The reason why I deviated from the typical cartridge razor in the first place was due the high cost of these typical multi-blade cartridge refills as well as the promise of a better shave from a traditional safety razor. These reasons still hold true today, especially with regards to the cost. While some people from online forums end up splurging on exquisite shaving gear, I have stuck to my very first $2 Rimei brand razor that I bought several years ago.
While razors itself can be expensive depending on what brand you go for, razor blades are typically rather cheap and they do not typically go beyond $2 for a pack of 5 blades. A single pack will last me 2.5months on the very least.
In Singapore, you can get a good selection of razor blades from several shopping centres and shops are Little India, which was what I had been doing for a while. But the Feather was not among these blades. According to local safety razor aficionados, the Feather is only available at Golden Mile shopping centre, which is not the most accessible of places because it was a distance from nearby MRT stations. I got mine for $1.80 for a pack of 5, which was pretty reasonable and comparable to the price of other blades in my possession.
Nevertheless, it was time to try out the legendary Japanese made Feather blade. Some say that beginners should avoid while some regular shavers lament about how unforgiving the blade is when complacency sets in.
When I took the blade out of the pack, it immediately felt higher quality than the other blades I have. Each blade was enclosed in a quality cellulose wrap and quite a bit of glue was used to stick keep the wrap from unwrapping itself. Moreover, the blade and its wrap seemed thinner than others, but I could be wrong.
On my first with-the-grain pass, I was weirdly surprised that it felt as if there was no blade inside my razor. Even the typical "shaving" sounds was eerily missing. But a quick check revealed that a significant amount of hair was removed on a single stroke, which was nice. Other than that, my subsequent cross-grain and against-the-grain passes experience was rather typical.
Honestly, I expected the blade to do wonders after hearing so much hype about it. Maybe my facial hair isn't thick enough to appreciate the full goodness of the Feather blade. After all, most 'low-end' blades considered by most forumers seemed to work rather well for me with little discernible differences between the more expensive blades.
Nevertheless, the Feather is a good blade and it relatively inexpensive too. But, will I purposely make the trip to Golden Mile to buy it? Not really, but if I see it, I will get it.
Edit: I just had my 2nd shave using the Feather and here is where it started to shine. It required lesser number of repeated strokes compared to other blades I have used and achieved almost no irritation at my neck area even with an alcohol aftershave. Having said that, I did take extra care and slowed down my pace during this shave.
