade holder, I suggest you might want to experiment with a few other brands of blades in your existing Feather handle. As you’ve somewhat limited experience with safety razors it‘s in your best interest to limit the number of variables in your routine.

Are you stuck on the double edge format? If after some time you feel that DE blades may not be for you, perhaps look at an injector or Gem style bladed razor.

Good luck! Keep at it and let us know how it goes for you.
 
slapo

slapo

It's... alive!
If you need a whole lot of passes against the grain to get a close enough shave, it might not actually be the razor.
This should be achievable even with most cartridge razors.

TL;DR: I'd suggest sticking to what you have, improving your prep and sticking to 3 passes at most without chasing BBS - your shaves are going to improve with technique.

Chances are that:
- the blade's blunt or a dud,
- shave prep was insufficient (resulting in under-hydrated hair),
- if you're using a non-pivoting head razor with a neutral or positive exposure, then your angle was likely off and you need to work on it,
- if you want BBS, you'll almost certainly have to perform at least one pass against the grain,
- while you can get a decent shave with shaving foam or a gel, get a soap and a brush. Water in the lather is going to help hydrate your hair, if you work enough water in and leave it on for a bit. For some people, simply face lathering is enough to also hydrate their hair.

You'll want to double check your passes against the grain are actually against the grain,

Bear in mind that it's perfectly possible to get BBS from a mild razor.
Most mild razors have a narrow range of angles where the blade is at skin level, so you either nail it and shave hair, or miss it and, at best, skim hair tops.
With an aggressive razor, there's a wider range of angles where the blade can be at or under skin level, but if you fail, you're more likely to bleed for it, rather than just end up with a bit of leftover stubble.

Some people can't keep the angle with milder razors and compensate for it with either more passes or pressure against the skin in an effort to get the blade to be at skin level, and generally pay for it with irritation.

Neither a mild nor an aggressive razor requires pressure against the skin. If you're as careful about keeping the angle with a mild razor as you are with an aggressive one, you should be able to get the same result with both in the same number of passes.

If you really want an adjustable, you can get decent inexpensive ones from AliExpress (QShave, Weishi, Yaqi, Yintal sold by various stores on there) for about £20 or less or you could buy a vintage one off eBay.
dscosmetic sells a multi-plate razor for about £20 that should have you well covered for a few years.
 
R

R181

Grumpy old man
Just learn to shave with the same razor/blade combination till you are getting a decent but not perfect shave. At that point try a different blade for a while. Should that be no better than the first one, then try another till you hit a blade that is much better. You can't buy a better shave with willy nilly buying more blades, razors, soaps. It all just takes time.

Bob
 
Twelvefret

Twelvefret

Forum GOD!
Has anyone mentioned beard mapping or how we individually have hair that grows in different directions. Once you have this understanding, you will be shaving what appears to be against the grain, but actually with the grain. Also, there exists some irritation potential going against the grain as well as going over the same areas repeatedly trying to get the perfect shave.
 
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