Journey to find my razor preference

[Ohjay]

Thanks @Guido75. Guess I should've figured there is a difference between the HD and HD500. Always something new to learn


Completely forgot to update here after the latest shave, so it'll be a two-for-one special today.

Date: 2024-03-19
Razor: Schick Krona
Blade: ASTRA - Superior Platinum
Brush: DScosmetic 26mm Tuxedo
Soap: Saponificio Varesino Morado
Aftershave: Simpson Bay rum
Passes: 3
Rating: 7.05

This was a fairly good shave. Easy and effortless and decent shave comfort. Also no nicks or weepers
The quality wasn't great though, somewhere between CCS and DFS and the blade kinda felt dull. I also had some minor skin discomfort during and after the shave.

Date: 2024-03-23
Razor: Schick Krona
Blade: ASTRA - Superior Platinum
Brush: DScosmetic 26mm Tuxedo
Soap: Saponificio Varesino Morado
Aftershave: Simpson Bay rum
Passes: 3
Rating: 8.8
Rating is a combination of shave comfort and quality

This shave was excellent. The perceived dullness of the blade was gone during this shave and it was smooth, easy and effortless and about as near full BBS you can get without actually having a full BBS. Just one or two spots with DFS quality.
I was a bit careless on the ATG pass and ended up with one weeper.
Strange how the feeling of the blade can change like that. It probably isn't the blade, rather that I had less than perfect angles on the previous shave and today I nailed them.


Since changing how I documented each shave I haven't really done anything with the data and I've been meaning to summarize it to get an overview of average rating for each razor as well as the average rating for each razor & blade combo.
A few days ago I finally got around to it and at the time of writing this is what it looks like:

Note: A couple of the razor names need to be updated as they are incorrect.

No real surprises I guess, and there is still a lot of untried razors and what feels like a million different combos left to try.
The journey continues!

 

[Guido75]

Thanks @Guido75. Guess I should've figured there is a difference between the HD and HD500. Always something new to learn

No worries. Most of my learnings are from moments I was a complete noob on the task at hand! I first thought I had an Aristocrat Jr on my hands when I learned it was the HD500.

The HD is a splendid razor regardless of 500 addition.

 

[Ohjay]

Date: 2024-03-25
Razor: Gillette USA Fat handle Tech Gold Post-war
Blade: Personna - Royal
Brush: Yaqi 24mm Sagrada Familia tuxedo knot
Soap: Saponificio Varesino Cosmo
Aftershave: Simpson Bay rum
Passes: 3
Rating: 8.15
Rating is a combination of shave comfort and quality

Decided to go back to one of my Techs and also to try a new blade.
To be honest this shave was weird. First two passes were great. Smooth, easy, effortless and it felt like the blade cut really well. But when I felt my face after each pass I was surprised by how much stubble I still felt.
That came back to bite me on the ATG pass which was a little bit rougher due to how much "stubble" was left after the first two passes and because of this I ended up with a couple of nicks.
Just based on this first experience with this blade I would say I would need, at least, three passes before doing ATG.
Anyway, even though the ATG was a little rough the quality was still quite good and mostly DFS.

It's been about three months since I last used this Tech but oh man, it's such a nice razor. I kinda feel spoiled using it, so easy and feels good in my hand. I'd say it's definitely one of my favourites so far.

 

[thombrogan]

Please heal quickly, @Ohjay

 

[Ohjay]

Date: 2024-03-27
Razor: Gillette USA Fat handle Tech Gold Post-war
Blade: Personna - Royal
Brush: Yaqi 24mm Huskey
Soap: Saponificio Varesino Cosmo
Aftershave: Simpson Bay rum
Passes: 3
Rating: 8.225
Rating is a combination of shave comfort and quality

The shave today was almost an exact copy of the last shave. It was a slightly more comfortable shave but I also felt like the quality was just a fraction worse. And as with the last time, three nicks and in the same spot as last time (the troublesome spot on my neck).
Not much else to say to be honest, and I guess it's nice to have two very similar shaves in a row. But I would've preferred a closer shave and with a little better quality, despite this being a very serviceable shave.

 

[Ohjay]

Date: 2024-03-29
Razor: Gillette USA Fat handle Tech Gold Post-war
Blade: Personna - Royal
Brush: DScosmetic 26mm Tuxedo
Soap: Saponificio Varesino Cosmo
Aftershave: Arran Machrie
Passes: 3
Rating: 8.75
Rating is a combination of shave comfort and quality

Another repeat shave in almost all aspects. Easy, effortless and smooth.
This was by far the smoothest and most comfortable shave with this combo, even ATG felt okay.
Quality also improved and I had the best quality shave so far with this combo, so very close to BBS but just a fraction short.
This has me wondering what has caused this improvement, is it the blade that needed to be "broken in" or did I have to "remember" how to use the Tech since it had been a while since using it? Who knows. It will be interesting to try this blade in a different razor and see if it follows the same pattern.

