Razor: Asylum Shave Works Evolution
Blade: Perma-sharp Super Stainless
Brush: Gustavo Rimano Manchurian Badger, imitation horn
Pre-Shave: The Lavish Gentleman Natural Strength Oil Cleanser
Lather: Asylum Shave Works Colonia
Aftershave: Nivea Cooling After Shave Balm
Additional Care: Alum Block, BullDog Original Beard Oil, & Pereira Shavery Boomerang Beard Comb
From “Shaving Made Easy”, a book printed in 1905:
THE SAFETY RAZOR.Of recent years a great number of safety razors have been invented and placed on the market, the manufacturers of each claiming that theirs are superior to all others and that they have at last produced a razor that is destined to revolutionize shaving.One thing may be said of safety razors in general—that if a man uses one he is less likely to cut himself, but this is all that can reasonably be said in their favor. Of course, if it were impossible to shave with the ordinary razor without cutting one’s self, then the safety razor would become a necessity. The truth is, however, that anyone who has a good keen smooth-cutting razor, lathers the face thoroughly, and will learn—if he does not already know—how to handle the razor properly, will run almost no danger. Such a man will seldom cut himself.On the other hand, most of the safety razors are difficult to keep clean and dry, and therefore free from rust; and owing to the difficulty of stropping them, it is almost, if not quite impossible to keep them sharp. It is also difficult to make the correct stroke with them. Probably a hundred thousand safety razors have been sold in the United States within the past few years and it is extremely doubtful if ten per cent. of them are now in use.
The Gillette Safety Razor with disposable blades were first marketed in 1903, and made stropping of blades obsolete in safety razors. The rest is – as they say – history.
Razor: Asylum Shave Works Evolution
Blade: Perma-sharp Super Stainless
Brush: Vie-Long #12705B
Pre-Shave: The Lavish Gentleman Natural Strength Oil Cleanser
Lather: GzD Shavestick
Aftershave: Barber No3 Marmara
Additional Care: Alum Block, Gentlemen of Sweden Original Beard Oil, & Pereira Shavery Boomerang Beard Comb
Did y’all really have to travel to the dessert to shoot that advertisement?
Razor: Asylum Shave Works Evolution
Blade: Perma-sharp Super Stainless
Brush: Brush Experimental Alpha
Pre-Shave: The Lavish Gentleman Natural Strength Oil Cleanser
Lather: Dalane d’men Energenic
Aftershave: Myrsol Aqua Balsamica
Additional Care: Alum Block, Scotch Porter Beard Balm, & Pereira Shavery Boomerang Beard Comb
Razor: Pereira Shavery Shavette
Blade: Perma-sharp Super Stainless
Brush: Vie-Long #14033
Pre-Shave: The Lavish Gentleman Natural Strength Oil Cleanser
Lather: GzD Shavestick
Aftershave: Proraso Liquid Cream After Shave
Additional Care: Alum Block, Gentlemen of Sweden Original Beard Oil, & Pereira Shavery Boomerang Beard Comb
I’ve been using the charcoal mask I received for free from The Lavish Gentleman for a couple of weeks now, and I feel I can give a few opinions.
Overall, I do enjoy using it on days I don’t shave. It goes on easily due to it’s low viscosity, it don’t flake when it’s dry, and it comes of quite easily with a wash cloth and warm water.
The active ingredients are activated charcoal and kaolin clay, both of which are absorbents. The rest of the ingredients list is, well, not long but has a lot of long words in it. Still a shorter and less scary than some of my beloved wife’s facial masks though, so there is that.
The big question is; does the mask make my skin cleaner / better / younger / faster?
And the answer is… honestly, I’m not sure. It certainly don’t make my skin any worse – but with the added focus I’ve had on my facial skin – especially in the area around my nose, which have given me a lot of trouble in the past – since I started using the facial cleansing oil from The Lavish Gentlemen daily, it’s hard to say if the oil or the mask is doing the heavy lifting. I won’t stop using it though; if it is helping I certainly don’t want to backslide.
As I said, I do enjoy using the mask twice weekly. Some people might consider the asking price a little high (almost 24 USD / fl.oz at full price), but given how little I actually use of the product the small jar will last a long time. If you have trouble with oily skin or clogged pores, you can do a lot worse (and spend a lot more money) than trying the charcoal mask from The Lavish Gentleman. While you’re at it you might want to grab some of their cleansing oil too; that have become part of my daily routine.
PS: they are currently having a 30% off sale, and it looks like the promocode WegianWarrior15 still works and stacks on top of the sale… so why wait? You can get it for almost half off!
My beloved wife seems to think that miniature versions of things are cute and adorable. With that in mind, the Laurel Ladies Boudoir Razor must be the most adorable DE ever.
Waits – in his excellent Razor Compendium – have the following to say about this razor:
Laurel Ladies Boudoir Razor
George H Lawrence, Limited, Sheffield, England. Small “Ladies Boudoir” double-edged safety razor and special blades in metal lithographed tins and plastics cases.
The razor itself is indeed small – as can be seen from the photos – and the blades are downright tine. The design seems to be a scaled down version of the Laurel “Dumb Bell” Razor from 1934, which sort of gives a lower end to when the Ladies Boudoir was manufactured. There is some indications online that the Ladies Boudoir was meant as an cosmetic razor, ie.: for trimming eyebrows and removing unsightly hairs, rather than for shaving armpits and the like.
My Ladies Boudoir came to me via a friend of the family, after he died several years ago – the same source as my EverReady 1914.
According to what I know, he picked it up in England during the War (World War Two, that is) and carried it in his pocket when he parachuted into Nazi occupied Norway as a commando/resistance fighter/saboteur – what we today would likely identify as a Special Forces Operator. The idea behind bringing it was that if he got separated from his equipment – which was dropped in a separate container – he would be able to make his way to a civilised area, and give himself a shave before contacting anyone so he wouldn’t immediately give himself away as one of the “boys in the forest” (a commonly used term for the Norwegian Resistance).
As luck would have it, he didn’t get away from his gear and the other resistance fighters was on the agreed upon meeting spot, so the razor sat unused in his pocket until the end of the war, and then among his mementos until it made it’s way to me.
As can be seen from the photos, the blade – and thus the razor’s head – is about ¼ of the size of a “real” DE razor. The handle is equally diminutive, and feels too thin to control in my hands at least. A nimble lady – or a WW2 Norwegian Commando whom on occasion disguised himself as a young teen – might find it easier to use than I would. My calipers gives the total length of the assembled razor as 38.3mm (1.5″), while the head measures 21.6mm by 12.8mm (0.85″ by 0.52″) – so either you go by looks of by the numbers, this is a tiny razor.
The Ladies Boudoir is of all metal construction; some online sources suggest that the base cap should be made of plastic or Bakelite, but from the wear and tear it’s plain that the one I inherited at least have a metal base with a black coating.
While it’s not my oldest razor, nor a razor I’ll ever actually use, the Laurel Ladies Boudoir is one of the last razors I own that I’ll ever give up. The history and provenance of it makes it beyond priceless to me.
Razor: Pereira Shavery Shavette
Blade: Perma-sharp Super Stainless
Brush: Vie-Long #13051M
Pre-Shave: The Lavish Gentleman Natural Strength Oil Cleanser
Lather: Arko Shavestick
Aftershave: Barber No3 Marmara
Additional Care: Alum, BullDog Original Beard Oil, & Pereira Shavery Boomerang Beard Comb
