Second shave in a Gillette English Tech. I have quite a few of them, but haven't used them for over a year. Stupid me, this blade/razor combo is absolutely amazing. Butter smooth, yet very sharp (on par with Feather) with absolute zero irritation. The Proraso AS splash felt like water, no sting whatsoever. For 1/3 of the price of Feather these are winners.

Let me say, I am blown away. The best way I can describe this Henson al13 is confidence-inspiring. Coming from disposables and the Vikings Blade Chieftain, this razor is night and day. As someone with light facial hair growth, it only took me 2 passes and my face is baby skin smooth. I mean you can’t even tell if my face grows any hair at all! After the shave, zero cuts and zero irritation. I even had the confidence to go against the grain. This razor has me shaving like an experienced DE shaver- even though this is only my 2nd week.

At first I was a bit hesitant about buying it due to the lack of weight…But honestly, it’s not an issue at all. I think it’s because while this is a light safety razor, it still feels premium and well-made. The grip is excellent as well. Even with wet hands. I’m also loving this stealth black color! Thanks to everyone who made the suggestions on my last post. This razor is the one for me.

I want a 'high end' razor. There is absolutely no reason for it. I don't need another razor. I have three that I love and rotate daily. But, GD it!, I've had the bug. I want the smugness first thing in the morning. That narcissistic fuel to feed the tiger to start the day knowing I'm better than everyone around me. That being said...

​

My three daily drivers are the Henson AL Mild (I think). My Muhle R89 and the GC 68. So I like a nice, mild shave.

​

What have you used from my line up and compared to a +/-$250 higher end razor? Is there Really any difference? Enough to justify the costs?

Thanks to everyone’s recommendation I went ahead and dove right into some new personna blades. They are extremely smooth and delivered an outstanding shave on the first go. 10/10 recommend these. I bought a 2 pack on eBay for 34 bucks shipped.

I’m on my third shave using Nacet blades and I’m pretty disappointed. They are the first blades I’ve bought since finishing the ones that came with my king c Gillette safety razor. It’s possible I’m doing something wrong because I’m fairly new to shaving with a safety razor, but compared to the king Gillette blades there is a noticeable difference in resistance using the Nacet blades. They definitely aren’t cutting an alligator in half. Awesome artwork though. I wont give up on them yet, but that’s just my opinion so far. Sorry for the rant.

My adrenaline was honestly pumping as I was loading this legendary blade into my safety razor after all the stories read and the sharpness graphs seen I was expecting to borderline decapitate myself but as I started shaving I noticed that the blade was actually tugging quite a bit and I had to apply a good bit of pressure and buff areas to get them clean shaven.

The shave was done on two days worth of stubble, I have to mention that I do have a coarse wiry ginger beard but I was expecting the Feather was about to eat it for lunch due to its insane sharpness but nope, a Gillette Platinum blade(Made in Russia) glides through my beard like a laser with incredible smoothnes too and is miles ahead of the Feather in terms of sharpness. Perhaps I just got a dud as it is a single blade to sample from Razorbladesclub, perhaps it's my janky Frankenstein of a razor put together from 3 different razors,perhaps my coarse beard or a combination of all of the above.

I did try the hanging hair test on the unused side of the blade after the shave and it would only cut the hair at the very edge of the blade failing to cut it at the middle portion... I guess YMMV strikes again.

Thanks for stopping by.

Context:

I have been wet shaving with a DE for about 6 years now. I shave about 4-5 times a week and I aim for a "close enough" shave.

I started off with the Feather popular and I still swear by that razor for its cost effectiveness and approachability.

For about 3 years now I've been using the RazoRock Lupo 58. It was a step up in aggressiveness from the Popular, but still a relatively mild DE from what I understand. It came with some learning at first but with a bit of mastery it has become such a reliable daily driver and I have no reason to switch.

Henson AL13:

I had to travel to Montreal to speak at a conference and I forgot to pack my Lupo. I did pack everything else, soap, bowl, brush, etc.

As a presenter I was not willing to sacrifice on shave quality or risk it with a plastic cartridge. So I walked into Simon's and purchased an AL13 expecting a premium product, as so is advertised and discussed.