Speaking of different razors, it's razor sharing time and probably something you don't see every day

Unfortunately I do not read cyrillic so I do not know a whole lot about this razor. The seller claimed that it is called "Ideal" and made in the Soviet Union.
I hadn't really looked at the instructions that came with it so I hadn't noticed the date stamps or the CCCP "logo", so made in Soviet and in '86 seems likely.
It looks a lot like a copy of a Gillette Super-adjustable.

 

[Ohjay]

Date: 2024-03-30
Razor: Gillette USA Fat handle Tech Gold Post-war
Blade: Kai – Stainless Steel
Brush: Yaqi 24mm Sagrada Familia tuxedo knot
Soap: Saponificio Varesino Cosmo
Aftershave: Arran Machrie
Passes: 3
Rating: 8.625
Rating is a combination of shave comfort and quality

I rarely shave on consecutive days, but today happened to be one of those times.
I've been very intrigued by the Kai razor blades which supposedly are supposed to be quite close to Feather in terms of sharpness and after the recent shaves I felt ready to try them.
The Tech did its usual thing and was quite easy to use and no difficulties to find the correct angles.
Overall a very good shave but I was surprised by how much I could still feel stubble after two passes because the blade felt sharp and as if it cut quite close. But on the final (ATG) pass it did it's thing and gave a great quality. Perhaps a tiny bit worse than the previous shave with the Personna Royal, but it's close.
I was expecting slightly better quality though based on what I had read about these blades.
Perhaps it is the Tech that does not give quite as close a shave as I would like, since the past four shaves have left the same impression. If so, that would be my only knock on the Tech because I find it to be an amazing razor and a clear favourite.

 

[Ohjay]

Date: 2024-04-01
Razor: Gillette USA Fat handle Tech Gold Post-war
Blade: Kai – Stainless Steel
Brush: Yaqi 24mm Huskey
Soap: Saponificio Varesino Cosmo
Aftershave: Arran Machrie
Passes: 3
Rating: 8.275
Rating is a combination of shave comfort and quality

Another very good shave with the Tech and it was interesting to see how the Kai performed with a bit more stubble.
On the first pass it felt a little bit rough, as if the blade had a little bit of trouble cutting the stubble, but it sorted itself out on the second and third pass. It did affect the shave comfort slightly though.
On the flipside the quality improved and I got a BBS shave, even though it is toeing on the margin to be degraded to DFS.

Regarding the closeness of the shave, I did notice that it did take longer for the stubble to come back after the last shave so it was a closer shave than with the Personna Royal, even though I didn't quite perceive it as such.

 

[Ohjay]

Date: 2024-04-03
Razor: Gillette USA Fat handle Tech Gold Post-war
Blade: Kai – Stainless Steel
Brush: Yaqi 24mm Huskey
Soap: Saponificio Varesino Cosmo
Aftershave: Arran Machrie
Passes: 3.5
Rating: 8.775
Rating is a combination of shave comfort and quality

Seems like I forgot to update after the last shave, oops
This was a quite a good shave with good comfort and really good quality. Only going from memory since it's been a few days but I think it was BBS quality. Ended up with a couple of nicks though, but it was the best shave with this razor & blade combo.

It's time to change razor and this is what I'll be using next:

As you might remember, I tried buying something similar a while back but it got a bit too expensive, so since then I've been actively looking for another. It didnt take long because as it would happen there ended up being several for sale on eBay and I managed to snag this one. That was almost a month ago and it was a long wait on shipping and customs clearance before it made it to me.

Anyway, unless I'm mistaken this is a Gillette Sheraton from circa 1937.
When I took these photos I hadn't cleaned it yet so the condition looks worse than it is, because it cleaned up quite nicely. Some of the plating has come off near the TTO knob but otherwise nothing to complain about.
Can't wait to give this one a spin and evaluate it.

