Last Blog Post of 2019:

Happy New Year ladies and gentlemen. 2019 has been a really great year for me in the shaving world and to me personally as well. The first this I accomplished was getting my GED on April 11, 2019. I would not change that for nothing and if I had known I needed to get it, I would have gotten it sooner rather than later. I also made a few life long friends during that time. Another personal goal that I accomplished was that I was finally able to lose some frigging weight. I finally found a diet that is easy to keep and unlike the rest of the diets out there, this actually works and pounds melt off. That diet is called the Keto diet and it involves little to no carbs lots of meats or protein and fat such as bacon, sausage. There's also some intermittent fasting but it's pretty easy to do because the meals keep you satisfied and your insulin does not go up. I have stalled out at 237 pounds for the moment but I was really close to 270 when I started.

We also saw Google Plus close up shop and the explanation behind it was lame as lame can be and I will leave it at that. I also went back to Twitter after taking a 6+ month absence from it. I also joined a new social media platform called MeWe which is a blast and much easier to use too. It also made 1 year of doing shave videos which is really cool. I will be doing a separate blog post about it but I also closed my Google AdSense account. It caused several issues and in my humble opinion, Google AdSense is not worth the time. More details to follow in 2020.

We saw also saw a soap maker call it quits and another one has cut back. K Shave Works will only be available through West Coast Shaving Supplies and The Razor Blade and is doing wholesale orders only. And sadly we saw Mickey Lee Soap Works close up shop due to a promotion and getting transferred to another state. It's already difficult to personally move and it was too much for them to move their business on top of that.

I also got to travel to Florida to see my dad and my brother along with his fiance' and we really enjoyed our visit down there. My dad is no longer physically able to travel now and the only way I can see him is to travel down there. It wasn't too bad driving down there. We missed the rush hour traffic both times going down there and back which was really cool. I still have my timing down pat. That's how I use to miss rush hour traffic when I drove an 18 wheeler for a living.

I'm not going to do a top 10 shave product or gear video or blog post for 2 reasons. The first reason is because everyone else already is or has done this. The second reason is because if I didn't like the shave gear or products such as the soaps and aftershaves, I would not have bought them. I also tend to use the same brands and gear often so me doing a year end top video or blog post is kindly useless. But that's just me though. I'm also amazed at how fast this year has gone by too. Don't blink ladies and gentlemen and next year is going to be even faster because it's also leap year. So thank you so much for another year of blogging and thank you for taking the time to read my blog over the years in addition to this blog post. I will see you in 2020. The Roaring 20's is back.

New Toys Are Coming!

After much debate, I decided to go ahead and place an order over at Italian Barber for some goodies. This will be an early Christmas present to myself. After all, I've been trying to keep from buying stuff other than what I need so why not treat yourself. First, I'm going to start with an old Canadian classic aftershave splash called Booster. I went with their most popular scent which is the Polar Ice. Italian Barber states that a lot of people thinks that it's closer to Aqua Velva's classic ice blue aftershave splash which I definitely love using and will always keep in my shave cave. But Joe seems to think that it's extremely close to the now discontinued Floid blue aftershave splash. We will soon find when it arrives provided that it doesn't get held up by U.S. Customs. I've been wanting to try this for years. Booster first started during the prohibition era (1920's) which will be turning 100 years old in 2020. So for them to be around nearly 100 years later and the fact that this specific product sells out rather quickly, I'm pretty sure that I will definitely enjoy this aftershave splash. 

