Meet the newest razor in the collection (and the last for a while): the Feather AS-D2.
Now, Star Wars references aside (get it? R2-D2?), the Feather AS-D2 is revered as a high-quality, extremely mild razor from Japan.
It’s made entirely from stainless steel, so it’s heavy (90g compared to 100g for the Rockwell and 102g for the King C Gillette). But it’s almost universally celebrated for being an excellently built razor that is a unit that should last you a very long time.
I’ve read some reviews that start off not pairing it with the Feather blade, only to be a little disappointed with it’s performance. But then they switch over to the Feather blade, and everything changes. So I figured I’d just cut out that middle step for now and start it out with the blade it ships with.
But it is interesting to me that in a hobby/pursuit/enthusiasm that finds so many people disagreeing on things, this razor is agreed upon to be mild, comfortable, and well made. So I’m really excited to give it a try, even if it’s paired with the blade everyone agrees is the blade most likely to rip your face off if given a chance.
The Feather Blades, for those who don’t know and haven’t seen previous posts on it, are notorious for basically being the sharpest blades available. But they’re also known for not holding their edge for much more than 2-3 shaves. I haven’t had an issue with dullness by the last shave of the week. But I also haven’t used it with anything more aggressive than the KCG. And, I haven’t used it since last May, so it’s time.
This week will also debut one piece of software: the Taylor of Old Bond Street Jermyn Street Pre-Shave Gel. I’ll pair it with it’s Jermyn Street lather buddy, so we’ll see how those two stack up together. And yes, I added the Zingari Man Sego aftershave balm with it just to try to help get rid of it. I finished a sample tub last week, and I’m on a push to free up a few more.
Oh, and there will be one more piece of hardware premiering this week: the Parker Blue Storm synthetic shaving brush.
Some last thoughts on the razor: it appears to be very well machined, with a slightly textured top cap and bottom bar, and has a nicely textured, grippy handle.
Let me drop some quick specs before we get into things: The razor offers a 0.40mm blade gap, which is third smallest only to the Rockwell 6C plates 1 and 2, has a positive blade exposure, and a handle length of 98mm, which is fourth longest after the Parker, KCG, and Gamechanger.
I’m excited for this week of shaves, as I’ve been pursuing mild razors and looking to find out if there’s something out there that works better for me than the Henson mild. So let’s get into it and see how it works.
The Ratings
Sunday’s Shave, #267. The First Feather-Proraso Shave.
The setup:
- Razor: Feather AS-D2
- Blade: Feather
- Pre-Shave: Proraso Protective pre-shave cream (blue)
- Brush: Proraso boar shaving brush
- Soap/Cream/Gel: Proraso Protective shave soap (blue)
- Alum Block: Stirling Soap Co. Alum
- After Shave: Proraso Protective after shave balm (blue)
- Stats:
- 1st shave with the Feather AS-D2 razor
- 10th shave with the Feather blade
- 16th shave with the Proraso blue combo
- 86th almost perfect shave (overall rating of 23 or 24)
- 24th shave with an overall rating of 24 (11.9% of all logged shaves
- 8th consecutive almost perfect shave
- 5th almost perfect shave with the Feather blade
- 1st Feather blade shave with an overall rating of 24
Let me just say wow. They hype is real.
This shave was effortless–my standard three passes, plus a little cleanup, and I was done. There was some blade noise, but very little noticeable blade feel on my skin. It was smooth, comfortable, and fairly efficient, with the across the grain passes on my neck mostly just to get any spots I’ve missed. This is one of the first shaving combos I’ve used where the with the grain pass really seemed to take off hair and not just lay it down.
The razor is just perfect–the perfect weight, the perfect handle length, the perfect balance, and, despite some quiet concerns in my mind, the textured finish of the top cap really doesn’t feel like it, because it glided so perfectly.
Paired with the Proraso Sunday combo of the Protective (blue) products this week, I’m ecstatic about the shave and happy to start my day this way.
I may just reserve the Feather blades just for use with the AS-D2 razor. I can’t really see it getting much better.
Comfort: 24 of 25
Quality/Closeness: 24 of 25
Overall: 24 of 25
Tuesday’s Shave, #268. The Stirling Shave.
