Today was a day which I have been waiting for all week, the arrival of two SE's that seem to have a loyal following, the Modern Cobra Classic and the Vintage Ever-Ready Streamline.
I first off want to thank Bob, aka Osborn Cox for the loan of the Cobra Classic, and for the gracious LOSER who sold me one of his spare Streamlines that wishes to remain anonymous. Without both this would not have been possible. There are other razor forums on the interwebs, but not one can match the true brotherhood that I have found here at B&B. The gentleman and ladies of this forum are some of the kindest and generous members of the wet shaving community.
At 48 I returned to classic shaving for one reason, to get BETTER shaves. For years I have suffered from extreme bumps, ingrown hairs, and all of the horrors that disposable razors and canned goo can do to your face. I am not a collector, yes, I have purchased a lot of razors, but at any given moment I try not to have more than 8 razors as part of my rotation.
This was my face just weeks before returning to Classic Shaving, as you can see, not a pretty site. I was embarrassed of my skin and I hated to shave.
And this is my face today, just minutes after the shave off, MUCH improved complexion, no more ingrown hairs, and no more bumps.
(no jokes about the pic, or I will hunt you guys down!!!)
I wanted to do a side by side comparison of the two razor so I could see the and feel the difference.
First of the Razors.
The Cobra Classic, the only modern Single Edge Razor that I am aware off.
The Ever-Ready Streamline, considered to be one of the finest Vintage Single Edge Razors every produced.
The prep was was simple and what I do daily, a shower that included a face wash with Neutrogena Healthy Skin Anti-Wrinkle Anti-Blemish Cleanser.
The lather was built with 10 swirls of VDH loaded onto a vintage Stanley brush, one squirt of Kiss My Face Unscented, and about two tablespoons of water.
I decided to use the Cobra Classic on the left side of my face and the Streamline on the right. The Cobra was loaded with the Feather Blade, although Bob was kind enough to send me two different packages of blades to choose from. The Streamline I decided to load with a CVS Carbon blade, as I they are always sharp and I like to use them as my test blade for any new classic SE.
The first pass was with the Cobra. The first thing I noticed as how well balanced and good this instrument felt in my hands, nothing like many of the DE's and even some of the SE's that I have used before. I applied the razor to my face and did one smooth downward stroke from my sideburn area down to my jawline. WOW was that smooth, I did not even feel like I was shaving, but sure enough I was. I continued to do the first pass on the left side and then switched gears to the Streamline.
The Streamline instantly provided a great amount of audio feedback that is expected from vintage single edge razors. I made the same type of downward stroke as with the Cobra. The razor felt very well balance, performed well, but not feel as smooth on my skin as the Cobra had. I finished the first pass with the Streamline, washed up and did a check to see which razor had done the best on the first pass.
The winner of the first pass was the Cobra Classic, hands down.
On to the second pass, which is a XTG pass for me. Same routine, used the Cobra Classic, and then the Streamline. Splashed water on my face, and checked to see after two passed which razor has done a better job.
Again, the winner was the Cobra Classic. To be sure I called my wife into the bathroom and asked her for her opinion. She ran her hand over one side, then the next. She pointed to the left side of my face and said "that one, it is much softer". I thanked her for her input and went for pass number three.,
I decided at this point to just finish the shave with the Cobra Classic. I did one ATG pass, some light buffing, and I was done.
WOW, WOW, WOW. I cannot say enough good things about the Cobra. Having tried everything from open comb DE's, to injectors, nothing has provided such a fine shaving experience. It now rates number one over my beloved 1912 Damaskeene, which now will fall into second place.
Since I only want to keep it for a few days and then return to Bob, I will use this exclusively until I ship it back (then quickly purchase one).
I will then shave with the Streamline and give it a through work out like I do with all of my razors, especially those that I keep.
For me, the hands down winner was the Cobra Classic. I do like the shave of the Streamline, but to be honest, the hype of the razor I was expected another ah ha moment like I had when I shaved with the 1912 for the first time. I did not get that. It felt very similar to me like a MicroMatic, just slightly better performance.
Will I keep the Streamline? Absolutely, as it does it job, provided a close shave and it is sexy as all hell. Will it be used every day, no...it will be a razor I use once per week in my rotation until I get my very own Cobra.
