Gentlemen,
Perhaps you saw another of my threads where I posted an old Gillette SuperSpeed commercial I found on YouTube. In that commercial, Gillette briefly mentions the variations between the Blue Tip, Flair Tip, and Red Tip SuperSpeed Razors. While I know that they vary in weight and blade gap, there are often other factors which add up to determine the "aggressiveness" of a particular razor. Say the particular blade you are using, and of course any variation in the angle of blade to face.
I would assume, since those 3 SuperSpeeds were all packaged with Gillette Blue Blades, that the aggressiveness was determined in part based upon there being a Blue Blade loaded into the razor. I'm sure at the time, a small number of other brands of blades were available but i'm guessing it wasn't anything like the numbers of brands available today. Primarily because the internet hadn't been invented yet (thank you Al Gore
) and therefore purchases of such items were probably largely precluded.
Now I have noticed recently that I can get a very close, smooth shave with my Blue Tip razor, and I can do it in 3 passes with some touch up. I have used a number of blades in it, some more aggressive than others, and I wonder if labeling the Blue Tip as Mild and the Red Tip as Aggressive are really as exact as they were back then because of the availability of so many different blades. Say, would you be able to put a Red Tip on about the same aggressiveness plane as a Blue Tip if you put a Derby in the Red and a Feather in the Blue?
I also wonder, on a side note, if men made 2 or 3, or maybe even 4 passes to achieve a close shave or if they were taught that 1 was enough. Perhaps our more senior gentlemen can comment on how they were taught with a DE.
Happy Pondering!
Perhaps you saw another of my threads where I posted an old Gillette SuperSpeed commercial I found on YouTube. In that commercial, Gillette briefly mentions the variations between the Blue Tip, Flair Tip, and Red Tip SuperSpeed Razors. While I know that they vary in weight and blade gap, there are often other factors which add up to determine the "aggressiveness" of a particular razor. Say the particular blade you are using, and of course any variation in the angle of blade to face.
I would assume, since those 3 SuperSpeeds were all packaged with Gillette Blue Blades, that the aggressiveness was determined in part based upon there being a Blue Blade loaded into the razor. I'm sure at the time, a small number of other brands of blades were available but i'm guessing it wasn't anything like the numbers of brands available today. Primarily because the internet hadn't been invented yet (thank you Al Gore
) and therefore purchases of such items were probably largely precluded.Now I have noticed recently that I can get a very close, smooth shave with my Blue Tip razor, and I can do it in 3 passes with some touch up. I have used a number of blades in it, some more aggressive than others, and I wonder if labeling the Blue Tip as Mild and the Red Tip as Aggressive are really as exact as they were back then because of the availability of so many different blades. Say, would you be able to put a Red Tip on about the same aggressiveness plane as a Blue Tip if you put a Derby in the Red and a Feather in the Blue?
I also wonder, on a side note, if men made 2 or 3, or maybe even 4 passes to achieve a close shave or if they were taught that 1 was enough. Perhaps our more senior gentlemen can comment on how they were taught with a DE.
Happy Pondering!
