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Focus on Vintage DEs for 2 Weeks: 4/1 - 4/15

I finished my shave and I just wanted to say thank you @never-stop-learning for starting this thread 🥰 it gave me reason to remember why I really appreciate and love my vintage Gillette razors .
Today's shave was as good or better than anything modern that I own or have tried . Everything from the razor to the soap worked together for a super comfortable BBS outcome.
The soap was by itself was amazing, if there is anyone that might be able to give me more info about it I would greatly appreciate it. A very sophisticated sent with great lather and slickness .View attachment 1248368View attachment 1248369

An actual red black set handle ;)
 
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1940's Gillette Tech, made in England.
 

BradWorld

Dances with Wolfs
Today I went with a NEW LC head mounted on a handle made from spent .308 brass. What a fabulous razor. As I mentioned yesterday, Gillette got it so right with a lot of these early razors. First use with Cattie's Bubbles Tonsorial Parlor. Great lather, and excellent scent. I have other Cattie's soaps. The maker lives relatively close to me, and we see each other at some of the local shaving meetups. He is a super nice guy, and his soaps are top shelf in my experience. My brush was a Leo Frilot Timberwolf. I used a vintage 1980's Wizamet blade that has 2 prior shaves on the meter. I am going to keep using that blade until it stops being amazing. The last one went a couple of dozen shaves, but I lost count at some point on that one. Finished it up with 42 splash. Great shave today!

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Shaved today and yesterday with my birth razor, an E2 Flair Tip with a Schick Super Chromium blade. Used The Elf Den yesterday and TOBS St. James today. I can't tell you how happy I am with those vintage Schick blades that my father-in-law apparently liked as well.
 

never-stop-learning

Demoted To Moderator
Staff member
I finished my shave and I just wanted to say thank you @never-stop-learning for starting this thread 🥰 it gave me reason to remember why I really appreciate and love my vintage Gillette razors .
Today's shave was as good or better than anything modern that I own or have tried . Everything from the razor to the soap worked together for a super comfortable BBS outcome.
The soap was by itself was amazing, if there is anyone that might be able to give me more info about it I would greatly appreciate it. A very sophisticated sent with great lather and slickness .View attachment 1248368View attachment 1248369
You are most welcome, my friend. :)

Shaving with my vintage razors has been an absolute joy. Great shaves and so cool to be using these wonderful razors that still keep up with current offerings. :cool:
 

BradWorld

Dances with Wolfs
Shaving with my vintage razors has been an absolute joy. Great shaves and so cool to be using these wonderful razors that still keep up with current offerings. :cool:

I concur. My shaves the last two days have been as good as I can get. Both razors were vintage Gillette’s.... sub-$20 flea market beaters. Both razors resulted in shaves just about as good as a Wolfman or Timeless. So yes, they absolutely keep up. However, once you throw in the added benefits and pleasures of using a highly engineered modern razor, the scales do tip towards the expensive high zoot razors quite quickly. I’m talking about balance, face feel, smoothness, and the equally important joy of using expensive shiny toys, skillfully machined from a precious metal by a skilled artisan. So while some vintage razors can provide shave results that rival my most expensive modern razors, if I were forced to make a choice, I would choose a highly engineered modern razor every time.

But many, many thanks to David @never-stop-learning for starting this participation event. I have pulled out razors that I haven’t used in a long time.... like years. And I have enjoyed that thoroughly. And another thing I did very differently is shave every day since March 31st. I haven’t shaved more than two days in a row in decades. I wanted to see if having a vintage razor shave on a daily basis would make a difference and provide better shaves.... I doesn’t really for me. I have very fine hair that doesn’t thicken up until I leave it for at least 5 days. So shaving every 2nd or 3rd day is the sweet spot for me.

Tomorrow will most likely be my last day participating, as I am leaving for a week long camping trip. This event will be over before I get back. And I don’t shave while I’m camping for a week or less. So enjoy the shaves!
 

never-stop-learning

Demoted To Moderator
Staff member
I concur. My shaves the last two days have been as good as I can get. Both razors were vintage Gillette’s.... sub-$20 flea market beaters. Both razors resulted in shaves just about as good as a Wolfman or Timeless. So yes, they absolutely keep up. However, once you throw in the added benefits and pleasures of using a highly engineered modern razor, the scales do tip towards the expensive high zoot razors quite quickly. I’m talking about balance, face feel, smoothness, and the equally important joy of using expensive shiny toys, skillfully machined from a precious metal by a skilled artisan. So while some vintage razors can provide shave results that rival my most expensive modern razors, if I were forced to make a choice, I would choose a highly engineered modern razor every time.

