Thread: DE Shave irritation

Hi,

I recently decided to try a DE. Picked up a nice 1953 Gillette Super Speed 40's style body and a sample pack of DE blades. The first blade I dropped in was a Persona Platinum. I lathered with Williams and began to shave. General the shave went well it felt fine until I splashed on some clubman. Ouch! that stung. Then for the next 8 hours my face felt all pinchy like I was getting pricked by own beard.

Do you think it is the blade, Maybe try try another brand or New blade? This one only has 3 shaves on it.

Maybe it's the DE style, should I try a different DE? I also have a 1963 Gillette slim adjustable I have yet to try. I read to start with a fixed DE to get the technique down, so I was holding off on the adjustable.

Maybe its the guy holding the razor not doing it correctly? Any general advice would be great. Maybe an Alum block would help.

The odd thing is, I never get any shave irritation when I shave with my straights.

Mike

I seem to have minor issues with DE's as well. I haven't got any real answers except to suggest less pressure and try several other blade brands.


Mick

Hi,

I bought a sample packe that came with 5 different brands. I bought for that reason to test them. I heard on guy suggest that he gets really nice DE shave with surgical prep DE blades from Persona. Maybe they are sharper or designed to cut differently.

Experimentation I guess is it for now.

- Mike

I've settled on both Treets with Astra as a close second. Feathers were super sharp, but I think they were the cause of a few extra ingrowns...I seem to be having far fewer issues now that I've settled on the aforementioned blade choices. Previous blades I've tried are Merkur, Derby, and Personna Red. The order of favour is the same, with Feathers, Astra and Treets completing the list. I also need to work on a slight pressure issue I have when using a DE. I mostly use a Straight and have no issues there.


Mick

Hi,

Then I'll open my next sample. It cam with Derby Extra, Persona Platinum, Astra Super, Feather Hi Stainless, Crystal.

SO far I have only tried the Persona. I'll try the astra next see how that goes.

Thanks for sharing the blades you have tried.

- Mike

Your mileage with blades is going to vary. For example, Mick likes Merkur blades over Derby and I'm exactly the opposite. But, I do agree with Mick that Feathers are remarkably sharp. It's a lot like straight shaving -- no pressure.