Hi all,

So, a while back, I posted a thread about my very sensitive skin that irritates very easily:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/shavi...tive-skin.html

Afterward, I set out on a honing experiment with Bart (honemeister in Belgium) :

http://straightrazorpalace.com/shavi...ment-bart.html

The hypothesis we were testing was if the hone (in particular honing on a coticule) was the key factor in my irritation.

Quick summary: First Bart sent me a Colbiri razor that he honed in a way he thought would work for me. It was fantastic! I still get great shaves with it, even though it's relatively dull now (I've only pasted stropped it to refresh). Being the scientist I am, I wanted to see if he could hone my razors the same way and get the same results, so I sent him my Dovo and Mack. Note all of these razors are 5/8" -- Colbiri and Dovo are German, I am not sure about the Mack, but it's a singing blade.

Cut to the chase: we could not reproduce the results I saw using the Colbiri with the Dovo or Mack. We even tried honing twice.

The question I am left with is why? These are all fairly run-of-the-mill razors, and none are particularly old (tho the Dovo may be the newest blade). Does anyone have experience with blade variability and skin sensitivity? We're stumped!

Note I have not yet honed the Colbiri myself on different equipment. If I do and still get good shaves, that would, in my mind, nail down my issue to blades not hones.

Thoughts?