When you’re dealing with something that names itself after a Maneater, you
expect that it’s going to be a bit of a beast.
Interestingly enough, this really wasn’t the sort of thing that struck
me upon using it.
Usual protocol, Shave after the shower, four days on the stubble, same
razor, same brush, same Alum...
It’s got a reasonable edge on it, not brilliant to be sure, two passes
to get down to reasonable levels and then a few upstrokes to get rid of the
lingering stubble. What struck me
immediately is that the shave wasn’t as smooth as the Wilkinson or the Derby,
there were a few points where I stopped short of the full stroke because I had
the sense that the blade was going to cut in rather than sliding over. I tend to favour short strokes that take a
reasonable amount without clogging things up, but I found that even on short
strokes, this was catching quite a bit. I got through the shave, but it wasn’t
enjoyable in the way that I’ve come to enjoy shaving in the last few months,
and I couldn’t place my finger quite on why till the last stroke when I was
finishing off the lower lip and got to that little point between the chin and
the lower lip which is always the most fun to shave...
One hair left, and you all know how much fun that point is, when you’ve
got everything except that one last hair that’s sitting there showing you that
you can’t shave, so you try everything to get to the little bugger, but it
takes a delicate touch, you can’t press down hard on that one, you can’t hack
away like you would with a cartridge, you’ve got to be real careful in case you
push too hard and spike yourself.
So there I am, trying to get to this solitary little hair, and not a
thing I tried would get it, a few nicks, a few slices, actively considered
pulling it out with tweezers, but we all know that it becomes a question of
pride in these matters, so it took me a few minutes, but I got most of it...
And I stress most of it...
And this was not really what I was after in a shave...
But then I thought back to what else you associate with Sharks, Blood,
and this one had certainly had its fill from me...
In summation, shark by name and shark by nature, if you’re looking to
use one of these, consider feeding it an offering before feeding it your
face...