My first SE shave

mr..bean

mr..bean

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485
Location
Sunny Isle of Wight
with my newly acquired Ever Ready 1912. What a revelation!!!!!

Seriously, I cannot remember the last time I had such a smooth shave. Nice and close with no irritation?! Can this be true or did I just strike lucky?! Why isn't everyone doing this?!

Along with my great experiences with my 2 shavettes I could seriously be seeing the end of my DE shaving days?!
 
So this is already a proven fact then?! Why aren't more doing this then?!

I was so surprised, I had heard good things but never did I imagine this would be the result. What other SE razors would you recommend I try? I have a J2 Schick Injector, which actually I got just to do my upper lip originally (but it gives me a good all over shave too!).

I think any future purchases will be made with the proceeds of selling my DE razors!
 
I really don't get on with injectors, but many do. The one I do like is the Gillette Twinjector, which is happy to take regular single injector blades. My preference is for NOS Gillette Platinum blades which are increasingly hard to find.

Single edge Feather blades can be used in GEM & Ever Ready razors, but you do need to split the spine off a used GEM blade and drop that one the back of the Feather - that makes for a different shave.

In terms of other SE razors worth a punt, I'd suggest you also look at AutoStrop Valet for a VC1 and a VC4 (which has a straight guard). They will take Feather blades or de-spined GEM blades. Older GEM & Ever Ready are also nice - I like the Ever Ready 1914 and the older curved cap GEMs: Damaskeene, for example.

If you can work up the ginger to give a Rolls Razor a go, you'll enjoy that as a novelty. I'm also a fan of the Gillette Techmatic (band razor) which gave me a quite excellent shave the other night.

Have fun ...
 
My 1st SE shave came as a revelation and has completely altered my shaving kit, so it's not just you, nor yet is this shave a one off. These razors just truly are that good.
From my own experience you're not likely to experience anything like such a change with almost any other SE you try. For me they're all good & if I'm honest I use my go to Streamline as much because I find it aesthetically pleasing as because it performs as well (can't say better) as my very 1st SE Ever Ready travel razor.
Enjoy, all the rest of us SE users do.

JohnnyO. \:icon_razz:
 
Greetings

I shave nearly always with SE's and love them. I often wonder if it is the incredible scraping sound that many SE models make that put some folk off them, of course it is just the acoustics of the razor caused by the shape, much like a acoustic guitar but it is certainly strange when you first use one!

Regards
Dick.
 
I used my recently acquired USA 1912 for the first time last night. I don't know if its just me but it gave a smoother shave then the British 1912. Is it because of the slightly different shape of the head perhaps??? Both shaved well but I found the USA has the edge....
 
I've often wondered whether there are differences between british and american SE's, in terms of build quality and performance. Does anyone with more SE experience than me care to comment?
 
If there is a difference, it's negligible in my opinions; and the same difference that you might find between and two British or any two US made razors.

What is different is the early versus later models. It is generally agreed that earlier curved cap models give a closer shave, so Damaskeenes and early post-1919 GEMs.
 
... just to show, here's the curved head (left ... a GEM DeLuxe from circa 1924) and the straight head (right ... probably 1930s):

DSC04256.JPG
 
Very informative responses, thanks. I did not know about the difference between curved and straight heads, but now that it's been pointed out it seems obvious!

Just looking at my Streamline I see that it also has a curved head - is that part of the reason it shaves so close?
 
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