Razor: Schick E2
Blade: Personna Injector
Brush: Semogue TSN LE 2012
Pre-Shave: Proraso Pre Shave Cream
Lather: Asylum Shave Works Flying Mango
Aftershave: Barber No3 Marmara
Additional Care: Alum Block & Oak SOS Beard Oil
Some like their shaving brushes to have a short loft. Some like a long loft. With James P Wright’s patented adjustable shaving brush you can have both!
Why your would want to do that though is an open question. Personally I would just get two brushes, but I’m living in the wetshaving renaissance. I can get brushes in a wide range of sizes, materials, and cost ranges from across the world. In 1910 it was a little bit more difficult and a lot more costly to get a brush from the other side of the world on a whim.
Continue readingRazor: Schick E2
Blade: Personna Injector
Brush: Artesania Romera Manchurian Badger, imitation horn
Pre-Shave: Prep Original
Lather: Mike’s Natural Soaps Peppermint & Rosemary
Aftershave: Myrsol Formula K
Additional Care: Alum Block
There is more to revolutionising shaving than coming up with a innovative new razor. You’ll need to make machines for making blades. You need to find a way to pack the blades. You have to find way to present your wares. And you need a way to make an affordable shaving brush handle.
And the last bit is what Ernest Miltner filed a patent for in 1910. Filed on behalf of the Rubber & Celluloid Harness Trimming Co, the patent was granted in 1913. Even if it’s tangential to the act of shaving, I find it interesting enough to cover.
Continue readingRazor: Schick E2
Blade: Personna Injector
Brush: Vie-Long #12705B
Pre-Shave: Proraso Pre Shave Cream
Lather: Mike’s Natural Soaps Lemongrass & Eucalyptus
Aftershave: Myrsol Aqua Balsamica
Additional Care: Alum Block
Razor: Schick G4
Blade: Personna Injector
Brush: Vie-Long #14033
Pre-Shave: Proraso Pre Shave Cream
Lather: Wet Shaving Products Pre-production Sample
Aftershave: Barber No3 Marmara
Additional Care: Alum Block & Barbossa Organic Sandalwood Beard Oil
Or to give the original title for the Austrian patent granted in 1911; “Sicherheitsvorrichtung für Rasiermesser”. A more direct translation would be “Safety contraption for shaving knife”.
The original approach – as exemplified by the 1762 Perrett’s safety razor – was to place a guard on a straight razor. The idea were only slightly changed in the guise of Paul Zammet’s Improved Razor Guard. And in 1911 Thomas Claude Durham made another incremental improvement. Well, that and a bit more.
Continue readingRazor: Schick E2
Blade: Personna Injector
Brush: Wilkinson Sword Badger
Pre-Shave: Proraso Pre Shave Cream
Lather: Asylum Shave Works Flying Mango
Aftershave: Barber No3 Marmara
Additional Care: Alum Block & Barbossa Organic Sandalwood Beard Oil
There is always room for improvement. The thin bladed safety razor Gillette invented improved upon the various wedge razors. Harry Clough came up with an improved handle that could do the same for the straight razor. In effect Harry, who was a Printer’s Engineer, came up with a shavette using double edged blades – even if he didn’t tout it as such. In a way, his patent was only tangentially related to razors – but it’s only a small and intuitive step from it to a shaver.
Continue readingRazor: Schick E2
Blade: Personna Injector
Brush: Vie-Long #13051M
Pre-Shave: Prep Original
Lather: Taylor of Old Bond Street Peppermint
Aftershave: Krampert’s Finest Prototype Menthol
Additional Care: Alum Block & Oak SOS Beard Oil