is it possible the blade doesn't agree with your technique?

rather than saying a blade does not agree with you.. perhaps it's your technique that should be modified...

although we try different blades and some work for us while others don't.. i wonder if it's not our skin.. but our method.. if i were to shave with many different blades and find out that i constantly get irritation with a certain blade.. i wouldn't use that blade.. but then say i go to a barber and he performs a perfect bbs shave on me using the same blade.. perhaps it's the technique and not the skin?

am i making any sense?

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Originally Posted by vthomlinson

am i making any sense?

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Perfect sense Sir!

ok.. it seems as if i get good shaves with feather platinums as well as u.s. personnas.. and now that i'm testing derby blades.. my aftershave sure lets me know i'm not doing a good job.. i hate to blame the blade.. especially one that is known to be so forgiving.. i'm going to figure this out one way or another.

Victor,

Very interesting point :)

With any shave there is a mix of variables - prep, lather making, the razor, the applying of the razor to the face.

This is more so in the case of a safety razor shave, where the blade comes into the equation.

It seems to be, that with good quality straights, properly honed, they mostly seem to give a good shaves for most people.

This contrasts with DE safety blades, where a particular blade can be rated in a range as great as 'really great' to 'really crap' !

There a very few blades out there that I have marked as 'really crap' for me, but WRT the others, they might fall under the remit of your point :)

I will re-try some of them in the next few weeks.

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ

My opinion . . .

It's all about pressure. Our technique becomes ingrained into how we shave and it is difficult to adjust our pressure no matter how well we try and focus on it.

A super sharp blade requires us to apply little to no pressure, and a duller blade requires some pressure. Too much for the blade, or too little for the blade and we get a bad shave or irritation.

Of course if your shaving at the wrong angle you are doomed with all but the dullest DE blades.

For me the best set up is a dull blade with open exposure. This allows me to be as lazy as I want with technique. On the other hand, using a sharp Feather blade and decent exposure allows for a great shave, but I need to be very disciplined in my shave. Every slight turn of the blade increases the amount of pressure I am applying inadvertently.

It is important here to mention that I have what is called "pocketed skin" around my mouth so irritation is likely.

I have thought this too.. I have a few DEs that I use with my early Krona being my favorite currently. I had a blade in a newer Krona and I found the shave rough and irritating. I then put that blade in the early Krona and the shave the next day was nice and refreshing with no irritation. I have yet to find a blade that does not work for me in that particular DE handle so you may be right in assuming it is not so much the blade as it is either the DE/blade combination or the way we shave with certain setups.

I think there are many more variables with a straight than a DE. With a DE its angle and pressure but your not constantly changing the way you do with a straight. Depending on the brand of DE the way the blade is presented to your face will change things also. personally I get a good shave from just about any blade and I've tried many. Some I prefer for one reason or another. Much depends on if you have an easy beard or a hard one.

I am still a DE baby, but I did notice after replacing the Merkur blade in my 34c HD to a Derby, I had barely made one pass and I could already feel the irritation. Like Victor though, I was willing to lay the possibilty of the blame on my technique. I let the face have a days break before shaving today, with the straight again. Tomorrow will be another test for the Derby, paying very close attention to my technique.


Mick

If you are getting good shaves from the Feather and Personna blades, then I think the issue lies more with the Derby blade than your technique. Derby blades used to be highly regarded, but there have been a lot of complaints at the other forums in recent months concerning a big drop in quality. I used to only use Derby blades and found myself "corking" them to try and get a smooth shave out of them. In my opinion, if one needs to cork a blade to use it, then it's a bad blade.

As for your barber giving you a good shave with a Derby blade, is he using one of those "straight razors" that use half a DE blade? If so, the technique and angle he uses is completely different than when you shave yourself and will, of course, yield a much different result.

I have a DE Gllette gold ball tech/SE Treet with thick black handle and using Stainless steel blades and various blades with DE..I am starting to like Israeli Personna blades as the smoothest..if I were also to use my SE handle for a month or even 2 weeks..my face would adjust to it with no issues..my point is..it takes a few weeks for your face to adjust to any blade..but only the ones that don't tug or pull on the 1st use..IMOO

Pcdad

i had a first irritation free shave with the derby blade today.. i had to use absolutely no pressure and needed to do 2 passes.. after i master this derby situation i'll most likely go back to feathers.. the shaves are super simple with them and they seem to match my technique perfectly.. only one pass and i'm DFS.

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Originally Posted by vthomlinson

i had to use absolutely no pressure and needed to do 2 passes..

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I think the above statement should be the universal technique when using a DE (or a SR for that matter as well), which is what I do no matter what blade I'm using on a particular day. If that technique remains constant you are better suited to judge the performance of different blades. My point being that yes, blades do vary (as opposed to technique) and there are definitely the good, the bad and the ugly out there.

To counter this, instead of adjusting technique to match the level of blade sharpness it is better to stick with the multiple pass routine. You'll get a good shave this way no matter if using a Feather or a Derby.