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Fatip razor (pros & cons)

@JanVanDerVoort thanks for sharing your part of story. The hollow handle of Grande should benefit the audio feedback, but I haven't used them long enough in parallel to confirm. Still - lovely handle, specially in Lo Storto I'm aiming to ☺️
Audio Feedback: good to know I'm shaving with a musical instrument! ;-)
I have a Lo Storto in gold but contrary to reviews, it didn't work as good as the regular one.
 
I have all the Fatip versions in full brass. I NEVER had a bad shave with a Fatip and they are the razors that I use most frequently, shaving every 2-3 days. My regular Fatip rotation comprises two Gentile (in gold and chrome), a Grande (in chrome) and a Piccolo (in nickel). The absolute best shaves I get are from the open combs (especially the Grande, I use it the most), but the Gentile versions are very good too - just slightly less efficient in comparison with the open combs.
Summing up, all Fatips are excellent razors.
 

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I have too many of them, most shave very well, but some have alignment problems.....; 2 would barely take a blade (posts were crooked), I took a mallet and banged them to position....they seem to be at least better.....or close to their normal sisters. The missing link is Schone, used to be able to buy for $22.....those were great.
 
I have too many of them, most shave very well, but some have alignment problems.....; 2 would barely take a blade (posts were crooked), I took a mallet and banged them to position....they seem to be at least better.....or close to their normal sisters. The missing link is Schone, used to be able to buy for $22.....those were great.

I've got my Schone last year, but mine came with the Picolo handle and I'm kinda disappointed, since I really wanted to have that nice looking spiral handle. I haven't used in a while, but from what I remember I think I was able to shave a bit better with my Fatip Grande.
 
Hello B&B people,


After more than a year of extensive usage of Fatip razors and a couple ones being gifted to friends and family, I'd like to share some love and praise for this, by many users - underrated gem of Italian manufacturing. Not being affiliated to Fatip at any way, so this is just my experience with it, like it or not, take it, doubt it, it's up to you. If you find some value in additional information or help for doubt whether to pull the trigger on this razors - feel free to continue reading, share your own opinions, and of course - ask any questions you think I might answer ;)

My journey with Fatip went more from a birthday present preparation. My father used an old razor (with remowed comb, just top cap, handle and bare blade underneath), so I figured out he might like Fatip OC, and I went on purchasing Fatip Grande OC in gold:

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When unpacked, I was first impressed with finish and overall "old-school" look, the curve of the head, the plating, the lining on the handle, everything were just perfect. I couldn't restrain myself from trying it out :) Againt all reviews, considering Fatip OC to be quite agressive (I'd rather reffer to it as "efficient") I didn't felt any drawbacks. Only nicks I've got - I deserved them after "ough, this is so smooth, this is so nice, I don't feel blade, let's speed up... ough.. there's a nick" so it's very deceptive in it's shave feel.
I'd say it's mild face-feel, no burn, even not much an aftershave-burn at all, not much of a blade feel, although you'll always have precise feel where the blade is (if you need special precision) but overall - like someone said "R41 efficiency with R89 smoothness". Hand-made in brass, cheap as peanuts -> it seemed as a winner. My father used it, and his report is that he needed to learn a new angle, which opposed to my opinion that he's well accustomed to super-agressive shaves, I mean - he's not using a blade guard at all (and proven that he's just scraping beard instead of making clear cuts) so this is the only feedback from an "old wolf" and not a negative one.

Afterwards, I found a good discount on Fatip SE and though to buy it for myself. For same price - bit heavier razor, two guards (open comb and safety bar) what can be wrong? It's not that expensive, I liked the curvature of the blade, and being aware of the reviews I was ready to accept the risk of poor black-finish notorious for Fatips. Made an order, received it and wow, was it a beauty?!

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My first shave with piccolo was indeed remarkable. If I could explain it in a sentence - it's like a sports car among the razors. The pleasure and feel of the shaving is just like that. And by sports car, to be honest, it's not a Ferrari, more like Alfa Romeo :) it's a beauty, it's enjoyable and it has some bugs, you either hate it or adore it to beyond limits. My personal best feel about this razor was the shape of the head, such a nice flow made in transition from top-cap, blade, safety guard (both OC and CC) you almost have no blade feel and yet it's so damn efficient that one pass soon became more than enough for my all Fatip-shaves. If it may be considered as "downside" it just exposed some of my bad-habbits (poor lathering, not-wetting the face and using only water from lather, not brushing the lather long enough into the whiskers, short prep, poor hydratation, not drinking enough water, not using hydratation losions afterwards, using any angle at any place on the face...) so it's not the razor's fault to expose the bad owner. The closed comb (testina gentile) felt just a little, and by little I mean - not worth improvement compared to Muhle R89, just a tiny, tiny, tiny bit more efficient so I passed that one to my father "just in spare" so he can use it, as I already had R89 in regular rotation and having other razor with same efficiency was not needed.
Open comb however, was just about perfection. Little nimble "sports-car" shaver, which I felt quite comfortable in my hand (I do use it with my index finger so it sits perfectly, perhaps that's why I prefered piccolo over grande) and the shave itself is just the same, I only prefer agility of the piccolo:

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It hit's the right angle so good that I really don't need any other touch-ups, no additional passes and the weight is just fine. If you have other technique, larger hands, your exp. might differ. For me - it's on spot!