Another item I really loved in the past was my Edwin Jagger DE89 which failed me. Rather than get another DE89, I went ahead and got Italian Barber's RazoRock MJ90A safety razor which is suppose to be an upgraded version of the DE89 which I have to think is true. The main reason I think that is because I've had a Merkur 37C slant fail me and of course my DE89 also failed me. My RazoRock German 37 slant has not failed me and has outlasted the Merkur 37C slant by several years. I've also got 2 other razors from RazoRock in my collection that are still going strong and I have no doubt that they will continue to do so for many years to come. The first upgrade that they mentioned was the choice of materials. The MJ90A is machined from one piece of billet using extremely tight tolerances versus casting using pot metal that's made from several different metals. That definitely makes a huge difference. Italian Barber could very easily charge more for the razor but one thing that I do like about RazoRock and Italian Barber is the fact that they believe that you should get more your money. I agree with this as well. So I am definitely looking forward to trying this razor out.

Another thing that I definitely needed was another handle. There's a bit of a back story to this one that involves my Rockwell 6C white chrome razor. Right now the handle off my RazoRock German 37 is currently on my Rockwell 6C razor. The reason is because the handle that came with my Rockwell 6C is warped so bad that it became a hazard to use. That specific handle doesn't even come close to the bottom base plate which should be mounted flush or at very least come extremely close. So I went ahead and borrowed the handle from my German 37 to use on my Rockwell 6C. The handle that came with my Rockwell 6C is currently on my German 37 and it also does not even come close to being safe to use on that razor. So this handle will be going on my German 37 and I'll be tossing out the original handle that came with my Rockwell 6C white chrome razor. No sense in keeping something around that can't be used on any other razor.

The cost of these items was extremely reasonable. The aftershave is a huge 400 ML or 13.5 ounce bottle and it was only $12.95 which will last me a really long time. The handle wasn't expensive either which was only $14.95 and it's made of 316 stainless steel so it will definitely last a lifetime easy. And the most expensive item that I ordered was the RazoRock MJ90A which was $29.99. The shipping was also very reasonable at $6.95. So I got a lot for my money as usual.

Of course it can take a couple of days before my order ships. Especially now that Italian Barber is in the middle of moving to a larger location and they also tend to get a lot of orders which usually does delay things. So I really have no clue as to when my order will ship. It could be tomorrow or even Friday before it gets shipped and it will probably take a couple of days to arrive once it's been shipped. So I'm more than confident that I will not be using these in my next shave video.

I will also demonstrate the issues with the original handle that came with my Rockwell 6C white chrome razor when these items arrive in an upcoming mail call video which people always seem to enjoy. It's always fun getting new toys in this great hobby of ours. There's not much left I can get in terms of hardware such as razors and blades but the soaps is another story in of itself and I've got plenty of those easy. About the only thing you will probably see me buy next is probably blades but I already have enough of those easy. I will try the Indian made Gillette Wilkinson Sword which probably won't arrive until December 4th, 2019 if I'm lucky and those with probably be used in my Leaf razor along with the Israeli Personna Red Platinum blades. The Brazilian made Gillette Platinum Plus blades will definitely be used in my new RazoRock MJ90A razor when it arrives. In the DE89, those blades feel like the back of a spoon going is across your skin yet your beard disappears easily with basically no effort at all. That's the kind of shave I'm looking for.

Gillette Wilkinson Sword Saloon Pack:

One more blog post before calling it quits for the night. One of my favorite YouTube channels is Ken Surfs out of Huntington Beach, California and his all time favorite blade is the Made In India Gillette Wilkinson Sword Saloon Pack blades. So for a really low cost of $7.80 U.S. Dollars shipped, I went ahead and ordered some to try out. I really enjoyed the Chinese version which can be found over at my favorite retailer Maggard Razors which I was told was a sharper version. I tried getting them off EBay but for some reason, Pay Pal would not let me order them from there. I'm guessing it's because they have to be shipped from India. Thankfully, Amazon has them I have had no issues with ordering anything from them at all but I did spend about $1 U.S. Dollar more for these blades than what they would have cost on EBay which is almost nothing.

I've literally have spent more on my coffee which is Dunkin Donuts Decaf and that costs me $12 U.S. Dollars at a local super market. So basically these are one of the most affordable double edge blades you can get on the market today. Another friend of mine, Anthony Esposito did a shave video a long time ago now and stated that these are one of the most comfortable blades he has ever used which says a lot. So we will see how they shave. But first, I have to wait until they arrive and as you can be see below, it's going to be a while before they get here. But that's okay because I've got plenty of good blades here.

