On Tuesday, I received in the mail two of my firsts in the same razor - an open-comb DE and a Gillette. This was a 1920 (Patent year) Gillette Gold Tone razor, made in Canada. By the way, what's the proper name for this razor? It's like the one in the picture here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/22508161/1920s-antique-gold-tone-gillette-razor .
Anyway, after cleaning it up (it was in pretty fantastic condition to start), I put a Feather in it, lathered up with my Omega 636 and Col. Conk Bay Rum, and went to work.
This razor GLIDED. I'd discovered last week that I loved Feathers, but putting them in this razor made the action absolutely phenomenal! I'd used a Parker 22R (a TTO) until now for my DE, and that's quite an aggressive shaver, so I'm told (and so my face tells me). The Gillette gold made me feel like I wasn't shaving at all. At first, I thought that I was getting the blade angle wrong, but I could hear the hairs being sliced, just like I'd hoped to hear. Moreover, the balance of the razor and its head size made it extremely maneuverable. So I was very happy with it!
The only downside I've seen is something that's plagued me with both DEs I've now tried - that getting the five or six hairs directly under my nose is extremely hard (though better with the Gillette than the Parker). I usually do WTG and then XTG (nose-to-jaw), but for some reason, even with all the contortions I make with my upper lip, those hairs are VERY hard to get. The funny thing is, this is not the case with the couple of SEs I've tried. Both of those (Gem G-Bar and Ever Ready 1924) have gotten those pesky hairs on the first try. So even on days when I shave with a DE, when I'm in a hurry, I'll still reach for the SE to get those spots rather than take the 4 or 5 tries with a DE. I'm going to wager that this is something that'll get fixed with practice (I'm only just over a month into DE shaving), rather than a function of the DE razors.
So back to the jubilation - the cherry on top was that this razor-blade combo gave me a 2-pass bloodless, nickless DFS with ZERO irritation. If I can repeat this tomorrow, the Gillette will undoubtedly become my favorite DE.
Anyway, after cleaning it up (it was in pretty fantastic condition to start), I put a Feather in it, lathered up with my Omega 636 and Col. Conk Bay Rum, and went to work.
This razor GLIDED. I'd discovered last week that I loved Feathers, but putting them in this razor made the action absolutely phenomenal! I'd used a Parker 22R (a TTO) until now for my DE, and that's quite an aggressive shaver, so I'm told (and so my face tells me). The Gillette gold made me feel like I wasn't shaving at all. At first, I thought that I was getting the blade angle wrong, but I could hear the hairs being sliced, just like I'd hoped to hear. Moreover, the balance of the razor and its head size made it extremely maneuverable. So I was very happy with it!
The only downside I've seen is something that's plagued me with both DEs I've now tried - that getting the five or six hairs directly under my nose is extremely hard (though better with the Gillette than the Parker). I usually do WTG and then XTG (nose-to-jaw), but for some reason, even with all the contortions I make with my upper lip, those hairs are VERY hard to get. The funny thing is, this is not the case with the couple of SEs I've tried. Both of those (Gem G-Bar and Ever Ready 1924) have gotten those pesky hairs on the first try. So even on days when I shave with a DE, when I'm in a hurry, I'll still reach for the SE to get those spots rather than take the 4 or 5 tries with a DE. I'm going to wager that this is something that'll get fixed with practice (I'm only just over a month into DE shaving), rather than a function of the DE razors.
So back to the jubilation - the cherry on top was that this razor-blade combo gave me a 2-pass bloodless, nickless DFS with ZERO irritation. If I can repeat this tomorrow, the Gillette will undoubtedly become my favorite DE.