I first off want to thank Bob, aka Osborn Cox for the loan of the Cobra Classic, and for the gracious LOSER who sold me one of his spare Streamlines that wishes to remain anonymous. Without both this would not have been possible. There are other razor forums on the interwebs, but not one can match the true brotherhood that I have found here at B&B. The gentleman and ladies of this forum are some of the kindest and generous members of the wet shaving community.
At 48 I returned to classic shaving for one reason, to get BETTER shaves. For years I have suffered from extreme bumps, ingrown hairs, and all of the horrors that disposable razors and canned goo can do to your face. I am not a collector, yes, I have purchased a lot of razors, but at any given moment I try not to have more than 8 razors as part of my rotation.
This was my face just weeks before returning to Classic Shaving, as you can see, not a pretty site. I was embarrassed of my skin and I hated to shave.
And this is my face today, just minutes after the shave off, MUCH improved complexion, no more ingrown hairs, and no more bumps.
(no jokes about the pic, or I will hunt you guys down!!!)
I wanted to do a side by side comparison of the two razor so I could see the and feel the difference.
First of the Razors.
The Cobra Classic, the only modern Single Edge Razor that I am aware off.
The Ever-Ready Streamline, considered to be one of the finest Vintage Single Edge Razors every produced.
The prep was was simple and what I do daily, a shower that included a face wash with Neutrogena Healthy Skin Anti-Wrinkle Anti-Blemish Cleanser.
The lather was built with 10 swirls of VDH loaded onto a vintage Stanley brush, one squirt of Kiss My Face Unscented, and about two tablespoons of water.
I decided to use the Cobra Classic on the left side of my face and the Streamline on the right. The Cobra was loaded with the Feather Blade, although Bob was kind enough to send me two different packages of blades to choose from. The Streamline I decided to load with a CVS Carbon blade, as I they are always sharp and I like to use them as my test blade for any new classic SE.
The first pass was with the Cobra. The first thing I noticed as how well balanced and good this instrument felt in my hands, nothing like many of the DE's and even some of the SE's that I have used before. I applied the razor to my face and did one smooth downward stroke from my sideburn area down to my jawline. WOW was that smooth, I did not even feel like I was shaving, but sure enough I was. I continued to do the first pass on the left side and then switched gears to the Streamline.
The Streamline instantly provided a great amount of audio feedback that is expected from vintage single edge razors. I made the same type of downward stroke as with the Cobra. The razor felt very well balance, performed well, but not feel as smooth on my skin as the Cobra had. I finished the first pass with the Streamline, washed up and did a check to see which razor had done the best on the first pass.
The winner of the first pass was the Cobra Classic, hands down.
On to the second pass, which is a XTG pass for me. Same routine, used the Cobra Classic, and then the Streamline. Splashed water on my face, and checked to see after two passed which razor has done a better job.
Again, the winner was the Cobra Classic. To be sure I called my wife into the bathroom and asked her for her opinion. She ran her hand over one side, then the next. She pointed to the left side of my face and said "that one, it is much softer". I thanked her for her input and went for pass number three.,
I decided at this point to just finish the shave with the Cobra Classic. I did one ATG pass, some light buffing, and I was done.
WOW, WOW, WOW. I cannot say enough good things about the Cobra. Having tried everything from open comb DE's, to injectors, nothing has provided such a fine shaving experience. It now rates number one over my beloved 1912 Damaskeene, which now will fall into second place.
Since I only want to keep it for a few days and then return to Bob, I will use this exclusively until I ship it back (then quickly purchase one).
I will then shave with the Streamline and give it a through work out like I do with all of my razors, especially those that I keep.
For me, the hands down winner was the Cobra Classic. I do like the shave of the Streamline, but to be honest, the hype of the razor I was expected another ah ha moment like I had when I shaved with the 1912 for the first time. I did not get that. It felt very similar to me like a MicroMatic, just slightly better performance.
Will I keep the Streamline? Absolutely, as it does it job, provided a close shave and it is sexy as all hell. Will it be used every day, no...it will be a razor I use once per week in my rotation until I get my very own Cobra.
