Envoy/blade

[1066]

Hi Folks
Just after some guidance.
I have been shaving now for close on 5 months with a double edge razor, prior to that a cartridge razor.
The first DE was a Timor as advised by Brian over at Excutive Shaving and it worked fine as a beginners DE razor.
I wanted to move on so I purchased a Rex Envoy, I have had two shaves with the Envoy one with a voskhod blade and one with a Gillette Nacet, with both blades the first session was smooth and very close but second Shave three days later with the same blade was really painfully draggy almost like using a cartridge razor when it’s all clogged up, another description would be like trying to shave without any cream or soap. I also noticed that the beard was not being cut at all around the chin area. This happened on both blades on the second shave.
My routine is to shower and then apply Proraso preshave and then I will alternate between either Proraso cream or Simpson’s shave cream, I will spend around 3 minutes lathering my face with a brush and this works fine for first use of the blade but that second Use is a killer.
I am 57 years old so beard could be tough as wire I guess. So my own conclusion is I am blunting the blade after the first session, but I am not convinced this is what’s happening. Could it be counterfeit blades, all blades bought on flea bay.
Any ideas
Thank you in advance.
Steve L

 

[chazt]

It’s doubtful that the blades are counterfeit but anything is possible, I suppose.

I haven’t tried the blades you mentioned, however in my experience, most (modern, which is all I use) blades only give two to three good shaves tops. My whiskers are probably much like yours. Is your beard going gray?

 

[R181]

It might be that your angle is off a bit with the new razor. Not all DEs use the same angle as the heads can be slightly different. Try placing the top cap flat on your face with the handle parallel to the floor and then lower the handle till you just feel the blade on your face. That should be a good starting angle. I am 67 and I normally get 5 shaves out of a blade shaving every day.

Bob

 

[1066]

It’s doubtful that the blades are counterfeit but anything is possible, I suppose.

I haven’t tried the blades you mentioned, however in my experience, most (modern, which is all I use) blades only give two to three good shaves tops. My whiskers are probably much like yours. Is your beard going gray?

Hi Chazt
Thank you for your rely, yes my beard is going grey especially around my chin area.

 

[1066]

It might be that your angle is off a bit with the new razor. Not all DEs use the same angle as the heads can be slightly different. Try placing the top cap flat on your face with the handle parallel to the floor and then lower the handle till you just feel the blade on your face. That should be a good starting angle. I am 67 and I normally get 5 shaves out of a blade shaving every day.

Bob

Hi Bob
Thank you for getting back to me.
I don’t think it’s the angle due to the first shave with the blade being really smooth and a very close shave.
I will try a different make of blade and see how I go

 

[chazt]

Hi Bob
Thank you for getting back to me.
I don’t think it’s the angle due to the first shave with the blade being really smooth and a very close shave.
I will try a different make of blade and see how I go

And as they say, “Bingo!”

 

[1066]

And as they say, “Bingo!”

I doubt very much that it’s bingo, of course it stands to reason that eventually if you try enough blades you will eventually find a blade with more than one shave in it. Both initial blades were reputable blades why didn’t I get more than one comfortable shave from each blade?

 

[SeanC]

Understanding the direction your facial hair grows is another key variable to avoid irritation

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6gQY0zEMMg
along with a simple binary concept of 'No pressure'.

Voskhod blades will probably struggle with a tough / long beard as they are at the milder end of the scale, but Nacet are decidedly sharper and should work well based on my experience

 

[1066]

Understanding the direction your facial hair grows is another key variable to avoid irritation

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6gQY0zEMMg
along with a simple binary concept of 'No pressure'.

Voskhod blades will probably struggle with a tough / long beard as they are at the milder end of the scale, but Nacet are decidedly sharper and should work well based on my experience

Hi Sean
Thank you for your reply
I have noticed that my beard does grow at a downward 45 degree to the left and right of my face, during my next shave I will try shaving at this angle both with and against the grain, practically every demo by the experts show the first Pass in a downward motion and I doubt that a majority of them have beard growth in that direction, so suppose beginners could get a little confused.
I will also take your advise and go as lightly as possible.
You can’t buy experience

Thanks again
Steve.