Been doing a lot of travel for work lately, and been searching for the best balance of weight/size/performance and I only ever carry on my luggage, so my typical DE approach won't work, and mailing razors, etc. seems like a lot of work, frankly! I had been using a Sensor until now, and didn't enjoy the shave much at all, not a great performance from the blades and they seemed to clog really easily and the pivoting head just never seemed to work well. For soap, I was going back and forth between a Valobra shave stick and travel size canned goo (blech) and was using an Omega synthetic brush in a Muhle case.
Read up on the Gillette Trac II cartridge and heard great things, decent price, and I liked the idea of a non pivoting head. Saw the many recommendations on the Bump Fighter handle and picked up one of those with a set of Gillette Trac II plus blades. Also wanted to try some different sticks, as the Valobra was decent, but seemed a little too hard, plus the Omega synthetic was a bit soft and I wasn't a huge fan of its performance, so I recently sourced a Simpson Case (with case!) that is on its way from West Coast. I ordered up some Arko sticks and a DH Harris sandalwood stick to try out as well.
Very, very impressed. Pre shave was just a hot shower, soaked my AOS pure badger brush and wet the tip of the Arko and worked up a really nice lather, much nicer than my experience with the Valobra - I was really impressed with how easily it lathered up, and I had enough soap in the brush to do two passes on my head, and one pass on my face/neck (around my full beard.) I like the smell too - its great.
The razor was excellent. Without question the best cartridge shave I have ever experienced. I like that I had to find my own angle with the non-pivoting head, and it felt near-DE like (my typical shave is Astras in my Muhle R89 grande.) I am really blown away by how good this performed. I accomplished BBS in just two passes, with a little touching up here and there. Exceeded my expectations.
Followed that with cold water, then Thayers witch hazel and AV blue. After a while post-shave, head feels a tad dry, but not too bad at all. This setup, coupled with the new incoming brush should be just what I need. Thanks for all the info and tips as always, BB!
Read up on the Gillette Trac II cartridge and heard great things, decent price, and I liked the idea of a non pivoting head. Saw the many recommendations on the Bump Fighter handle and picked up one of those with a set of Gillette Trac II plus blades. Also wanted to try some different sticks, as the Valobra was decent, but seemed a little too hard, plus the Omega synthetic was a bit soft and I wasn't a huge fan of its performance, so I recently sourced a Simpson Case (with case!) that is on its way from West Coast. I ordered up some Arko sticks and a DH Harris sandalwood stick to try out as well.
Very, very impressed. Pre shave was just a hot shower, soaked my AOS pure badger brush and wet the tip of the Arko and worked up a really nice lather, much nicer than my experience with the Valobra - I was really impressed with how easily it lathered up, and I had enough soap in the brush to do two passes on my head, and one pass on my face/neck (around my full beard.) I like the smell too - its great.
The razor was excellent. Without question the best cartridge shave I have ever experienced. I like that I had to find my own angle with the non-pivoting head, and it felt near-DE like (my typical shave is Astras in my Muhle R89 grande.) I am really blown away by how good this performed. I accomplished BBS in just two passes, with a little touching up here and there. Exceeded my expectations.
Followed that with cold water, then Thayers witch hazel and AV blue. After a while post-shave, head feels a tad dry, but not too bad at all. This setup, coupled with the new incoming brush should be just what I need. Thanks for all the info and tips as always, BB!
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