Vintage April, 2023

[TinkersDam]

For the final shave of Vintage April, I brought out my oldest razor.
It has a couple of crooked teeth and, of course, a cracked handle but still provides a great shave.

Simpson Commodore 2 best
Fine Fresh Vetiver
1918 Gillette Old type
Lord Super Stainless
Stirling Sandpiper

Many thanks to David for organizing Vintage April this year and to all who participated.

 

[jason2]

Thank you @never-stop-learning and @JAHE for a great themed month combo. Vintage Adjustable April '23!

On to Modern May now.

 

[AnimalCatcher]

Razor: Aristocrat - French set Made in England 1936
Blade: Vintage Personna Super Platinum Chrome (7)
Bowl: Fine Accoutrements
Brush: Wald A1
Soap: Henri et Victoria - Cognac and Cuban Cigars
Aftershave: Henri et Victoria - Cognac and Cuban Cigars

A very comfortable and enjoyable shave to close out April. Thank you @never-stop-learning for hosting this event. It was a lot of fun.

 

[cf1]

Great easy Sunday shave to wrap up Vintage April. Also used citrus musk and Gillette platinum blade. First time using Shannon’s soaps. Impressed with the base - super slick. I think this may be her entry base too. I will try more. Scent was mild but good. Have a good day!

 

[Hair Scraper]

For the last shave of the month I hauled out the ‘49 Executive and used a new-ish Super-Max Platinum.

 

[mgweatherly]

Vintage April shave #16 (rated 6.3/10) using:

• Razor: 1918 Gillette Single Ring Old Type (#F126831, acquisition post)
• Blade: 1928, week 46 Gillette (1)
• Brush: Brand new Razorock 400 Silver Noir Plissoft synth (amazing)
• Pre-shave: Noxzema
• Soap: Kox Old School Bergamot tallow based scheerzeep from @Guido75 (excellent)
• Post shave: Thayer's Witch Hazel followed by 1965 Old Spice splash and Stirling Spice balm (excellent)

This was a bucket list shave for me, which I thought was a perfect ending for this amazing vintage April event. I finally gave one of my three-hole Gillette carbon steel blades a try. This one came from my minty 1928 Algonquin set (sadly missing the razor) and bears a 2446 date code indicating production in week 46 of 1928 (acquisition post). The blade is likely one of the ten original with the set of which I still have eight unused. The cap on the blade case fits very tightly and kept these blades in superb condition away from all moisture. I believe that they are the best three-hole blades I have. Now was the time to give one a try.

Well, the blade was quite tuggy indicating a serious lack of sharpness. It also lacked efficiency. Nevertheless, I achieved DFS in most spots with my typical two-pass, WTG/ATG approach. After these two passes, I had a couple weepers, but very little, if any, irritation. Not a completely terrible shave in the abstract but pretty poor by today’s standards.

I touched up the troublesome left side of my neck with the Probak loaded with the 11-use 1967 Super Silver (which was my backup plan). The difference between the three-hole blade and Gillette's "modern" stainless steel, PTFE-coated blade is stark, even with the Super SIlver having been used 11 times.

This soap was graciously gifted to me by @Guido75 in a surprise box that I received in January with three Dutch shave soaps and a Swedish Swing razor. I chose the Kox soap because I believe it is the only one of the three using a tallow formulation (potassium tallowate). It comes in a puck form in its own enameled steel cup, and its surface feels slick, even when dry. My RR 400 quickly generated a wonderful slick lather in the cup that was fantastic on my face with an extra dose of slickness. I really liked it. And, I look forward to trying the other soaps.

The razor is in fantastic original condition from a very complete Combination Set that included some original blades, a soap, and a brush that I acquired recently (see more HERE). I have an older, 1906 silver Single Ring, but it's a little bit "bent."

My Blade Journey log is found HERE.

 

[Whiterook]

Razor: Schick E2 Deluxe Injector razor
Blade: Schick Injector
Brush: Sawdust Creations Studio Johnny Be Good, FSG7 knot
Pre-Shave: Proraso White
Lather: Truefitt & Hill Apsley
Aftershave: Pinaud Lilac Vegetal
Additional Care:
Thayers Facial Tonic Witch Hazel Unscented
Imperial Leather Talcum Powder

Head Shave:

Razor: Parker V1 Adjustable Injector
Blade: Personna Injector
Brush: Supply Silvertip Synthetic
Pre-Shave: Proraso White
Lather: Old Spice Lather Cream
Aftershave: Proraso White Aftershave Balm
Additional Care:
Thayers Facial Tonic Witch Hazel Unscented

@never-stop-learning thanks for hosting this! And, thanks to everyone who participated!

