Second Double-Open-Comb Shave - Yes!

As the headline suggests, my second shave with the Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements (PAA)* double-open-comb razor (DOC) -- that is, their original-design version, which is now handsomely nickel plated -- was another good one. It was different, however, from yesterday's maiden trial.

This photo from PAA better represents the look of the DOC,
which is a handsome subtle-golden-hue nickel plating.

The differences were several. Today, instead of doing a common-three-pass process, I took advantage of the combed top cap, which tends to hold some lather and moisture and leave some behind during the forward shaving stroke. So in today's shave I reverted back to my usual one-lathering process. After doing a good pre-lathering prep, then lathering, I shaved using all slow, long buffing strokes in an anti-raking pattern. The DOC design optimizes these shaving techniques.

Over any given section of my beard I made several strokes in varying directions, the order of those directions differing according to the characteristics of each section of my beard.

Another difference from yesterday's shave was the shave character of the razor itself. In today's shave, the razor was a bit milder. Apparently, this particular design is responsive to the pressure of top cap to baseplate. Before I explain further, I must emphasize that I assemble a three-piece (or two-piece) razor inverted on my counter top, a process which I believe to generally be the best method for allowing the blade to self center, for safety, and for controlling the tension of the threads while minimizing the chances for thread damage. In yesterday's shave, when assembling the razor, I was very gentle on the threading of the top cap and handle, and used moderate pressure when pressing the top-cap-and-baseplate "sandwich" together while snugging up the handle. Today, I used more pressure on the "sandwich" while snugging up the handle. This "tighter" assembly of the razor made its shave character a bit more mild.

As a result, I did not feel the blade edge on skin quite as much as yesterday. However, I got another extremely skin-friendly and close shave. As a result of this second shave, the PAA DOC razor has (amazingly) jumped up on my preference list. I honestly think very highly of this particular design and its implementation.

That's it for today. Happy shaving!

*affiliate organization