aggressive razors for sensitive skin?

I've kind of stumbled into this when using my own razors.  when I use the general, which is very mild, I get a close shave, but I usually get irritation the next day and I've tried like 4 different AC blades in it now.  when I use my razorock hawk, which is definitely more aggressive, I still get a close shave with less irritation the following day.

am I crazy for thinking maybe a more aggressive razor might be the ticket for a comfortable shave for those of us with very problematic facial hair and skin?

I think someone else mentioned this on this forum in another thread but I cannot for the life of me remember who it was or in which thread this was discussed.

with all that in mind, what are some good, aggressive razors to try out?

Andrew, I have always found less irritation and a longer-lasting shave with an aggressive razor and a sharp blade-I use Feathers almost exclusively, SE or DE.

I think it has to do with the fact that you need to be mindful with these combinations, and are more likely to use a light touch. With the SEs, shorter strokes work better for me with NO going over areas during a pass. I can get away with that with a DE and a Feather, but not an AC Feather.

My favorite efficient/aggressive DEs are the Wolfman .74, Charcoal Level 3, and the old standby Mühle R 41.

For SEs, it's the Cobra followed by the King Cobra and then a tie between the ATT SE2 and the Asylum Rx.

If I had to choose, I'd get the Charcoal Level 3 when it's available and the Cobra, which is being re-released in June.

I've kind of stumbled into this when using my own razors.  when I use the general, which is very mild, I get a close shave, but I usually get irritation the next day and I've tried like 4 different AC blades in it now.  when I use my razorock hawk, which is definitely more aggressive, I still get a close shave with less irritation the following day.

am I crazy for thinking maybe a more aggressive razor might be the ticket for a comfortable shave for those of us with very problematic facial hair and skin?

I think someone else mentioned this on this forum in another thread but I cannot for the life of me remember who it was or in which thread this was discussed.

with all that in mind, what are some good, aggressive razors to try out?

Andrew, I have always found less irritation and a longer-lasting shave with an aggressive razor and a sharp blade-I use Feathers almost exclusively, SE or DE.

I think it has to do with the fact that you need to be mindful with these combinations, and are more likely to use a light touch. With the SEs, shorter strokes work better for me with NO going over areas during a pass. I can get away with that with a DE and a Feather, but not an AC Feather.

My favorite efficient/aggressive DEs are the Wolfman .74, Charcoal Level 3, and the old standby Mühle R 41.

For SEs, it's the Cobra followed by the King Cobra and then a tie between the ATT SE2 and the Asylum Rx.

If I had to choose, I'd get the Charcoal Level 3 when it's available and the Cobra, which is being re-released in June.

Michael's suggestions are spot on. If you want to keep your costs down, a couple of other suggestions are the Ikon Tech and FaTip piccolo. For blades, I would add Astra SPs, Polsilver SIs and Gillette Silver Blues.

I've kind of stumbled into this when using my own razors. when I use the general, which is very mild, I get a close shave, but I usually get irritation the next day and I've tried like 4 different AC blades in it now. when I use my razorock hawk, which is definitely more aggressive, I still get a close shave with less irritation the following day.

am I crazy for thinking maybe a more aggressive razor might be the ticket for a comfortable shave for those of us with very problematic facial hair and skin?

I think someone else mentioned this on this forum in another thread but I cannot for the life of me remember who it was or in which thread this was discussed.

with all that in mind, what are some good, aggressive razors to try out?

Andrew, perhaps this is the thread you were looking for...

https://damnfineshave.com/thread-the-cas...-beginners

I've kind of stumbled into this when using my own razors.  when I use the general, which is very mild, I get a close shave, but I usually get irritation the next day and I've tried like 4 different AC blades in it now.  when I use my razorock hawk, which is definitely more aggressive, I still get a close shave with less irritation the following day.

am I crazy for thinking maybe a more aggressive razor might be the ticket for a comfortable shave for those of us with very problematic facial hair and skin?

I think someone else mentioned this on this forum in another thread but I cannot for the life of me remember who it was or in which thread this was discussed.

with all that in mind, what are some good, aggressive razors to try out?

Andrew, perhaps this is the thread you were looking for...

https://damnfineshave.com/thread-the-cas...-beginners

yes, that's the one. thanks!

i have very sensitive skin, a mixed bag of whiskers; some medium thickness grey, some jet black and thick and some blondish red fine whiskers... and that's just my face, i also shave my head. also, i have nerve damage on part of my lower right cheek and neck from surgery (lymph nodes and partial glissectomy). on the daily i am completely happy with a one pass shave. i go slow and try to get everything but i don't go for a second or third pass; too painful. i've got or have shaved with an example of almost every kind of safety razor.

i've been at this for a only a few years now (RAD is REALLLL) but i have gotten over the "go with the mildest razor for a comfortable shave" assumption.. that being said i still have to be very careful because of my stupid face and skin.

lather matters; tobs is really the best for me and a synthetic brush has the best balance of stiffness and softness. i occasionally do a pre shave oil but maybe once or twice a month. i do occasionally use a canned shave gel; aveeno or a generic of it.

for comfort *and* aggresiveness i would say the rx with a pro guard is above second place (the head design also makes it easier to trim around the base of my ears) but some other contenders are a oneblade with a modified gem, fatboy with a polsilver or gsb, ikon s3s or a rocnel adjustable with just about any blade.

hope this helps!

Same experience here. Pretty much any time I try to go back to a mild razor, I end up with at least some level of irritation. I've always had better results with the aggressive razors.

Daily shaver. I use my B&R Adjustable as my aggressive razor. Then 2-3 days with milder (Seygus, Charcoal Goods level 1, Guerrilla ).

An aggressive or heavy razor causes a person to "think while shaving". Milder or light razors seem to require less thought and thus not perfect technique. The B&R will not be my daily driver, but gives me the best shaves with less touchup.

I almost quit DE because of how bad I thought the magical entry recommended DE89 was. Too many passes to get any result. Sold that and moved to a cobra classic and finally began to see the light. Less stokes with greater efficiency is the ticket for me. 2 passes and done. There's only so much my face can take.

There are a number of schools of thoughts but they boil down to two primary approaches:

Aggressive razor mild or very sharp blade
Mild razor paired with a sharp blade.

The only way to find out what works best for you is trial and error. And if a razor does not work today, set it aside and try something else. Come back to the in a month or two it may be your go to razor.

I have soft skin and a coarse beard. An uncomfortable combination.

The key to a great shave for me is proper prep. I make sure that I use the absolute minimum of water because the more water I use the more my skin absorbs the water and the easier it is for me to get razor burn. For the longest time I used Proraso pre-post to really good effect.

For what it's worth, I have had good experience with aggressive razors. I've not tried a mild razor with a Feather for example, but I may well do in the future. For the longest time I pretty much only used a Fatboy at 7 or a Merkur slant. I found the slant could pretty much take any blade, I was not happy with the Fatboy with either a Feather or a Derby, but pretty much anything else worked fine.

gents, I'm looking at possibly picking up an R41 to try as I've read that it's about the top of the mark when it comes to aggressive shavers... maggard's has the 2013 head only for $25.95: http://www.maggardrazors.com/product/muh...head-only/

I think I've read there were 2 versions made, 2011 & 2013. which is the preferred version?

if anyone wants to lend me their R41 for a few weeks, I wouldn't say no!