My shave soap again this week is from the second pre-production run of Grandad's Slick 'n Creamy Shave Soap for Sensitive Skin (formula SS#11P1), which will be used for client samples.
- Sensitive & thin skin, somewhat loose on neck
- Lots of angles and dips -- paired with a moderately tough beard
- Challenging to get a close, comfortable shave
- Cool-water rinse only, prior to lathering
- Grandad's shave soap lathered with a boar brush
- (After-shave treatments are specified in each day's notes)
- The Feather blade
- Per last Sunday's article, I've modified my overall shave-rating methodology to equally weight shave closeness with shave harshess (comprised of ratings for wounds and non-wound irritation). This is accomplished by doubling the rating for closeness, and arriving at an overall shave-rating-average number by dividing the sum of the individual ratings by four instead of three.
What I Learned this Week:
- The Feather blade's reputation is deserved: it's sharp and therefore can give a very close shave, but also can nip skin more than most blades.
- However, the sharpness is subtle. Shaving with this blade isn't a lot different than shaving with some of the Russian-made blades; its just perhaps a touch sharper, which, if mishandled, like any blade, can lead to greater irritation and blood shed.
- Also, I didn't notice the degradation of the shave quality as some others have reported in Internet postings. (This could be due to my moderate beard, or the obsessive care I take after each shave to rinse and pat dry the blade for best storage between shaves. Perhaps it's a combination of the two factors.)
- Of my two regular-use razors, my face probably prefers the Feather in my Merkur 33 razor, which, because of the 33's mild-shave character, helps offset the additional risk of the Feather blade's sharpness. The slightly positive blade exposure of my RM2003 is too aggressive for my skin when paired with the Feather blade.
- Even using the Feather in my mild-shaving 33 is overkill and requires more caution than I care to use. When I get careless as I often do, I open up small, otherwise invisible, healing wounds from previous careless errors. That, combined with the premium price on Feather blades, confirms my previous ratiocination that this is not the blade for me. (Either that, or I should increase my income and also invest in a styptic-pencil manufacturing company.) :-D
- In up-coming weeks, as I rotate through my blade inventory including using the remaining Feather blades, I will try them in some of my mildest razors (even more so than the 33) including the Wieshi 9306-F if it has been returned from being loaned out. I'm looking forward to the Weishi-Feather pairing to see the outcome
The Merkur 33 showing its safe, negative blade exposure, which is why I selected it for the maiden shave with the Feather blade. |
Next Week:
Next week brings a complete reversal of gear, using a Derby Extra blade in my RM2003 for starters. This razor-blade combination is intended to match the mild-reputation Derby blade with the positive exposure but small blade angle of the RM2003 for what I hope will be close, comfortable shaves.
This week's shave journal:
Sunday:Closeness details: Upper lip - 4.2; Cheeks - 4.4; Lower lip & chin - 4.3; Under jawline - 4.0; Neck - 4.0.
Rating this day's shave*: Closeness-4.18, Irritation-4.0, Wounds-4.5
Closeness details: Upper lip - 4.5; Cheeks - 4.7; Lower lip & chin - 4.5; Under jawline - 4.2; Neck - 4.0.
Rating this day's shave*: Closeness-4.38, Irritation-4.0, Wounds-3.0
Summary rating: 3.94**
Closeness details: Upper lip - 4.0; Cheeks - 4.4; Lower lip & chin - 4.3; Under jawline - 4.0; Neck - 4.5.
Rating this day's shave*: Closeness-4.24, Irritation-4.5, Wounds-3.0
Summary rating: 4.50** A good shave once again diminished by wounds from cockpit error.
Closeness details: Upper lip - 3.8; Cheeks - 4.0; Lower lip & chin - 4.6; Under jawline - 4.4; Neck - 4.0.
Rating this day's shave*: Closeness-4.16, Irritation-4.0, Wounds-2.0
Summary rating: 3.77** Today's lesson is use a milder razor with the Feather blade.
With likely unseen residual damage (today, that is; obvious yesterday!) from yesterday's shave, I used the milder-shaving 33 for today's shave (and for the remainder of the week as well). Three passes (WG, XG, AG) with touch ups under the jawline gave a nice shave, with expected weepers on neck due to yesterday's minor mishaps. Finished the shave with cool water followed by just tea-tree after-shave lotion (no styptic necessary).
Closeness details: Upper lip - 4.2; Cheeks - 4.8; Lower lip & chin - 4.4; Under jawline - 4.2; Neck - 4.4.
Rating this day's shave*: Closeness-4.40, Irritation-5.0, Wounds-4.0
Summary rating: 4.45**
Closeness details: Upper lip - 3.5; Cheeks - 4.5; Lower lip & chin - 4.0; Under jawline - 3.5; Neck - 3.5.
Rating this day's shave*: Closeness-3.80, Irritation-5, Wounds-3.5
Summary rating: 4.03**
Closeness details: Upper lip - 4.5; Cheeks - 4.7; Lower lip & chin - 4.3; Under jawline - 3.2; Neck - 4.0.
Rating this day's shave*: Closeness-4.14, Irritation-5.0, Wounds-4.9
Summary rating: 4.55** A very nice shave to finish the week. I would prefer it to be a bit closer, but which might be more easily achieved with a different blade-&-razor combination.
Closeness -- a separate evaluation is done for each of these five areas: a) upper lip, b) cheeks, c) chin, d) under jaw line, and e) neck; then these five are averaged together for a single closeness rating. The following are the scale criteria:
5 – Smooth when rubbed against grain & other directions
4 – Smooth across grain but not against grain
3 – Smooth with grain only
2 – Not smooth to touch, but appears adequately clean shaven
1 – Not smooth to touch, and stubble apparent
Irritation:
5 – No perceivable irritation
4 – Minor irritation just after the shave, disappears quickly with time or applied balm
3 – Minor irritation that lingers for more than an hour but less than six
2 – Irritation that is perceived throughout the day
1 – Visible razor burn
Wounds:
5 – Absence of any wounds
4 – Pinpoint weepers only
3 – A total of three or less nicks, small cuts, and larger-than-pinpoint weepers
2 – A total of four to six nicks, cuts, and larger-than-pinpoint weepers
1 – Worse than 2, above (first aid, quick!)
Regarding use of tenths of rating points: For closeness or irritation, each additional tenth of a rating point represents about 10% of the shaving area in question. For wounds, it represents gradations within a rating. For example, if I have, say, six pinpoint weepers only, I might give a wound rating of 4. However, if I only have one wound, which is a pinpoint weeper, that would likely get a rating of 4.9.
**Regarding the single-number overall shave rating: To give equal weight to shave closeness and harshness, I now double the shave-closeness rating, then add the values for closeness, irritation, and wounds, and divide that sum by four.
Happy shaving (and question everything)!
No comments:
Post a Comment