We all know this feeling: you stumble upon a product, but find it to be discontinued. And that is exactly what happened to me.
At the beginning of this year first reports about the Green Cult flooded all major shaving fora. It seemed like a coordinated action from the company. Looking at their commercial made me laugh. A guy was using the razor (no blade) like a snow shovel. On top of that, some wet shavers pointed at similarities in design and packaging of cheap Chinese razors, sold as environmental friendly sustainable gear. And that is what the selling company pursues: sustainability. I thought some clever person imported razors from China, pretending to be the real thing and being truly dedicated to the future of Mother Earth.
So I ignored the Green Cult.
Fast forward. Two weeks ago I stumbled on a few threads on this forum about this razor. Much to my surprise, some members I hold in the highest esteem sung their praise on the Green Cult. I should mention that those members enjoy aggressive razors, like I do. What I didn't like was they mentioned the razor was going to be replaced with a new model.
So I visited the company's website and thought I was lucky. It was still for sale. I thought. Nope. I found out the original model with large blade gap had been replaced by a much milder version in june.
You can imagine my annoyance.
Being something like a pit bull, I mailed the company. And even though their reaction was swift and very friendly, the owner, Valerie, had to tell me the original Green Cult had been indeed discontinued. She pointed out there was a new razor coming soon, with different heads, from mild to aggressive. More expensive, but still at a very reasonable price, compared to other artisan razors.
Lucky for me, I didn't give up at this point. And to my joy, I found an Italian dealer who had two left in stock. So I bought one and after using it purchased the last one he had stocked.
I did that because it was clear to me after shaving with it, this razor is going to be a cult razor. Not only because it was produced in rather limited amounts, but because it is a fantastic razor.
A short impression of my first shave: I like aggressive razors, so my judgement of a razor starts there.
Looking at the blade gap and exposure (0.95 and 0.25) this steel razor fits my bill. Compared to most of my vintage bakelite, these measures are in the same range as these oldies in my collection, though not as extreme as some of my best bakelites. I stated before I suspect aggressive razors were much more common in the old days, probably due to the fact people used DE razors from a young age, leading to great skill.
One might expect a risky shave with the Green Cult 1.0, but this is not the case. At all. I pushed it real hard, using different angles and pressure. The razor didn't seem to mind and kept mowing down the stubble like a scythe. Very, very impressive.
Some say the Green Cult was designed for men and women. They say the handle is extra long, to enable leg shaving. This may be the case, but unlike most other users I did not replace the handle. I shave my head, and the long handle is helpfull when shaving the back of my skull. As a matter of fact: I like long handles. For me, they allow better manoeuvering during both beard and head shave, even though this requires a nimble touch.
Needless to say the Green Cult 1.0 produced a top notch shave. I don't think many other razors in my bulking den could outperform it. I am very happy I jumped the fence in the final minute.
The new version may be just as good with the aggressive head, we'll have to see. But I would like this small Austrian to become even more succesfull. They pioneered and came up with this gem of a razor from scratch. I like that and succes for them would be very much deserved.
Hats off for the company FairSchenkt from Austria
At the beginning of this year first reports about the Green Cult flooded all major shaving fora. It seemed like a coordinated action from the company. Looking at their commercial made me laugh. A guy was using the razor (no blade) like a snow shovel. On top of that, some wet shavers pointed at similarities in design and packaging of cheap Chinese razors, sold as environmental friendly sustainable gear. And that is what the selling company pursues: sustainability. I thought some clever person imported razors from China, pretending to be the real thing and being truly dedicated to the future of Mother Earth.
So I ignored the Green Cult.
Fast forward. Two weeks ago I stumbled on a few threads on this forum about this razor. Much to my surprise, some members I hold in the highest esteem sung their praise on the Green Cult. I should mention that those members enjoy aggressive razors, like I do. What I didn't like was they mentioned the razor was going to be replaced with a new model.
So I visited the company's website and thought I was lucky. It was still for sale. I thought. Nope. I found out the original model with large blade gap had been replaced by a much milder version in june.
You can imagine my annoyance.
Being something like a pit bull, I mailed the company. And even though their reaction was swift and very friendly, the owner, Valerie, had to tell me the original Green Cult had been indeed discontinued. She pointed out there was a new razor coming soon, with different heads, from mild to aggressive. More expensive, but still at a very reasonable price, compared to other artisan razors.
Lucky for me, I didn't give up at this point. And to my joy, I found an Italian dealer who had two left in stock. So I bought one and after using it purchased the last one he had stocked.
I did that because it was clear to me after shaving with it, this razor is going to be a cult razor. Not only because it was produced in rather limited amounts, but because it is a fantastic razor.
A short impression of my first shave: I like aggressive razors, so my judgement of a razor starts there.
Looking at the blade gap and exposure (0.95 and 0.25) this steel razor fits my bill. Compared to most of my vintage bakelite, these measures are in the same range as these oldies in my collection, though not as extreme as some of my best bakelites. I stated before I suspect aggressive razors were much more common in the old days, probably due to the fact people used DE razors from a young age, leading to great skill.
One might expect a risky shave with the Green Cult 1.0, but this is not the case. At all. I pushed it real hard, using different angles and pressure. The razor didn't seem to mind and kept mowing down the stubble like a scythe. Very, very impressive.
Some say the Green Cult was designed for men and women. They say the handle is extra long, to enable leg shaving. This may be the case, but unlike most other users I did not replace the handle. I shave my head, and the long handle is helpfull when shaving the back of my skull. As a matter of fact: I like long handles. For me, they allow better manoeuvering during both beard and head shave, even though this requires a nimble touch.
Needless to say the Green Cult 1.0 produced a top notch shave. I don't think many other razors in my bulking den could outperform it. I am very happy I jumped the fence in the final minute.
The new version may be just as good with the aggressive head, we'll have to see. But I would like this small Austrian to become even more succesfull. They pioneered and came up with this gem of a razor from scratch. I like that and succes for them would be very much deserved.
Hats off for the company FairSchenkt from Austria
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