It is beautiful, but it shaves even better. Let us know.Yes. I was wondering why people said the edges were too sharp, but today I looked into the matter and found out that the new releases have rounded edges.
Here are some pictures that clearly show this improvement:
Lambda Athena
- Thread starter Mr. Shavington
- Start date
Of course, I will definitely give feedback.
Last night I had a very close shave with the Blackbird and today there is almost nothing to shave. So the test will be delayed by a few days.
I would like to try it on a bit more growth, 3-4 days, how will it go.
Fantastic three pass shave today. Super efficient with no cleanup necessary.
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Yowza, that’s gorgeous!Lambda Athena | Stirling's Synthetic 26mm Shave Brush | Gillette Platinum | Stirling Unscented with Beeswax | Stirling Glacial PS Balm | Speick AFL
Fantastic three pass shave today. Super efficient with no cleanup necessary.
The more I use this, the better it gets. I've noticed it gets a bit sticky when riding the cap, though. Anybody else notice that?
Could be, but I haven't found myself there. Personally, I looked to early reviews stating to LISTEN. And by listening I believe I've found the Athena's sweet spot. For me it's a bit steep, but not awkwardly so. YMMV.
Yep I noticed that sticky a little bit when you get on that top cap some. I noticed this with a razor or two besides this one, I can't remember which ones at the moment, but they weren't known for it.
I just checked the Lambda website and there are only 2 Athenas left. If you have been interested, jump off the fence and do yourself a favor and buy it now or wait for 3 more months.
That has been my experience too. I ride the cap ATG and it has to do with lubrication. It’s a signal for me that I need to rinse the razor.
Guido
I’ve noticed the stickiness. It’s my only complaint about the razor. I’m usually a bit lackadaisical and overlap my passes with no negative consequences. I’ve found I can’t do that with the Athena though.
However, Cal mentioned leaving the razor in contact with your skin during the backstroke and that does alleviate the stickiness. It’s just a little awkward from a technique perspective at first.
I see a lot of comments about razors being sticky - mostly the bead blasted variety, however. This is a first, with a polished cap.
Frankly, I don't think the finish has anything to do with it.
I'm with you @Guido75, and it's also a signal (at least to me) that I either didn't dial in my lather well, or that it's drying out and needs a refresh.
I've played around with hydration levels quite a bit, and this doesn't seem to be the issue. Best I can tell, it's the low humidity here in Colorado. I'm curious as to other dwellers of dry climes and their experiences in this regard.
... Thom
Interestingly enough it happens to my Ti95 as well on occasion.
And I think this is my culprit as well. It’sa sign of me going too long without relathering.
I live in a sea climate so dry is a relative terms in the Netherlands. I also have quite hard water which might be a contributing factor too but I don’t know for sure.
Guido
I know this was mentioned as “not the cause”, but if my lather looks like Greek yogurt, that’s when I experienced it. I use thinner lather now and I haven’t had the cap/razor stall out since.
I do have to add a couple sprays of water to the bowl for the second pass sometimes and almost always have to add it as I whip the lather back up for the final pass.
If you face lather, I would guess you have to do something similar.
I do have to add a couple sprays of water to the bowl for the second pass sometimes and almost always have to add it as I whip the lather back up for the final pass.
If you face lather, I would guess you have to do something similar.
That's odd. I would have thought the opposite. I'll have to see if I get the same results.
I think you never know until you mess around with soap mix. And different soaps have different qualities, I mean like slickness & cushion to different degrees and whatnot.
Originally planned to be a shave without aftershave, my skin felt good enough to apply some Dapper Dan Blue.
I am posting this late as I was busy during back the automation invasion on Marfark right after shaving.
First shave with Lambda Athena.
After feeling their working qualities, I have to say that the unique design and perfect craftsmanship take a back seat. The focus definitely shifts to how he shaves. I have to admit that when I looked at the technical specifications, a gap of only 0.34 mm and zero blade exposure, I expected a compromise shave, at the expense of comfort. Well, nothing like that!
The theoretical specifications, in no way, suggest the practical possibilities and the way it actually shaves.
Got my easiest and fastest BBS today with absolutely no irritation. It shows that it was made by an excellent engineer with experience, skill and passion for shaving. This shaver is at least as efficient as the Muhle Rocca, and quite possibly more so (I have yet to find out) and is very close to the Blackbird, but the shaving comfort it offers is on a whole other level. (I compare with the mentioned razors, because of the ones I have, it is the closest to them in terms of efficiency). It's so soft, gentle and smooth that I feel like I can shave with just water. I don't use alum constantly, because for me personally, it irritates more than the other way around. But when I try a new razor, I check how much it scratched me. But now, I didn't feel anything, like running an ice pack over my face. You don't feel alum, you don't feel aftershave... total boredom. I guess the reasons for this performance are clever engineering decisions in the design of the head.
