Razor: Gillette Single Ring
Blade: Wilkinson Sword
Brush: Semogue TSN LE 2012
Pre-Shave: Proraso Pre Shave Cream
Lather: B&M Latha Oceana
Aftershave: Barber No3 Marmara
Additional Care: Alum Block
Razor: Gillette Single Ring
Blade: Wilkinson Sword
Brush: Semogue TSN LE 2012
Pre-Shave: Proraso Pre Shave Cream
Lather: B&M Latha Oceana
Aftershave: Barber No3 Marmara
Additional Care: Alum Block
King Gillette originally considered his blades to be reusable. You could ship them back to his company and get a new blade for every two you sent in. Devices for reconditioning the edge at home also cropped up early, and kept popping up again and again.1 But with all that honing and sharpening, the blades would wear. The edge would creep slowly but surely closer to the middle of the blade. This would, naturally, change the geometry of the head – likely resulting in suboptimal shaves. Enter left; Abraham Zilbersher and his safety razor for worn down blades.
I can see nothing stopping a shaver from using Mr Zilbersher’s razor with new blades. It does look like a nice razor, and one that would give you the option to use either a comb guard or what is – in essence – a safety bar.
Continue readingRazor: Gillette Single Ring
Blade: Wilkinson Sword
Brush: Artesania Romera Manchurian Badger, imitation horn
Pre-Shave: Proraso Pre Shave Cream
Lather: Cold River Soap Works’ Barbere Sapone
Aftershave: Barber No3 Marmara
Additional Care: Alum Block
I have been bouncing an idea around in my head for a good long time, so I decided to do a little experiment. A trial balloon, as it were… the only question being, how y’all like it?
Continue readingCompact is a funny word, when you think about it. It can mean something dense, or densely packed. It can mean exerting a force on something to make it more, well, compact. Or it can be used to describe something that is a small and conveniently shaped example of its kind, such as a compact camera. I have seen it used to describe make up kits that fit in a purse. Or, in the case of Victor R Payton’s 1926 patent filing, a compact razor that fits in a pocket.
Continue readingRazor: Merkur 39C Slant
Blade: Perma-sharp Super
Stainless Brush: Brush Experimental Alpha
Pre-Shave: Prep Original
Lather: Pereira Shavery Baron’s Choice
Aftershave: Barber No3 Marmara
Additional Care: Alum Block
And as a reminder, my second book on razor and shaving patents is now available!
A little over two years ago I self-published – via Amazon – a book on shaving and razor patents. Now I have committed a second book, which is again available on Amazon.
Much like a criminal returns to the scene of the crime, I guess… but then again, I did warn you that I was going to.
Continue readingA little while ago I posted about two shaving kits disguised as pens. One was a pen style shavette patented in 1921, the other a single edge hoe razor from 1947. But what if you reached into your breast pocket for a pen, perhaps to sign some important document? What a bummer it would be if all you found was several razors, and no pen. What you would need is some form of combined writing instrument and shaver’s kit…which is just what Harry I Schwartz and Joseph H Rothstein filed a patent for in 1934.
Continue readingRazor: Phillips Philite
Blade: Perma-sharp Super Stainless
Brush: Vie-Long #13051M
Pre-Shave: Proraso Pre Shave Cream
Lather: Crabtree & Evelyn Sandalwood
Aftershave: Nivea Cooling After Shave Balm
Additional Care: Alum Block
A little while ago I wrote about a rather honest Schick advertisement. If you recall, it was the one where they admitted to losing money on the free razor. Which, as pointed out by a user on Reddit, is a very good illustration of the Razor and Blades economic model. However, and more importantly today, the advertisement also featured a competitors razor… leaving the question as to which would give the more solid shaves.
Now, I personally own neither a Schick Krona nor a Gillette Knack. But Kurt, also known as Solid Shaves, do. And he posted a rather nice comparison of the two on his YouTube channel this weekend.
Continue reading