The setup:
- Razor: Feather AS-D2
- Blade: Feather
- Pre-Shave: Stirling Soap Co. Unscented pre-shave soap
- Brush: Omega 11047 boar/badger shaving brush
- Soap/Cream/Gel: Stirling Soap Co. Sheep shaving soap
- Alum Block: Stirling Soap Co. Alum
- After Shave: Stirling Soap Co. Unscented aftershave balm
- Stats:
- 2nd shave with the Omega 11047 boar/badger brush
- 7th shave with the Stirling Sheep soap
- 1st shave with an all-Stirling software combo
- 87th almost perfect shave
- 63rd shave with an overall rating of 23 (31.0% of all logged shaves)
- 9th consecutive almost perfect shave
Right out of the gate, let me note that this shave wasn’t as good as Sunday’s, and I think that was due to 2 factors: first, that I had a 3 day stubble on Sunday, but also because the Feather blade, which is notorious for losing its edge quickly, was dulled a bit heading into today’s shave.
But that isn’t to say it wasn’t a good shave, or that I think the all-Feather combo isn’t a great one, because it is a very good pairing.
As noted, this was my first shave with an all-Stirling Soap pre-shave, lather, and aftershave combo. While I love the Sheep soap for it’s lather quality, overall, the combo was not one of my favorites. The pre-shave works okay–better than some, but definitely not as good as Proraso or Cella products, and the aftershave balm, while labelled a balm, feels and goes on more like a lotion and doesn’t seem to soothe as much as others.
And for my second go with the diminutive Omega 11047, sometimes called the “mixed midget,” I’m getting the hang of it and its size, finding it a bit easier to use than the first try. Now that I’m up to 7 brushes, it will get into a more regular rotation, so I should get my technique worked out for it soon.
Overall, another great shave, and I’m looking forward to the last shave of the week to see how it does on the 3rd shave with the Feather blade.
Comfort: 23 out of 25
Quality/Closeness: 23 out of 25
Overall: 23 out of 25
Thursday’s Shave, #269. The Jermyn Street shave.
The setup:
- Razor: Feather AS-D2
- Blade: Feather
- Pre-Shave: Taylor of Old Bond Street Jermyn Street pre-shave gel
- Brush: Parker Blue Storm synthetic
- Soap/Cream/Gel: Taylor of Old Bond Street Jermyn Street Sensitive shaving cream
- Alum Block: Stirling Soap Co. Alum
- After Shave: Zingari Man Sego balm aftershave
- Stats:
- 1st shave with the Parker Blue Storm synthetic brush
- 2nd shave with the TOBS Jermyn Street pre-shave gel (1st combo with the Jermyn Street lather)
- 5th shave with the Zingari Man Sego balm
- 13th shave with the Yaqi brush
- 88th almost perfect shave (23 or 24 overall rating)
- 64th shave with a 23 overall rating (31.4% of all logged shaves)
- 10th consecutive almost perfect shave
Closing out the week of shaves with my new Feather AS-D2 razor, I have to say that the Feather razor/blade combo really takes some of the effort out of a getting a good shave. The razor works great, and the blade brings some degree of efficiency to the shave.
In fact, I thought that the blade felt duller today, which it might have, but today’s shave needed less work on my part to get the closeness I want.
I’ll attribute some of that to the TOBS Jermyn Street pre-shave and lather, which worked excellently today. My new Parker Blue Storm synthetic brush made an excellent lather with the cream, needing a little more water than I expected, but it produced a great lather quickly. The stiffness of the bristles probably contributed to that, but they also made applying the lather to my face a little more challenging than I expected.
I’ve got to remember that the Zingari Man Sego balm is not a favorite, but I went with it and it provided nice soothing and protection, so I’ll continue to try to use it all up. It’s just too lotion-like for my liking.
To sum up the week of shaves, they were excellent, and I’ll be excited to get back to the Feather-Feather combo, but in the meantime, I’ve just got to try the AS-D2 with a couple of my favorite blades to see how it does.
Comfort: 24 out of 25
Quality/Closeness: 23 out of 25
Overall: 23 out of 25