(This post was last modified: 01-19-2020, 05:24 AM by Cutty Sharp.)
This is my third full week with my WR2 0.95 SB (my first WM) and I have developed some initial thoughts.
Quick backstory - I got into wet shaving in approximately 2011/2012 with the hopes of trying to get a more cost effective and comfortable shave. Cartridges would dull quickly and I would have to mash them into my face resulting in lots of tugging, weepers, and a lot of pain. I went down the usual beginner bunny trail of testing and trying a lot of different stuff. After about a year and a lot of horrible times tearing up my face trying new things, I settled on an extremely mild razor (Merkur open comb). I then proceeded to leave the forums and accepted my fate. I finally was able to get a halfway decent socially acceptable shave because if I tried to get anything closer, pain and/or bleeding would result. I have a very hard beard to shave because it grows at such a low angle (almost flat) against my face. This makes it very hard to go ATG because the blade can easily deflect down into the follicle causing weepers, tugging, and pain.
Just over a year ago, I returned to the forums hoping to find a solution to get a closer shave so I could look at least a little more presentable. With my mild razor, I always looked like I had a 5 o'clock shadow and I was tired of it. With some tremendous help reading threads and directly from a member of the forum helping me with technique and lending me a few razors. I settled on a Timeless 0.68 SS SB.
The Timeless was the most comfortable and most efficient razor I tried to that point. Of the 12 razors I used, across varying blade gaps, types (SB, OC, Slant, Ajustable), different blades, etc, I was finally getting an even closer shave than the Merkur OC with no expense of comfort. It was the first time in 6 years that I ever noticed a positive difference due to hardware.
Fast forward to 3 weeks ago, my first WM arrived. Since then, I've been playing with technique, blade angle, and blades. With Feathers and Gillette 7'o clock yellows, I'm getting an even closer shave than the timeless with absolutely no difference in comfort and that is just going once WTG and once XTG. It's amazingly efficient and comfortable AND it does so consistently without much effort. Because of that, I would sometimes add even a third pass of very very very lightly ATG and if I had a light touch, I could also sometimes get an even closer shave (although not BBS)
Finally today, I popped in a new feather - went WTG, XTG, and did an ATG on my right cheek and upper lip. This was my second time trying a feather in it - the first time was not so good. I changed my ATG technique to steep angle (riding the safety bar and rolling the razor until the the blade touched my face). The result was extremely close on my upper lip AND BBS on cheek with no weepers and no ingrowns. BBS lasted for 8.5 hours till I felt the smallest hint of growth. This was the second successful BBS in my 6/7 years of shaving and it felt so good. In all honesty, the WTG pass was so good, I'm not even sure the XTG was even necessary. I may even try just a 2 pass WTG/ATG next time!
I'm looking forward of trying this technique on other parts of my face (albeit they may be harder). I'm really also hoping to try 1.05 at some point to see if it helps with getting the upper lip to BBS a little easier.
For me, the combination of larger blade gap but low blade exposure just seems so perfect because it presents the blade at such a wonderful angle to my face. Pervious razors that I used had larger gaps but also more exposure putting the blade at an angle that was more perpendicular to my face - almost scraping skin off. The Timeless 0.68 was unique because it presents the blade at a more shallow angle due the the extreme bending of the blade around the base plate. This was great for WTG but posed problems ATG as the blade was more prone to slide under the hair and into my follicle. I don't know the other razors that have this higher gap to exposure ratio like the Wolfman but I absolutely love it. I'm thinking the 1.05 or maybe even a 1.15 would be an interesting thing to try next but it will be a long time till he gets toward that part of the waiting list.
While I can only speak to the peculiarities of my face, I really appreciate this thread and I hope this helps someone in their Wolfman journey.
