Learning to shave with the Feather Artist Club

[NeilJ]

I think you're way further along than I was in much less time than it took me, so I wouldn't be demoralised at all! That said, you've definitely got to be in it for the long haul.

I certainly wouldn't say that Simon, I've thought to myself before that I seem to be getting the hang of this then a moment of cockiness leads to disaster.

I will say though in hindsight I was too ambitious going straight in with the Professional Blades. The Schick blades have been the biggest help in my progression to date. My last two shaves have been great, probably 80-85% BBS which is good enough for me as I shave every day. I am taking maybe a third more time than shaving with a DE although that is much quicker than it was at the start.

 

[The Gentleman]

Day 12 - Feather Artist Club SS with Schick Proline

A full shave today. First pass (WTG) is easy, but I would like it to be more efficient. Second pass (mostly ATG, some XTG) has it ups and downs. Moustache area and most of the cheeks works well, the chin is a bit tough to get really smooth and the neck is good on some parts and not so good on others. On some spots it's difficult to attack. I can't figure out how to hold the razor. End result is okay. More practice tomorrow.

 

[wintoid]

Day 53 - Feather Artist Club DX with Kai Protouch MG guarded

Three passes WTG/XTG/ATG. No drama. Very close and comfortable. I’m still improving, slowly. It’s getting more consistent and I am getting more confident.

 

[NeilJ]

Another decent shave tonight, nothing really to report although I picked up a couple of very small nicks that the alum sorted. Getting closer shaves than I do with my DE.

 

[wintoid]

Day 54 - Feather Artist Club SS with Kai Mild unguarded

I'm sort of nervous about relying too much on guarded blades. I don't know why. I could easily just decide that I'm only going to use guarded blades from now on, but for some reason it seems to me that I want to be able to use different blades, to have a selection. I decided to try for the mildest unguarded combination in my arsenal, which would probably be Kai Mild blades in the SS razor.

Three passes WTG/XTG/ATG. To paraphrase the Floyd, the inevitable pinpoint bloodspot on the side of my mouth, but otherwise no cuts. The blade feels way way sharper than the Kai guarded to me.

The downside of an unguarded blade is that I am less confident. You can't have it both ways I guess. I wasn't prepared to try my quasi-ATG strokes at the side of my mouth, given that I got a blood spot from the first WTG pass. I don't think I was as aggressive as I would generally have been with the guarded blade. As a result, the shave is actually significantly worse than the shaves I've been getting with the guarded blades.

Bank holiday weekend coming up! Time to be bold perhaps.

 

[The Gentleman]

Day 13 - Feather Artist Club SS with Schick Proline

No work today, so a full shave with the Artist Club. First pass, as usual, no problem. Second pass went well, but I'm slow. Overall result the best so far. I could actually go to work with this shave. The corners of my mouth is a bit difficult and it's still a problem to shave from right to left on my neck, but I'm getting there. The chin was best so far, but I believe it's going to cause me some problem for a long time.

 

[NeilJ]

The chin is the area I'm struggling with, especially the tip, everywhere else I'm quite happy with. To be honest I think I will just stick to WGT and XTG on my chin, it gets me as close enough for what I want. I'm really pleased with my moustache area, I can get it really close under the nose which I struggle with my DE. The Schick Proline's are excellent and give me confidence, that, as well as slightly wetter lathers have been a huge help but it is only practice and learning from my mistakes that will enable me to master this new skill in this wonderful hobby.

Will I eventually go down the proper straight razor route? I don't know. I love the look of them and would really love to try one and compare it to the AC but I have to say I'm very impressed with my Feather SS. The honing and stropping intrigues me and I have full admiration for those who have that skill set but I like the idea of just putting a super sharp blade in and away you go.

 

[UKRob]

The chin is the area I'm struggling with, especially the tip, everywhere else I'm quite happy with. To be honest I think I will just stick to WGT and XTG on my chin, it gets me as close enough for what I want. I'm really pleased with my moustache area, I can get it really close under the nose which I struggle with my DE. The Schick Proline's are excellent and give me confidence, that, as well as slightly wetter lathers have been a huge help but it is only practice and learning from my mistakes that will enable me to master this new skill in this wonderful hobby.

Will I eventually go down the proper straight razor route? I don't know. I love the look of them and would really love to try one and compare it to the AC but I have to say I'm very impressed with my Feather SS. The honing and stropping intrigues me and I have full admiration for those who have that skill set but I like the idea of just putting a super sharp blade in and away you go.