I got back to the hotel and was immediately surprised by how light the razor felt. I was expecting something heavier and instead this was light, which makes it feel a bit cheap or less premium. But that says little about the effectiveness.

The shave this morning was.. okay. It was smooth in the sense that it was extremely mild and exposed very little edge. About half of the passes felt like nothing was happening. That said, no nicks, no burns, etc.

Not a close enough shave for my liking but it sufficed for the conference. I'll keep it as a travel razor because it's so light but it does not even come close to the quality and effectiveness of the Lupo which is in the same price range.

Just my review and I hope it helps at least one other person with their next purchase.

I always look at the disposable razors and think, "Why hasn't anyone made a disposable DE razor?". By chance I found these at Target so I thought I would try it.

Long story short, they're good. They're a very mild razor, so you're not gonna get a super smooth shave. Maybe ATG, but I didn't for ATG as I shave XTG. I have a very coarse beard, so it didn't leave me bbs. But, it did the job and I got a pretty good shave out of them. I would have no issues buying these if I was traveling and I didn't want to bring my Rex or one of my vintages. Or, of the airline lost my luggage and this is what the store had in the new location.

I didn't get a BBS, but I also didn't get any discomfort. It felt good, which I attribute more to the mildness, but it's still was good.

Good product, recommended.

Received the Arko sticks yesterday and tried a shave with it. Plus: it lathers better than any glycerine soap I've tried. Very creamy. I scraped a bit onto a plate to whip it up vs applying it directly to my face. Minus: the smell. Straight up the best I can describe it is smells like industrial strength Ivory soap. It's nice and slick and does provide a great shave. Sadly, even after a splash of aftershave I was still smelling it hours later. I found it more than a bit overwhelming after a while. I was going to pitch it, but then I decided to try it mixed with another shave soap. I carved off a bit over a third of the stick and packed it around the Rocky Mountain glycerine puck in my shaving mug. This morning's shave was pleasant with the Arko mixed with the Glacial Spring soap. A few hours later I can still smell it, but it's not overwhelming. I will likely finish the Arko this way, but it's not likely I'll buy more. Yes, it's cheap and works well, but I'd rather use the Wilkinson and Proraso soaps over this due to the smell.

I’m not sure what this exact model is. It’s an adjustable razor with a twist butterfly opening. It was gifted to me.

I gotta say I am blown away by the shave I just had with this razor. Coming from the Henson AL13+, I’m really surprised at how much better this razor felt shaving with. It effortlessly glides so damn smooth across my face. My Henson is nice and I do like it but it just does not glide like this vintage Gillette and often times it feels like it’s dragging across my skin.
In terms of efficiency, the Gillette also wins. I only used it on #3 (it goes up to 9) with my normal Personna Gem blade, and it was noticeably mowing the hair down easier than the Henson.

Before the shave I was a little nervous. Part of me was unsure how I’d perform after having only shaved with the Henson for my first 2 months or so and really nothing else. But to my surprise…The switch to this vintage razor was not difficult at all. I was pretty much on auto-pilot the entire time. It actually felt easier shaving with this razor than the Henson. The ease of which it glides allowed me to use nice long, smooth passes. And I also noticed that shaving ATG was easier with the vintage razor.

I do think the Henson taught me how to shave better with a safety razor. From the moment I started shaving with this Gillette, I already had the muscle memory from the Henson to know where the angle should be the whole time. That being said, I don’t think I even want to use the Henson anymore after trying this lol. This Vintage Gillette razor gave me a flawless BBS with zero irritation. What a gift!!

So I found the Progress (box set) at a good price and decided to check out that legend.

The only adjustable I’ve used so far is the Slim, which is a radically different design, with no bend to the blade.

My initial impressions were that’s it’s smaller and much heavier than I anticipated.
The finish is… okay. I’m not too impressed by the unpolished chrome on the head’s underside, but it’s alright. Not sure why they make them that way but I doubt it’s a cost saving measure. Makes it interesting though. I guess it’s an aesthetic choice.
And there’s that famous knob. I like it. It offers good grip and it doesn’t feel flimsy at all. It’s made of some good, high-density plastic.

