- Joined
- Thursday September 26, 2013
- Location
- Halifax, Republic of Yorkshire
Sunday 27th December
Wash with L'Oreal Men Expert Hydra Energetic Ice Cool Face Wash
Lather up with Wickham's 1912 Citrus Musk & hjm Professional w/Blonde Boar 25mm
Single pass (2 day) shave with Gillette Hybrid Tech w/RazoRock Radio Handle & Silver Star Super Stainless (1)
Hot rinse, cold rinse, skipped the alum ... and Pinaud Citrus Musk*
Wash with L'Oreal Men Expert Hydra Energetic Ice Cool Face Wash
Lather up with Wickham's 1912 Citrus Musk & hjm Professional w/Blonde Boar 25mm
Single pass (2 day) shave with Gillette Hybrid Tech w/RazoRock Radio Handle & Silver Star Super Stainless (1)
Hot rinse, cold rinse, skipped the alum ... and Pinaud Citrus Musk*
I'm taking a run through the Lord stable and tonight it was the turn of the Silver Star Super Stainless. There is a school of thought that says that all Lord blades of the same type (so, all the Platinums or all the Super Stainless) are the same blade, but I'm finding anywhere between subtle and considerable differences between them. The Shark Super Stainless is a completely different beast to the Lord Classic Super Stainless, again completely different to the Big Ben Super Stainless and this blade is no exception. I do wonder how they are materially different and think some of it comes down to blade thickness (the Big Ben is reputedly thicker, the Silver Star reputedly thinner) or whether the blade is single or double stropped, or perhaps coating as some blades claim a double coating of PTFE.
With the first couple of strokes on each side of this blade I know I was thinking, "Ha! It's just the Lord Classic", but that was just stropping off the edge and from there it was an entirely different blade. Sensationally smooth! Sensationally! It put me a lot in mind of the Super Shave X blade, which is platinum. Platinum AND chrome ... AND polymer ... and presumably PTFE. The Silver Star is stainless. With PTFE. Stainless.
I had one of those shaves where I felt I could happily just wash off and walk away ... and so I did just that. Hot rinse to get the soap off, cold splash, skip the alum and pat dry. I did enjoy a splash of Citrus musk on chest, shoulders and back of neck, running the rest off through my hair. Immediate post-shave feel was actually more like a carbon blade. I really enjoyed the feel of regrowth from the Lord Classic and I have high hopes for this blade. I rated the Lord Classic at an 8.5 as it's not quite up there with my 9s and 10s. From one shave, I rated this blade at 8.6 but expect that to rise. It is a definite cut above the Lord Classic, itself a top-tier stainless blade, this is certainly a top-tier stainless blade if not simply just a top-tier blade. It's a stainless that plays like a platinum. If Gillette is BMW, Lord is SAAB ... and this blade is the 9-5 Aero. If the subsequent shaves are as consistent and good, it'll be a 9 or 9.5 in no time.
Still lovin' the hjm mop! It really suits the Wickham tubs, which suits me because Wickham 1912 suits me, which suits me because I have a good number of them. Shame that Citrus Musk has been discontinued because I think it's my favourite.