arup’s blog

I’ve been DE or double edged shaving for about three months now and getting the hang of the technique. The preparation of the skin, decent lather and short light strokes with the razor. I’ve been studying the direction of hair growth on my face and just generally taking my time pampering myself. I’ve tried a couple of blades namely the Merkur Platinum and Derby Extra. I find the Derby blades much smoother and sharper than the Merkur but I’m now wondering what else is out there.

From what I’ve read on the DE shaving forums such as badgerandblade you need to find blade that works best with your skin. A very personal choice that requires experimentation and research. So I’ve bought myself a blade sampler pack from connaught shaving comprising of 8 packs of blades. I chose some of them according to reviews and some at random. Obviously it’s not good to go by reviews because I’m doing my own but just to get a rough idea of what most people seem to like. But it was good to read that some people didn’t get on with the ones that most people seemed to like.

My testing method

As I don’t have a huge amount of experience with DE shaving what I’m going to do is to have 2 or 3 shaves with each blade and give it some sort of a rating. I’m aware that each blade in the pack is not equal as I discovered with the Derby Extra blades. I also can’t give it ratings under the many criteria as people seem to do on the forums as I don’t really appreciate some of those subtleties. What I’ll do then is to rate the blade on being sharp and smooth. So this process is going to take me roughly 8 weeks.

I’m not really fussed about the longevity of the blade as I’m interested in the quality of the shave first and foremost. Compared to multi blade replacements these are cheap and I don’t even shave every day. I’m also going to leave the Feather blades till last as they are supposed to be really good. In terms of an intuitive assessment they will be compared to the Derby Extra. If none of these blades can’t top them then I’ll stick with those until I find ones that are better on my face.

I have a scoring system in mind where the baseline is the Derby level which is also zero. And then plus or minus the Derby level in terms of smoothness and sharpness. My perceived ideas of what is sharp and what is smooth and not objective levels.

Not the same in every razor

Just as electric guitars need to be matched with a suitable amplifier so razor blades need to be matched with the right razor. From what I’ve read blades behave differently in different razors. I’ve only got one razor the Merkur HD so it will be the blade that behaves best in that razor. So I guess ultimately it will be a combination of blade, razor and skin.

Even though I have only the one razor I can see myself acquiring a few more in the not too distant future but not before the end of these tests. I’ve been looking at them on ebay but they seem to jump in price rather quickly. I’ve been looking at vintage Gillettes thinking that they will go for a song but collectors seem to have their eye on them.

What of other factors such as lather?

To keep these tests accurate I would need to keep all the other factors constant such as the lather, the amount of preparation, the temperature of the water and time of day of the shave. I guess I should do that in order to maintain a sense of accuracy and scientific precision but I probably won’t. Sometimes I’ll have a shower before the shave and sometimes I won’t. Sometimes I’ll use the shaving cream and sometimes the stick. But won’t that invalidate my results? It will reduce the accuracy but won’t invalidate the final results. I will still have a feel of which ones performed best. And they will also be tested under various conditions. This is a hobby after all and not an article for Which? magazine. But hey, perhaps I could sell it to them.

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Before I know it the the next millennium has rolled on and I’m happy to announce 14,000 miles on fixed gear. The last thousand miles was a bit of a slow one as I didn’t manage my hundred miles a week. I’ve already had the millennium meal at Wagamama in High Street Kensington. I’m also treating myself to some new bike parts. Ah, I do like my cycling.

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Condor UNO hubs laced 3-cross to Mavic Open Sport rims in 32 hole drilling using DT Swiss Champion plain gauge spokes. Length for front and rear was 295mm. Plain brass nipples and all in silver. An excellent budget wheelset and a good choice for anyone starting out on the fixed gear route.

I used a slight modification to my usual 3-cross pre-cross technique in this build which made the final wheel a bit stronger and more even. When it came to the point of developing what I call initial tension, I used the Park TM-1 spoke tensiometer to check that they were all even. I got them all to be just under the 10 mark on the scale. Even though this process was a little bit laborious checking each spoke individually, it proved to set me up pretty well and meant that later stages of the process much easier. Why go by feel when you have a measuring device?

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Goldtec hubs in 36 hole drilling laced onto Mavic Open Pro CD rims all in black. ACI Alpina double butted black spokes with DT Prolock nipples. Spoke length was 288mm for both front and rear wheels. No oil of course on the threads and my usual 3-cross pre-cross method of lacing.

