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Natterings of a Nasal Barbarian

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SOTD THURSDAY MAY U, 2020

Ok, I admit, I’m really enjoying shaving with this Gillette Big Fellow. For today’s shave I selected Declaration Grooming Sellout Soap. It’s one of their milk steak soap bases, and really generates a wonderful, rich skin-toning lather that stays with one for the rest of the day. My grandson bought me a little Kent Synthetic brush, which was identical to one I received as a gift. I PIF’ed that brush, but did enjoy using its replacement this morning. The Kent had decent backbone, but fell a little short on water retention. Since SWMBO complained about my use of the Fine Platinum AS yesterday, I selected Chiseled Face Natural, a refreshing scent-free AS. The 6 drops of M-Bomb pumped up the Sellout sufficiently to guarantee the kind of cooling lather I enjoy.

After a cold shower, the shave began with a nice ice water rinse of both mug and dome shaving surfaces. The icy cold mentholated lather felt great felt great. The Big Fellow just feels good in the hand. Historically, the razor was developed for larger men’s hands. At 6’3” I guess I qualify. I’d loaded a Feather blade into this Old Type on steroids. It made short work of my whiskers in that first WTG pass. With continued use I've grown more confident in this razor. The wide sweet spot made whisker obliteration easier with each shave. My second ATG pass led me directly to bloodless BBS land. On that second pass, the shave strokes were shorter, but more confident. My face and dome both felt velveteen smooth, cool and clean.

RAZOR: Gillette Big Fellow (1920 vintage)
BLADE: Feather (1)
PREP: Iced cold water rinse
BRUSH: Kent Infinity Synthetic
SOAP: Declaration Grooming Sellout (Milk Steak Base)
POSTSHAVE: Iced cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by Thayers Lavender WH and Chiseled Face Natural AS Splash. Finished with A&E Post-Shave Serum.
 
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SOTD FRIDAY MAY 8, 2020

After three great shaves with the Gillette ‘Big Fellow’, I decided to pull out a somewhat neglected razor in my Den, the LaResche 77. LaResche (a French Company, originally Swiss) patented the 77 in 1935. The silver plated brass LaResche 77 is known for its rather unique guard bar (like shark jaws) built into the upper cap of the head. The razor head is a bit wider than a typical razor head resulting in both a positive and a negative. The negative is that some users complain that it makes it more difficult to shave under the schnozz. Not an issue for me as I have a full goatee. The positive, however, and the big selling point as far as I’m concerned, is the large sweet spot provided by both the extreme curvature of the head and the large gap provided by its unique guard bar. Finding the correct shave angle is easy, and the shave delivered is extremely efficient. The head and face shave I get from the razor are always exquisitely close, yet irritation-free, which is surprising given its looks. This is one of the smoothest shaving razors in my den.

There really aren’t many of these razors available. I feel very fortunate to own one. Some complain that it is overly aggressive, but most of these complaints trace to damaged razors that have been dropped. Given the exaggerated curvature of the safety bar, dropping it and bending the head throws off the shave angle which can turn the razor into an unknowing assaultive tool. A friend in my local shave meetup had one with a bent head. We discovered the issue after comparing it to mine. Some careful realignment restored it to its former capability. He couldn’t believe the difference in the shave. I had the same experience with a damaged Rex Ambassador which the good folks at Razor Emporium repaired.

Now back to the shave. After a shower, I began with an iced water rinse. Next I selected my Viking Silvertip Badger along with C.O. Bigelow shave cream enhanced with 6 drops of M-Bomb. The lather produced by this Proraso manufactured product was delightfully cooling to both noggin and mug. The LaResche 77 mowed my whiskers right down to the skin line. The amazing part of that first WTG pass was the smoothness of each stroke. It literally felt like I was was just sweeping the lather away. One final ATG pass led right to BBS land. Thayers Lavender WH followed by Chiseled Face Natural AS Splash and a finish with A&E Post-Shave Serum was the icing on the cake. The result was a smooth and cooling, relaxed shave that left me feeling incredibly refreshed.