 

[Ohjay]

Date: 2024-04-07
Razor: Gillette Sheraton (1937?)
Blade: ASTRA - Superior Platinum
Brush: Yaqi 24mm Sagrada Familia tuxedo knot
Soap: Saponificio Varesino Morado
Aftershave: Simpson Bay rum
Passes: 3
Rating: 9.15
Rating is a combination of shave comfort and quality

Oh my, where to start?
I had an absolutely amazing shave a couple of hours ago and I still can't quite believe it.
The Sheraton exceeded my expectations by a mile, but I can't help but wonder if it is also partially a placebo effect from wanting the razor to be amazing. Or it could be that I was in an excellent mood while shaving. Or, it's just a great razor.
Anyway, as I said, the shave was amazing. Super comfortable, even shaving ATG on the upper lip went quite smoothly. It felt much better than the other open comb razors I've tried.
It was also quite efficient and after the third pass I had a decent BBS shave. Just one nick as well.

I felt it was quite easy to find the angles with this razor, even when holding the razor "upside down" while shaving ATG. As I mentioned it was a quite comfortable shave as well and quite possibly my most comfortable shave yet.
While shaving I couldn't help like feeling that maybe this razor is it, my preference in a razor. But I also know that it is just one shave and more are needed to even start thinking in those terms, but gosh darn it is exciting. Can't wait for the next shave to see if it continues this way.

 

[Ohjay]

Date: 2024-04-09
Razor: Gillette Sheraton (1937?)
Blade: ASTRA - Superior Platinum
Brush: DScosmetic 26mm Tuxedo
Soap: Saponificio Varesino Morado
Aftershave: Simpson Bay rum
Passes: 3
Rating: 8.55
Rating is a combination of shave comfort and quality

Another very, very good shave with this razor. Very easy and effortless shave with plenty of comfort, once again also quite comfortable ATG which I find fairly rare.
I was a bit rushed today though, so the quality suffered a bit, still an okay DFS but I think it could be better. I also got three nicks this time, probably also to the slightly rushed shave.
My impressions from that first shave remains and I still really, really like this razor and I want to experience it with more blades to see if anything changes. Perhaps this is the razor I will stick with for a longer period of time, we'll see.

 

[Ohjay]

Date: 2024-04-12
Razor: Gillette Sheraton (1937?)
Blade: ASTRA - Superior Platinum
Brush: Edwin Jagger Chatsworth
Soap: Saponificio Varesino Morado
Aftershave: Simpson Bay rum
Passes: 3
Rating: 8.9
Rating is a combination of shave comfort and quality

Another excellent shave with the Gillette Sheraton.
I'm really glad my initial impressions remain of this razor. It is very enjoyable to shave with and keeps delivering easy, effortless and comfortable shaves. Even ATG.
Today the quality improved and was more in line with that first shave with this razor and blade combo. No nicks and BBS quality.
I feel like I'm not doing this razor justice in my description of it, but I'm sort of lost for words. I'm just... really enjoying this razor. I can't describe it better yet.

This was the third shave with the Astra blade so next shave I will swap blade and I think I will try the Gillette Nacet in this razor. Here's to hoping it keeps delivering, even after change of blade

 

[Ohjay]

Date: 2024-04-13
Razor: Gillette Sheraton (1937?)
Blade: Gillette - Nacet Stainless
Brush: DScosmetic 26mm Tuxedo
Soap: Saponificio Varesino Cosmo
Aftershave: Simpson Bay rum
Passes: 3
Rating: 9.4
Rating is a combination of shave comfort and quality

Another rare consecutive day shave, but it was needed for certain reasons.
The Gillette Sheraton delivered once again with a very easy, smooth and effortless shave. It was slightly less comfortable with this new blade but the difference was quite small and was mostly noticeable on the ATG pass and specifically shaving the upper lip where there was some light tugging.
Also not sure if it was because it had only been 24 hours since the last shave, or if it was the blade, but there was some minor skin discomfort as I applied the aftershave, but it subsided quickly.
In terms of quality it was a great BBS but I did get a couple of nicks.

One thing I've reflected on with the Sheraton/Astra combo is that it did not quite deliver as close a shave as I would like, and after 24 hours there was a fair amount of stubble.
We'll see if a sharper blade changes things, but I think the razor plays a bigger part in closeness of the shave than the blade does.
But apart from that minor thing, the Sheraton keeps delivering an excellent shaving experience.

 

[Ohjay]

Date: 2024-04-17
Razor: Gillette Sheraton (1937?)
Blade: Gillette - Nacet Stainless
Brush: Yaqi 24mm Huskey
Soap: Saponificio Varesino Cosmo
Aftershave: Simpson Bay rum
Passes: 3
Rating: 9.825
Rating is a combination of shave comfort and quality

Been on a short work trip, and no time for shaving so had a bit longer stubble than usual and I was quite curious as to how the Sheraton would perform for the shave today.
And as can be seen above it performed admirably. I kind of got this silly thought while shaving that the razor said "Oh, what's this? Even more hair to shave? I love it!".
I'm still trying to be grounded in my opinion of this razor but I can't help but feeling that this is it, the perfect razor for me. But it is too early to know for sure. I need to use more blades and challenge it by using blades I have struggled with before.