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A couple of months ago I bought some of that King of Shaves gel as it was on special offer at Boots. I have been shaving with Gillette Mach III for years now in combination with King’s shaving oil and I have been fairly satisfied with it all except the price, especially as the blades don’t last that long. Perhaps four or five good shaves and then a couple of lesser ones. Using the gel was an improvement over the oil in terms of the shave itself but totally clogged the razor and got me thinking about alternatives.

Alternative ways to shave

I went to boots and for some reason I bought a pack of bic twin blade disposable razors with aloe strip. Probably the worst shave ever. I totally lacerated my face and wondered what had possessed me to make such a purchase. But I went back for more. And I got the same sore face. What was I to do: go back to the Mach III or seek an alternative? Electric perhaps?

I’m a member of the forum called London Fixed Gear and Single Speed. Nothing to do with shaving as you can gather but nonetheless a place I could ask such a question in their Misc and Meaningless category just to see what others thought. My question was all about electric vs wet shaving and what people preferred. Most said that they didn’t really enjoy shaving but had to do it for work. But one or two spoke about double edged razors, the traditional variety and badger hair brushes. They mentioned a few brands and also the pleasure of shaving. No razor burn either. Intiguing I thought and decided to research it further.

An underground movement of traditional shaving

For the next few days I browsed a website called badgerandblade.com. It’s got a ton of information about wet shaving including tips for beginners and product reviews by the forum members. I spent ages reading many articles and posts. I found a link to videos on YouTube by one of the members with guides on double edged shaving especially about shaving technique. It apparently takes time to learn good technique but is well worth the effort.

A new hobby

A new hobby I thought, why the hell not, another one to add to my collection. But this seemed more like pampering rather than something that I needed to develop as such. I had a few vouchers for John Lewis that I had left over from a christmas present. I got myself a badger hair brush made by Kent Brushes and shaving soap. I bought a Merkur HD razor from an online store which came with Merkur blades and I got myself some nice aftershave balm from Boots. All set for my first double edged shave.

The brush is about getting a decent lather and helping to lift the facial hairs. The lather is to help the razor glide and keep the beard or stubble moist. And then the HD or Heavy Duty razor should cut with very light strokes, almost no pressure at all. You have to get to know the direction of your hair growth and start by learning the technique. Only with the grain as you are starting out.

On the road to a closer shave

My first shave was a bit of a disappointment but after the fourth shave and repeated viewings of the aforementioned YouTube videos on shaving I was starting to the get the hang of it. I was actually enjoying it and the level of razor burn was going down. I was looking forward to shaving as a fun thing to do rather than something that I needed to do like cleaning my teeth.

Two months later on down the line I have a system of shaving that seems to work well for me and I’m experimenting with different blades as it’s supposed to be a very personal choice. I have also tried a few different creams and soaps. It still takes about half an hour to shave but when you’re having this much fun you don’t really look at the clock.

My shaving technique

My technique is to use water as hot as I can handle. Wash my face with soap to clean out the natural oils to let the water in. Keep wetting it to soften the hairs. Apparently this takes a minimum of four minutes. Meanwhile the shaving brush is soaking in hot water. I then shake the brush almost dry and make lather with Palmolive shaving cream. I put the shaving bowl on top of another bowl of almost boiling water to keep the lather warm. Then I soak the face again and lather it up.

After allowing the lather to take effect for a few minutes I shave as gently as possible using downstrokes only going with the grain. That means other angles too. More lather and then it’s across the grain. Holding the razor at the very tip so that the weight of the razor can be used effectively. Next more lather and shaving across the grain. Finally touching up. Feeling the face to reveal areas that need a bit more work. A small blob of lather and using special techniques such as blade buffing and j-hooking. Then rinsing off with cold water.

What I like about it all

It’s a real taste of luxury. While women go off and have their nails done or go to spas men don’t generally have these pampering sessions. But the chore of shaving suddenly turns into a world of high end gear and we reclaim the bathroom. Not only is the shave itself far superior than the multi-bladed variety but learning and developing a technique is an extremely enjoyable past time. There is also a sense of simplicity as there is only one blade. No more razor burn and no more clogging the blade. Much cheaper than Mach III’s too. If you haven’t looked into this then I would highly recommend it.

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