"IRRITATION"

Comrades, we need to begin an exploration of the issue of irritation. Let's get some comments rocking on this post, all you lurker MFs!

Way back when, when I was a hell of a lot younger and dumber, I hated to shave. The excuse? It was "irritating", sometimes so bad that it took a couple of days just to heal. Dumb? Rick Perry dumb. I was one of the fools that believed I had "sensitive" skin. Turns out that the irritation that I and countless millions of other fools out there experienced was entirely self-inflicted! Preventable!

The first problem that you have to deal with is your tools. If your tools are shitty, what do you expect your shaves to be?

I'm of the mind that the chemical goo in a can is also responsible for 'sensitizing' the skin - what a pantload!

YOU CAN experience a kick-ass DAILY SHAVE with ZERO irritation - it really does just boil down to a few very controllable factors:

1) Learn to fucking drive a razor - I recommend spending some time with a 'scary' one that will MAKE you learn.

2) Use REAL soap and a brush. Build the lather on your face, not in a phaggy bowl!

3) It should go without saying, but your blades need to be SHARP. Figure out how many good shaves you get out of a given DE blade, and PITCH the fucker one shave before that number! Many decent DE blades cost but a nickel! If you become a vintage SE blade geek, keep your shit honed and stropped! STOP using dull blades on your face and see what a difference it makes.

TRAGEDY!!!

What a fucking BUMMER!!! My favorite vintage SE blade, the Sha-Ve-Zee that came inside my visually mint Damaskeene and destroyed its spring for all other blades (the Sha-Ve-Zee is larger than 'normal' SE blades) snapped when I loaded it into an Ever-Ready 1914 - the spring is way too strong, the fucker closes like a bear trap - WTF was I thinking?!? Before this tragedy occurred however, I enjoyed DOZENS of incredible faceturbation shaves from this blade. I still have 3 E-R blades (one pictured in the shovelhead) and I'm going to keep them well away from that bastard of a 1914 razor (shouldn't be hard, I like the 1924 a hell of a lot better anyway).

Mach 3 = bullshit

So I went down to Cali for New Year's and didn't want to check a bag so I didn't bring any blades - figured I could pick up a pack of DE blades at some drugstore. Problem was, we didn't stop any other place but TJs on the way to Bodega Bay.

There just happened to be a Mach-3 handle and one fresh cart in the bathroom drawer. I used this 'system', my very first experience with more than 2 blades, for 4 shaves. Did it work? Well, yes it did. The Cach-3 excels on the flats, for example it really did great on the upper lip. Jawline and below the lower lip it pretty much sucks ass, and does not perform as well as, for example a Super Speed, which is pretty silly, considering that a 'fancy' DE blade, like a Permasharp costs about $0.20