My shave with these blades will once again be tested in 3 different razors just like the Gillette Platinum Plus blades were which was the Rockwell 6C White Chrome, The Fine Accoutrement's Marvel DE razor and of course my personal favorite, the Leaf razor. I'm hoping that I will get excellent results all the way around like I did with the Chinese version. I'm pretty sure that there's a 90% chance that I will like them. As for how many shaves I will get out of them, I'm thinking roughly around 3 multi pass shaves at the most. I was getting 4 and 5 out of the other version and I was told that these were no where near as sharp as the Chinese version was. But I'm willing to give them a try.

As for other vintage blades, I'm not sure what to try next. There's so many out there that it's not funny and it's hard to choose which ones to try next. I'm thinking that I will start with the fair to lower cost blades first because some of these Vintage blades can get extremely expensive to say the least. Just a single 10 pack of the Gillette Super Blue blades alone costs nearly 4 times what I paid for these blades. Gillette also has a few more that I've not tried that isn't as expensive as the super blue blades are but they are still not cost effective or budget friendly either. Basically I will have to see what I can find and go from there.  

New YouTube Restrictions:

Last night, I seen a notice about complying with a new law called the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. YouTube had been in violation of this law until this past September of 2019 and had been fined numerous times over which explained a lot as to why certain videos were demonetized and certain features restricted. This past September, YouTube reached a settlement with the United States Federal Trade Commission and part of that settlement requires everyone on YouTube to set their audience to either kid friendly or made specifically for kids. I've already set mine to NOT being kid friendly which means that no one under the age of 13 can watch my videos. I am cool with that because my content is age specific any way. I've never heard of anyone shaving at the age of 12 or younger. So I am cool with their decision.

The reasons I went ahead and set my audience to 13 years of age and older in addition to what I stated earlier is because I'm also dealing with sharp objects such as double edge blades and some of my previous content also deals with straight razors. There's also some old videos up that currently involve blood from nicks and cuts. Plus there's always going to be a chance that something could go wrong and I end up getting cut which means that blood could be visible. So anyone under the age of 13 should not have to see that. Think of today's video game age rating system. If anyone has any questions about this then this video made by YouTube themselves, will explain everything in great detail and answer some of your questions:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JzXiSkoFKw 

Basically the only ones I see complaining about this are the ones that tend to possibly lose revenue from their monetizing efforts such as Google AdSense and if they have enough ad revenue from that, merchandise sales. That all goes away if the video/channel is deemed made specifically for kids or kid friendly videos/YouTube channels. There also won't be any comments allowed and there also won't be a community tab on such videos/channels either which can result in a loss of subscriptions. That could possibly effect those that barely meet the requirements which is 1,000 or more subscribers and over 4,000 watched hours in a single calender year. For those wondering, I have met the number of watched hours requirement mainly due to the fact that I now have 275 videos up on my YouTube channel but I don't have enough subscribers to meet the monetizing requirements. But that's okay because I do not intend to monetize my YouTube channel at all. I was forced to monetize my blog which I put the bare minimum number of ads up which I do not get to choose. The only thing I get choose is the category of ads and that's it and I really didn't want to do that.

The gamers that you find on YouTube could also be effected but most of those guys and gals already had to set their channels up due to the content of their video games being rated T for Teen or higher. So we will see how this comes about. I think if you just use a little "common sense" you should be okay and not have any issues.

Gillette Platinum Plus Final Part:

Yesterday when I used these blades in the Leaf razor and I didn't like them at all. In fact they were horrible. If you saw my YouTube video yesterday, you would have noticed that I barely made it through the first pass before shutting off my phone between video clips which is what I do to keep my videos short and sweet. If this was not a cold water shave and if I didn't use a preshave soap, you would have seen a lot more blood than you did. Thankfully the cream and the preshave soap done more than what they were designed to do and I have zero doubts that the cold water helped keep the weepers down to the bare minimum.