For the blades combo - to be honest, there are no blades I found to be particularly bad for this one, some might get dull quicker, some might last longer, but almost any blade worked nice with it. Maybe the best performance could be attached to:
  • Persona platinum
  • Perma-Sharp
  • BIC
  • Gillette 7o'clock yellow
  • Astra (less longevity)
  • Wilkinson black
  • Treet (do rust after 2 shaves, due to water retention underneeth the comb teeth)
Now, for most notorious thing regarding Fatips - yes, the black coating went off. Now I have this scruffy old, "vintage" look and I like it nevertheless :) It's such a great shaver that I really do not mind at all. Gold plating is howewer remarkable, the comb is still like new, my father's Grande is still like new, so I guess that only issue existed with the black coating. Blade alignment was not that bad, as some blades do have different geometry, wiggle more/less, and just fit's more aligned. It's not an overkill to adjust it a bit manually if needed, so I wouldn't say this is the major drawback, although the R89 have this alignment much, much better. Perhaps it's the OC design that allows blade to slide more, but that would affect any other brand, which I do not have and hence - can't confirm.

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Another "drawback" for shaving enthusiasts may be the thread dimension (M4) which will bound you to Fatip handles only, compared to mostly used M5 for any other brand, so you can switch handles only between Fatips (if you care for creating frankenrazors).

Efficency-wise, I rarely do more than 2 passes. 1x WTG is more than enough for work, day-to-day shaves, no irritations, no nicks, lasts up to evening, sometimes I'd just perform a sligh touch-up on goatee area or on the neck (my beard does grow in different speed on different areas) but the "touch-up" is such a minor improvement that it's not worth performing, unless I feel sorry to waste nice lather. If some hairs haven't grown nicely for today's shave - I don't care, I'll cut them easier tomorrow, and that's it. No fuss about it.

I use boar/synthetic/pure badger brushes, rotate Proraso, Nivea shave creams and Stirling/Cella soaps, without any differences made to Fatip performance. It never clogs, rinses nicely, and a 2-3 pass shave might easily last you for entire weekend. Hand-made, brass all around, lowest in price, made in Italy, what else can you ask from a razor :)

And as a final redemption, I must admit that it did teach me to better shave, and to improve my technique. After conducting OBIF 2022 challenge (you can search for my inputs in link provided), and returned to R89 I reallized that my technique improved much by using Fatip, and I cannot be more greatful for that. Nowadays, I use it in rotation, for long weekend and shaves that must last, for everyday - speed shaves in 1 pass, or just because it gives me that nostalgic, old-times look and feel, and for the price - it's unbeatable gem. I did browsed for many other newer razors, but to be honest - what else do I need, really? I have one perfect high-quality mild-range razor (R89) I got one super-speed-efficient beast (Piccolo SE OC) and I guess that my journey is finished in razor acquisition... now I only pursuit and enjoy shaving soaps, creams and brushed, razor's quest is quite completed with Fatip.

For those who'd like more combo-information, I post in Fatip Friday thread as well so you can check it out. Anyhow, trully underestimated razor, with all tiny flaws.
Hey there mate, not new fatips myself but that was a really good write up

The fatip range can't be beat when it comes to value for money,
I noticed you haven't tried the fatip OC slant, sounds like you'd love that

I have the fatip grande oc, picollo oc slant and the gentile, I was tempted with that special edition black fatip with oc and sb plates but I decided against it as lit of reviews were mentioning about the colour/paint coming off really quickly

Btw noticed someone on this forum (dont remember who) uses gold fatip handle with silver fatip head and vice versa, look really nice imo
 
Excellent review and experience sharing @couch_potato! And it is an exact copy of my own experience with Fatip as well (well except for the dad-part - mine has had his beard now for quite some time and he is more of a Gillette cartridge guy. I have invited him to a barbershop later this month!).

I wanted an all brass razor after finding out about Zamak and then came across Fatip. A little worried about the quality of the finish reading reviews (and yes my SE started wear after just a couple of months). But they are so cool and so effective I love them (I went on and bought more) to bits.

Like you I have the Lo Storto on my wanted list (the Piccolo version and open comb). I think it is mega efficient due to the design. There is one caveat for me and that is I shave using mostly Gillette Slides which is sort of emulating the way the FOCS works anyway. But I can tell you that using a Fatip while doing slide strokes is super smooth!

I really think the Fatip is my holy grail razor. All that is left now is het every type of Fatip 😂😉😁

Cheers,

Guido

Ps: happy birthday Stan @FarmerTan!!
What do you mean Gillette slides?
 
I've got my Schone last year, but mine came with the Picolo handle and I'm kinda disappointed, since I really wanted to have that nice looking spiral handle. I haven't used in a while, but from what I remember I think I was able to shave a bit better with my Fatip Grande.
Is the schone a fatip brand or just an Italian razor?

