French L"Essor..
Another shot..
Four Shaving Pass Routine..
Hot Water prep & massage with Coconut Oil
French L"Essor
NOS Heljestrand Hollow Ground Blade x 6
Semogue Boar Brush
Biotique Palmyra Shaving Cream
444 Aftershave Gel
LOGONA Mann Aftershave Splash
I had my second outing with the French L"Essor & Heljestrand Hollow Ground Blade this morning..I have managed to figure the French L"Essor ..The French L"Essor is a Milld Razor...A lot of folks are familiar with the Gem Micromatic Family..I would put the French L"Essor in the Gem Bullet Tip Category in terms of aggression..I am just using this as a Analogy of course because the French L"Essor sure aint no Gem Bullet Tip but in terms of the Wedge blade SEs that I have been using recently that's where it would sit..
In other words it is by far the Mildest of the bunch...You can almost throw the French L"Essor about with Reckless Abandon...I done a Four pass shaving routine this morning & just about achieved a BBS Result...The French L"Essor would make a great daily ATG shaver & I reckon that's what the designers had in mind...Bearing in mind that during the Epoch of the French L"Essor a lot of owners would have a Butler to Hone & Sharpen their blades for them..The French L"Essor would have made a great razor to go ATG on the first pass on a Daily basis...It does take a bit of work to knock down a few days whiskers with it though...That just about Sums Up the French L"Essor...A very mild and forgiving shaver it is...
Just some thoughts on blade sharpness...I have heard it said that some folks test the shave readiness of a stropped blade by cutting a single hair with it...Whilst this may show that the blade is sharp it doesn't necessarily mean that it will shave smoothly...The blade has to be both Sharp & Smooth...
I can always tell how sharp my blade is with the first touch on my top lip area...If the blade is cutting comfortable on the Moustache area I find that's a good test..I now know, however, just by looking at the edge of the blade after stropping it just how sharp & how smooth it will perform...Once you experience a correctly sharpened blade you will never forget the sight of a correctly stropped edge...Its just an experiential knowing...
Billy