RAZOR: LaResche 77
BLADE: Wizamet Super Iridium (1)
PREP: Iced water rinse
BRUSH: Viking Silvertip Badger
CREAM: C.O. Bigelow
POSTSHAVE: Iced water wash with Glyce Glycerin soap followed by Thayers Lavender WH and Chiseled Face Natural AS Splash. Finished with A&E Post-Shave Serum.
 
Thanks for sharing! I love reading your posts. It's like a history lesson in shaving! Love the razors too! The LaResche 77 is such an iconic razor!
 
dangerousdon said:
Thanks for sharing! I love reading your posts. It's like a history lesson in shaving! Love the razors too! The LaResche 77 is such an iconic razor!
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Thanks, Don! Since I’m retired, I have the time to do the research. It’s fun and challenging learning about some of these razors.
 
Extreme curvature is right! Nice specimen though.

I wish modern razor artisans would make more use of the thinner head profile like this one and many of the vintage razors have.
 
GearNoir said:
Extreme curvature is right! Nice specimen though.

I wish modern razor artisans would make more use of the thinner head profile like this one and many of the vintage razors have.
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I agree Chris! I think part of the problem is that this particular razor was easily thrown off kilter. A simple drop could turn into an assaultive tool. I think if someone were to redo this razor in SS instead of brass weld have a winner.
 
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SOTD SATURDAY MAY 9, 2020

My new/old Ronson Self Sharpening Safety Razor (1930s vintage) finally arrived from British Columbia. It was scheduled to arrive this last Monday, but with COVID19 delays showed up 4 days later. It’s in remarkably good condition for an 85 - 90 yr old razor and included a NOS unused blade. One of my FB shave brothers with a remarkable vintage safety razor collection owns one as well which he declares to be his favorite razor.

Now I’ve known about this razor, but avoided them because of the blade usage issue. Now I guess I could hone and strop the included blade, or could modify a modern blade by nipping out a gap in the blade tabs as I do with my Gibbs, but my clever friend has been using injector blades very successfully. So after some FB Messenger tutorial sessions from my patient teacher, I felt ready to go. Before use I cleaned and sanitized it and loaded a Proline Injector blade as instructed.

I began the shave with an iced water rinse following my shower. The MrEE brush’s hybrid Badger/Boar knot whipped up a gorgeous, thick Pannacrema Nuavia Blu lather enhanced with 6 drops of M-Bomb. At 77.6 grams, the razor feels good in the hand. The 3/4” head and 2 5/8” handle seemed awkward at first, but as my friend instructed, it shaves at the same angle as a Gem. The Proline injector blade is both smooth and sharp, and made short work of the facial whiskers in two careful passes (WTG, ATG).

The head shave was a bit problematic, not due to the razor, but rather to user error. The razor has a generous sweet spot, but is quite head heavy. As a result I ended up with two minor set down errors. The first as I attempted an ATG pass on the left side of my dome, just above the ear, and the second at the back of my head as I started a WTG pass. Don't get me wrong; I really like this razor. I plan on shaving with it for as long as it takes to master. Most of my focus will be on mastering the head shave, as the face shave ended up an easy BBS. My head shave despite the two nicks worked out as a solid DFS. The challenge with the noggin are the hills, valleys and curvature as I work toward a BBS. In any case I feel clean, smooth and refreshed.

RAZOR: Ronson Self Sharpening Safety Razor
BLADE: Schick Proline B-20 Injector
PREP: Iced water rinse
BRUSH: MrEE Brush 007
SOAP: Pannacrema Nuavia Blu
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by Thayers Lavender WH and Fine Accoutrements Lavender Pour Homme AS Splash. Finished with A&E Post-Shave Serum
 
jgreenepa said:
Chris, this reference escapes me! It’s probably a generational thing. I’m 73. Is the young man in the video named ”Ronson”?
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The guy on the hood of the car is, yes. He helped create the song this gif is from called “Up Town Funk”
 
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