Anyway, the shave today was as close to perfect as I have ever been. Extremely comfortable, even ATG on all parts of my face and neck. I did have some bloodletting during the shave, but they all closed up by the time the shave was done, so I'll consider that a 0 nick/weeper shave.
In terms of quality it gave me a very, very good BBS shave.

In my last update I mentioned the closeness of the shave and it is a little bit hard to compare shave to shave, but with the Nacet I felt like it took 12-24 hours longer to get the same stubble that I got within 24 hours with the Astra blade, and I am a little bit surprised by that, but do like it since the closeness of the shaves have been my only gripe with this razor.

 

[thombrogan]

I can't help but feeling that this is it, the perfect razor for me. But it is too early to know for sure. I need to use more blades and challenge it by using blades I have struggled with before.

You could just say it’s the perfect razor and blade combo for you and then try to find affordable, legitimate Nacet blades to accumulate for top notch Sheraton shaves.

You wouldn’t know it from my actions, but it’s okay to stop at “the best” and not tell yourself that it’s only the best “so far” and keep spending lots of money in hopes of making small improvements.

 

[steveclarkus]

I recently made an introduction post where I mentioned that I was starting on a journey to find my razor preference and this journal is intended for documenting that journey.

But first a brief recap.
I started shaving with a DE about 5 years ago and the first razor was an Edwin Jagger Plaza, nothing fancy at all but it served it's purpose. With that razor I also tried out various blade brands and felt that Astra and Feather gave me the best shave.
A bit later I got a Merkur 34C as a gift which quickly replaced the EJ, and once again I tried different blades, only this time it was just the Feather that gave me a shave I felt was good enough.
But lately I have felt that there is something missing with the 34C and wanted to buy a new razor. I had no idea what though, and eventually fell down the rabbit hole of vintage DE razors.
Long story short, I ended up buying 8 vintage razors over a couple of days and the journey was started.

Yesterday the first razor arrived and it was one I bought "blind". The listing was sparse with info and the images were not great. I suspected that it might be a 60s Gillette Super Speed but I was far from certain in that assessment.
I'm still not 100% sure of the model, but I think it is actually a British Gillette Rocket Flare Tip. I have no idea about year.
The razor weighs 60g and is 84mm long which fits with the Rocket.
I also considered if it could be a British #80, the rhodium plated one, but the handle is wrong so I do not that is the case.
I forgot to upload the instructions that were included, so I'll add them in a later post, but they don't mention which model it is either.

Anyway, some images:

It had been almost a week since my last shave so it was high time for a new shave so this razor was put through its paces immediately.

The shaving experience was quite different compared to the Merkur 34C as I felt that the angle needed was quite different and also quite narrow. If I veered off then it got very rough, very quick. It's going to take a little bit to get used to.
I also felt that there was a lot more blade feel with this razor which was slightly scary considering I used a Feather blade.
I did three passes, WTG, XTG and finally ATG. XTG but especially ATG felt rough and it felt like I would cut myself badly several times, but that never happened of course.
Considering that it was a new razor, and also a new soap I had not used before, I suppose it's no surprise that I got a few smaller nicks and weepers.
Despite this, the result of the shave was surprisingly great. Big parts of my face ended up BBS and the rest were DFS. I have a couple of areas that usually need 4 passes to get BBS but with this razor they were closer to BBS after three compared to the result with the Merkur 34C.
Another thing that surprised me was how long the smoothness lasted. With the 34C my face starts feeling rough (SAS) after 10-12 hours and it's now been a bit more than 24 hours since I shaved and my face is now starting to have the same roughness.

Each shave I do with these razors will be documented and rated. In an upcoming post I'll show parts of my spreadsheet used for this, but I don't want to spoil the surprise just yet. I'll just say that I will do at minimum three shaves with each new razor to have more data for comparing the razors.

Speaking of spoilers and surprises, I received another razor today. But I will leave that for the next post.

If you ever run across a Gillette New long comb, you might want to give it try. It is my favorite razor and I've not nicked myself with it and it shaves like a dream.

 

[Ohjay]

You could just say it’s the perfect razor and blade combo for you and then try to find affordable, legitimate Nacet blades to accumulate for top notch Sheraton shaves.

You wouldn’t know it from my actions, but it’s okay to stop at “the best” and not tell yourself that it’s only the best “so far” and keep spending lots of money in hopes of making small improvements.

