Thursday
Palmolive stick
RazoRock Disrupter 22mm synth
Face lather
Gillette Aluminium Tech (England, late 1960s)
Derby Extra (1)
Proraso M&E after shave
It’s coming up for 6 years since I began this odyssey and I thought it was time to take stock today. So, with a couple of unavoidable modifications, I tried to re-create my first DE shave. The Tech is the very first vintage DE cutlery that I bought; and it’s the same blade that came with it (well, from the same tuck).
The brush is different, of course. The original was an EJ Medium Best Badger; which was unpredictable and incredibly floppy (oo-er).
Same soap, but different stick. Same after shave, different bottle (previously the 100ml). 2 pass shave, rather than three.
What’s the point of this nostalgia, I hear some of you ask? Well, dear readers, more than a few have derided the Derby blade; and I have to confess, using the razor, blade and soap combination above left me with a face like a chittering Cenobite from Hellraiser back in the early days of this.
So, fast forward. Are Derby blades that wanky? Or is it naivety and crap noob (Jesus, I never thought I’d use that term, peeps. Fuck…or that one) technique?
Anyways, hardly revelatory; but the latter, for me. Today’s shave was as smooth and as comfy as any I’ve had recently. I also think (and I believe I’ve offered this observation before; along with other contributors) that the Derbys are the blades that we often come to first in DE land. Sellers will often, well-meaningly, throw a tuck in at point of purchase. Thus, we try them in our maiden shaves and, if it doesn’t go as planned, the Derbys are consigned elsewhere.
Well, mileage and all that; but for what it’s worth, I think they’re absolutely fine.
Thank you all for reading possibly my most verbose offering in here, incidentally.
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