Warm rinse and Proraso Red pre-shave
Yaqi Rainbow 26mm synthetic brush
Extro Cosmesi Tabacco cream
Alpha Shaving Claymore Evolution
Feather Professional (1)
Warm/cold rinse, Thayers Unscented and Extro Cosmesi Tabacco aftershave
I’m like a child with a new toy.
Home this evening to unwrap the Claymore with its matching stand and pack of Feather Professional blades. My maths tells me I saved £30 by ordering from Alpha, though the 2 week wait was soul-destroying….watching everyone open their new shiny razors.
First things first. The bamboo style presentation box is a nice touch. Opening the lid revealed a similarly nice pouch, holding the razor safely and snugly inside.
In the hand the razor is a tidy piece of engineering. Clearly a lighter head than it’s eldest brother, the Claymore V1, which I’ve been using regularly. This razor looks lean and ticks all the boxes when it comes to nice sharp angles and modern looks. This will clearly appeal to a lot of men. The Version 1 is heavy, raw, some might even say cumbersome, or a man’s “proper razor”. The Evolution is lean, sharper, even technical in comparison.
I tried loading a Schick Proline which unfortunately didn’t fit. Steve from Alpha Shaving has been open and honest enough to highlight that such instances may occur, in an email he sent several weeks ago. I’ve highlighted my issue and from what others have experienced, he’ll be true to his word and fix things. Excellent.
The Feather Professional blades supplied fit perfectly. Although not my preferred blade, I wasn’t going to delay use any longer.
The razor feels lighter and more controllable in hand. The smaller head making under the nose far more easy.
3 passes later and done. As said, this isn’t my favourite blade and I did find it a tad rough. A few weepers directly under my chin but nothing to be concerned about. Hopefully the blade will smoothen out for its next use (a bad workman always blames his tools!).
Initial impressions are good for the Evolution. I’m not going to have one “meh” shave and start saying it the best ever. It’s certainly good but needs a bit more time and defo other blades (for me anyway).
On today’s performance, I’d give this a 6 or 7 out of 10, though I do think it’ll get better.
I’m certainly happy with my purchase, even though the wait was awful!
Have a great evening folks!