best blades for the various types of facial hair

What kwsher and I are describing in this thread — the importance of blade rigidity (and sharpness) — has been a revelation for me the past few months. I couldn't figure why I wasn't as happy with certain razors or blades that so many wet shavers enjoy, and now I do believe it's because my coarse whiskers create more trouble for a lot of this gear.

One example is adjustable razors (or something like the ATT H2, which is aggressive due to blade gap, similar to dialing up an adjustable). Turning up a Slim or Progress doesn't really resolve any issues for me; it may well shave a more efficiently at that point, but with the cost of more potential irritation and the need for that much more caution. It's not really a pleasant shave. I get the same efficiency (or better) with my NEW SC or Wolfman, or even my E-2 injector, so long as my blade is nice and sharp, and in those cases the "danger factor" is much lower, so the whole shave is more comfortable.

In other words, though those adjustables are advertised as able to dial up to accommodate tough beards, that's likely changing the wrong factor. I'm finding that blade sharpness and blade rigidity are the biggest elements for tackling coarse whiskers.

I have coarse whiskers(read copper wire) and have had the best luck with sharp injector blades recently.  My whiskers don't seem to yield to any kind of prep.

do you plan on picking up the get supply injector when it's released?

http://www.getsupply.com/

I've had the "Custom" on pre-order since the beginning of last month. Now, I wait until April to see what I've gotten myself into. It seems a little strange to me, because except for a few modern razors, all of my razors are vintage. I haven't taken inventory lately, but I'm guessing that's just north of fifty razors.

So far I'm going into my second year of DE shaving. I've got sensitive skin and a thick beard, but I've found a couple good combos:

• Personna Med Preps and Gillette Super Platinum's in my Ikon 102 slant work great for me.
• Astra's and (shudder) Derby's work amazingly in my New LC. * This has become my favorite of all my razors and has had the least irritation.
• My Red Tip works best with the Gillette SP's and Astra's so far
• The Fatboy had been great with the Personna's of any type.
• Feathers always seem to irritate my skin no matter what razor I use them in, but I've yet to try out Kai blades and I need to.

Basically I'm all over the map with what works for me. It's been fun, although sometimes painful, figuring it all out.

I haven't used an SE, but since I got the New, I haven't really looked into any other razors.

I haven't used an SE, but since I got the New, I haven't really looked into any other razors.

The NEW is such a great razor design, I'm not surprised your eyes aren't wandering now. My much-loved Wolfman shares a very similar head geometry, and similar smooth, no-chatter shave. Both are great for me. I'd be more into my ATT slant if it weren't for the high head which makes getting under the nose tricky.

I feel like Feather blades are indeed unforgiving of lapses elsewhere: in other words, if you don't have your lather nice and slick, and your angle and pressure just right, the Feather will let you know, whereas other blades are coated or a little less sharp in order to be more forgiving. Another factor is that Feather DEs are thinner than other DEs, so they seem best in a razor which adds good rigidity (the NEW, Wolfman, or slant, to name some in my experience). But with a good slick lather, good angle, and confident, light touch, I think you'll find Feathers to be very smooth and effective without irritation. At that point, for me at least, their sharpness becomes a virtue as they just race through my beard.

I have coarse whiskers(read copper wire) and have had the best luck with sharp injector blades recently.  My whiskers don't seem to yield to any kind of prep.

do you plan on picking up the get supply injector when it's released?

http://www.getsupply.com/

I've had the "Custom" on pre-order since the beginning of last month.  Now, I wait until April to see what I've gotten myself into.  It seems a little strange to me, because  except for a few  modern razors, all of my razors are vintage.  I haven't taken inventory lately, but I'm guessing that's just north of fifty razors.

nice. I'm going to probably get in on the custom preorder here soon as well to get the $20 discount. It's exciting to see that more artisans are making modern SE razors. now if only one would make one that uses the GEM blades.......

