GIVEAWAY! Participation PIF - A Tale Of Two Bridges

[Tathlum]

Razor- Yaqi Monarch
Blade- Light Brigade blade 1 shave 3
Soap- RazoRock Irish Countryside
Brush- 22mm pure badger
Aftershave- Stetson cooling moisture

DFS with minimal irritation. This blade has settled down a bit and leaving me with much smoother results.

 

[ajkel64]

Participation PIF: A Tale Of Two Bridges.​

Week three for me this week. This week’s blade is the Vintage Wilkinson Sword The Light Brigade Chromium blade. Similar start to the last two weeks. This morning’s shave was okay, this is another blade that may take a shave or two to mellow out. I had no blood etc and there was a little sting when I applied my Alum Block. I am hoping that this blade can last my usual seven shaves but we will see.

 

[fast shaver]

London Bridge China Blade #2 Shave #1
Tools: Wolfman Razor, Mogno Soap, Plissoft Brush & Coachman Spice Aftershave.
Got a very nice two pass shave today.
The Chinese blade was very smooth on the first pass, I don't know why others are having trouble with this blade.?
Coachman aftershave gave me some moderate sting though.

 

[geneaut]

Wilkinson Sword Light Brigrade Blade #1 Shave #6

I put the LB in my Parker Semi Slant and it erased whiskers. I also managed two small nicks, one of which I am convinced was a skin bump. Oddly enough there was almost no irritation or pain. I'll be sure to use a touch less pressure next time on with the Parker and this blade. It was a very close shave. Maybe the closest I've had in a long time.

 

[BigJ]

Chinese London Bridge Blade One, Shave #2

Razor: Wolfman WR1
Brush: Simpsons chubby 1 best badger
Soap: Cella red
Splash: Pinaud clubman

Comment: Comfortable 9.5/10 today. This blade may be ‘smoothing out.’ Time will tell!

 

[Grundi]

London Bridge China Blade #2 Shave #1
Tools: Wolfman Razor, Mogno Soap, Plissoft Brush & Coachman Spice Aftershave.
Got a very nice two pass shave today.
The Chinese blade was very smooth on the first pass, I don't know why others are having trouble with this blade.?
Coachman aftershave gave me some moderate sting though.

I think, for me and YMMV, it's my face. Unlike @FarmerTan who has an incredibly handsome face, mine is more like Ernest Borgnine or Humphrey Bogart. So it takes most blades a shave or two to resign themselves to the fate of shaving my face.

 

[hugosf]

Razor: Blackbird Ti

Brush: SOC Finest Badger

Soap: Col Conk Bay Rum

Blade: Wilkinson Sword (2)

Shaved a 4 days beard with ease. This blade is good

 

[lancre]

Blade: Light Brigade

Razor: UK Aristocrat Jr.
Mug: Green Rubber Marvy
Soap: Vintage Williams (AKA "Old Willie")
Brush: Rubberset 400 #3 Boar
Post-shave: Thayers Toner WH, Nivea Men Sensitive PSB

I must have hit the sweet spot today for soap/water ratio. Like Simon said "slip sliding away".
WMS is always slick, but today it really enhanced the shave. My cheeks were BBS after the first pass. One upward XTG pass and one right-to-left ATG pass got my neck to DFS+ so I chased the baby, and with some buffing I caught the little rascal.

Final result: BBS- with no drama.

 

[Filudo]

WS Chromium 1st use
razor : dual open comb, RR?
soap (AOS burbon cream to face) with a pigs brush; Katiesbubbles to head w synthetic

2+ passes each, smooth, I had not used this razor in years.... no drama
Close shave

I have to say that for me this Chromium was smoother (sharper?) than the last London Bridge (UK) that was harsh.
All good, will try w another razor next time. Now the "real" London Bridge blade......I may be done w it....

 

[FarmerTan]

I think, for me and YMMV, it's my face. Unlike @FarmerTan who has an incredibly handsome face, mine is more like Ernest Borgnine or Humphrey Bogart. So it takes most blades a shave or two to resign themselves to the fate of shaving my face.

