My theme for this evening was 'And would sir like his eyebrows trimmed?'
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Before I start my usual prattling rubbish as I painfully describe my SOTD I would just to like to thank those chaps who replied to my thread entitled 'Benefits of SE over DE' by saying
'Noooooooo. I hate you, I hate you, I hate you'
Thank you
After a very pleasant break over in Berlin with my wife and the purchase of a very archetypal tourist baseball hat I have returned home weary, but in a happily weary kind of way. We were actually over there to celebrate her birthday, or at least that is what she was under the impression of. To me it was about getting hammered in what I rate as one of the finest cities in the world...................for getting hammered............I did of course enjoy her birthday and we did a great job of getting very happily inebriated together. It was after all her day..........and my job to pay.
The Berlin wall - Razorock Hawk V2
The Hauptbanoff - Kai Captain
The Tiergarten - Muhle synthetic (the non butterscotch version)
The Reichstag - OSP Barber Shop
The Brandenberg Gate - OSP Barber Shop after shave tonic
Check Point Charlie - YSL Homme
Konzerthaus Berlin - Roland the piano
After asking the question of the benefits of SE over DE (I am sure I mentioned this only a few lines back) I decided that the best way to gain any answer to my curiosity was to 'buy and try'. I had no intention of going overboard and took what seemed the cheapest way in and purchased a Razrock Hawk V2 and a number of Kai Captain blades while at it. I thought the blades were very fitting to my profession and hence liked the name, a Feather Pro could make me sound like a lady of the night.
The Hawk V2 I could best describe as being an upmarket Bic disposable being not that much heavier and probably not that much better in manufacturing quality. A cruel start. The aluminium head took me some time to get a firm grip of the blade and the aluminium to aluminium threads take some care to get right. One miss cue here and the thread would be buggered. After some arsing around with the pins and not being overly brutal on tightening the handle I finally arrived at a 'non chattering' blade being held in place. In passing I must say the handle is pure rubbish and looks cheap and nasty. A simple plain finish would have been a much better option. May I also mention it took some puzzling as to how to get the blades out of the holder (may be I am just stupid). Once I figured out this Mechanical Puzzle I was actually quite impressed by the arrangement. An arrangement which allows one to get a blade out of the packaging in a nice safe manner and then remove ones finger tips afterwards.
So far so good and all digits in relatively good and complete order and all pieces ready to function in what I hope remains as one piece. Man and aluminium in harmony.
Okay, so not overly excited by the Hawk V2 from an engineering aspect this is where the the big shock arrives.
Bloody Hell this is good!
With the first stroke of the overly wide head (compared to what I am used to) I am in danger of removing my eyebrows as I pass down my side burns. This is much wider than I imagined. But wowser, wowser, wowser it is clearing stubble at a far great rate than anything which has passed over my face before. Not only that it is efficient and ruthless to the point where I would call it ruthlessly efficient or even efficiently ruthless. Take your pick. Zero irritation, zero nicks and zero any kind of those things one doesn't want in a shave. The other thing of note to me was how easily it was to get the shaving angle correct and in fact very difficult to get it wrong.
This is the ultimately quick face lawnmower I have experienced to date. Three passes and what a job and in what a short time. This breaks all the laws of the physics of shaving. If there are such laws, which I doubt. I guess what I am saying is, this is fast, this effective and this is heavenly. I can honestly say I now understand those who stand so staunchly for the world according to Single Edged razors. And this is with a razor which I would never describe as a piece of wonderful engineering......but I guess somewhere in there it is really. handle apart.
I just hope someone doesn't jut in and say there are even better blades as I am mesmerised at this level. Is it as good as DE? I would easily put it on a par with the best to date. The big difference being less bathroom time and quicker out the door. A wonderful new and welcome addition to the armoury of razors which sit in my shaving cabinet. Choices choices choices.
The Muhle synthetic is exactly what it says and I am pleased to say I have no reason to make mention it is butterscotch in colour, because it isn't. But what a lathering machine. Quick and efficient, much like my new experience with SE's. At this rate shaves are going to be finished before they have even started.
To add to all this; throw in that heady old school scent of the OSP Barber Shop cream and OSP barber Shop after shave tonic and I am feeling as if I am one of those lucky sods to have survived Sweeney Todd and actually walked out of his emporium having been shaved to perfection. Better that than the contents of a meat pie.
I would usually finish a shave like this with one of those scents of days past, ADP, Alvarez Gomez or similar, but for this occasion I chose YSL Homme as it sits at the back demanding some attention. So I gave it some attention and it has just moved to the front. Not my usual family of scent but I forgot how damned fine it is and my wife chose this years ago because she knows what is good for me and what is not. I always considered it to be one of those 'nocturnal perfumes' but how wrong I was. This is summery fresh daytime if ever. And it still does the night act.
I am now in a right old quandary as I see a further and necessary purchase of a stainless SE being high on the list. Before I go down this road though I am going to try a heavier handle tomorrow night as I see the Hawk needing more weight about it. It is the flimsy lightweight nature which if anything I would continue to whinge about. But it is hard to criticise what it achieves and that is what matters.
So to summarise this new experience I would like to say all those chaps who replied to myself thread entitled 'Benefits of SE over DE' by saying
'I hate you, I hate you, I hate you'
Thank you
As for Berlin what a place