Remember the name being mentioned before but don't remember anything about it
 
Is the schone a fatip brand or just an Italian razor?

Remember the name being mentioned before but don't remember anything about it

The Schone was one of a few rebrands made by Fatip for other markets/countries/vendors and while most of them are identical, the Schone has fewer, but also thicker teeth as well as a unique handle and some consider it to be a slightly better version than the standard Fatip razor.
 
What do you mean Gillette slides?
Good question. A Gillette Slide is a combination stroke of WTG and XTG. So you slide down (vertically) and across (horizontally) at the same time (and SAME time is essential here because otherwise you will cut yourself). Because it is W/XTG or A/XTG if you go in the opposite direction is supposedly is more efficient as you are doing two passes in one. It also mimic the stroke you would do when using a slant.

The term itself Gillette Slide is based on old Gillette instructions where this stroke is shown. Mantic59 (shaving YouTuber and blogger Sharpologist) named it the Gillette Slide after these manuals.

It sounds more difficult than it really is in my view and I have gotten some amazing results - I have to think about doing other strokes because I tend to go for the Slide by default almost.

Best,

Guido
 
The Schone was one of a few rebrands made by Fatip for other markets/countries/vendors and while most of them are identical, the Schone has fewer, but also thicker teeth as well as a unique handle and some consider it to be a slightly better version than the standard Fatip razor.
Ohh okay cool get you, so you tried to compared to the fatip OC razor?
 
Good question. A Gillette Slide is a combination stroke of WTG and XTG. So you slide down (vertically) and across (horizontally) at the same time (and SAME time is essential here because otherwise you will cut yourself). Because it is W/XTG or A/XTG if you go in the opposite direction is supposedly is more efficient as you are doing two passes in one. It also mimic the stroke you would do when using a slant.

The term itself Gillette Slide is based on old Gillette instructions where this stroke is shown. Mantic59 (shaving YouTuber and blogger Sharpologist) named it the Gillette Slide after these manuals.

It sounds more difficult than it really is in my view and I have gotten some amazing results - I have to think about doing other strokes because I tend to go for the Slide by default almost.

Best,

Guido
Cool not heard about it before will check it out on YouTube
 
@saj1985 do you notice significant difference between regular and slant Fatips? TBH I'd go for Lo Storto mainly for the looks and collection-wise :) maybe there is room for shave improvement but I'm quite happy where I'm now - mostly 1WTG pass, or 1WTG+1XTG and done, so I don't know what to expect more from slant - better shave (not needed), smoother shave (already got enough), endulge myself (why not) 😁 but I only regret Testina Gentile (closed bar) due to feel of "now I have two razors which shave the same" that I'd like to avoid. But anyhow - for me Fatip has more personality (good and bad) and would probably be only razor which I'd "double" in my collection. I admire people who have a bunch of razors and I do hope that they get different shave experience with each one 🤔
 
@saj1985 do you notice significant difference between regular and slant Fatips? TBH I'd go for Lo Storto mainly for the looks and collection-wise :) maybe there is room for shave improvement but I'm quite happy where I'm now - mostly 1WTG pass, or 1WTG+1XTG and done, so I don't know what to expect more from slant - better shave (not needed), smoother shave (already got enough), endulge myself (why not) 😁 but I only regret Testina Gentile (closed bar) due to feel of "now I have two razors which shave the same" that I'd like to avoid. But anyhow - for me Fatip has more personality (good and bad) and would probably be only razor which I'd "double" in my collection. I admire people who have a bunch of razors and I do hope that they get different shave experience with each one 🤔
I've heard many talk about the slant action cutting differently but to me they feel the similar, so I'm not sure as every reacts differently to shaving gear, so essentially YMMV

Some people have alignment issues with the fatip OC slant razors

If you've never used a slant it could be worth a punt, for me the fatip OC slant is better and more efficient then the merkur 39c YMMV of course

Just bare in mind I'm a head shaver

Either way you can't go wrong with the fatip range
 
Fatip are very hard to beat!




Schöne and Joris-Plisson.




The gold FOCS is one of my favorite razors. It's in my Daily Driver category.

Happy shaves,

Jim
What a lucky man you are Jim, congrats on fatips 😎🤗

I'm eyeing on Grande OC (have great offer for 20$ shipped) and FOCS (maybe 30$ shipped) as my Piccolo dropped and thread post wiggle a bit but still when screwed - seems tight, so I'm ready for replacement. Great lines and great comfort once your muscles memorize the angle - nothing but remarkable shave can be expected
 
I agree--great review! I have the Piccolo OC, and did not like it at first. However, due to all the love they get on this site, I stuck with it. One day, I got an amazing shave and realized what everyone was talking about. Also got to try the OC slant, very nice, but not markedly better than the Piccolo (YMMV). Picked up the Gentile slant (closed comb) on Black Friday last year because the price was too good to pass up. Definitely a milder shave than the OC, but still very good.
 
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