Shark Super Chrome

Over the next few weeks I am going to keep a daily running experience of different blades. Mainly so that I can remember what they were like. Hopefully, you will find this interesting or helpful as you try different blades. Each blade will be used for 7 days unless they are a really bad blade.

 

Blade Name

Shark Super Chrome

Shaving conditions

Beard Type

Light beard growth, thicker on and under the chin, very sensitive on the neck. Susceptible to razor bumps on and under the chin area.

Preshave Prep:

• Shower
• Shave Secret - three drops (First day only.)
• VDH Pre Shave Oil (Second day only)
• The Well Groomed Guy Pre Shave Oil (Third day through fifth day)
• Proraso Shaving Cream for Sensitive Skin.( First day only)
• VDH Luxury Shave Soap (Second through fifth day only)
• Lord L6 Razor head mounted on a Maggard M1 handle
• Soft water
• Maggard 22mm knot synthetic brush

Post Shave:

• Dickenson's Witch Hazel (Blue Bottle)
• Pinaud Clubman Original
• Nivea Balm for Sensitive Skin

The Shave Week

Day 1 Shave

• Smoothness: The blade felt kind of sharp and on some sensitive areas such as my neck I was afraid that I was going to get a few weepers, but I did not. By the end of the shave it seemed to be a little smoother than when I started. It was not as smooth as I like, but I think it will wear in on the next shave.
• Tugging: Slight tugging as I went against the grain on my neck area.
• Razor Burn: There was some burning as I applied the aftershave that seemed to slightly linger for an hour or so after the shave.
• Nicks: No nicks or weepers.
• Closeness: Very close shave. I think that is due to the Proraso branded shave cream. I have had several good close shaves with this product. But it does slightly irritate my skin, however the aftershave feel was very smooth and satisfying.

Day 2 Shave

• Smoothness: Thinking it may smooth out after the second shave. This blade continues to be slightly on the aggressive side. I was constantly on my guard not to get to careless.
• Tugging: There continued to be some tugging on my sensitive neck areas
• Razor Burn: There was razor burn again after this shave, but it seemed to last a little longer. I thing that this may be from skin damage from the previous nights shave. Burn lasted for a couple of hours.
• Nicks: I experienced three or four weepers that appeared sometime after the shave and post prep. Not really bad but noticeable.
• Closeness: The shave was close, but not as close as the night before. I think that this may be due to using Proraso cream on day one, and then VDH luxury on day two.

Day 3 Shave

• Smoothness: Still a little harsh on the skin. I did have a good smooth shave afterwards, but the skin did not feel comfortable.
• Tugging: Some tugging on my sensitive neck area.
• Razor Burn: Had enough razor burn to last me a good hour after the shave.
• Nicks: had three or four little weepers. Nothing major.
• Closeness: Had a close shave but the sides of my chin and the underside began to show signs of razor bumps.

Day 4 Shave

• Smoothness: Finally got the smoothness that I was looking for. It took four shaves to get the harsh edge off the blade.
• Tugging: Thee was a little tug on the neck area but nothing serious.
• Razor Burn: There was razor burn after the shave that lasted for about an hour. This could be left over from the previous shaves where the skin has not had time to recover.
• Nicks: No nicks or weepers.
• Closeness: Very close!

Day 5 Shave

• Smoothness: The blade took a quick downturn on the fifth shave. It was dull feeling and the blade seemed to produce more shave bumps under and around the chin area. The shave was not near as comfortable as the day before.
• Tugging: There was a noticeable amount of tugging that caused me to be extra careful to prevent weepers.
• Razor Burn: There was quite a bit of razor burn after this shave. I think that the additional amount of cleanup strokes that I had to do was the contributing factor. The burn lasted longer than an hour.
• Nicks: There was no nicks or weepers.
• Closeness: Shave was not as close as the day before.

 Concluding Thoughts and Score

This particular blade is sharp and not smooth. For me and the tender skin that I am plagued with, the blade was more harsh than I would like to shave with. It produced weepers, razor burn and a few razor bumps. The shaves were not actually very comfortable. I think it might have done better in the Edwin Jagger DE89 but I will not be making that test. I just didn't like the blade. Overall I do not think that the Chrome coating has helped this blade. I think that the Shark Stainless to be smoother and gave a more comfortable shave. After five days, I gave up on the blade.

If I were to score this blade form 1 to 10 I would rate it an overall 6.2.

• Sharpness: 7
• Smoothness: 4
• Tugging: 7
• Razor Burn: 6
• Closeness: 7
• Overall: 6.2

Rethinking Lather

Just when you think that you have found the perfect combination something comes along that upsets your perfect world. I had pretty much settled on VDH Luxury soap with their shave oil as a great combination that gave me close shaves and a great feel during the shave and afterwards. I will admit that this was with a Gillette Silver Blue blade in a Lord razor.

Ladas Super Stainless

However this past week, I switched over to a Ladas super stainless blade in the Lord razor and the soap and oil combination bombed! After a three pass shave I could feel stubble and a lot of places that just didn't clean up right. Frustrated, I originally thought that the Ladas blades were junk and about to toss it out in favour of another blade. As I was showering before my shave I started thinking about the cushion that the VDH soap gives me. Just what if I were to try something different? Something with a little less cushion?

My first impression of the Ladas stainless blade was that it was not very sharp. More like a Derby but without the Teflon coating. What if I gave the blade a little less cushion, and more of on opportunity to "grab the pavement" a little? Well, it was the end of a nice hot day, and I decided to throw caution to the wind and pull out the C.O. Bigelow shave cream and my bottle of Shave Secret.  I'm not really a big fan of Menthol products, but the thought of using them that night sounded pretty good.

C.O.Bigelow

After the shower, I got everything out and proceeded to wet my face. I then rubbed the palms of my hands together to get them both slightly wet. I then added three drops of Shave Secret to the palm of one hand and then lightly rubbed them together. I then rubbed it in the stubble. Three drops was more than enough to get a nice menthol feel going. I wet my Maggard synthetic brush and put about 3/8" ribbon of C.O. Bigelow onto the end of the brush. Since I am a face lather guy, I took this and gently pressed the end of my brush all over my face and neck several times to get the cream applied to my skin. Then I started the face lather and added water as needed to get the lather built up.

I went for my traditional three pass shave trying not to do anything different in the way I shave. I could feel the menthol kick in. It felt pretty good after a hot day, and my skin was feeling refreshed. After I was finished and was washing off with hot then cold water I noticed that my skin felt slick and smooth. Much different than with the VDH soap. I then applied the Pinaud Clubman original aftershave and then the Nivea balm for sensitive skin and headed off to the living room. Within a half hour when the shave started to settle down, I was feeling a perfectly smooth shave that was as good as any I could have asked for. No irritation, no razor burn, just smooth, soft skin with a menthol coolness about it.

As I was sitting there, I was thinking that for my skin and beard conditions, I need to always match the blade with the soap that I use, For those blades that are sharp and not as smooth I need a lot of thick cushion to protect my skin from the sharpness. When I use blades that are not as sharp or have a lot of smoothness to them, then I need a soap (or cream) that does not have as much cushion so that the blade has better contact with the skin and doesn't "ride" over it because it can't cut through the cushion. Pre-shave oils are the same. If your oil is thick it just adds to the barrier that the blade must cut through whereas a thinner oil like Shave Secret adds the slickness needed, but without the licker barrier.

It's all about the blade! Having various soaps, creams and oils on hand is a good thing. Match them accordingly. A blade that doesn't shave good with one soap may be the perfect blade with another! And that's the beauty and fun of DE shaving!