Quote Originally Posted by jbcohen View Post
Perhaps if he looks on ebay he can find a lower cost razor which might help convince him a bit.
Uhm, looking on ebay for a straight razor?!? That would be the most expensive option with the lowest chance of getting good results!

I am not familiar with the feather de razors, i thought the feather takes single edge blades, which are quite sharp. Look up for a thread 'my shaving journal' from OLD_SCHOOL, he started with a feather. It may be a bit discouraging, but if you want to go that way I'm sure there is some good information there so that you can avoid some mistakes.

If your skin is sensitive you should pay extra attention to the shave-preparation. Yes you can find everything in NYC, but you should do some more research on what products work better for people with sensitive skin. I'm not one of them, but I know the l'occitane soap is very liked by one of my friends with sensitive skin. It's expensive compared to some others, but from my understanding your face is a whole lot more important to you than a $20 soap that will last you a year or more. Williams will probably not irritate your skin, but I don't think it provides very good cushioning and mostrurization.

And yeah, using a single edge on single pass over your face will reduce irritation. you must keep the pressure really low which is possible with these things, while the modern cartridge systems are quite the opposite - you sort of dig them into your face. They're made to be 'safe' and not cut your skin as you do so, but that still causes irritation.