Not So Different, After All

I didn't mention that, with the extra oil in yesterday's mix, I was able to execute a BBS shave in one pass. Nothing miraculous about that; just didn't need to re-lather. Extra strokes, heavy water pass -- kinda cheating, if you don't equate that with "pickups." With the oily mess I had worked into my pores, straight aftershave splash made perfect sense. Hey, you don't suppose... that's how men started using aftershave? So today I kept the lather simple with Erasmic, but applied an old favorite pair to the before and after: Shave Secret and Florida Water.

Even more remarkably normal than that, I dug up the old anchor-style razor. Everybody's still talking about them on Reddit, the old SMS machine; and if I was willing to give cartridges another chance, how could I not? But my gosh, I had forgotten how much blade hangs out of that thing! I had some doubts, though my notes were very specific, clearing it for sliding technique. Would the BBS be maintained?

Surprisingly, yes! Apparently, the Astra SS in this state of wear is very well suited to a steeper angle bias, and the blade seemed less prone to flopping over than it had been in Stella. That is, greater curvature, and solid 3-piece design, compensated the scary blade reveal. In newbie days, my neck would have been a disaster, and I did note the blade stabbing a follicle now and then. I think the wear on the edge saved me, there, but perhaps the flat hairs were being pried up a bit too forcefully. My skin looks just slightly roughed up, but I'll certainly give it another go tomorrow.

If the crooked piece of shit DE89 clone I got from Maggard Razors all those years ago, along with a free "shaving oil" sample that showed clear separation between an oil and aqueous phase, had performed like this, might I have turned out... differently? All that I've learned, and I'm still not completely untouched on the neck. I would reasonably guess that today's knockoffs are just as hazardous to today's newbs. The ones that couldn't shave safely with a cartridge. It's not that it can't be done, it's just too damn hard to learn, with a razor that was designed to do something else.