SOTD : Saturday 27th February to Friday 05th March 2021

Boycie83 said:
no way wow GIF

Toby! Is that a ....... synthetic!?
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Dense, firm, soft tips, and no flick, THIS one. The brush was given to me by @Graydog, it had horse in it which I liked, but it started to shed pretty badly. Everyone was going ga ga over synthetic, so I did the research and found what I believe is the best synthetic knots available anywhere and bought a 22, a 24 and a 26mm. Not a bad knot except there is no scrub or scritch, just firm full and soft.

26 and 24mm on the left are mine, the 22mm on the right was my son's girlfriend's father's. (or grandfathers?)100_2357.JPG



They are good brushes, but not good enough for me to ever buy again.

Yes, synthetic skeletons in my closet, we've all done shameful things in the past, but I have mended my ways. (y) :cool:
 
TobyC said:
Dense, firm, soft tips, and no flick, THIS one. The brush was given to me by @Graydog, it had horse in it which I liked, but it started to shed pretty badly. Everyone was going ga ga over synthetic, so I did the research and found what I believe is the best synthetic knots available anywhere and bought a 22, a 24 and a 26mm. Not a bad knot except there is no scrub or scritch, just firm full and soft.

26 and 24mm on the left are mine, the 22mm on the right was my son's girlfriend's father's. (or grandfathers?)View attachment 65851



They are good brushes, but not good enough for me to ever buy again.

Yes, synthetic skeletons in my closet, we've all done shameful things in the past, but I have mended my ways. (y) :cool:
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Well I never! I had you down as a fibre virgin but there you've been all along - rubbing that plasticky goodness all over your face.
 
Post work relaxing shave, to test the Treet Dura Sharp (I am trying to expand by blade pool).
Tested some days ago with Rocnel (not good result, the Rocnel is too mild imo for those blades).
Tested today with the Seygus, 3 passes 0.7/0.5/0.5 with Stirling Gent and Yaqui Sagrada... quite happy with that.
Similar to the Astra Blue, a bit less close shave but I had the impression that the Treet DS is more forgiving and comfortable.
Overall quite decent BBS, zero irritation or red points. If the smoothness will last 12 hours I'd keep them for further consideration...
Now I have to move to the next one from Treet: Silver or New Steel...
Good evening Folks!
 
pjgh said:
Wednesday 3rd March

French Pink Clay & Charcoal Face Soap
Martin de Candre Vetyver
Semogue SOC Taj (Boar)
Muhle Rocca R95
Zorrik Talvar (1), then (1) ... then Zorrik Titanium (3)
Alvarez Gomez Agua de Colonia

Three of four shaves ago I used a Zorrik Supreme (Chromium) blade which I found to be very neutral, by which I mean right on the pivot point between its characteristics: sharp and smooth, not so much sharpness that it might bite and not so much smooth as you feel like it's not shaving and over-compensate with pressure. Right on the cusp.

Tonight, I fully expected my first use of the Zorrik Talvar (also a Chromium blade) to be the self-same blade ...

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It just wasn't sharp enough and I could definitely feel that it was, well, missing. Is this the legendary inconsistency that we hear levelled at SuperMax? I have another, so popped that into the razor and got the same kind of shave. Noisy, scratching, not necessarily tugging, but not necessarily shaving (well) either.

Washed off, it looked like I hadn't shaved ... and that's technically two passes. So, I popped last night's Zorrik Titanium in for a third run on that blade and third pass for tonight. Sorted! I know I've reviewed the SuperMax & Zorrik Titanium as a blade I can't so much recommend, but equally cannot escape that it has something quite niche to offer ...

... and this is it! You get a bad shave, what's best to sort it out? Either with something seethingly sharp and VERY carefully, or something phenomenally smooth and exceptionally forgiving. Yeah! That sorted it. Wash off, no longer patchy, feels smooth all over, good splash of highly alcoholic Alvarez Gomez, do a little dance (make a little love?) as the burn flashes off and I'm done.

Happy to have rescued that shave!

So, I don't think the Zorrik Talvar is the same blade as the Zorrik Supreme. I wondered if one was the descendent of the other, but they're both in the branded greaseproof inner papers indicative of the latest generation of blade from the SuperMax house. I think they're more like a good and budget kinda market placement.

Talvar (or तलवार) translates as "sword".

I found some courtroom drama where Gillette (who hold the patent to Wilkinson Sword in India) went after SuperMax over this branding, claiming that it was leaning on the Wilkinson Sword name: https://www.latestlaws.com/latest-n...le-to-distinguish-the-products-read-judgment/ ... more here: https://spicyip.com/2018/07/a-freud...arity-and-a-psychological-slippery-slope.html

Much thanks to @donnie_arko for the blades - the Zorrik Talvar and the Zorrik Titanium. I'll be trying out the Zorrik Super Platinum tomorrow, which I do hope is akin to the current Vidyut Super Platinum that you sent me as I enjoyed that blade very much!
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Thanks for the tag Paul,

I've enjoyed reading your experiences with the various subcontinent/Supermax branded blades, and if I'm honest the more I read about the various incarnations of the different brands the more confused I get!