I guess it depends on direction of growth, but I find the chin area not too difficult if you use stretching and facial contortions. On the WTG stroke, I move my jaw down as far as possible initially and then stretch my neck upwards to shave below the jaw-line. For me, this creates sufficient overlap right on the chin to achieve a clean first pass. For ATG under the jaw line I stretch exactly the same - however, above the jaw I then shave from sides to centre as this gets me as close and comfortable as I need. I don’t attempt a full ATG on the point of my chin as it’s not a comfortable manoeuvre but I do manage this under my bottom lip.

 

[NeilJ]

Thanks Rob I probably should have clarified myself properly, it is the tip of the chin where I can't go ATG. I'm doing very similar to how you describe your method. Fortunately I don't really have dense beard growth on my actual chin so ATG isn't really a problem. I do AGT under my lower and above my upper lip my holding the razor either side of the blade and manoeuvring it along with some face contortions which works well.

 

[NeilJ]

I'm not sure how many shaves I've got out of the Schick Proline now, I think it's 4 but today's felt rough. I had an alright shave but a notch down from my last couple. I wasn't sure if perhaps my lather wasn't up to scratch or whether the blade is on its way out already, I would have expected to get around 10 shaves with it. When I was cleaning up my razor I noticed that the blade wasn't sitting flush and as I squeezed the head the heel of the blade dropped in by a mil or two so I'm hoping that this is more likely to be the cause. Note to self, I will have to be more observant in future.

 

[wintoid]

Day 55 - Feather Artist Club SS with Kai Mild unguarded

A very enjoyable shave with no bath running, so I could hear the razor. I kept the touch light, and it was very comfortable.

Three passes, WTG/XTG/ATG and a nice finish. The neck is actually very good, but evidently I missed two spots just on the outside of the moustache area, on each side. Not quite sure how that happened. Two quick strokes of an SE sorted that out. Otherwise, a great shave.

 

[UKRob]

I'm not sure how many shaves I've got out of the Schick Proline now, I think it's 4 but today's felt rough. I had an alright shave but a notch down from my last couple. I wasn't sure if perhaps my lather wasn't up to scratch or whether the blade is on its way out already, I would have expected to get around 10 shaves with it. When I was cleaning up my razor I noticed that the blade wasn't sitting flush and as I squeezed the head the heel of the blade dropped in by a mil or two so I'm hoping that this is more likely to be the cause. Note to self, I will have to be more observant in future.

I think almost certainly the roughness was caused but the blade not being seated properly. Proline are my favourite blades and I change them after seven or eight uses - they can go on but I just prefer the freshness of a new or nearly new blade. I found that Feather retained their sharpness longer than Proline but were harsher for the first few shaves. At the end of the day, all these blades cost just a few pence per shave so ditching them early is not an issue.

 

[NeilJ]

I think almost certainly the roughness was caused but the blade not being seated properly. Proline are my favourite blades and I change them after seven or eight uses - they can go on but I just prefer the freshness of a new or nearly new blade. I found that Feather retained their sharpness longer than Proline but were harsher for the first few shaves. At the end of the day, all these blades cost just a few pence per shave so ditching them early is not an issue.

Thanks Rob I think and hope you are right, it really did feel quite rough, might skip a shave today.

 

[The Gentleman]

Day 14 - Feather Artist Club SS with Schick Proline

Strang shave today. First time using Sebum soap and I made the worst lather ever. I didn't load enough soap and it totally dried out. Testing soaps is something that really interests me (I guess I've tried about 200 different soaps/soap bases) and I always take my time building a great lather. That's the most enjoyable part of the shave for me. This was, by far, the worst lather I've shaved with for the last 8 years. Anyway, the lather for the first pass was okay and the first pass went really well, with better efficincy on the cheeks. But, the rest of the shave was tough. I feel that my technique is improving for each day and the result is a bit better for every shave. With the (lack of) lather I gad today I couldn't push it more than I did, but the result was better than I thought it would be. Really pepped for tomorrow, with another soap

 

[Cheesepiece]

Schick P30 Proline ordered - one pack of 30. £8.40 @ Rakuten, shipping to be confirmed.
Feather Pro Super ordered - one pack of 20. £11 @ Modern Man, incl. Delivery.

Should keep me going a while once the blade in the Dubl Duck is done.
Looking forward to wielding the Kai Captain.