1917 VB1 and 1917 Gillette Old Type / GEM PTFE (7 or 8)- Vintage Wilkinson Sword (1) / Ghost Town Barber soap AS Splash — in honor of all Vets and comrades I’ve lost, I broke out these two “Property US Army” WWI Army issue veterans for a Memorial Day Shave. The Auto Strop took the first watch against a 3 day growth and shined before turning it over to the Gillette for the second watch before they split duty for the last watch, dividing and conquering for a “gas mask“ quality shave. As for quality/efficiency/comfort between the two, hands down the Auto Strop wins this battle as it’s just a great smooth, efficient razor.
ES Claymore V1 & Kai CT Protouch MG [ 4 ]
Missed a shave yesterday as while out on Sunday officiating got a little sunburn, though cloudy the rays got through to us who were not wearing a hat - happens every year.
Found that today the Shave went very well, as the guarded blade did not cause any skin aggravation yet delivered a first class finish.
GEM Micromatic Clog-pruf. The GEM PTFE blade is officially done, I had to bin it after the shave. I stopped counting but it looks like that blade provided roughly 20 shaves across my GEM and Sabre line up.
Razor: Everready 1924(AKA shovelhead)- Mfg-1924-33, great mid range, different way of loading blades from back, once dialed in it will give excellent shaves and a joy to use with great audio feedback. Takes a regular Gem blade that is one of the best. Blade: Gem Personna SS PTFE (9) excellent blade, very sharp, great longevity, smooths out nicely, predictable. Soap: Gillette PURE cream, nice refreshing scent with great lather qualities. Brush: Yaqi 22mm Cola, 1st use of this new addition Den brush, excellent lather generator, cloud like soft tips, not a lather hog, nice scrub + excellent lather painter. This would be a also for a excellent travel brush and regular Den use IMO. Pre shave: Brush wash whole face with CeraVe hand bar cleanser + a dollop of clear Aloe Vera gel on the cleaned beard area. Prep: Cold water rinse rinse after each pass of 2 + pickups. WTG + ATG+ pickups. Post shave: Pinaud clubman with witch hazel + a dollop of Nivea balm. Results: CCS,DFS,BBS + no irritation + no weepers = Excellent shave with my ER 1924 shovelhead with a coated Gem blade.
My first shave with this razor and about what I expected. Pretty agressive, especially against the grain. No tugging or anything, just felt like the kind of shave you get with a steep angle. The Feather is on its 5th shave and has been kicking around in a drawer for some time. I think if I stropped it a bit before hand I could have smoothed it out. I may have imagined some of the aggressiveness because of the sound. The razor gave me audible feedback that was louder than my cat.
All in all a nice close shave. Just a bit of post shave skin pulsing. Perhaps I’ll load up with a modified GEM blade for its next shave.
My newest GEM Micromatic Open Comb MMOC. Really nice condition, great shaver. Also used my new Paladin 2021 Saint George Special Edition. Lathered up Mike’s Bergamot, Orange, and Ylang-Ylang the soap that made me fall in love with Mike’s Natural Soaps.