So this might be a little premature but I have to share my experience ...
So Brian at Charcoal Goods has been posting for months about about bringing back Stainless Steel razors in a new design. A razor with a Gen 2 baseplate and a Gen 4 top cap. I already have a Brass Lvl 2 and recently picked up a used SS Lvl 2, and was seriously questioning if I needed another one. However, I immediately ordered a Lvl 2 SS as soon as I was aware that is was available in the "Ready to Ship" section. I am ashamed to say that I had the razor for a full week before finally shaving with it yesterday. I haven't seen much on the razor and truthfully I don't feel like Brian has made a big deal about the redesign. However, after shaving with it yesterday I think Brian is seriously underselling himself. My first shave with it made me think that this razor deserves as much attention as Wolfmen coming out with WR2, although they still offer WR1. The new design at Charcoal Goods is equally an impressive upgrade.
For my first shave Friday I hadn't shaved since Monday, so I had 4 full days of growth. The gear used:
Charcoal Goods Stainless Steel Lvl 2 with 2nd use Kai blade (on a Rocnel Elite handle)
Mozingo Washingtion - Brown wood with Declaration B4
Pannecrema Nuavia Blu
Razorock Alum
Proraso Sensitive Skin balm
So I started my shave by wetting the Pannacrema through blooming. I rubbed my index finger on the wet soap and applied it directly to my face as a preshave. I then splashed some of the bloom water on my face an then loaded the brush with soap. Pannacrema Nuavia is an amazing soap and gives a great experience. I planned to do only two passes.
The first pass WTG (N to S) was great. It was amazingly smooth and surprisingly super efficient. The razor took off almost all growth except in hard to reach corners. Sure some clean up and buffing would be needed everywhere, but the razor removed 90% of all of the 4 days growth. But surprisingly it did all this while feeling much smoother than a typical Lvl 2 razor.
The second pass ATG (Ear to Nose) was also great. Again extremely smooth. It cleared all the remaining hair and would have left a DFS. Perfect!!!
However, my face felt extremely good with almost no irritation. My face almost never feels like this after 2 passes. I have only had this feeling 2 other times on the first shave with a razor. One time I don't remember the razor, but it was a mistake. But the second was the RS-10 with mild baseplate and the razor shockingly gave me the best shave I have ever experienced. I have repeated this many times now. However, the CG SS Lvl 2 gave this feeling and I pushed my luck and went for the third pass on the first shave with the razor.
How'd it go? It went amazingly well. Again extremely smooth and efficient. I did nick myself around the corner of my jaw, but that was completely my fault. I got sloppy and didn't keep my skin as taught as I should have. My third pass technique is not as strong as my first two passes as I almost never go for it. Again, this was no fault of the razor. The final result after clean up, I had minimal sting with the Alum block and had what @Dragonsbeard would classify as Level 2 BBS. If you aren't familiar go read his Shave Offs. An absolutely phenomenal result. I am very glad I decided against the better judgement of my wallet to buy one. Sitting here over 24 hours after the shave, I barely have a 5 o'clock shadow. There is no way I could shave again after 24 hours. I will have to give it more time to decide when I would be comfortable shaving again. Sure if I had to touch up with a single pass or two pass for a work event or something I could, but just for casual use there isn't anything to shave.
Again, yes this is my first shave with the razor but I wanted to get the information out. I will continue to experiment. I plan to do some direct shave off comparisons with my brass and old model SS Lvl 2's. But my first impression is the new design Lvl 2 feels like the aggressiveness of an old Lvl 1.5 while maintaining the efficiency of the old Lvl 2. Again this redesign parallels Wolfmen. And the Lvl 2 feels very different that the RS-10 mild but my experience with the two mirrored each other. The CG Lvl 2 is slightly more aggressive than the RS-10 and had slightly more irritation at the end of the 3 pass shave, but I am equally impressed with the two. To re-emphasize though the two razors feel very different though. I would equate the RS-10 to driving a BMW 7-series and the CG Lvl 2 to driving a Porsche 911. The RS-10 feels very luxurious, while the CG feels very sporty and performance driven. The CG SS Lvl 2 result probably reminds me most of the Paradigm SE after a 2 pass with even less irritation.
I can't praise Brian high enough for changing a razor that has become a classic. But I can tell you he should take an opportunity to give himself more credit for the improvements. I can't wait to get more experience with the razor and I will report back. And I can't wait for Brian to put out more SS handles. I'm not a huge fan of the Torpedo it came with. I have an SS Hammered that I ordered awhile ago, but I find it a little small. I also have a SS Bishop which is nice. I enjoy it. But I really hope he offers a Magnum and Stinger. As I mentioned above I put it on a Rocnel Elite handle because it was beefier and honestly the CG head just looked so good on it. But I may be biased as I find the minimal design of the Rocnel Elite handle gorgeous. I hated the 1.95 Rocnel Elite and the only thing I wanted to keep was the handle, but I didn't and traded the full razor. When Phil at Bullgoose was cleaning up recently and put some of the handles alone up for sale, I had to have one. I also recently added the 2.1 mm Rocnel Elite and it is the exact razor I hoped the original would be. It is amazing.
Please feel free to provide any input and I hope others who have experienced the new design will chime in with their experiences as well.