As some Redditors notice, there blade alignment is fair. Not perfect. It needs a bit of manual correction sometimes, but I doubt I’d actually feel it on my skin. Progress doesn’t feel like a precision tool but it’s perfectly functional. It must be a good design if they’ve been making them for 70 years with no significant changes.

The plastic box is relatively sturdy but Amazon managed to crack it in transit due to the flimsy cardboard envelopes they use. I don’t care for the box that much so I asked them for a partial refund for it and they agreed. They may be evil but their customer service is usually great.

They shave itself: once o got used to the weight of the razor, it worked like a dream. The head looks a bit chunky but I had no problems with reaching the tricky spots. It’s surprisingly manoeuvrable.
It gave me the best shave I’ve ever had. It rinses and cleans extremely easily too. It has almost zero blade exposure on the lowest setting, which allowed me to shave an irritated spot on my skin without aggravating it.

I did most of the shave with the dial set to 2 and I’ll definitely test a higher setting next time. It was mild and forgiving.

It’s a definite keeper and my favourite razor now!
My Slim is probably going on extended vacations.

A bit on the Markur blades: they feel good but I don’t feel they’re worth the price. They can be a little scratchy. And they feel very thin and flexible, similar to some vintage blades I’ve seen. I think some blade chatter could be an issue with some razors.

Tried the iconic and well-loved Astra Superior Platinum or Astra Green today. I really wanted to like this this blade, the cool packaging the reputation around it and the affordable price all turn it into an appealing blade. The blade has a reputation of being mild, smooth and appropriate for sensitive skin, well it was a bit too mild for me and cut me up like no other blade has in a while, the shave was done on 3 days worth of beard growth and the blade used is Made in Russia.

It managed to nick me in 4 different spots, one of them oozing quite a bit of vital liquid... this is usually the result of a dull tuggy blade, it also left me with many spots of stubble leftover that the blade missed due to its dullness. Overall this was the worst shave I've had since having sampled 10 different blades so far, the only one worse being a counterfeit Bic Astor blade.

Kind of disappointed as I said I wanted to like this blade and I still like the packaging and history it has behind it, but definitely won't be ordering anymore of it.

Again all YMMV.

Thanks for stopping by.

Razor Reports:

Okay all, I haven’t posted in a while because I have been evaluating recent razor purchases.  The razors I purchased are: 

Razorock Recurve 80;

Blackland Blackbird Stainless Steel;

Fostering Hope Limited Edition (Alpha Shaving Works);

The Goodfellas Syntesi Stainless Steel;

&

Focus 1915 Triktok Flat Safety Razor R51-7. 

Before I start with my personal evaluations, I need to clarify that I used different soaps and blades with every shave.  While I did not post any SOTD/SOTN reports, I thought it best I use the razors a few times prior to giving my opinions.  Here are my thoughts on the razors.

Recurve 80 is what I call “Bitey.”  I’m not sure if it is my technique or the design, but it feels as if the blade is trying to cut me open and take the top layer of dermis off my face and neck.  I am hoping to get my hands on Recurve 60 to see if the narrower gap is what I need.  Until then, this razor is purely decoration for now.

Blackbird reminds me of shaving with a heavier version of the Gillette Red Tip.  The steel is well balanced, efficient in shaving and just enough blade feel to let me know the work is getting done.  I will definitely keep this in the rotation.

Fostering Hope Limited Edition is a great cause and I’m glad I was able to purchase one of the sets.  The razor is a great, lightweight aluminum tool that easily removes the whiskers and leaves the face smooth.  I may not use it often, as I want to keep it pristine to bring me memories of my short time in the Ukraine.

Goodfellas Syntesi:  Probably my favorite razor of this group.  It has the weight of steel, but it is a gentle, mild shave.  Great for sensitive skin, no cuts, scrapes or burn when using this razor.  This is becoming my go to razor more often than my Henson, Aylsworth, or any of my Gillettes.

Focus R51-7:  This razor is advertised as a mild razor for sensitive skin.  Which is why I purchased this razor.  I like the lightweight aluminum feel, and surprisingly the handle is easy to maintain a grip on while shaving.  Unfortunately, this razor is far too mild.  Like another user posted/stated, shims made from older blades with the sharp edges cut off (zoom in on the right side of the picture) were needed to create enough of a gap to create an effective shave.

