Astra SS: Too Harsh Still

I'm feeling pretty decent, my cold now at the stage where I'm coughing up chewy stuff, so I thought I was due for a luxurious shave. My wife recently cleaned the shower with something that smelled like lemon Pledge, so this morning I was primed for Arko and Duru. The test variable was supposed to be Humphreys, followed by pumpkin juice, jojoba, boo-boo juice, then the luxurious palm lather, picking up from the most successful shave in "Close To Perfect."

But what I thought was an Astra SP blade was actually an Astra SS, foiling my whole plan. "Why the hell am I getting weepers again?" I thought, having attributed it to bad prep the first time. The stubble today was "hairy-kari" soft, I had lather enough for five shaves in my brush, oil up the ying-yang. The only thing wrong was that blade, unable to differentiate between my skin and my hair.

Another way of describing my problem, though, might be that Ruby's range of effective cutting angles is too steep for that edge. I don't know if you realize this, but some straight razor users believe that DE shaving, as a whole, is fundamentally wrong that way. Same as how some of us look down upon cartridges.

http://www.knifecenter.com/knifecenter/sharpen/instrazor.html

The history given in that particular account ("Personal Observations") is most credible for the argument that marketing had already screwed up shaving, in both product quality and education, before the safety razor had even appeared.

I personally perceive a distinct mechanical advantage in the non-blade contact surfaces of my safety razors, and have no love for the drudgery of blade maintenance. But, neither do I wish to suffer weepers for the life of this awfully harsh blade.So I'll be breaking it in half for a couple shavette shaves. (Which is why I kept it in the first place.)


No comments:

Post a Comment