Four score and some years ago

84 years, 3 months, and 2 days ago Jacob Schick patented the first electric dry razor – paving the way for countless razor burns and bad shaves… well, maybe not. Some people do claim to get a good shave from the electrics, but I’m not one of them. Still, the electric shaving machine is older than many people might realise – and the first model was quite a bit simpler than the modern devices.

All That Newfangled Shaving Gear Can’t Compare to the Old-Fashioned Stuff

Found an interesting article over at WIRED that states what is obvious to me; disposables can’t hold a candle to traditional safety razors.

Also, I liked this comment on disposables:

Some of the pricier varieties are miracles of engineering, with more blades than a flotilla of sea pirates.

Shave of the day 11th August

Pre-shave: Dr Bronner’s Liquid Eucalyptus Soap
Lather: Mike’s Lavindin & Aucalyptus
Brush: Vie Long 13051M unbleached horse
Razor: Parker 22R TTO with a fresh Perma-Sharp blade
Post-shave: Cool water rinse, alum, and Krampert’s Prototype Menthol

Shaving in the trenches

Trench foot, trench fever and trench mouth be dammed – the gallant fighting men needs to be clean shaven (so the respirators won’t leak, one has to presume). The implied horrors of the first world war notwithstanding, it is a rather nice period photograph I stumbled over on Wikipedia while looking for something unrelated.

Review of soap sample from Wet Shaving Products

A while back Lee from Wet Shaving Products offered up some samples of a soap he’s been working on. I jumped on, and he sent a very large sample indeed. This is my assessments after a couple of weeks of using it for shaving:

Value: N/A

Being a sample, I got it for the cost of shipping. For retail I’ll would be willing to pay quite a bit for it, since this soap is good stuff.

Quality: 5/5

It ticks off all the right boxes for me; presentation, performance, and overall feel

Packaging: 4/5

I would still prefer a tin with a wider mouth, however that is a very minor issue. Wrapped in paper would work just as well – I’m not too fuzzy on the packaging.

Scent: 5/5

Being an unscented or nearly unscented puck it sure smells good, clean but without the “hospital like” undertone a number of other unscented soaps has. The lack of a strong scent also means it will work with any combo of pre- and postshave treatment.

Lather: 5/5

The soap makes loads of it with ease, and it isn’t terrible thirsty (caveat: I got soft water).

Skin care: 4/5

The soap do leave my skin with a slightly dry feeling, but without the skin actually being dry. Makes no sense, but maybe it’s just me?

Moisturising: 4/5

Despite the initial dry feeling mentioned above, you could get away without using an aftershave or moisturiser as part of the post-shave routine. I still use one, but then Im a creature of habit when I got the time for it.

Slickness: 4/5

The lather the soap makes is not as slick as a couple of my other soaps, but it’s a minor issue. Both my Merkur 45C (which is rather fuzzy on the lather) and my Gillette ’58 TV Special (which is not) works without issue with the lather.

Cushion: 4/5

The rich, creamy lather still provides plenty of cushion without impeding on the actual cutting action, just like good lather should. It has less cushion that some of my other soaps though, so ‘only’ four out of five.

Overall impression: 4.5/5

A good soap indeed, and one to keep an eye for when Lee put it up for sale.