Did you say the 3 different Zorrik/Supermax/Vidyut Super Platinum are actually the same blade? Of the Supermax blades rajh on ebay has stock, I think I've only used the Zorrik Titanium, which I can't really remember much or anything about!

Is there any chance of collating your observations of the all various Supermax made blades into a new thread in the blades section at sometime? I'm sure many of us would like to read of their lines you favoured more than others.
 
donnie_arko said:
Thanks for the tag Paul,

I've enjoyed reading your experiences with the various subcontinent/Supermax branded blades, and if I'm honest the more I read about the various incarnations of the different brands the more confused I get!

Did you say the 3 different Zorrik/Supermax/Vidyut Super Platinum are actually the same blade? Of the Supermax blades rajh on ebay has stock, I think I've only used the Zorrik Titanium, which I can't really remember much or anything about!

Is there any chance of collating your observations of the all various Supermax made blades into a new thread in the blades section at sometime? I'm sure many of us would like to read of their lines you favoured more than others.
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I certainly will! I think I have a way of presenting it all ...
Suffice to say, most blades are discontinued so there will be an epitaph section.

As for the various Super Platinums, so far I think the Vidyut and the SuperMax are indeed the same blade. I have the new/improved/facelifted Zorrik to run through tonight so will know more then. Certainly the SuperMax & Zorrik Titanium are the same blade.
 
04/03/2021

Razor: RazoRock Lupo .95
Blade: Gillette Platinum (2)
Brush: Yaqi 2B
Soap: Zingari Man The Socialite
Pre: Proraso Green
ASL: Proraso Green
ASB: Proraso Green

IMG_20210304_181950.jpg

This soap has quite the cooling kick - I wasn't expecting to be as cold as it is. This is going to be an excellent one for summer.

This razor seems less efficient than the Gamechanger .84. It doesn't feel fearsome despite the blade gap and it's very manoeuvrable. As it currently stands, I'm not sure if it's one I'd regularly reach for.
 
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Thursday 4th March

French Pink Clay & Charcoal Face Soap
L'Occitane Cade Shaving Soap
Semogue SOC Taj (Boar)
Muhle Rocca R95
Zorrik Super Platinum (1)
Puig Quorum Aftershave

I used the Vidyut Super Platinum a few blades back and it very much put me in mind of the (now discontinued) SuperMax Super Platinum, a blade I particularly like. The Vidyut felt somehow more refined and that's likely down to the "new sputtered technology ..." that they have emblazoned upon the tucks and wrappers.

I also tried the Zorrik Super Platinum and found it less keen and not a particularly good shave, but it struck me that I was using a slightly older generation blade and in fact there was a facelifted blade of the same name. I used that blade tonight and it was night and day different to the older Zorroik Super Platinum and every bit akin to the Vidyut Super Platinum.

It was smooth. More smooth than keen, but certainly sharp enough. I'll know more tomorrow as the Vidyut became a lot sharper on the second use and really rounded out to a very nice shave by the third ...

So you can keep track ...

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Vidyut Super Platinum - latest generation

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Zorrik Super Platinum - latest generation, very much akin to the Vidyut Super Platinum above and the blade that I used tonight

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Zorrik Super Platinum - older generation and nowhere near as nice a blade

I think the SuperMax Diamond Edge (also a platinum blade) is the equivalent in the SuperMax line but Indian market only. I have the global market SuperMax Blue Diamond Platinum to re-try next and see how that fits together with this mini-puzzle.

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... see the blue diamond present on both wrappers?
 
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pjgh said:
I certainly will! I think I have a way of presenting it all ...
Suffice to say, most blades are discontinued so there will be an epitaph section.

As for the various Super Platinums, so far I think the Vidyut and the SuperMax are indeed the same blade. I have the new/improved/facelifted Zorrik to run through tonight so will know more then. Certainly the SuperMax & Zorrik Titanium are the same blade.
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Thanks for the info Paul, I look forward to seeing the presentation which will no doubt confuse me even more!

I presume you've used your Muhle Rocca to test the Supermax blades? I've found the Supermax blades I've used to underwhelm in my Techs of choice but are delightful in slightly more assertive razors like the Yaqi Katana, which pairs really well with a Supermax Super Platinum.
 
donnie_arko said:
Thanks for the info Paul, I look forward to seeing the presentation which will no doubt confuse me even more!

I presume you've used your Muhle Rocca to test the Supermax blades? I've found the Supermax blades I've used to underwhelm in my Techs of choice but are delightful in slightly more assertive razors like the Yaqi Katana, which pairs really well with a Supermax Super Platinum.
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Yes, and I'm sticking to the Muhle Rocca this month to continue through the remaining SuperMax blades. I have been shaking it up and using the RazoRock German Slant as well - not quite a polar oppostite, but a very different razor.
 
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