- Messages
- 552
- Location
- Northampton, UK
Almost three months in to my return to DE shaving and I'm in a much better position than I was when I finally called it a day first time around. There are a number of reasons for this, I'm slightly older (maybe even a little wiser) but mostly, as I no longer have as much disposable income as I once had, and I suspect I'm not alone there, I have had to be very discerning about my purchases. In fact, my new shave den has almost exclusively been financed by selling off my old one. Things are also better this time around thanks to the innovations in synthetic brushes. So now I find myself for the very first time with a razor, brush and cream that actually work for me. The only stumbling block is blades.
I aim to shave at least every three days but in reality it can be sometimes be much longer than that. I have two very young children and I'm freelance so I often go without a shave due to lack of time and/or necessity. This can make improving my technique problematic, like golf if you're not doing it on a regular basis you can't expect to improve particularly quickly. The other thing is that it makes trying out blades a lengthly process, and there are SO many blades to try. As it's the one area (that's) so intensely personal, the only way to find the blades you like is to try them. All of them. Also, as my technique is still far from honed I sometimes wonder if it's me or the blade that is sub par on any given day. Fortunately, fidelity with my choice of razor, brush and cream limit that somewhat.
As I still have a selection of some blades from my first time, coupled with those I've been generously given by a couple of forum members (not to mention the ones, actually... three, I gained from the blade bazarr PIF) I have a few to be going on with but once again I feel I'm going to have to be as discerning as possible and limit myself to a list of ‘likely suspects'. I'm also going to have to keep a note of each blade as I find some blades have very little to differentiate between them. Some of the Russian blades look promising (the Rapiras, not the various Russian Gillettes) and I suppose it goes without saying that I'll have to try the Polsilver Super Iridiums just to cross them off the list (I have a dispenser with a couple of Gillette Swedes still left in it if anyone is interested in a small trade - Swedes are to date the only blade that I bought in bulk).
So, if I were to have a short list of say, seven blades... what would be the blades that you would urge me to try?
I aim to shave at least every three days but in reality it can be sometimes be much longer than that. I have two very young children and I'm freelance so I often go without a shave due to lack of time and/or necessity. This can make improving my technique problematic, like golf if you're not doing it on a regular basis you can't expect to improve particularly quickly. The other thing is that it makes trying out blades a lengthly process, and there are SO many blades to try. As it's the one area (that's) so intensely personal, the only way to find the blades you like is to try them. All of them. Also, as my technique is still far from honed I sometimes wonder if it's me or the blade that is sub par on any given day. Fortunately, fidelity with my choice of razor, brush and cream limit that somewhat.
As I still have a selection of some blades from my first time, coupled with those I've been generously given by a couple of forum members (not to mention the ones, actually... three, I gained from the blade bazarr PIF) I have a few to be going on with but once again I feel I'm going to have to be as discerning as possible and limit myself to a list of ‘likely suspects'. I'm also going to have to keep a note of each blade as I find some blades have very little to differentiate between them. Some of the Russian blades look promising (the Rapiras, not the various Russian Gillettes) and I suppose it goes without saying that I'll have to try the Polsilver Super Iridiums just to cross them off the list (I have a dispenser with a couple of Gillette Swedes still left in it if anyone is interested in a small trade - Swedes are to date the only blade that I bought in bulk).
So, if I were to have a short list of say, seven blades... what would be the blades that you would urge me to try?
so i'd be up for a trade if you want to give them a go.