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Tales from Alexandria

I had a few days off last week in Alexandria, which is home to the Lord Shaving Company. Not that I would bother going there; I can already get the basics in Cairo. But I wanted to see if I could pick up some other Lord products at retail that don't make it to Cairo, and I was keen to ransack the antique market stalls for nice old razors.

I actually succeeded in finding something for sale that I haven't seen in Cairo: Lord's Emofresh Shaving Cream. ("For Men," it says on the tube. I'm glad I didn't accidentally purchase the kind of shaving cream that only women can use.) Hard to find a cheaper shaving cream: it cost 42 cents for a 60-gram tube. Hat tip to Kevan for alerting me to the existence of this product.

I struck out at antiquing, which was what I expected, but man, I tried my hardest. Even the knife grinder who dealt in rehabbed blades had nothing. I stopped in at every junk shop I saw that had anything resembling a razor, a pocketwatch, or a pipe, in hopes that these things might be sold together. (In retail stores, yes; in junk/antique stores, nope.) I found lots of used straight razors, but only the cheapie ones that I'd hesitate to use brand-new, much less when they're old and corroded. Actually, I'd hesitate to use any straight razor. I'd hesitate to touch one of these junky things.

Since I've had such puzzling difficulty finding Lord's higher-end razor blades for sale in Cairo, I tried to find them in Alexandria. Rather to my surprise, I couldn't find them there, either. I had a great encounter with one pharmacist who sold razor blades: I asked if he had Lord Super Chromes or Platinums for sale, and he said no, but he had lots of Super Max packs. He showed me one, and I played dumb about them while he explained that these are great blades from India. "I have no Lord blades," he said. I tried teasing him, accusing him of treason by not stocking Egyptian-made blades. He wouldn't be baited, though: he just shook his head at me like I was a poor, deluded soul, and told me, "No, no, Lord is terrible! I shave with these every day, and I can tell you for sure that they're much better than Lord."

Will give the cream and blades a trial with my 1822L very soon and post.
 
I must say I always enjoy reading about your adventures in Egypt! That is one place I want to see before I die! You certainly seem to be having fun at it, even if you aren't having much luck in the antique market. Good luck to you!
 
You are one lucky guy, getting to bang around Alexandria and Cairo. I hope you make some good finds.

Tell me about it! Probably the luckiest thing that's happened to me in a long time. I've made some excellent finds already. Oh, and I bought a few razors, too. :001_smile
 
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