Yeah, that's quite reasonable and I'm beginning to think along those lines.
I do want to try more blades in it since I have a bunch lying around, but I don't quite have the same urge to buy more razors anymore. I still have a few left to share, but if I'm going to buy more I think it would be razors similar to this one, or a Gillette Toggle if I could ever find a cheap one.

If you ever run across a Gillette New long comb, you might want to give it try. It is my favorite razor and I've not nicked myself with it and it shaves like a dream.

Thanks for the tip and I do actually own a NEW Long Comb and it has given me some good shaves, but nothing like this razor. Which is kinda weird since they are quite similar.
I haven't compared blade gap and blade angle though, perhaps there are differences between them in those characteristics.


Date: 2024-04-19
Razor: Gillette Sheraton (1937?)
Blade: Gillette - Nacet Stainless
Brush: Yaqi 24mm Sagrada Familia tuxedo knot
Soap: Saponificio Varesino Cosmo
Aftershave: Arran Machrie
Passes: 3
Rating: 8.9
Rating is a combination of shave comfort and quality

It wasn't planned, but todays shave turned out to be a little bit of a challenge for the Sheraton.
I did not feel like shaving, but had decided that I would shave today, so my mindset wasn't the best and usually that ends up with mediocre or even bad shaves.
But not with this razor. It was just as comfortable, easy and effortless as all the other shaves. The quality did suffer a bit though and it was mostly BBS but with a few DFS spots. Still a remarkable good shave considering my state of mind.

So, the razor keeps delivering and next time I use it it will be with a blade I've struggled with. Not sure which one yet though.

 

[Ohjay]

Date: 2024-04-21
Razor: Gillette Sheraton (1937?)
Blade: Dorco - Titan
Brush: Yaqi 24mm Huskey
Soap: Saponificio Varesino Morado
Aftershave: Arran Machrie
Passes: 3
Rating: 7.05
Rating is a combination of shave comfort and quality

I remember that I struggled with this blade the last time, so I figured why not try it in this, so far, great razor?
Had to go back and check my notes in the journey to refresh my memory as well.

Anyway, quite a big difference from the last two blades I tried in the Sheraton.
This one was not nearly as comfortable and it felt like the blade struggled to cut the hairs, kind of like trying to cut down a tree with a kitchen knife. It also got caught a bit on the ATG pass on the upper lip. And to add insult to injury I got a fair few nicks, 5 I think, and sensitive skin after the shave.
In terms of quality it faired quite well though considering the perceived struggles of cutting the hairs, and I'd say it's a lower grade DFS.
All in all it was not the same enjoyable experience as I had with the Astra and Nacet blades, to the point where I actually was thinking of ditching this blade after one shave, but I will keep at it.

When I re-read my previous shave with this blade it is eerily similar. Skin irritation, some struggles with cutting the hairs and so-so quality.
I guess this is a blade that just does not agree with me, so even a great razor might not be able to save the blade.


It's also time to share a new razor. I bought this on a whim while waiting for the Sheraton. Didn't quite know what it was until I got it:

Unless I'm mistaken this is a Gillette The NEW No77. Even after a soapy soak and cleaning with toothpaste and isopropyl there is still a fair amount of old gunk, but apart from that it seems to be in decent condition.
It will be interesting to compare this to my other The NEW and see if there's any major differences in how they perform and feel.

 

[Guido75]

Yes that’s the NEW Raised Flat Bottom alright. Should be a smooth shave with your tekst NEW feeling potentially more effective. At least that’s what I feel about the NEW RFB.

Nice find! Enjoy!

Guido

 

[Ohjay]

Yes that’s the NEW Raised Flat Bottom alright. Should be a smooth shave with your tekst NEW feeling potentially more effective. At least that’s what I feel about the NEW RFB.

Nice find! Enjoy!

Guido

Thanks for the info, always much appreciated. Will be interesting to try it eventually.

Date: 2024-04-23
Razor: Gillette Sheraton (1937?)
Blade: Dorco - Titan
Brush: DScosmetic 26mm Tuxedo
Soap: Saponificio Varesino Morado
Aftershave: Arran Machrie
Passes: 3
Rating: 7.95
Rating is a combination of shave comfort and quality

Had a much better experience using the Dorco blade today. It was more comfortable, but still struggled on the ATG pass. I did get some mild skin irritation again though, and only 3 nicks this time which all happened on the ATG pass.
The quality was better too, a very respectable DFS.
We'll see if it will improve on the third shave as well, then maybe this is a blade that I have to do some corking (or whatever it's called) to make it better to use for me.