Razor: Wilkinson Sword Classic
Blade: Shark Super Chrome
Brush: Vie-Long #14033
Lather: Asylum Shave Works Frankincense & Myrrh
Aftershave: Asylum Shave Works Frankincense & Myrrh
Additional Care: Alum Block & BullDog Original Beard Balm
Razor: Mergress “Bling”
Blade: Shark Super Chrome
Brush: Wilkinson Sword
Badger Lather: Prairie creations Walter
Aftershave: Nivea Cooling After Shave Balm
Additional Care: Alum Block & Big Red Beard Oil
I’ll come clean; after borrowing my Better Half’s Clarisonic face brush for a long while – so long she got me my own brushes for it – I went and bought my own Clarisonic Mia 2… in part so I can bring it with me when I travel without being spotted with a bright pink thing in my toiletry bag (and without my Better Half getting annoyed at me for abducting her Clarisonic).
First things first; I did consider getting the Alpha Fit, however reading reviews online indicates issues with the battery in that model, so I picked up a white Mia 2.
That aside, lets get on with it. The Clarisonic Mia is waterproof with no holes water can in through – this is a great thing for something meant to be used in the shower. It sits nicely in my hand, however it might be a bit bulky for someone with smaller hands. The battery last for a long time, and takes a few hours to charge when empty.
Unlike cheaper electric face brushes the Clarisonic range uses what they refer to as “micro massage”, in other words the head don’t spin around but jiggles back and forth. It might sound gimmicky, but it works rather well. Ingrown hairs and clogged pores clean right up.
It has a timer on it too, to make sure you spend enough time in each area of your T-sone… it may sound like a bit of wankery, but again it works.
The two drawbacks of the Mia 2 I’ve found so far is the amonth of space it takes in my bag when traveling and the fact that it really, really makes my nose tickle… but then I’m much more ticklish than most so don’t take that as a problem for everyone.
Is Clarisonic worth the price? The short answer is yes; it makes cleaning my face easier, and it helps clean up potential skin issues before they turn into problems. It is fairly expensive though, so if you allready have good skin with little to no issues you may not need to splurge.
Razor: Mergress “Bling”
Blade: Shark Super Chrome
Brush: Vie-Long #13051M
Lather: Prairie Creations KISS
Aftershave: Proraso Liquid Cream After Shave
Additional Care: Alum Block BullDog Original Beard Balm
The last of the KISS; I would get more, but the store seems to be down…
Remember these old patents? Now look at this image of a magnetic safety razor I found online:
Sadly the only thing I know about it is that the photo is labeled “u magnet safety razor”, but it sure looks like it’s straight out of Mr Ames’ patents.
Razor: BiC Sensitive SE
Brush: Omega #50014 Travel
Lather: BEA Shavestick
Aftershave: Krampert’s Finest Bay Rum
Additional Care: Alum Travel Stick & WSP Matterhorn Beard Oil
Razor: Mergress “Bling”
Blade: Shark Super Chrome
Brush: Omega #10048
Lather: Nivea Mild
Aftershave: BullDog Oil Control Moisturiser
Additional Care: Alum Block & BullDog Original Beard Balm
The Gillette Toggle is one of the more mechanically interesting razors out there… by moving a lever – the “toggle” that gives the razor it’s name – one way or the other the razor head will either open fully to let a user replace a blade, or just a smidgen to let a user rinse the blade.
The mechanism behind the Toggle was patented in 1957, and the patent itself makes for pretty interesting reading. Several springs have to be tuned to work in harmony, and making it adjustable increases the complexity further. I mean, just have a look:
Now compare that to a traditional three piece or even twist-to-open razor… and you understand why the Toggle wasn’t a cheap razor when it was introduced. Now, the Toggle as manufactured wasn’t identical to the patent – changes was likely made to improve ease of manufacture – but it was still a complicated razor as the following drawings show:
If the drawings are a little hard to read, well, I found an image of a disassembled Toggle:
A large spring that – I guess – controls the adjusting razor head, and a smaller one that seems to control the toggle. Or it might be the other way around – this is a razor that makes my head spin a bit. It’s also worth noting all the bushings and washers that allow bits to rotate and slide in relation to each other… this is a razor that will not take kindly to gunk in the mechanism.
As far as I know – or knew, rather – the complexity of the Toggle meant that no one tried to copy it or make a direct competitor. So imagine my surprise and mechanical interest when I stumbled over a thread on my favorite shave forum that pointed me towards Janus Razors; a small scale operation bent on recreating the Toggle.
As far as I can tell it’s not a straight copy, but rather a reimagining of the Toggle adapted for modern materials and manufacture technologies… I’m probably not far of the mark when I’m guessing CNC-machining and investment castings, both technologies that were close to science fiction when the original Toggle was designed.
I’ve found a few images of what I believe is prototypes or preproduction samples:
While I don’t think I’ll get a Janus Toggle myself – limited budget, already have a fairly nice collection of razors in my rotation, and so on – but I’m tickled by the fact that someone is diving into the deep end of mechanically complicated razors and are trying to recreate the Gillette Toggle.
Razor: Mergress “Bling”
Blade: Shark Super Chrome
Brush: Semogue TSN LE 2012
Lather: Prairie creations KISS
Aftershave: Nivea Cooling After Shave Balm
Additional Care: Alum Block & Scotch Porter Beard Balm
Impossible to cut the face – sounds good.
Shaves Easy, quick and clean – great.
Pays for it self in a fortnight – perhaps a bit of hyperbole?
Every undertaker and embalmer should have one – wait, what‽
It makes sense though, in that corpses are (and were) usually shaved to make them more presentable, and if the safety razor could do it easier, faster, cheaper and with less chance of cuts and the danger of infection… sounds like a great idea to me.