Thanks.
So Brian at Charcoal Goods has been posting for months about about bringing back Stainless Steel razors in a new design. A razor with a Gen 2 baseplate and a Gen 4 top cap. I already have a Brass Lvl 2 and recently picked up a used SS Lvl 2, and was seriously questioning if I needed another one. However, I immediately ordered a Lvl 2 SS as soon as I was aware that is was available in the "Ready to Ship" section. I am ashamed to say that I had the razor for a full week before finally shaving with it yesterday. I haven't seen much on the razor and truthfully I don't feel like Brian has made a big deal about the redesign. However, after shaving with it yesterday I think Brian is seriously underselling himself. My first shave with it made me think that this razor deserves as much attention as Wolfmen coming out with WR2, although they still offer WR1. The new design at Charcoal Goods is equally an impressive upgrade.
For my first shave Friday I hadn't shaved since Monday, so I had 4 full days of growth. The gear used:
Charcoal Goods Stainless Steel Lvl 2 with 2nd use Kai blade (on a Rocnel Elite handle)
Mozingo Washingtion - Brown wood with Declaration B4
Pannecrema Nuavia Blu
Razorock Alum
Proraso Sensitive Skin balm
So I started my shave by wetting the Pannacrema through blooming. I rubbed my index finger on the wet soap and applied it directly to my face as a preshave. I then splashed some of the bloom water on my face an then loaded the brush with soap. Pannacrema Nuavia is an amazing soap and gives a great experience. I planned to do only two passes.
The first pass WTG (N to S) was great. It was amazingly smooth and surprisingly super efficient. The razor took off almost all growth except in hard to reach corners. Sure some clean up and buffing would be needed everywhere, but the razor removed 90% of all of the 4 days growth. But surprisingly it did all this while feeling much smoother than a typical Lvl 2 razor.
The second pass ATG (Ear to Nose) was also great. Again extremely smooth. It cleared all the remaining hair and would have left a DFS. Perfect!!!
However, my face felt extremely good with almost no irritation. My face almost never feels like this after 2 passes. I have only had this feeling 2 other times on the first shave with a razor. One time I don't remember the razor, but it was a mistake. But the second was the RS-10 with mild baseplate and the razor shockingly gave me the best shave I have ever experienced. I have repeated this many times now. However, the CG SS Lvl 2 gave this feeling and I pushed my luck and went for the third pass on the first shave with the razor.
How'd it go? It went amazingly well. Again extremely smooth and efficient. I did nick myself around the corner of my jaw, but that was completely my fault. I got sloppy and didn't keep my skin as taught as I should have. My third pass technique is not as strong as my first two passes as I almost never go for it. Again, this was no fault of the razor. The final result after clean up, I had minimal sting with the Alum block and had what @Dragonsbeard would classify as Level 2 BBS. If you aren't familiar go read his Shave Offs. An absolutely phenomenal result. I am very glad I decided against the better judgement of my wallet to buy one. Sitting here over 24 hours after the shave, I barely have a 5 o'clock shadow. There is no way I could shave again after 24 hours. I will have to give it more time to decide when I would be comfortable shaving again. Sure if I had to touch up with a single pass or two pass for a work event or something I could, but just for casual use there isn't anything to shave.
Again, yes this is my first shave with the razor but I wanted to get the information out. I will continue to experiment. I plan to do some direct shave off comparisons with my brass and old model SS Lvl 2's. But my first impression is the new design Lvl 2 feels like the aggressiveness of an old Lvl 1.5 while maintaining the efficiency of the old Lvl 2. Again this redesign parallels Wolfmen. And the Lvl 2 feels very different that the RS-10 mild but my experience with the two mirrored each other. The CG Lvl 2 is slightly more aggressive than the RS-10 and had slightly more irritation at the end of the 3 pass shave, but I am equally impressed with the two. To re-emphasize though the two razors feel very different though. I would equate the RS-10 to driving a BMW 7-series and the CG Lvl 2 to driving a Porsche 911. The RS-10 feels very luxurious, while the CG feels very sporty and performance driven. The CG SS Lvl 2 result probably reminds me most of the Paradigm SE after a 2 pass with even less irritation.
I can't praise Brian high enough for changing a razor that has become a classic. But I can tell you he should take an opportunity to give himself more credit for the improvements. I can't wait to get more experience with the razor and I will report back. And I can't wait for Brian to put out more SS handles. I'm not a huge fan of the Torpedo it came with. I have an SS Hammered that I ordered awhile ago, but I find it a little small. I also have a SS Bishop which is nice. I enjoy it. But I really hope he offers a Magnum and Stinger. As I mentioned above I put it on a Rocnel Elite handle because it was beefier and honestly the CG head just looked so good on it. But I may be biased as I find the minimal design of the Rocnel Elite handle gorgeous. I hated the 1.95 Rocnel Elite and the only thing I wanted to keep was the handle, but I didn't and traded the full razor. When Phil at Bullgoose was cleaning up recently and put some of the handles alone up for sale, I had to have one. I also recently added the 2.1 mm Rocnel Elite and it is the exact razor I hoped the original would be. It is amazing.
Please feel free to provide any input and I hope others who have experienced the new design will chime in with their experiences as well.
Thanks.
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