Face Wash : Shower
Pre-Shave : Myrsol Emulsion
Brush : Shavemac Custom
Soap : Barrister & Mann "Latha"
Razor : Feather MR3 Neo Cartridge Razor [0]
After Shave : Fine Platinum
Turning Back the Clock...
I was trying over the weekend to remember what it's like to shave with a modern cartridge razor. I had this Feather put away in a drawer, and decided to give it a try. Given Feather's very high quality shave offerings of other kinds (Faux Shavette, AS-D2, Blades etc) I assumed that their offering in the cartridge department would be similarly superior. The cartridges feature a nifty little perforated roller rather than the lubricating strips offered by the opposition. The handle also offers pivoting and tilting, or it can be locked in a fixed position.
After creating a nice moist, cushioning lather it was time to get to work. The first stroke or 2 with the razor were a portent of things to come : while I could feel the little roller on my face, there was no blade feel at all, and as for audible feedback, forget it. There was still quite a bit of lather left on my face where I had just shaved, so I had to feel my face to see what was going on. Not much, I'm sorry to report - it was a lousy first pass as far as beard reduction was concerned. I continued with Pass 1, stopping very frequently to unclog the razor. I had forgotten that less endearing attribute of cartridge razors - their poor ability at clearing whiskers and lather from between the blades. By the time I finished Pass 1, I was getting fairly fed up and had used about the same amount of time as a straight shave. Added to this was the fact that every part of my face was still rough and whiskery. At this point I decided to abandon the experiment, and switched to an alternative tool to finish the job. Childs play from that point onward.
A good splash of menthol enhanced Fine Platinum went some way to salvaging the experience.
I must admit to being very surprised at the outcome of this experiment - I was expecting the cartridge to be reasonable, but not as enjoyable as my shaves with modern DEs, Kamisoris and straights. The reality was that it was a poor shave at best, and was eclipsed in every meaningful way by my current shaving preferences. I wonder if the result would have been much different if I'd used a Mach 3 instead of the Feather MR3 Neo. Well, I've scratched that itch and answered my own questions about negative memories of cartridge shaving.
Back to the drawing board I guess...
20160229_082808 by Osman Mehmed, on Flickr
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