 

[Time Bandit]

Razor: 1907 American Safety Razor Company "ASR"
Blade: Personna Gem Stainless Steel PTFE

Soap: Lothur Grooming RED
Brush: Ever-Ready 100 (restored)
Bowl: Fine Accoutrements Fine Lather Bowl

Post 1: P.A.A. Alum w/ No-Slip Grip System & Dry Dock System
Post 2: Dickinson's Enhanced Witch Hazel Deep Cleansing Astringent w/ Menthol & Eucalyptus
Aftershave: Stirling Soap Company Light-Ish Red
Finish: Stirling Soap Company Light-Ish Red EdT

Here we are at the end of Vintage April and I felt it most appropriate to commemorate the month with this beautiful American Safety Razor Company "ASR" razor.

As you can see is quite a unique-looking razor. It's a single-edge razor that uses Gem-style blades and even though you might assume it would be aggressive. It's actually not. It's kind of middle of the road to me, at least to me. The interesting bit is that the effective cutting angle is very small. To find it you have to keep a very steep angle. Basically, it has to be held perpendicular to your face. But when you do it cuts like a dream with the lower portion of the head acting like a lather catcher.

I did a three-pass shave with this being only the second time I've used a Lothur Grooming shaving soap and again I feel like this stuff is just ridiculously good. This soap base is one of the best I've used and I've used a lot.

RED, being inspired by Polo Red from Ralph Lauren is very good. It has notes of grapefruit, citrus facets, jasmine, green notes, amber wood accord, vetiver, patchouli, and oakmoss. I think RED was executed very well and if these notes strike your fancy, or you already like Polo Red, you will love this release.

To finish my shave off I went with Stirling Soap Company's Light-Ish Red. This is one of if not my favorite releases from Stirling. It's inspired by Abercrombie Fierce and in my opinion matches very well with my soap choice.

Alright. Great shave. Now I'm for to enjoy the day. Take care and enjoy your shaves.

 

[Cal]

Vintage April, 2023 — SOTD

Brush: Shavemac 20/46 Silvertip 2-Band
Soap: Clubman
Razor: 1920s Gillette Old Type on Tech Fat Handle
Blade: Gillette 7o'clock Black (18)
ASL: Clubman Classic Vanilla

A great shave.
I'd forgotten what an excellent shaver my Old Type is. A fine way to complete Vintage April.
Thank you, David (@never-stop-learning) for hosting this super thread... and all the participants. I've really enjoyed it.


Happy shaves guys.

 

[epindy1911]

Vintage April Shave #30-

Pre Shave: Hot shower, Proraso White

Badger: Stirling 2 band Finest bulb
Blade: 1st pass- Kai; 2nd & 3rd Pass- Feather

Razor: Fatboy E2 set to 9
Soap: 1st pass-TOB Peppermint; 2nd & 3rd Pass- NO Rawr
Post Shave: GFT Alum, NO Bare

Rating: 8/10

Notes: DFS+. Decided to try out the TOBS Peppermint. Wow. It was brisk. My skin wasn’t a fan, started to get red. Great smell and lather though. I decided to switch to the old Sunday reliable, NO Rawr. Changed the blade out in the middle too. Ended up with a good shave.

Vintage April was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed watching all of the great razors and shaves.

 

[Guido75]

Glad you liked it Mitch @mgweatherly - I think the others are indeed non-tallow. They should however still lather very easily.

Cheers!

Guido

 

[yellcohawg58]

April 30
For the last shave of Vintage April I used one of my favorite razors.
Razor: Gillette tech
Blade: Gillette silver blue (5)
Brush: Semogue horse hair
Preshave: Proraso white
Soap: TOBS tobacco leaf cream
Alum: TOBS alum block
Balm: Harry's cucumber and aloe

 

[Ron R]

A huge "Thank You" to everyone who participated in Vintage April 2023!

Everyone start stocking up on vintage razors for Vintage April 2024!

Thanks David, I would of been more active with my vintage razors but I was testing some older blades in different razors.
Good to see some different vintage razors I have not seen before !

 

[dmshaver]

It's been a wonderful month sharing shaves with you fine gentlemen! Thank you @never-stop-learning for organizing our stroll down memory lane. I finished April with another marvelous vintage shave.

PreWar Tech
Nacet
Zenith bleached boar
MdC Agrumes
Hyaluronic Acid
Vanilla Highball

 

[timetofly]

Last shave for Vintage April.

Thank you @never-stop-learning for orhestrating this fine thread!

The players in today's final shave for VA...
40s SS
Astra SP
Haryali
Omega boar in Whipped Dog handle
Pinaud

Cheers gentlemen!!