Even after the first rinse, I realized that the head holds water and gradually releases it when it is passed over the skin, thus creating extra slipperiness. BUT, it can drip more than one would like. If you don't want this water to stay in your head, you can shake the razor sideways and it will fall. The rinsing itself is also very interesting. When the jet of water hits the safety strip, the foam and water are removed from the grooves directed on both sides, coming out literally in jets. In fact, I've noticed that the lather comes out through these holes when shaving itself, even without rinsing.
According to the engineer who designed the razor, this specification ensures that the head will never clog and at the same time foam will not be driven towards the handle.
The blade grips perfectly between the two plates, without any vibration (so-called chatter or rattle) which makes shaving against the hair significantly more comfortable than any others I've tried.
I followed her for quite some time, but did not order because there was no availability, and I did not want to wait three months and more, signing up for the preliminary lists.
Now that I have already tried it, I understand that this is indeed a very special razor that is unlike any of the others I have, not only in appearance, but also in performance.
It definitely exceeded my expectations and I'm glad I was lucky enough to get it so easily, skipping the pesky pre-lists.
After feeling their working qualities, I have to say that the unique design and perfect craftsmanship take a back seat. The focus definitely shifts to how he shaves. I have to admit that when I looked at the technical specifications, a gap of only 0.34 mm and zero blade exposure, I expected a compromise shave, at the expense of comfort. Well, nothing like that!
The theoretical specifications, in no way, suggest the practical possibilities and the way it actually shaves.
Got my easiest and fastest BBS today with absolutely no irritation. It shows that it was made by an excellent engineer with experience, skill and passion for shaving. This shaver is at least as efficient as the Muhle Rocca, and quite possibly more so (I have yet to find out) and is very close to the Blackbird, but the shaving comfort it offers is on a whole other level. (I compare with the mentioned razors, because of the ones I have, it is the closest to them in terms of efficiency). It's so soft, gentle and smooth that I feel like I can shave with just water. I don't use alum constantly, because for me personally, it irritates more than the other way around. But when I try a new razor, I check how much it scratched me. But now, I didn't feel anything, like running an ice pack over my face. You don't feel alum, you don't feel aftershave... total boredom. I guess the reasons for this performance are clever engineering decisions in the design of the head.
Even after the first rinse, I realized that the head holds water and gradually releases it when it is passed over the skin, thus creating extra slipperiness. BUT, it can drip more than one would like. If you don't want this water to stay in your head, you can shake the razor sideways and it will fall. The rinsing itself is also very interesting. When the jet of water hits the safety strip, the foam and water are removed from the grooves directed on both sides, coming out literally in jets. In fact, I've noticed that the lather comes out through these holes when shaving itself, even without rinsing.
According to the engineer who designed the razor, this specification ensures that the head will never clog and at the same time foam will not be driven towards the handle.
The blade grips perfectly between the two plates, without any vibration (so-called chatter or rattle) which makes shaving against the hair significantly more comfortable than any others I've tried.
I followed her for quite some time, but did not order because there was no availability, and I did not want to wait three months and more, signing up for the preliminary lists.
Now that I have already tried it, I understand that this is indeed a very special razor that is unlike any of the others I have, not only in appearance, but also in performance.
It definitely exceeded my expectations and I'm glad I was lucky enough to get it so easily, skipping the pesky pre-lists.
I can only share my experiences, but I’ve tried quite a few razors over the years and the Athena is the only one I’ve experienced the “sticky” sensation with. And just to be clear, the stickiness was only noticed during overlapping passes, not during the first pass. Meaning, with most razors I can slightly overlap passes with no issue; that’s not the case with the Athena. If I overlap passes at all with it I get the sticky sensation like the razor isn’t gliding smoothly but is instead moving through syrup.
I don’t think it’s a lather hydration issue either. I use MdC most of the time and it’s become very easy for me to get the lather I’m looking for. I start out dry and add water to my bowl as necessary. It’s essentially identical from shave to shave, and I’ve never experienced that stickiness with any other razor, regardless of price or era or how much I overlap passes.
The only thing I can figure is that part of what makes the Athena shave so close also causes it to remove practically all the lather on your face so that even slightly overlapping passes aren’t possible without feeling sticky. Although, as mentioned previously, Cal’s suggestion to leave the razor in contact with the skin during the backstroke does alleviate the stickiness quite a bit, which further indicates that the Athena removes more lather from the face during a pass than most razors do.
To be clear, the removal of all lather is certainly not a negative against the Athena, it just requires a slight adjustment to the technique that I’ve become used to.
Fascinating. I need to observe how much lather my Athena leaves behind. I'm not in an Athena cycle at the moment. I've been using Haslingers Schafmilch which leaves quite a bit of lubricity behind, even when you don't see any on your face.
... Thom
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