bad shave - was it the soap or the blade?

i've been wet shaving daily for 5 years and love it. i rarely have a bad shave. this morning, i tried a blade and a soap that i've never used before. i ended up with a lousy shave. a numbers of little weepers and a lot of irritation.

the first time soap was dr harris windsor. it seemed to lather fine. the blade i've never tried before was the gillette 7 oclock black.

so my question is, is it more likely that the soap was drying and didn't provide enough cushion or was the blade either a rare bad one or not fit for the contours of my face.

after this shave, i'm hesitant to try either one again.

thoughts?

i've been wet shaving daily for 5 years and love it.  i rarely have a bad shave.  this morning, i tried a blade and a soap that i've never used before.  i ended up with a lousy shave.  a numbers of little weepers and a lot of irritation.

the first time soap was dr harris windsor.  it seemed to lather fine.  the blade i've never tried before was the gillette 7 oclock black.

so my question is, is it more likely that the soap was drying and didn't provide enough cushion or was the blade either a rare bad one or not fit for the contours of my face.

after this shave, i'm hesitant to try either one again.

thoughts?

Honestly, it could be any one of the things you mention.  I usually have decent luck with the Gillette 7 O'Clock Blacks, though I much prefer the Dark Blues.  Try palm stropping the blade (or a new Black, if you're reluctant to use the one from this morning's shave) and see if that doesn't help.

I have never used a D.R. Harris shaving soap so cannot comment on that.  Perhaps someone with experience with that brand and scent can chime in.

DR Harris Tallow soap is excellent. Both stick and soap. I own the entire line from them. Not 10/10 performance but 9/10 in my opinion.

In my hands DR Harris (Arlington) soap underperformed versus its reputation and wasn't protective.

Two variables need to be reduced to one. Shave again with a trusted blade and razor combo with the Harris and repeat with a trusted soap and razor with the G7.

I agree with Kav.

I try to only change one thing at a time when using new to me products.

Two variables need to be reduced to one. Shave again with a trusted blade and razor combo with the Harris and repeat with a trusted soap and razor with the G7.

+2

Two variables need to be reduced to one. Shave again with a trusted blade and razor combo with the Harris and repeat with a trusted soap and razor with the G7.

Totally agree. DR Harris is solid, you might try checking that first. It could be that the blade was a bad one. As I was trying new blades, I realized that I can tell from just a few strokes if the blade is good - no need to ruin a good shave if you can recognize it sooner.

Shark brand blades work well for me, though they aren't consistent. I can tell with a couple of strokes if it's a bad blade and throw it away and get another one. At the price they charge, it still works for me.

Simple answer, yes.

Complex answer, Schrödinger's cat.

I tried the Gillette 7 O'clock (black) for the first time yesterday. The first few strokes were just bad...reminded me of a Derby or Rockwell blade. About half way through the first pass, I pulled out a Schick injector and was getting a very smooth shave from it so I knew it wasn't the lather. I went ahead and used the 7 O'clock blade for the 2nd and 3rd pass. The shave still wasn't as smooth as I would like it to be but I ended up with one of the closest shaves I've ever had. And for as bad as the first pass was, I truly thought I would be suffering from razor burn the rest of the day...but there was none and my face felt great all day.

This morning I loaded up the 7 O'clock again with a little hesitation going in for the first pass. But today, it was nice smooth shave and, again, a very near BBS shave with only slight irritation (that was due to being aggressive on the clean-up). Based on my experience, Freddy 's advice should likely help.