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Best DE razor for the smoothest shave?

After traveling down a long road of many razors, some of which are rare and expensive and various new artisan razors, my short list is this:

Vintage Gillette TTO, in particular the Rocket HD and the Aristocrat Junior.

For adjustable razors, I don't think anyone can do better than a late 1950's - early 1960's Gillette Fatboy.

For new stainless steel razors, many folks love the Evolution (Darwin redux from Bullgoose).
 

nemo

Lunatic Fringe
Staff member
Vintage Gillette TTO, in particular the Rocket HD and the Aristocrat Junior.

For adjustable razors, I don't think anyone can do better than a late 1950's - early 1960's Gillette Fatboy.
Agree 100% with Haiku, but I've lately been enamored with the smoothness of my 1930 Gillette New DeLuxe.

full
 

Esox

I didnt know
Staff member
Hey guys, I'm looking for something that will give me the smoothest shave, what you guys recommend?

I've used a British Gillette flare tip Rocket, a 1940 Gillette Regent, a D2 Gillette SS, a NEW LC, a NEW SC, a post war Tech and a Lady Gillette.

The smoothest of them all is my Fatip Grande, closely followed by my NEW SC. For the $20 cost of a Fatip Piccolo, you really cant go wrong. Same head as the Grande, only a different handle.
 
I have two Leresche short-screw 3 piece OC razors that, for smoothness, closeness and lack of irritation far surpass any Gillette I own and that includes a Toggle, two Fatboys, Slims, a Senator, a NEW, a Diplomat, and three Aristocrats. The problem will be finding one at a reasonable price - for some reason Ebay shipping from France is prohibitively expensive.
 
Keeping in mind that "smoothest" is not the same thing as "closest", to me, when I want the smoothest shave possible I reach for one of the following:
If I'm feeling vintage, I go with the raised flat bottom british New.
If I'm feeling modern, I go with the Wolfman open comb or my prototype razorock stealth slant in stainless steel.

I fully acknowledge that the options I've listed can be hard to get your hands on these days so for a more mainstream option, I second the vote for the ATT slant (although I have the OC version).
 
+1
Loaded question of the night lol, but I always go for a superspeed or my fatboy when I want a good shave without having to think much.
Two super speed razors-black handle and flare tip. Like the flare tip slightly more.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
 
My vote is the Rockwell 6s. Aside from a very smooth shave (due in my estimation to head geometry and the matted (vs highly polished) surface that is not "tacky" to the skin), it is also stainless steel, customizable (with its 6 base plate settings) and under $100. Only downside: shaves so smooth, it almost becomes boring. It is the Lexus of razors.
 
Want to save some money? Get the Weishi aluminum. Shaves as well as my Gillette Blue Tip Super Speed. And gentle as a lamb. All for about $16.

Or Gillette Tech - specifically with the stamped Zamak head. Also can be had for little money.

Want to spend a little more? Gillette Blue Tip or Slim Adjustable.
 
That is a difficult, and impossible question.

A "smooth shave" can only be determined by the person shaving.

I have gotten great smooth shaves from my Gillette New and Old types, as well as my 1940's style Superspeeds.
 
Vintage
#34 Aristocrat
New Deluxe Big Boy
President
Eclipse Red Wing Sunburst

Vintage Adjustable
Gibbs #17
Apollo Ben Hur
Early Merkur Solingen Progress
Gillette Fatboy

Vintage Slant
Hoffritz

Modern
Timeless.68 &.95 OC
Charcoal Goods Level 2 OC

Modern Adjustable
Parker Variiant
Merkur Mergress
Rockwell 6C


NOTE: There would absolutely be some SE Razors on this list both Vintage and Modern
 
I think you probably asked the most loaded question on the board. This is one of the YMMV things and it also comes down to the blade selection based on the razor, or the hand that holds the tool.

I loved my Standard Razors aluminum razor. I just took the Rockwell 6S for a run, and found that a two pass shave from plate 6 followed by plate 1 is the smoothest and closest shave I have ever experienced with the least amount of irritation. But reading the pass around reviews from that razor, not everyone felt the same way.

I will say that you will get a lot of options here to check out and RAD over.
 
The smoothest shave means different things to different people of course. If what you mean by "smooth" is that you want a shave where there is no tugging, and it feels almost as though there is no blade in the razor, and you are just pushing lather across your face, ending in a glorious, irritation free post-shave, there are only two razors that have done that for me so far:

Fatip Grande or Piccolo (same razor different handle) Price $20 or $23
RazoRock Teck II or DE 1 (same razor different handle): Price $7.99 or $6.99

The RazoRock tech clones are kittens, the Fatips are tigers. If you want a 3 pass shave you don't need to think about much, the RazoRock's are perfect. If you want a more efficient razor that rewards/teaches excellent technique, the Fatips are superb.

Both razors seem to work best with the sharpest blade you can comfortably use. Blades from Gillette's PPI factory in Russia seem to have worked extremely well for a lot of folks in these razors: Gillette Yellow, Permasharp, Polsilver Iridium, Nacets, Gillette Silver Blues. These are all worth trying as a starting point.

That's my two cents. YMMV
 
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