Last year, when my safety razor technique was a little bit less than fully reliable, I had a few occasions where rinsing my neck with cold water was stingingly painful. I had occasion to recall those moments this afternoon, in the Anger of Compassion Budget Shaves test lab. Today's experiment: a cheap shave with a slightly more aggressive razor than yesterday's Weishi.
Williams and the Kiss My Face mint. Yesterday's combo, and it's a pretty nice one, too. They mix together well as a lather, and the aromas mingle well, too. I recommend the procedure. Whipped the mixture into lather with an Omega brush from Proraso, a much larger (and slightly more expensive) brush than the Delong I used yesterday. This, by the way, is the brush formerly available from Target, before they discontinued Proraso products. Made it a lot easier to create a greater volume of lather. Again, no pre-shave (we're talking budget here), and I'm getting a little tired of that. I've really come to like using that Proraso pre-post shave cream.
Popped yesterday's Merkur blade into a 1953 Super Speed, and off I went.
Went pretty quickly, too. I did three passes this time, two North-South and one up against the grain. No touching up after the third pass -- I just let it go.
That was probably my biggest problem as a newbie wetshaver: letting it go at the end. Had to get every last little bit of all stubble. The problem with that, of course, is that running sharp steel up, down, and across one's neck is, erm, shall we say not inherently safe? It's pretty easy to learn to wield a safety razor without nicks or cuts, and that bit of learning doesn't take long, but avoiding irritation or razor burn or whatever you want to call it takes a bit more alertness. Or a lot. As in, all you have.
In other words, I started getting great, close shaves as soon as I began shaving this way -- but it was some time before I was consistently getting comfortable shaves.
So at the end of three passes I had a slight bit of burn. Not too much. Still, I should have known better: since I didn't take a break from shaving yesterday, I shouldn't have tempted the Fates today. But I did. Now, ice always feels good at the end of a shave, and today was no different. A splash of witch hazel (14% alcohol), after the ice, was painless. Acid test? Well, yesterday's was Aqua Velva; today's was Old Spice.
Yes, I tempted the Fates: a more aggressive razor, no pre-shave, three passes, and, most offensively, a seventh shave in as many days, followed by an alcohol-based aftershave.
And the tax -- this time -- wasn't harsh: the Old Spice was bracing, not painful. I still do not recommend tempting the Fates, nor do I plan to continue doing so.
How aggressive a razor can the cheap stuff budget shaving gear handle? The ultimate in aggression, of course, would be a straight razor, but mine aren't sharp enough for shaving. Nor am I (sharp enough to shave with a straight, that is). Or a slant, but I don't have one. So I could try the Feather Portable, the GEM Micromatic, or a couple of old Injectors, all of which offer more bite than the Weishi or my Super Speeds. Ultimately, I could put one of the scary-sharp Feather blades into the Feather Portable or the 1954 Super Speed. That (or the GEM) is about as aggressive an approach as I can put together here.
I think I'll do it -- but probably not tomorrow. Hello, seven shaving days in a row, followed by something unusually aggressive? I think not, not on my neck. I think I already know, too, what the results will be: consider that the Williams mug soap was introduced, after all, when the straight razor was the order of the day. I'm pretty sure that the budget wetshaving items I've recommended can handle any razor/blade combination, and produce an acceptably-comfortable shave.
How acceptable? Well, I'm willing to try. Just...probably not tomorrow.
Posted by Craig Ceely at July 29, 2007 07:19 PM