Thanks for the call out my friend! I have used the London Bridge in the Orange wrapper twice now, in two different razors. I found it a tiny bit harsh feeling on my incredibly handsome face, but no blood! Aftershave was perhaps a little bit more sensitive feeling than a GSB I suppose, but not terribly. It was probably user error, as I tend to rush with razors that I deem to be "mild." I will give a better description later my friend. Thanks for sending the blades, and also thank you to the dangerous @AnimalCatcher for his continuing generosity!

I may as well thank @Space_Cadet whilst I am at it, as I am sure he will be sending along more fine unobtainable blades in the future!

 

[Chad3]

Orange wrapper 7th shave:
1.65 Ti WR2
B&M Melange
3 days no shave.
I’m bucking the trend with my next comment. This was the best shave yet with this blade for me. Smoother more consistent shave than I have been getting with this blade. Nothing has change in equipment etc. Happy I stuck with this one. I’ll see what Wednesday brings.
As always thank you @Grundi and @AnimalCatcher for the awesome blades. They are an appreciated gift.

 

[Balthier]

Razor: PAA Meta-4
Blade: London Bridge UK blade #1 shave #3
Brush: Turn N Shave Ghost
Soap: Ariana & Evans Aqua De Boracay

Nice shave blade almost felt the best so far at shave 3 I think a little smoother 8/10

 

[T Bone]

Henson AL13++
Vintage English Light Brigade Wilkie (3)
AP Shave 24mm G5C rocket engine
La Toja stick
Southern Witchcrafts Carmilla splash

Put the vintage Wilkie into my trusty Henson and got a much better shave. DFS+ mustache, jawlines, and neck; BBS cheeks and chin. No blood today. The Light Brigade easily sliced my mustache/goatee whiskers but struggled just a bit under the chin oddly, leaving some minor tightness for a couple of hours, but not bad. Maybe it’s slowing down, maybe not, but it’s definitely got at least another shave in it.

Memo to the La Toja stick: your days are numbered!!!

 

[FarmerTan]

View attachment 1818249

Henson AL13++
Vintage English Light Brigade Wilkie (3)
AP Shave 24mm G5C rocket engine
La Toja stick
Southern Witchcrafts Carmilla splash

Put the vintage Wilkie into my trusty Henson and got a much better shave. DFS+ mustache, jawlines, and neck; BBS cheeks and chin. No blood today. The Light Brigade easily sliced my mustache/goatee whiskers but struggled just a bit under the chin oddly, leaving some minor tightness for a couple of hours, but not bad. Maybe it’s slowing down, maybe not, but it’s definitely got at least another shave in it.

Memo to the La Toja stick: your days are numbered!!!

Lol'd at the La Toja my friend! Is that one of the old formula sticks? I'm so glad that @Marco told me about these!

 

[ajkel64]

Participation PIF: A Tale Of Two Bridges.​

Week three this week in this Participation PIF. Second shave this week on the Vintage Wilkinson Sword The Light Brigade Chromium blade. A better shave today, minimal sting when I applied my Alum Block and no blood whatsoever. I hope that this keeps up for the rest of the week. I am always a little worried when I use vintage blades as you don’t always know how they have been stored, have they been stored in the camp bathroom or in a dry cupboard. So far so good.

 

[T Bone]

Lol'd at the La Toja my friend! Is that one of the old formula sticks? I'm so glad that @Marco told me about these!

I’m not sure, when did they change it? This was one of the first soaps I bought, so it would’ve been early ‘22. I’ve since decided that I prefer bolder scents, but it lathers great and since it goes with about anything, I’ve been using up splash samples that outlasted their companion soaps with it.

 

[BradWorld]

Monday 3/25 - Light Brigade - Blade 1 Shave 1

This was my first go with a Light Brigade. Ever. I have been using the vintage Brit London Bridge blades for a while and love them. So, I was really looking forward to this opportunity! There are endless claims and disputes about the vintage London Bridges being the same as the Light Brigade with a different wrapper. Even the plastic tucks are the same, with the same words embossed. They both have the same LB initials. So this is my chance to try it out! Last three shaves were with the London Bridge.