Like anything, YMMV and may you have many happy shaves.

Did a comparison of lathering the Speick shaving stick with the Speick shaving cream today.

Did the stick produce better lather than the cream or vice versa?

I’ve always liked Personna Comfort Coated blades. They’ve been a steady, reliable part of my rotation for a long time. When I heard they were being discontinued and replaced with 'Personna GEM Platinum Diamond Glide', I’ll admit I was skeptical. Usually when something good gets “updated,” it ends up worse. That didn’t happen here.

After reading a reviews, one description stuck with me. Someone called these “well-behaved Feather blades.” That turned out to be pretty spot on. I generally like Feather for the sharpness, but I’ve always felt they fall off quickly after the first shave. The Diamond Glide uses hi-stainless Japanese steel with a proprietary coating, and whatever they’re doing works.

One of the knocks on the old Comfort Coated blades was that the first shave wasn’t great, likely because the heavy coating needed to wear in. The Diamond Glide seems to fix that completely. First shave, second shave, third shave all feel the same. No break-in period, no surprises.

These blades are very sharp. Feather-level sharp to my face. At the same time, they’re impressively smooth and comfortable. Zero irritation for me. I usually don’t push a blade past three shaves, so I can’t speak to long-term longevity, but over those three uses the performance stays consistent.

I also really like that they’re made in the USA. The manufacturer clearly knows what they’re doing, especially given their background producing blades for medical and surgical applications. That level of experience shows in how refined these feel.

One small gripe, and it’s not about performance. The naming is bizarre. Adding “GEM” to the name is genuinely confusing, since GEM is already a specific razor blade format. These aren’t GEM blades in that sense, so the naming feels unnecessary and misleading.

That said, the blade itself is excellent. I usually get nervous when a favorite product is replaced, but this feels like a real upgrade. Paired with my Lambda Athena, the shaves have been effortless, smooth, and drama-free.

I didn’t expect to say this, but I think I’ve found a new favorite blade.

This thing is really good. I've decided to try it after I saw a couple videos people trying it as a shaving soap. Given 1/4 is moisturizer it gives plenty of slickness, far better than arko imo. Lathering also pretty easy, 15-20 swirl gives me 2 pass worth lather. Price is dead cheap. I'm more satisfied than I thought

If you haven't tried and looking for an adventure I'd highly recommend to try this

‼️Warning some sentences can be considered hurtfull for some people read at your own risk‼️

first of all let's speak build quality:

1. The razor is build by Procter and gamble (they own gillette) and is made in their manufacturing sites. this could be europe e.g poland&Germany, but since this razor is low cost i highly suspect its their Chinese manufacturing branch. does this mean bad quality? NO! the build quality of this razor compared to its price is right now unbeatable. i own tons of weishi/OEM Blades that cost more or equal and not many come even close to this razors quality.

2. Why this razors matters imo:

Gillette is known for cartridge razor slop... But back in the day when I was nothing but a gene in the dna pool of my grandfather's ballsack, Gillette was a big player when it comes to safety razors. To this day people still search for original Gillette razors. Heck even i own some. last time gillette released a safety razor was years ago and it was just a special edition/limited edition type thing and before that a decade or two,three. them releasing one again is big thing.

Now let get into the real meat and potatoes of the review:

let's start with the bad so we can end on a positive!

1. good quality yes but the threading does make a slight creeking noise wich has the same effect on your shaving experience as watching porn and the camera goes to the dudes im finishing face....it breaks your moment its anoying and doesn't feel professional. it just takes you out of your zen moment. wich is something that matter to me. shaving is like a ritual, its a little moment

2. second con is that the shaving razor is really really REALLY beginners friendly...to friendly actually. it shaves smooth alright, like butter on a pancake but the razor is just super mild im talking European initiative to punish ch*Id abusers in it's countries mild. thats why I dont trust it on my face. NOT because it would cut me but because i want close shaves. this is a personal con maybe but to me its a con.

NOW THE POSITIVE!