But many, many thanks to David @never-stop-learning for starting this participation event. I have pulled out razors that I haven’t used in a long time.... like years. And I have enjoyed that thoroughly. And another thing I did very differently is shave every day since March 31st. I haven’t shaved more than two days in a row in decades. I wanted to see if having a vintage razor shave on a daily basis would make a difference and provide better shaves.... I doesn’t really for me. I have very fine hair that doesn’t thicken up until I leave it for at least 5 days. So shaving every 2nd or 3rd day is the sweet spot for me.

Tomorrow will most likely be my last day participating, as I am leaving for a week long camping trip. This event will be over before I get back. And I don’t shave while I’m camping for a week or less. So enjoy the shaves!

Thank you, my friend. :)

Be safe and have a great camping trip. :cool:
 

never-stop-learning

Demoted To Moderator
Staff member
Thursday 20210408
Vintage April
shave 20210408.jpg

Razor: Star DE
Blade: Perma-Sharp (5 and retired)
Brush: Rudy Vey 'The Favorite' (Shavemac 24mm 2-band Silvertip)
Bowl: Captain's Choice Copper
Lather: Musgo Real Classic
Moisturizer: Nivea Post Shave Balm + Hyaluronic Acid
Aftershave: Old Spice Classic

This is an early Star DE - all Brass. Shaves similar to a Gillette Tech, but more efficient. A really nice vintage razor that produces great results. :)

Excellent shave! :cool:
 
Brush: Skaer Bros. boar
Soap: Mystic Water windjammer
Razor: Gillette 1946-47 Aristocrat
Blade: Fresh Feather
Post: Thayer rose
After: Avon spicy
this time around my blade and I were fresh, made for a great shave. I recalled why I loved and used this model so much a decade ago, nimble and efficient.
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Well I tried my 1918 Pocket Edition Old Type along with my Feather AC today . . . and got two pretty good nicks right off the bat on my chin, so I switched back to my trusty postwar Tech for the vintage part of the shave. I think I've been working on steep angle shaving with other razors and I feel the Old Type really favors a very shallow angle for me.

Arko was a fun soap to use again. I loaded it like crazy. Proraso Green aftershave splash with its almost oily finish was a good complement to add back some moisture.

I did have an unusual amount of irritation by the end of the shave, however. With all the strange variables in play, it's not clear how I offended my skin so much! I might have just overdone it in general tonight. Time to get back to tried and true basics again. Onward.
 

BradWorld

Dances with Wolfs
For my last shave during this fine event, I am breaking out my birthday M-4 Slim. No it’s not my birthday. But I did just get it back from a refinish and tune-up at North Shore Razors. I needed to shave with it once to break it in before I store it away until my next birthday in December. I really do only shave with this razor once a year. I have a collection of M-4 Gillettes that I use for my birthday week shaves. But this Slim is the razor I use on my actual birthday. I wanted to make that once a year shave that much more special. So this was what I had done. Now I need an orange Paladin to match! Today’s shave included an 80’s Polish Wizamet, the Slim on 9, Mogno, Leo Frilot Timberwolf, and 42 Splash. Excellent near-BBS shave.

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never-stop-learning

Demoted To Moderator
Staff member
For my last shave during this fine event, I am breaking out my birthday M-4 Slim. No it’s not my birthday. But I did just get it back from a refinish and tune-up at North Shore Razors. I needed to shave with it once to break it in before I store it away until my next birthday in December. I really do only shave with this razor once a year. I have a collection of M-4 Gillettes that I use for my birthday week shaves. But this Slim is the razor I use on my actual birthday. I wanted to make that once a year shave that much more special. So this was what I had done. Now I need an orange Paladin to match! Today’s shave included an 80’s Polish Wizamet, the Slim on 9, Mogno, Leo Frilot Timberwolf, and 42 Splash. Excellent near-BBS shave.

View attachment 1248982

Beautiful birthday razor! :thumbup:

Have fun camping and thank you for sharing your stunning vintage razors! :cool:
 
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