First shave with a SE razor

So...after having bought 8-9 SE razors I thought it would be a good idea to actually use one. :)

They are all similar...yet so different...but I finally settled on the OC Micromatic as the first one to have a go with. The handle feels great - good length and weight and the head opens up really easily to insert the blade. Overall a very neat design.

So, the first thing I did was to scour youtube watching a bunch of videos including this one;




I liked his explanation of how to make sure the blade was inserted well and that the angle of the razor against the face doesn't really have to be 'the razor head flat against the face' but with a slight angle.

So....I picked up the razor..



Made sure it had those little notches on the inside for the blade to rest on;



Picked out a coated SS GEM blade;



(Btw, I really like the box these came in from Connaught - one side of the box dispenses the blades...and the other side has a slot for inserting the used ones);



Man, that's some blade exposure...



And got down to it...

DAY 1:

First impressions:
A different angle than when using a DE razor for sure.
The blade/razor is very efficient. I don't know if I would call it a super smooth experience but that may be because I was much more 'aware' of what I was doing as it was my first time with this kind of razor.

I did two passes;
WTG: No problem at all. It's a very audible razor/blade - much more so than my DE's.
ATG: On neck and face. Once again no issues at all.

The result was a very, very smooth shave. I was close-to-BBS after those two passes and face felt great.

Conclusions end of day 1:
For some reason I didn't "enjoy" it as much as I do my DE razor shaves but obviously it's very hard to say that's going to be my feelings after some time. The DE razors just seem to 'cut' so much smoother and the balance/head works so well. It may also be the SS blade. I've heard the carbon blade is different but there is also no way I'll be that finicky about how to care for a blade so I'll stick with the SS ones and put some more practice in...and try different razors.

I'll stick with the OCMM for the next 2-3 shaves as I want to try it a bit more before hopping over to another one...even though that IS tempting as they all look so neat ;)

DAY 2:
Wow, what a 'difference' it makes to have one shave under the belt with these things. The second shave was much 'easier' - probably because I felt more relaxed.
The angle came very easily and I had no problem doing my regular WTG and ATG passes on face and neck.
It gave me a VERY smooth shave - I'm especially impressed by how well the short XTG pass under the nose worked (it's a VERY close shave under there).

Kept feeling my face today and it felt great :)

Now to stick to using this razor for a full week before moving on to the next SE to try out...will be tough :)