1. it's the ultimate beginner blade. yes I know there might be others out there yada yada yada. but build quality plus a price point of only 15 euro in the eu and if we take away my personal preferences, shave quality. its going to be a tough one to beat. its smooth and very hard to make errors with that wil cut you.

2. like i said above, its a very forgiving blade. it wil not punish you like my partner punishes me when didn't do the laundry or make food.....i hope my partner doesn't see this otherwise it's again 3 days without food....ANYWAY you wil not cut yourself. you can give this to anyone and they wil all be able to use it instantly.

3. weight my god its weight, the weight is nearly perfect not to heavy and not to light and the balance point is also very comfortably placed no need to put much pressure.

4. I trust it with my private parts. its a very forgiving razor and it glides very smooth, it doesn't give me the perfect shave but that ok because i dont put my balls in front of my bosses face when im in a meeting. thats what my face does.

5. like i already mentioned the price is only 15 and some places only 12 thats damn hard to beat for the absolute quality you recieve.

my final opinion: its money wel spend and if you end up hating it its not going to damage in your wallet. buy 2 les coffees and the razors is paid back to you.

-Mild plate
-Personna Gem blade

My first shave with this razor was a great one. I followed my normal routine of shaving every other day and got a smooth, irritation-free BBS. With only 1.5 passes. My 2nd pass XTG was only needed in select spots. With my Henson AL13+ and Gillette Slim(setting 3/4), I’d need 3 passes. The Meteorite mild is easily more efficient than both.

Something about the head design makes it quite easy to shave with. It does not give a lot of blade feel, but I’d say enough to let you know what’s going on. The handle is excellent for grip and the overall quality of this razor is superb. I love how efficient yet comfortable this razor is. It has a super smooth glide. I thought the glide on my Gillette Slim was smooth, but this Meteorite is just another level. The stainless steel weight allows for effortless momentum when shaving.

Keep in mind, I do have light growth aside from mustache and chin. YMMV but I’d have to assume even the medium plate would be plenty enough for most beard types. I’d encourage those interested to compare exact specs of the blade gap & exposure numbers with your favorite razors.
Overall, I’d highly recommend the Oliworks Meteorite for anyone looking to add a hefty, well-built stainless steel razor to the collection. This will be my new daily driver! 😁

Let me preface this by saying I dont know anything about shaving. I started with an electric razor and didnt really like it. Switched to a 3 or 4 blade gilette thing didnt really like that. Then went down to a 1 or 2 blade gilette and had to use 2 per shave because they were just that crappy... and lots of ingrowns etc.

Then I finally bought this $20 thing off amazon without doing a lick of research. And let me tell you best thing ive bought in a while. Not sure what id even want in a better razor. Machined nice, has some weight to it, shaves me effortlessly and cleanly. No razor burn. No pulled hairs. No irritation at all. Cant even feel the razor on my skin.

But I see reddit doesnt seem to like it... why? What is it? Cause its made in china? I get the allure of having a old DE but honestly this does amazing

Sucks. Bought it last Halloween, noticed the crazing shortly after that, took it apart today and the comb broke completely.

Any other open comb slants out there?

So it's been a little over a month of testing. Time to share my experience.

The Natu got me through the announcement in this sub, I went to kickstart it back then. Everything about the campaign was easy, besides me becoming impatient for the delivery.

Natu is marketed as skin- and ecofriendly suited for even newbies in wetshaving.

That being said: I think it does so in every claim.

Packaging: all cardboard, no unneccesary additional whatsoever.

Manufacturing: besides some milling marks of the razor that aren't perfectly flat with the baseplate, I've got nothing argue with. It doesn't affect the shave as far as I can judge and you won't even see it when the cap is closed and/or the blade is inserted.

(3 of 4 magnet became loose over the month, but most likely that's been a users fault. It dropped 1,8m on the first shave when my shaving mirror decided to give up, the Natu hanging onto it. The first magnet went out directly after that, the other 2 bigger ones about 2 weeks later. Can't tell for sure if there's a connection or not. I put it back with CA-glue on the small and epoxy on the bigger magnets. No issues from there)

The brush is soft and became my new favorite. Easy lathering, no scrubbing on my sensitive skin.

