Just got myself one of these razors and am now ready to review it in the good, bad, and ugly format that I just invented right now.
The good. Whoever said this razor was too mild for them must shave everyday with an R41; despite the name saying "gentile," this is NOT a really mild razor. For the week prior to its arrival, I shaved with a Fatboy set anywhere from 6 to 8 every day; the shave from the Testina Gentile is similar to the Fatboy on 7, for me. Very efficient. The cap on this thing looks almost identical to my old open comb Fatip cap; I know it is supposedly a mm or two wider, but it looks very similar. There is a LOT of blade showing on either side of this cap. In fact, the whole razor looks almost exactly like the Fatip open comb except that it has a safety bar. I wonder how much different the heads really are? My guess is that they are not as different as people think.
For me the razor is incredibly intuitive. I had the right angle immediately after placing it to the face. It's smooth and mows through stubble like a hot knife through butter. No tugging at all. Just a smooth shaving head. It curves the blade a lot and has a very curved baseplate; this design has always been a winner for me.
The bad. It's a bit difficult to get the blade lined up correctly, as there is a lot of blade play around those bullets (posts). The cap doesn't completely cover the tabs, which should be helpful, but when I was trying to move the blade over a bit it seemed like the entire top cap wanted to move over with it, which made centering the blade difficult. Kind of a pain but certainly not the end of the world. I load the blade the night before so I don't have to do this when I'm bleary-eyed tired after just getting up out of bed.
Also, the razor just looks cheap. I know it's supposedly plated brass, but it almost looks like molded plastic. The gold colored plating is overly bright and cheap looking.
The ugly. This is the worst handle in the history of shaving. I absolutely hate it. I have NEVER, EVER had problems with grip on any prior razor, and I have never understood when people complained about slippery grips, but this grip is INCREDIBLY slick. It's slick even when it's dry! When it gets wet it's like a water slide. And if any lather gets on it, it fills in the ridges on the handle and it's almost impossible to hold the thing. This morning I had to dry it off THREE TIMES during the shave. I hate this handle. With a passion. The head is good enough that I may have somebody make me a custom handle (Fatips have an unusual thread size, so most handles won't work), but I cannot shave with this razor with this Godawful handle on it.
There you have it. The Fatip Testina Gentile. A great, great, smooth-shaving head with a terrible handle. The other problems are surmountable, but I don't know how anybody shaves with this thing on this handle.
The good. Whoever said this razor was too mild for them must shave everyday with an R41; despite the name saying "gentile," this is NOT a really mild razor. For the week prior to its arrival, I shaved with a Fatboy set anywhere from 6 to 8 every day; the shave from the Testina Gentile is similar to the Fatboy on 7, for me. Very efficient. The cap on this thing looks almost identical to my old open comb Fatip cap; I know it is supposedly a mm or two wider, but it looks very similar. There is a LOT of blade showing on either side of this cap. In fact, the whole razor looks almost exactly like the Fatip open comb except that it has a safety bar. I wonder how much different the heads really are? My guess is that they are not as different as people think.
For me the razor is incredibly intuitive. I had the right angle immediately after placing it to the face. It's smooth and mows through stubble like a hot knife through butter. No tugging at all. Just a smooth shaving head. It curves the blade a lot and has a very curved baseplate; this design has always been a winner for me.
The bad. It's a bit difficult to get the blade lined up correctly, as there is a lot of blade play around those bullets (posts). The cap doesn't completely cover the tabs, which should be helpful, but when I was trying to move the blade over a bit it seemed like the entire top cap wanted to move over with it, which made centering the blade difficult. Kind of a pain but certainly not the end of the world. I load the blade the night before so I don't have to do this when I'm bleary-eyed tired after just getting up out of bed.
Also, the razor just looks cheap. I know it's supposedly plated brass, but it almost looks like molded plastic. The gold colored plating is overly bright and cheap looking.
The ugly. This is the worst handle in the history of shaving. I absolutely hate it. I have NEVER, EVER had problems with grip on any prior razor, and I have never understood when people complained about slippery grips, but this grip is INCREDIBLY slick. It's slick even when it's dry! When it gets wet it's like a water slide. And if any lather gets on it, it fills in the ridges on the handle and it's almost impossible to hold the thing. This morning I had to dry it off THREE TIMES during the shave. I hate this handle. With a passion. The head is good enough that I may have somebody make me a custom handle (Fatips have an unusual thread size, so most handles won't work), but I cannot shave with this razor with this Godawful handle on it.
There you have it. The Fatip Testina Gentile. A great, great, smooth-shaving head with a terrible handle. The other problems are surmountable, but I don't know how anybody shaves with this thing on this handle.