 

[Asland408]

Brush: Omega pro boar red
Soap: Taconic shave lime
Razor: post war gold Tech with 1.99 blue Gillette handle
Blade: Gillette Silver blue
AS: Brute imported from England

One of the best shaves in recent memory 9 out of 10. BBS smooth and easy. Slow easy shave 3 pass shave with a touch up pass. (WG, XG, AG,) With this Knack like handle the razor has a nice balance a little head heavy. It was really easy to get around my face. And to let the razor do the work with light pressure. A feather light touch. I also got reacquainted with by beard swirling hair areas. Areas where I have hair growth in multiple directions in the same area. Just a wonderful BBS smooth shave.

 

[LJBraaten]

Vintage April shave #16 (rated 6.3/10) using:

• Razor: 1918 Gillette Single Ring Old Type (#F126831, acquisition post)
• Blade: 1928, week 46 Gillette (1)
• Brush: Brand new Razorock 400 Silver Noir Plissoft synth (amazing)
• Pre-shave: Noxzema
• Soap: Kox Old School Bergamot tallow based scheerzeep from @Guido75 (excellent)
• Post shave: Thayer's Witch Hazel followed by 1965 Old Spice splash and Stirling Spice balm (excellent)

View attachment 1646845View attachment 1646846
This was a bucket list shave for me, which I thought was a perfect ending for this amazing vintage April event. I finally gave one of my three-hole Gillette carbon steel blades a try. This one came from my minty 1928 Algonquin set (sadly missing the razor) and bears a 2446 date code indicating production in week 46 of 1928 (acquisition post). The blade is likely one of the ten original with the set of which I still have eight unused. The cap on the blade case fits very tightly and kept these blades in superb condition away from all moisture. I believe that they are the best three-hole blades I have. Now was the time to give one a try.

Well, the blade was quite tuggy indicating a serious lack of sharpness. It also lacked efficiency. Nevertheless, I achieved DFS in most spots with my typical two-pass, WTG/ATG approach. After these two passes, I had a couple weepers, but very little, if any, irritation. Not a completely terrible shave in the abstract but pretty poor by today’s standards.

I touched up the troublesome left side of my neck with the Probak loaded with the 11-use 1967 Super Silver (which was my backup plan). The difference between the three-hole blade and Gillette's "modern" stainless steel, PTFE-coated blade is stark, even with the Super SIlver having been used 11 times.

This soap was graciously gifted to me by @Guido75 in a surprise box that I received in January with three Dutch shave soaps and a Swedish Swing razor. I chose the Kox soap because I believe it is the only one of the three using a tallow formulation (potassium tallowate). It comes in a puck form in its own enameled steel cup, and its surface feels slick, even when dry. My RR 400 quickly generated a wonderful slick lather in the cup that was fantastic on my face with an extra dose of slickness. I really liked it. And, I look forward to trying the other soaps.

The razor is in fantastic original condition from a very complete Combination Set that included some original blades, a soap, and a brush that I acquired recently (see more HERE). I have an older, 1906 silver Single Ring, but it's a little bit "bent."

My Blade Journey log is found HERE.

Vintage blade? Good to know I’m not the only crazy one!

 

[LJBraaten]

Last shave for Vintage April, certainly not my last vintage shave! I decided to go out with my recently redeemed no longer vilified Prewar Tech. I never even finished the cleaning/polishing, so did that today. Another quick (perhaps too quick) shave with 2 weepers. Two passes in the cheeks, three on the chin for a DFS!

 

[Razrnewb]

Ever Ready Shovel Head, Personna GEM, Omega, TFS Red, Salvador Dali
View attachment 1645738
First shave with a SE razor. Ever Ready felt exceptionally smooth and mild, but the blade was very rough, definitely not one to win me over from DEs...

A close shave, but 4 weepers!

I’ve got that razor and a 1912, Clogpruf or MMOC is a world of difference for the better, IMO. It’s either the inherent design of that front hinge making a lot of blade chatter for me or my specific razor is out of spec, IDK and can’t judge the lot as a whole with a sample of one and I’m no expert, but don’t let that 1924 Shovelhead sour you on SE blades. I’ll likely never shave with mine again but do like my 1912, Clog Pruf and MMOC occasionally, and you can pick those up super cheap. Then again, it’s always YMMV, some here love that razor. Try GEM PTFE coated blades- sometimes it’s night and day.

 

[mgweatherly]

Vintage blade? Good to know I’m not the only crazy one!

11 of my 16 vintage April shaves were with a 56 year old vintage English Gillette Super Silver, and it was among the best blades I've ever used.