Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Peppermint Soap
Lather: Arko shaving stick
Brush: Omega #50014
Razor: Merkur 45C Bakelite with a Treet Platinum
Post-shave: Cool water rinse, alum, and the last of my Proraso Liquid Cream After Shave
Beard care: Scotch Porter Beard Balm and Big Red No7 Beard Comb
five o’clock shad·ow
noun
unpunctuated: five oclock shadow; noun: five o’clock shadow; plural noun: five o’clock shadows
a dark appearance on a man’s chin and face caused by the slight growth of beard that has occurred since he shaved in the morning.
Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Peppermint Soap
Lather: Mike’s Natural Peppermint & Rosemary Soap
Brush: Vie-Long #12705B natural white pure horse
Razor: Merkur 45C Bakelite with a fresh Treet Platinum
Post-shave: Cool water rinse, alum, and Proraso Liquid Cream After Shave
Beard care: Scotch Porter Beard Balm and Big Red No7 Beard Comb
Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Teatree Soap
Lather: Prairie Creations KISS cream w/ tea tree oil
Brush: Turkish No6 ‘horse hair’
Razor: Phillips Philite with a Lord Classic
Post-shave: Cool water rinse, alum, and Proraso Liquid Cream After Shave
Beard care: Scotch Porter Beard Balm and Big Red No7 Beard Comb
Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Peppermint Soap
Lather: Krampert’s Finest Bay Rum Acadian Spice Shaving Soap
Brush: Semogue “The Shave Nook 2012 Limited Edition” mixed boar-badger
Razor: Phillips Philite with a Lord Classic
Post-shave: Cool water rinse, alum, and Krampert’s Finest Bay Rum Aftershave
Beard care: Scotch Porter Beard Balm and Big Red No7 Beard Comb
Long story short: Get one, unless you use very long razors.
The execution looks and feels top notch, the colour is a close match for my load bearing equipment (not a major concerns for most people), and I know the maker. What is not to like?
A few pics – click to make bigger:
Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Peppermint Soap
Lather: Brutalt Bra Barbersåpe TSN SE “Norwegian Wood”
Brush: Vie-Long #14033 mixed horse-badger
Razor: Phillips Philite with a fresh Lord Classic
Post-shave: Cool water rinse, alum, and Myrsol Agua Balsamico
Beard care: Scotch Porter Beard Balm and Big Red No7 Beard Comb
Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Peppermint Soap
Lather: Aubrey Organics North Wood
Brush: N/A
Razor: GEM Micromatic Clug Pruf with a GEM Stainless
Post-shave: Cool water rinse, alum, and Proraso Liquid Cream After Shave
Beard care: Big Red Beard Oil and Big Red No7 Beard Comb
Be it known that I, MAGNUS H. JOHANSON, a subject of the King of Sweden, residing at Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented new and useful improvements in Safety-Razors and Safety-Razor Blades.
Okay.. so what did the Swede Magnus Johanson actually come up with back in 1918? Short version; a razor where the top cap is held in place by two spring-loaded latches – and said latches also work to lift the blade against the top cap when the razor is locked. From the somewhat unclear description it appears that, while the design in the drawing utilised a flat spring, Magnus saw the possibility of using the actual razor blade as the spring for the latches.
His improvement on the blade is less of an improvement and more of an added step (and cost) in production:
The blade 13 is of generally semi-circular contour, and rests snugly upon the support 10, as shown. lt’s inner surface is formed on the true arc of` a circle, and blade 13 is provided at each end with a notch 15, said notch being preferably disposed centrally.
Part of what made the Gillette successful is that the blade is cheap to make and can be spat out in huge numbers by simple machines, and this is mostly because of the shape. Adding a curve to a tempered blade is difficult, and tempering after curving would require some pretty specialised equipment.
That said, the patent it as far as I can see long expired, so if someone has a machine shop and plenty of spare time it should be possible to adapt the basic idea to regular, flat DE blades.
Note: Remember to press “Publish”, not just “Save” 🙁