Five days of growth. The venerable Charcoal Goods Level 2 Gen 2 in stainless.

The LB wiped off the stubble like it wasn’t even there. If was so silky smooth, I had to question whether or not it was even cutting. But it was. The end results were about the same as the British London Bridge, and my other top tier blades. But that super smooth ride was ridiculously good. It could just be circumstance. My lather could have been extra amazing today. But I don’t think so. This was one super smooth blade. Again… results were quite typical though. I could especially sense the ultra smooth shave around the mouth. When I have 4+ days of growth, and use a highly effective razor, I get some tugging around that area. Especially in the soul patch and mustache areas. That is to be expected with so much growth there. But not today! Fantastically smooth there. No drama. No blood. Perfect.

The rest of the kit was top tier as well. Passiflora soap and splash. Nothing better in my book. And the Rudy STF. Tops in the synthetic realm. King of the hill.

This blade didn’t really shave any closer than the London Bridges, though. Nor was it any better than a KCG, or a light blue box Platinum. Or a vintage Wizamet. Etc. etc. So, the results were top quality. But it didn’t break any closeness records. There wasn’t a magical all-encompassing BBS. I have very challenging spots on my neck and jaw line where the hairs swirl, lay flat, etc. No small feat to get even a DFS+. But my technique is evolved and well seasoned, so my shaves are all consistent and as close as I can get given the nature of my beard. I trend toward highly efficient, modern engineered razors. So my shaving tools are as precise as you can get. At this stage a lot of those variables which present obstacles to obtaining an optimal shave, such as technique and equipment, are gone for me. So when a blade outperforms the competition, I will know it pretty quickly. This Light Brigade met the task and hit the top performance tier. But it did not surpass it. At least not yet anyway. This is only shave one.

And speaking of shave one, I am not a proponent of the philosophy of shaving with with blades that need a shave or two to break in. Or for the coating to wear off. Or whatever. If a blade sucks on shave one, I could not care less if it gets better in subsequent shaves. It’s off the list. A blade has to perform on shave one. Powering through a ****ty shave or two to get to a good one is not acceptable to me. Fortunately this blade shined brightly on shave one.

I’d say the Light Brigade is a winner. I have been researching and speculating whether or not it is the same as the vintage London Bridge blades that I love so much. I’d say no at one this point. Not quite. But very close. But after one shave, the Light Brigade is smoother. Quite a bit smoother. But with the same overall results. We will see what happens on shave 2.

Stay smooth gents! Awesome shave today.

 

[mikhou]

English London Bridge Super Stainless #1, shave #3

Razor: Henson AL13+
Blade: English London Bridge Super Stainless (3) (white label)
Soap: Frankensoap (1/3 each of Arko, VDH Luxury, and Dove Men+Care 3 in 1 Extra Fresh)
Brush: No-name badger off of Amazon
Aftershave: Aqua Velva Ice Blue followed by Nivea Sensitive balm

Another very good shave today. I don't find this blade to be super sharp, but it's sharper than it's Chinese counterpart and it gets the job done. Today I did something different. I usually use my Henson+ head on a stainless steel handle. However, I've been considering a Karve Bison (aluminum razor) so I wanted to use my Henson as purchased (fully aluminum) with the original handle to remember what a very light blade feels like. It felt great, but I'm not sure if it's as close as I get with the SS handle. So we'll see. But, end of the day, the shave today was very nice, if not BBS.

 

[BigJ]

Chinese London Bridge Blade One, Shave #3

Razor: Wolfman WR1
Brush: Rudy Vey/EverReady 2-band
Soap: Fine platinum
Splash: Fine platinum

Comment: Another 9.5/10 today!

Good but not as good as the Light Brigade or UK London Bridge, at least so far.

 

[fast shaver]

London Bridge China Blade #2 Shave #2
Tools Chieftain Razor, TFS soap, Plissoft brush & Coachman Bay Rum Aftershave.
Another nice two pass shave this A.M.
Got some Sting from the Bay Rum but not bad.