The first strokes was not too bad and wasn't too uncomfortable and they did seem like they was getting better. However, that changed when I got to my neck area. They started to tug and pull and once I got to my moustache area, I said myself that this was going to be my only pass with these blades. So once I shut the camera off, I took the time to switch out these Gillette Platinum Plus blades for my usual Israeli Personna Red Platinum blades. So these blades are only good for me in the Edwin Jagger DE89 and the Fine Accoutrement's Marvel DE razors. They didn't work for me at all in the Leaf and I didn't like them at all in the Rockwell 6C white chrome with the #4 base plate. These blades in the Leaf really tore my moustache area all to pieces. Thankfully, I was able to close everything off rather quickly and there was no more damage done. That's also my public service announcement for today as well. If you aren't getting a good shave and really don't like the blade, then stop shaving immediately and switch out the blade for one that you know will work for you. That will keep you from getting cut all to pieces and pretty much eliminate bad shaves. And if some troll tells you that "oh you didn't finish the shave with that blade", tell them to stick it. It's your skin not theirs. No sense in abusing it because some troll says otherwise.

Once I did my recap and told how my shave went, I also went ahead and stated that I took the time to switch out the blades and held up my usual blades. Whether or not I'm going to try anymore Vintage blades is still up in the air. There's quite a few Vintage DE blades out there that I really want to try but they are somewhat expensive and I'll have to do a search on EBay to see what all I can find in terms of Vintage DE blades and shave soaps/creams. I've also been asked repeatedly if I am planning on getting another Edwin Jagger DE89 or similar razor. My answer to that question is NO. I've got far superior razors in my collection now that I'm enjoying. I also don't have to worry about mechanical failure now either since my original Leaf razor has since been upgraded to the latest version.

So me getting another DE89 or similar razor is out of the question. 5 to 6 years ago, my answer would have been different because there was no where near the amount of DE razors available like there is today. That's how much the wet shaving hobby and industry has grown over the years. I've also been asked about the new Gillette Heritage repeatedly too. My answer to that question is also "NO". Basically what Gillette did was copy the Edwin Jagger DE89 and put their logo on the razor. And they have all but stated that this is a limited edition razor for the 2019 holiday season. Proctor & Gamble simply can't see the forest for the trees and are stuck on the cartridges.

I'll be doing an EBay search to see what I can find in terms of Vintage DE blades. I'll also take the time to see what I can find on Etsy as well. Those are the 2 places I check out for Vintage DE blades. I also want to try and find some of the non aerosol Barbasol original shave cream. I can get the sensitive skin version off Amazon but I've always liked the original. But if I don't find anything, then Phoenix Artisan Accoutrement's C.a.D. will more than suffice. So we will have to wait and see what I can find. I also plan on doing a little bit more blogging too.

Gillette Platinum Plus Part 2:

Tonight's blog post features the Fine Accoutrement's Marvel DE razor and as I suspected, this was a far superior and much more comfortable razor and blade combo than the Rockwell 6C white chrome with the #4 base plate was with these specific blades. This was just an eyelash below the Edwin Jagger DE89 in the comfort department but I can chalk that up to the massive blade gap that the Marvel has over the DE89 which makes it a far more efficient razor. The shave can be seen in my latest video over on my YouTube channel. The oversized safety bars done exactly what I predicted and provided an extremely comfortable shave.

I also wanted to show what the blade looks like out of the packaging. They went with the old school look of the 60's and 70's. First the front of the blade.

Here's the back of the blade. If you have ever seen or used Vintage Gillette blades before, then you will notice how close they came to the 1960's and 1970's version with the arrows printed on the blade. I also find it ironic that these are now vintage blades themselves.

