I had my tenth shave yesterday with the Ming Shi DE blade that came with my Ming Shi 2000S (Merkur Futur look-alike) razor. I also use the 2000S razor for that shave. I got a close, comfortable shave.
Today I chose to use the Parker Variant razor and a sixth-shave Derby Extra blade. I also got a close shave, and the outcome was comfortable as well. But during the shave, the Derby was rough feeling.
Comparing the Derby to the Ming Shi blade, I actually prefer the Ming Shi for both comfort and longevity. (Ming Shi blades are available on eBay.)
I took two passes for both shaves -- but as you may know, my shaves are almost never the much bandied-about process of with grain, then across grain, then against grain. If I make two passes, which I often do, then the first pass will be vertical over most of my face and neck in the direction that is most against the grain. This means, for example, that on my cheeks and upper neck I shave upwards. On my lower neck I shave downwards. (On my lips and chin, my stroke direction varies according to the blade brand, how many shaves for which it's been used, the razor, and razor setting if adjustable.
For both shaves, yesterday and today, I used a razor setting of one for both first passes.
For my second of two passes, I will normally shave directly against the grain -- again excepting lips and chin, where I simply make the necessary strokes to optimize closeness. For the second passes on both days, I used a setting of two on the adjustable razors.
Today, I stopped there. On days when I'm feeling obsessive about the closeness of my shave, like yesterday, I'll make the necessary clean-up strokes to maximize smoothness.
An important note is that in these shaves, I don't believe that the choice of razor made much difference. Both of these razors are, on my skin, pretty damned smooth shavers.
Happy shaving!
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