- Thread Starter
- #17
Shave #4 - And now for something completely different
One of my first thoughts when I first got the Option Five was: I bet that's slippery when you do an oil shave. Today I felt mischievous.
I don't do oil shaves very often, because they are weird. There are other things I don't do very often: Exfoliating and hot towels are somewhat out of fashion in my shave routine. And I haven't used L'Eau d'Issey in months. So today, for something completely different: (I'll stick with a blade I know well and the alum block)
The Nuagé Men Shaving Oil does the trick for me and it has the advantage that it only costs £1 at Sainsbury's. From my experience it does the job as well as more expensive brands. Shaving with oil is weird. There is no lather on your face and therefore you can't see where you have already shaved. As I always shave my face in the same order this is not a problem for me. I always try to apply the oil with my left hand and shave with the right hand, so it's not too slippery. This never works. I always get some oil on my right hand. The Option Five is quite heavy and has a very smooth handle with no knurling. To my astonishment this was not a problem. I hold the Option Five rather close to the head, where the handle is at its narrowest. Not once did I fear that the razor would slip from my hands. The cap glides smoothly across my oily face and I can see (advantage of no lather) and hear stubble being removed.
Fast forward... four passes later...
Oil shaves have the advantage that any clean-up pass is very straight forward. Feel your face and any stubble you still find can be removed without applying any more oil - there is still enough on your face (I do reapply a few drops of oil between passes though).
I had a very easy and very gentle shave. Perfectly smooth everywhere without the slightest incident. I'm impressed and pleased. The alum block stings a bit, but not more than usual. After I wash off the alum my skin is very smooth and slick, but a bit too oily for my taste. The alcohol in L'Eau d'Issey Pour Homme ASL takes care of that. I apply a bit of the matching EdT here and there and I'm left very clean shaven and smelling nice. What more could I want?
To my surprise the Option Five has coped with oily hands rather well.
The oily razor has been cleaned with denture cleansing tablets, followed by a few minutes in the ultrasonic cleaner and a ten minute soak in Barbicide solution and a gentle rub with a microfibre cloth. It's now all packaged up and ready to be posted to @p.b later today. My final verdict on the Option Five will follow later.
To be continued...
One of my first thoughts when I first got the Option Five was: I bet that's slippery when you do an oil shave. Today I felt mischievous.
I don't do oil shaves very often, because they are weird. There are other things I don't do very often: Exfoliating and hot towels are somewhat out of fashion in my shave routine. And I haven't used L'Eau d'Issey in months. So today, for something completely different: (I'll stick with a blade I know well and the alum block)
- Burt's Bees Soap Bark & Chamomile Deep Cleansing Cream
- Hot Towel (from the Microwave)
- Nuagé Men Shaving Oil with Menthol
- Option Five razor
- PolSilver blade (2)
- Alum block
- L'Eau d'Issey Pour Homme ASL
- L'Eau d'Issey Pour Homme EdT
The Nuagé Men Shaving Oil does the trick for me and it has the advantage that it only costs £1 at Sainsbury's. From my experience it does the job as well as more expensive brands. Shaving with oil is weird. There is no lather on your face and therefore you can't see where you have already shaved. As I always shave my face in the same order this is not a problem for me. I always try to apply the oil with my left hand and shave with the right hand, so it's not too slippery. This never works. I always get some oil on my right hand. The Option Five is quite heavy and has a very smooth handle with no knurling. To my astonishment this was not a problem. I hold the Option Five rather close to the head, where the handle is at its narrowest. Not once did I fear that the razor would slip from my hands. The cap glides smoothly across my oily face and I can see (advantage of no lather) and hear stubble being removed.
Fast forward... four passes later...
Oil shaves have the advantage that any clean-up pass is very straight forward. Feel your face and any stubble you still find can be removed without applying any more oil - there is still enough on your face (I do reapply a few drops of oil between passes though).
I had a very easy and very gentle shave. Perfectly smooth everywhere without the slightest incident. I'm impressed and pleased. The alum block stings a bit, but not more than usual. After I wash off the alum my skin is very smooth and slick, but a bit too oily for my taste. The alcohol in L'Eau d'Issey Pour Homme ASL takes care of that. I apply a bit of the matching EdT here and there and I'm left very clean shaven and smelling nice. What more could I want?
To my surprise the Option Five has coped with oily hands rather well.
The oily razor has been cleaned with denture cleansing tablets, followed by a few minutes in the ultrasonic cleaner and a ten minute soak in Barbicide solution and a gentle rub with a microfibre cloth. It's now all packaged up and ready to be posted to @p.b later today. My final verdict on the Option Five will follow later.
To be continued...