I purchased the Twig Thorn recently having had the Twig for some time. I thought it might be interesting to compare the two. During the course of this review, I’ll refer to them as the Thorn and Twig respectively.
When I got the Thorn I could not, for the life of me, detect any difference between it and the Twig. I emailed the friendly people at Leaf Shave (the manufacturer). They referred me to a raised dot in the middle of the base plate of the Thorn. It indicates you have a Thorn. The dot does not exist on the Twig.
My first tip is - if you are going to buy both, make sure they are a different colour! The dot is only able to be seen when the cap is wound up and off the base plate.
I am a daily shaver because of work. My beard is of medium thickness and my hair is neither fine nor course. I always shave after a shower, face rinse and apply pre-shave gel. I lather up and get into it with a Gillette 7 O’clock Green.
The Twig is a great shave for me, including my neck. Despite a flaring of the handle at the base, it is very well balanced. The head is very narrow and allows me to get into all those inconvenient places where a large head might not. I like the aesthetics of it. It is certainly a different looking razor from the average, with a far from standard mechanism. I find a shallow angle, nearly like a Gem, works well. Search “Twig Razor” on YouTube if you haven’t seen it before.
When I first got it, my Twig’s blade reveal was ever so slightly crooked as I tightened the cap on the base. The front edge of the cap was not exactly parallel with the front edge of the base plate. I contacted Adam at Leaf and received a quick and informative response. He said it would not affect the shave because the blade was aligned with the razor base. The cap just held it in. However, as the cap tightened, he suggested I give a little nudge to the side of the cap as it closes. That worked. I also found, if I unwound the cap as far as it would go and then wound it closed, the problem was solved.
All of those good things about the Twig apply equally to the Thorn. However, don’t be fooled by the similarity between the looks. The Thorn is much more aggressive. Strangely, I didn’t detect any different blade feel. I found it slightly more efficient but… and it is a big but for me, no matter what I did, I saw blood. Upper lip, chin and on the sides of my neck. Even where I saw no blood, the alum block told me my skin was irritated.
That is not to say this razor will not appeal. For those of you who like their adjustable razors on a high setting, or feather blades in a slant, this could be the razor for you. That both take a DE blade snapped in two, is a huge plus for variety. No proprietary blade required here.
The Twig Thorn is not for me but the Twig certainly is.
When I got the Thorn I could not, for the life of me, detect any difference between it and the Twig. I emailed the friendly people at Leaf Shave (the manufacturer). They referred me to a raised dot in the middle of the base plate of the Thorn. It indicates you have a Thorn. The dot does not exist on the Twig.
My first tip is - if you are going to buy both, make sure they are a different colour! The dot is only able to be seen when the cap is wound up and off the base plate.
I am a daily shaver because of work. My beard is of medium thickness and my hair is neither fine nor course. I always shave after a shower, face rinse and apply pre-shave gel. I lather up and get into it with a Gillette 7 O’clock Green.
The Twig is a great shave for me, including my neck. Despite a flaring of the handle at the base, it is very well balanced. The head is very narrow and allows me to get into all those inconvenient places where a large head might not. I like the aesthetics of it. It is certainly a different looking razor from the average, with a far from standard mechanism. I find a shallow angle, nearly like a Gem, works well. Search “Twig Razor” on YouTube if you haven’t seen it before.
When I first got it, my Twig’s blade reveal was ever so slightly crooked as I tightened the cap on the base. The front edge of the cap was not exactly parallel with the front edge of the base plate. I contacted Adam at Leaf and received a quick and informative response. He said it would not affect the shave because the blade was aligned with the razor base. The cap just held it in. However, as the cap tightened, he suggested I give a little nudge to the side of the cap as it closes. That worked. I also found, if I unwound the cap as far as it would go and then wound it closed, the problem was solved.
All of those good things about the Twig apply equally to the Thorn. However, don’t be fooled by the similarity between the looks. The Thorn is much more aggressive. Strangely, I didn’t detect any different blade feel. I found it slightly more efficient but… and it is a big but for me, no matter what I did, I saw blood. Upper lip, chin and on the sides of my neck. Even where I saw no blood, the alum block told me my skin was irritated.
That is not to say this razor will not appeal. For those of you who like their adjustable razors on a high setting, or feather blades in a slant, this could be the razor for you. That both take a DE blade snapped in two, is a huge plus for variety. No proprietary blade required here.
The Twig Thorn is not for me but the Twig certainly is.
