SMF

Hi Clive - I think the market for vintage razors is soft, in general. The choice used to be between Merkur and vintage razors. Now there are so many new razors on the market - and they often outperform the classics - that demand for vintage razors has largely tanked. - Murray I do agree that nowada...

I have several samples of their soaps and they are indeed good, with their Orange Patchouli being my favorite.

One of the best modern Gillette blades made IMO. Try a sample here:

https://www.maggardrazors.com/product/g ... -5-blades/

Or here:


http://www.tryablade.com/blade/gillette-rubie-platinum

New to me but probably old hat to others. Since my fellow cavemen invented the brush and the multi-pass shave, I've been re-lathering the whiskers between passes with the brush just as I have been taught. Yesterday I accidentally forgot to re-lather and conducted all 3 of my passes in one sweeping ...

...Last year I reformulated my soap slightly, to include citric acid, a chelating ingredient, to help offset the lather inhibiting effects of hard water. I'm really glad that the OP liked the Lemon Verbena soap - that's one that I need to make again. :) But just this last Spring I bought three samp...

http://www.maggardrazors.com/product/mi ... ety-razor/

https://www.italianbarber.com/collectio ... fety-razor

If you are looking for convenience than I would simply forget DE/SE shaving and go back to multi-blade disposable razors as the latter do work faster & more efficiently in less strokes. The downside is that for many they cause irritation and ingrown hairs. A person has to make that decision whic...

Never much cared for Feather blades. but that is purely my subjective opinion. Astra SP is a fine blade, but for just a bit more $$ you can get an outstanding blade, e.g., Silver Blue, 7 O'Clock line, Nacet, etc.,

...My first and only shave with it was terrible.....more of an operator problem than the soap itself. I'm a very *dry* latherer and I think that this soap needs a lot more water than I like to use. Once you add water, the lather is decent if a wet lather is your cup of tea. The scent is nice too......

A few months back I spoke with the proprietor of this new co. as I used to live but just 30 mi. from him. I purchased three samples and cannot say enough good about this wonderful tallow shaving soap. The scents are tasteful, but subtle. The performance however is simply fantastic and I think I know...

I had a tube and eventually sold it to a newcomer. It has great menthol, but there are better products for the money IMO. Cushion & glide were not good.

I have had samples of five or so of their soaps and IMO Spitfire, their flagship, is the best smelling.

It depends on which injector razor you are using. The modern Personna blades are sharper IMO and work better in newer (less aggressive) injector models and the "Chick" Chinese blade works better in older more aggressive injector razors, e.g., E & G Models.

...This is true however un-coated blades can have this effect as well. For example, the Kai DE blade significantly increased in Sharpness with use and I confirmed with the Kai group that it has no coating. Which is why IMO it is one of the worst modern blades I have ever used. There simply isn't en...

...I'm also finding that most blades actually get sharper as they're used, so that may have some insight on why you feel some less blades are better after a few shaves. A sharp blade like feather is so sharp to start that it has nowhere to go but dull. What you are feeling is the coating(s) wearing...

...In the box I was talking about were three pre-war fat handle Techs. All the Techs I owned were post-war so it will be interesting to see if sizes and weights are similar and to compare the shaves from the pre-war and post-war fat handle techs... Having owned/used damn near every Tech model I can...

CMur12 wrote:...The Tech was my favorite for several years, before moving on to something just a little bit more aggressive (but still mild)...

What razor would that be, Murray?

With good reason Gillette made the Tech razor until 1988 and even today they sell stamped foreign versions of it overseas, e.g., Sterling, Rubie, etc. It's a "bulletproof" design and I have no problem getting a DFS with one every time I pair it with a top tier blade.

Recently, there has been a "cullling" of artisan soap makers by market forces. Few SE/DE wet shavers are loyal in the sense that they buy repeatedly from the same maker as there is always some new artisan that everyone wants to try. It's a double edge sword so to speak for artisan soap mak...

NickNCut wrote:...It is a shame, I can't imagine why they would change so much. How can't there be not money in it. The soap base seems like it would be the least expensive of the ingredients...

Simple: there is little demand for such as 99.99% of U.S. shavers use canned goop.