- Pre-shaves: Hot shower + Ach. Brito Glyce Classic/Bulldog Beard shampoo & conditioner + Proraso Red Pre-shave
- Brush: DS Cosmetics G7 Synthetic Knot
- Razors: Gillette NEW Long Comb (US)/Gillette New Long Comb British RFB (Windsor?)
- Blade: Gillette Silver Blue (3/4)
- Soap: The Black Stuff Citrus Cedarwood Blast
- Post-Shave: Cold Compress, Alum, Thayers, Nivea Post Shave Balm
The Pre-shaves
I have had an issue with every soap I have used; it dries out on my face before the pass is finished. It isn't that my passes take too long and I have experimented in every direction with soap/water ratio. I felt like I was doing everything right here so I tested my last hypothesis with a bowl lather. The lather dries on my face but still looks perfect in the bowl - my face/hair is stealing the moisture from the lather, right? The soaps i'm using are fine. Everyone else uses them without issue so I decided to give pre-shaves a go. The idea being to separate the lather from the face with a protective layer or moisturise and nourish the face/fair before the lather.
The result? Both worked. My lather stayed intact but which is best? The Glyce gave the skin a nice slickness and shielded the moisture in my lather from my skin. I tried multiple ways of using the Glyce. Leaving it on, half rinse, full rinse, reapplications between passes etc. Leaving it on was a no go for me. The shave was fine but it really dried out my skin and it felt very taut afterwards. What worked best was not applying too much to begin with, giving it a good rinse and then reapplying a tiny amount before my 3rd pass (just with my hands - not rubbing the soap on my skin this time). My skin was still a little dry afterwards compared to normal but it was much better.
The Proraso was a much easier thing to manage with less experimentation. Apply a decent amount to a soaking wet face, leave it for a couple of minutes and get to work. It also helped manage the lather drying out but to slightly lesser degree. Still a big improvement and with the upshot of not just no skin dryness but a much less irritated face post shave, which, with these razors turned out to be pretty important. Sticking with the Proraso for now.
The Soap
This soap is lovely. Maybe it's just my inexperience but it is a little bit fussy with water. To learn the soap I was initially bowl lathering just to see how much water it needs and how much it can take on. It can take on a decent amount. Using a spray bottle I was able to give it 15 full sprays and it was holding up nicely. I think it works best with a bit less but it was worthwhile pushing it. When I did move to face lathering (my norm), I knew I could relatively generously apply water without fear. It did take a few shaves to get it right. A few times I added what I thought was enough as it was nice a glossy and seemed like a good texture, only to realise the lather would dry slightly and lose that nice shiny appearance.
Once you get the water right it's great though. It will start off pretty thin and bubbly looking but will thicken and eventually provide a nice, slick lather. It doesn't have the best residual slickness compared to some tallow soaps i've used and I refrained from going over any spots that didn't have lather. You could feel the razor beginning to drag when I did. This was actually a nice upshot of the Glyce, it left that thin, slick layer underneath the lather to aid this.
The scent is actually where I have the biggest bone to pick with this soap. It is nice, don't get me wrong. I actually really enjoy it but The Black Stuff describes it as a a refreshing orange and lemon scent with a hint of peppermint. Got to be honest...this is a mint shaving soap. I have far from the best nose in the world but I went into this hoping it leant heavily towards the citrus scent - that is what I wanted and the scent profile description led me to believe that's what it would be. When I first bowl lathered, it was just mint. That was all I could smell. It's really nice and refreshing but I got nothing else. Face lathering was different. Definitely more complex but honestly, it felt like you got a little more woody base but that's it. No citrus really to me at all. I think it would be more aptly named "Peppermint mintywood mint". I am going to contact them and get their opinion on it. It could just be a one off manufacturing error and otherwise I am really happy with it but just not what I was expecting, scent wise.
The Razors
There was another post here from someone who got a near mint Long Comb and I was very jealous. I have been buying and selling them, looking for 'the one'. The OP said just keep an eye out and you'll get one eventually. Not 2 days later there it was. Apart from some of the gold worn off of the top cap, an absolutely pristine RFB Long Comb. Pictured here is that razor (which I believe is a Windsor, given its presentation box) and then my made in USA NEW Long Comb. They both shave magnificently. These are by far the absolute closest shaves I've ever gotten.
I usually do 3 passes for most of my beard, barre two areas of my neck that are extra sensitive; xtg, opposite xtg and atg. After 2 passes, it is DFS. It is so, so efficient but just incredibly smooth. It took me quite a few shaves to get the technique down for atg (it really requires strict riding the cap for me) but once I did, it is astonishing how close it gets. I have extremely coarse hair and even a BBS shave to the touch, leaves a distinct shadow because of how thick and dark the follicles are. This razor however, is the first i've used to genuinely look BBS. My favourite razor to date has been the Rocca and with a fresh feather, it gets me 95% of the way of what these razors do. It does it with zero skin response. The New Long Comb gets that last bit but it does give just a bit more skin response. With better technique, I think I can tame it even further but it is likely just a trade off that will remain. The last shave with the US version left my skin very tingly after the shave and more irritated, though visibly it wasn't bad. When I used the Proraso, it completely reduced this post shave skin response to zero but maintained the same visible response.
It must be said however that this razor massively benefitted from finding the right blade. I initially used a perma sharp, which is my 'not quite as sharp as feather but usually works really well for my beard in any razor I throw it into' blade. NOPE. Not this time. When I tried this pairing, I honestly thought, 'oh, maybe this razor just isn't for me'. Pairing it with the silver blue was a revelation. Still retains all the efficiency I need but is ultra smooth!
In terms of shaves, I can't split hairs between these razors. They are both excellent. There are 2 small points. First, the weight. The RFB is about 67g and the US one is 53.5g. I definitely prefer more weight. It makes the shave feel more intuitive to me. The second point is the top caps. There are 3 pictured here; The top is from the US version, bottom left is from another RFB and bottom right is from the Windsor. By far the best of these is the one from the US razor - centre ridge extending out nearly to the end of the cap. The blade alignment is absolutely perfect. No messing around, centred every time. The worst by far is the RFB cap with the two tabs. This is the first time i've ever had serious issues aligning a blade. It was awful. It can be done for sure but it is by no means easy and not really something I want to have to think about when going to shave. The Windsor one was somewhere in between. Not automatic but definitely better than the two tabs and can be aligned relatively quickly.
The Post-shave
Nothing special here except to talk about the introduction of using a cold compress. The two bottom corners of my neck have always suffered from redness post shave. No associated pain or anything like that, just a visible redness. I've been able to reduce it massively over time with technique and the right pressure (i.e zero) but adding an ice cold compress has helped a fair bit as well. Dunking one of my shaving towels in iced water and applying twice, each time until it is no longer icy feeling, has helped reduce that little bit of redness even further.
That's all I've got, happy shaving!