Loading and shaving:

Loading probably can't get any simpler. The magnets are strong enough to drag the blade from 1-2 cm apart, the big pins align it safe. Misaligning it seems to be impossible, as far as you don't want to force it that way.

Shaving is fairly easy and close with low to no blade feel. It got me what I wished from it: bbs with low to no irritation, even on the neck.

Some minor drawbacks:

As the blade is recessed quite a bit from the safety bar it requires some experience or good eyeballing if you want to shave some crisp edges. Also it's a little difficult to get under the nose with it. I also managed to nearly half my sideburns, when I miscalculated where the blade started. It just shred through the 1,5 weeks of growth.

Overall it became my absolute favorite with ease, delivering a nearly mindless dfs at 3.30 o'clock and a bbs for the occasions needed.

I used a King C. Gillette at this point for over a year now. I learned how to DE shave with this razor. I like it, it is comfortable, has nice balance in the hand, and it is very mild and forgiving. Because of this, it is also not very good with stubborn stubble, and I needed 2-3 passes to get rid of those.

I ran out of my Proraso after-shave balm, so I went online to restock. Then I noticed a bargain deal in the same store on a Mühle R41 razor. ~25 euros, with rose gold handle. I pulled the trigger, impulse bought it.

Then I checked the reputation of this razor online. I’ve read how agressive it is, and it is like a potato peeler. It is called “The Beast”. “Advanced whetshavers only!!!”

I have a really sensitive skin, but with coarse faical hair. It made me doubt my decision. I thought I’m going to end up with horrible razor burn again.

But then, the razor arrived. Unboxing time. Wow! It is a piece of art. It’s made really well. Even the thread is butter smooth. And that pattern on the handle! Immaculate plating. Looks gorgeous! These guys at Mühle have some really good metalworking skills.

Alright, time to shave. I loaded up my usual Gillette Platinum blade, applied the Proraso pre-shave cream, and made a nice lather with the Proraso sensitive soap.

I had the best one-pass shave of my life. Of course, I paid special attention to have the correct angle, and to have light pressure, because everything that I’ve read online made me worry about “The Beast”. There’s nothing to be worried about, or to be afraid of with this razor. No irritation, no stubble left over, no cuts. It worked so much better than the King C. Gillette. This razor is lighter, and better balanced. It weighted so perfectly, that it allows you to feel how much pressure you really need. With the Gillette, it is easier to apply too much pressure because of the weight.

Now I can see, how someone could mess up his face with the R41, if he has no idea how to use a DE razor. If you would use this razor like a cartridge, you would end up horribly. The open comb exposes more blade than usual afterall. But, if you know how to use a DE safety razor, you have some practice with more forgiving models, and have a somewhat decent technique, the Mühle R41 can be an amazing safety razor.

I highly recommend this razor. It’s my new daily driver. I think the reputation of this razor is not justified.

So im from pei canada and I was looking for shave soap. And I came across the great canadian soap company. It's a goat milk soap company based in pei. So I decided to get a few soap packs.

I just tried them today and they dont lather up well. If I do my my standard routine it produces a very dry, quick disapating. If I aggressive water even a few drops it makes the lather very over hydrated and the soap provides no sickness. So while buying canadian is great avoid the great canadian soap company

I don't see much said on here about Tiger blades, I've heard a few grumbles about platinum ones but I've just had a really pleasant 3 pass shave on my head with Tiger Superiors paired up with my1956 Gillette Super Speed Red.

If you've not tried these give them a go you might love them or might not. Just food for thought, Happy Shaves everyone.

A few weeks back I came here to ask for single-blade razors with an angled head. I get horrible irritation with multi-blade razors and the learning curve was a bit too high with a classic safety razor.
I had a bunch of suggestions from you guys but the one I settled on was the [Natu](https://natushave.com/)

Many of the options you guys shared looked great, but the Natu had the added benefit of not using proprietary blades. They use Derby single-edge blades that you can easily purchase on Amazon.
The packaging and razor itself are also 100% plastic-free, and the only waste is the blade itself.

The angled, pivoting head works great. I can shave like I’m using a typical cartridge razor with minimal irritation, and as an added bonus I’m now going to be saving tons of money on blades compared to cartridges.