I have coarse whiskers(read copper wire) and have had the best luck with sharp injector blades recently.  My whiskers don't seem to yield to any kind of prep.

do you plan on picking up the get supply injector when it's released?

http://www.getsupply.com/

I suffer from very course facial hair and sensitive skin. Have been rotating razors for a very long time to find the perfect solution. Have shaved with vintage red tips, various aristocrats and adjustables before moving on to modern razors...merkurs, Mergress and lately three piece ATT, Feather, Muhle etc. To date the ATT slant and M2 are my favourites. Have yet to try wolfman or the blackbird. For blades, the only ones that work for me are feathers, Gillette yellows and Astras. I swap blades after two shaves. What has really helped as well has been the use of a good Preshave oil.

have you tried an injector and/or any other SE razors?

Yeah...tried a vintage gem a few years ago...and have tried to like two different batches of the mongoose lately. I've now resigned myself to focusing on sticking with DEs that tend to hold the bade to maximize stiffness and reducing chatter and flex. Been getting great shaves with slants using really sharp blades like the Feather...sharpest I've found after testing every blade sampler I could get my hands on. The only problem with feathers is that they don't last beyond 2 shaves for me. I've also taken to really paying attention to my prep, pre-shave oil, good lather etc.

I have coarse whiskers(read copper wire) and have had the best luck with sharp injector blades recently.  My whiskers don't seem to yield to any kind of prep.

do you plan on picking up the get supply injector when it's released?

http://www.getsupply.com/

I suffer from very course facial hair and sensitive skin. Have been rotating razors for a very long time to find the perfect solution. Have shaved with vintage red tips, various aristocrats and adjustables before moving on to modern razors...merkurs, Mergress and lately three piece ATT, Feather, Muhle etc. To date the ATT slant and M2 are my favourites. Have yet to try wolfman or the blackbird. For blades, the only ones that work for me are feathers, Gillette yellows and Astras. I swap blades after two shaves. What has really helped as well has been the use of a good Preshave oil.

have you tried an injector and/or any other SE razors?

Yeah...tried a vintage gem a few years ago...and have tried to like two different batches of the mongoose lately. I've now resigned myself to focusing on sticking with DEs that tend to hold the bade to maximize stiffness and reducing chatter and flex. Been getting great shaves with slants using really sharp blades like the Feather...sharpest I've found after testing every blade sampler I could get my hands on. The only problem with feathers is that they don't last beyond 2 shaves for me. I've also taken to really paying attention to my prep, pre-shave oil, good lather etc.

a lot of people have that complaint about the feather blades..1 and done for a lot of people. I don't know if I've ever tried one myself.

My facial hair is a tad denser, and I'd dare to say also a tad harder than what yours looks like. In my case, Gillette's Sharp Edge and Feathers get the best results. Good results, though not as close a shave, with Astra SS and Gillette 7 O'Clock SS (green box).

I have tried most of the blades mentioned in here and I am now convinced that the personna med preps are the best blades I've tried in the nearly two years I've been DE shaving.

For the longest time, I thought that getting a more aggressive razor with a sharp blade was what I needed. I used the R41, merkur progress, gillette slim and new, and I was using the ATT H1 for most of my recent shaves. I've recently switched to exclusively using the ATT R1 with the personna med prep and I have been getting excellent shaves. I'm not sure what level of sharpness one would give the med preps, but I believe they go through an extra sterilization process to make them suitable for hospital use. Maybe this has an effect on the blades edge.

Beyond that, taking care of my skin with good face wash and moisturizer has helped a ton.

BeardFace I agree, the Med Preps are excellent. I honestly am not sure I notice a difference between them and the Personna lab blues, though, and I've seen any number of theories as to whether the two actually differ. In any event, both work very well for me, along with Feather DEs. Like you, I've recently realized that I do well with a sharp blade like these, yes, but also better with a less-aggressive razor. I think the need for "aggression" is over-valued in the wet shaving community; a well-designed razor can be mild (skin-friendly) while still very effective, especially with a good sharp blade.