SE SOTD, Fri, July 31st 2020
Razor: Star bar #4 model lather catcher (Kampfee brothers NY)- Mfg 1920- Excellent lather catcher, great audio, good daily driver! Blade: Gem Personna SS PTFE(3) excellent blade, Soap: Razorock Lavender - one of my favorites. great scent and lather qualities. Brush: Razorock Plissoft 24 mm- great inexpensive brush that I have been using for almost 4 years, marvelous! Preshave: Brush wash my whole face with CeraVe hand bar cleanser + a dollop of clear Aloe Vera gel on beard area. Prep: cold water rinse after each pass of 3. Post shave: Razorock King Louis Lavender aftershave with witch hazel + a tiny dollop of Nivea balm. Results: CCS,DFS,BBs + no irritation + no weepers=Excellent shave with my Star bar lather catcher.
Razor: Aluminum Black General Blade: Kai ProTouch (6) Pre Shave: Warm shower, Bloom Water, Crown Pre Shave Soap: Stirling Sharp Dressed Man Brush: Simpson's Trafalgar T2 Post Shave: Cold water rinse, Nivea Sensitive Post Shave Balm
Yesterday was a cartridge shave because I was in a hurry, but I'm back on track today.
Razor: RazoRock Hawk v2
Blade: Feather AC Pro (5)
Brush: RazoRock Plissoft synthetic
Cream: C.O. Bigelow
Excellent shave today, even on my neck which is usually a problem area for me with most razors. The Feather shows no signs of slowing down and was sharp and smooth again. 9/10.
My first razor was a Wilkinson just like this one. I think these came out in 1970 so I must have picked mine up around then. I have read that these are the first cartridge razors on the market. The head is very much like that of an injector and there is only a single quality blade. Upon moving to Hawaii a few years later, I couldn't find replacement cartridges so I bought a Schick injector. I decided to buy this particular razor just to take a short trip down memory lane. It shaves and sounds like an injector!
Razor: MMFW with guiding eye, GEM PTFE blade
Soap: Arko, figured I'd give it try with a SE before Arko August and before using a SR with it. Brush: Rudy Vey TGN knot 2011 B&B AS: Vintage Avon Wild Country in a radio shaped bottle- it's easy to see why they still make this stuff after so many years. A nice pleasant scent.
Razor: GEM Junior bakelite baton handle
Blade: GEM by Personna SS PTFE (6)
Brush: RazoRock Barber 24 synthetic
Soap: Cella, red container
Rating: 10
Early afternoon shave on two days of beard growth. First time using the GEM Junior, with great BBS results after WTG/XTG/ATG passes. The razor head looks and feels like the standard GEM 1912 head, so there was no learning curve for me vs. a 1912. The thick bakelite handle is easy to grip but felt a little slippery when wet.
I flipped over the blade today for shave #6, which made it feel almost like new. No post-shave irritation and no nicks or cuts, but still a lot of blade feel just like with the 1912.
I'll set up another portrait this weekend when I give this thing a deep clean preparatory to changing to the L2 plate for Monday. In the meantime, I think I've finally gone "past the edge" on this blade. Interestingly, the shave was actually a pretty good one, but I had to keep going back to several areas and try new angles. I was worrried that I'd get some irritation doing that, but no.
My experience so far is that the Sabre L1 seems to dramatically improve a standard Gem Stainless PTFE blade. My previous experience with a number of old, new, Gem and Gemish razors was that the blade was basically ready for the bin after five head shaves. The arc ran along these lines: Shave 1 & 2 were very sharp and usually quite smooth after due care was taken (I neither cork nor strop, and flip the blade after every shave). I always looked forward to Shaves 3 & 4 because they were just enough less sharp to be comfy and very smooth. Then Shaves 5 and, if I was feeling like it, 6 were tuggy, rough, and tended to leave lots behind even after a 3-pass shave. So I'd start out having to pay attention to avoid nicks, then get a couple of very nice shaves, then a couple that didn't please me much.
With the Sabre I got smooth, non-nicky shaves right out of the box, then 3 & 4 were good as always, and then I had 5 & 6 which weren't too bad although they took a bit more time for cleanup. Still achieved a BBS. And this morning for grins I launched Shave 7 which ended with a DFS+ after a lot of fiddling.
Start to finish my usual shave is 35-40 minutes. Shave 7 panned about about 55 minutes, but they were good minutes spent in a gentle humidity, scented with red cedar, using a lovely razor. You can see why I shave three times a week when I could probably find enough to play with every day!
I did a 3-pass shave this morning. The blade let me know that it wasn't feeling up to going ATG right after WTG. But hey...two passes, three passes; they were all smooth.
I'm even liking the handle pretty well. Oh, grab it with soapy hands and it's gonna be a little slick. But grab it with wet hands and it's quite sure. Now I can look forward to Monday when I hit a 3-day stubble with the L2!
RazoRock Hawk V3-A plate/ HD handle & Schick Proline [ 3 ]
This Italian soap smells good and facilitates a Super Saturday Shave. The A/S is rather nice too, both were an impulse buy.
Razor: Black Aluminum General head with Timeless Aluminum handle Blade: Kai Pink (1) Pre Shave: Warm shower, Bloom water, Crown Pre Shave Soap: B&M Reserve Classic Brush: Stirling Two Band Synthetic Post shave: Alum Stick, Nivea Sensitive Post Shave Balm, TOBS Sandalwood AS
Great shave very efficient, BBS. One nick on neck cured by Alum Stick
Razor: @Blackland Razors Vector
Blade: Schick Proline (5)
Brush: The Tech Hive Butterscotch Beehive (26mm Tuxedo)
Bowl: Captain's Choice Copper
Soap: La Toja Cream
Post-shave: Hyaluronic Acid
Aftershave: La Toja
Cologne: La Toja
WTG, XTG/ATG & XTG/ATG. Minor touch-up.
BBS (Bride Approved) with no nicks, cuts, weepers or irritation.
The combination of the @Blackland Razors Vector and the Schick Proline has proven itself to be really quite special. Absolutely in the Top Tier of my Top Tier razors. Smooth, efficient, effective - outstanding razor!