So I reprised yesterday’s test but with each razor having a brand-new Personna Lab Blue blade.
The brush is Plisson’s European Grey, a very pleasant brush indeed with its hefty plated-brass handle. I Coloniali soap is one that for me requires adding small amounts of water as I load the brush. If I do this, I get an absolutely terrific lather, fragrant, thick, and smooth. It really is a wonderful soap for me once I learned that.
Then three passes, using both razors on each pass. Of course, there is some YMMV in razors, and certainly plenty of YMMV in blades, so my results will not necessarily hold for you. But: The Gillette NEW is noticeably more comfortable than the Standard. Both razors are efficient, but the comfort difference struck me forcibly in this shave. I did get one nick (from the Standard), but that was operator error: putting the razor to face at the wrong angle. My Nik Is Sealed stopped it easily.
Overall, I give the comfort crown in this comparison to the long-toothed NEW. Tomorrow I’ll compare the long-toothed and short-toothed versions of the NEW. It’s interesting that an 85-year-old razor compares so favorably with a premium razor of today. Of course, I have to recognize that the Standard might be better with a different brand of blade—there may have been a reason that the blade it held was an Astra Superior Platinum. (The experimentation never ends.)
A good splash of Ginger Garden’s Havana Cognac aftershave, and the day begins.
Filed under: Shaving