The next part will be the final part in this series and it will feature a brand new Leaf razor which will be arriving in 2 to 3 days. Let me fill you in on what happened and has already been taken care of via private messaging over on Twitter. The original version I have now is having some mechanical issues. The thumbscrew on the back of the razor head is nearly stripped out and getting extremely weak. Plus the left side of the top plate seems to be slightly lop sided. I also had a really tough time removing the blades so I can try these Gillette Platinum Plus in the Leaf. So I contacted Adam over at Leaf shave to tell him about these issues and he informed me that the newer version has a far better thumbscrew over the original version that I have. So he has sent me a brand new Leaf razor in their new Mercury finish along with a prepaid shipping envelope to return my original Leaf razor to them. That's what I love about the Leaf. It has a lifetime warranty. So if something happens, they will replace it. I wish I had done that with my Edwin Jagger DE89.

Hot Lather?

One of my favorite experiences when I go to the barbershop is the hot towel and hot lather shave after my haircut which I will be getting sometime this week. Probably Monday to be exact. I also get asked about hot lather for a wet shave at home. Now there's 3 ways to achieve hot lather. The first way can be seen below in the form of a candle warmer which is fantastic. 

The candle warmer can be used to heat up your water to soak your brush in which is what I do while I'm in the shower getting cleaned up which makes for a great hot lather when you load your brush up. After that, I leave the coffee cup on the candle warmer during the shave between passes which not only keeps it warm, the lather continues to heat up and get hot. Sometimes it gets a little too hot but usually after the first pass, I unplug it and let it cool off. At that point, the lather is more than hot enough to retain its heat and I have no issues finishing off my shave. I also have a shave scuttle which can be seen below.

^ This specific shave scuttle I got from Straight Razor Designs which are out of business so as a result, this scuttle is no longer available. This specific one was built for face lathering and it works like a double boiler. You fill it up with water in both the brush cavity and the outer boiler and microwave it for 2.5 minutes and soak your brush while you shower before shaving. After that you empty it and refill the outer boiler with water again and microwave it for another 2.5 minutes. You should have hot lather before face lathering and the lather will continue to get hot until you get to about the 3rd pass (if you require one). Unlike the candle warmer which has its own heating element, this scuttle does not retain heat as long and the lather does not get as hot either. I've gotten many fantastic shaves with this scuttle and it's been zapped in the microwave repeatedly so if you are wondering or concerned about putting one of these or similar scuttles in the microwave, please don't be concerned or worry about it. It will not hurt it. I also have Phoenix Artisan Accoutrement's Crown King Travel Scuttle which can be seen below.

^ This specific scuttle is made for bowl lathering which I am not very good at to be honest about it. You simply fill it up with water like you would with the other scuttle I mentioned earlier and remove the rubber stopper and microwave it for only 1 minutes this time around because the scuttle will get too hot to handle and build a lather in mainly due to the fact that it's a heavy duty plastic based scuttle which is a good thing. This travel scuttle has also been zapped repeatedly in the microwave on a frequent basis so no worries about it getting damaged. In fact this Crown King travel scuttle is almost indestructible. Their newer version is even stronger and tougher than this one is. Leonard over at Shaving in the Desert shot his with a shotgun which was hilarious and the scuttle still held up and was usable. So you can throw it and do who knows what else to it and it will still be usable.

Out of all of these ways to get hot lather, my personal favorite is the candle warmer because it continues to heat up until I shut it off. My Straight Razor Designs scuttle holds heat better than the Crown King scuttle does due to the material it's made out of but I don't start with hot lather either. I have to load up my brush and face lather like normal before I can enjoy hot lather shave. My Crown King scuttle is much faster and I do start with hot lather on the first pass but I have to bowl lather and I'm not very good at that. Plus the Crown King scuttle cools off quicker due to the material it's made out of. Please don't get me wrong because I will NOT turn any of these methods away especially now that it's extremely cold outside these days. It got down in the upper 20's last night. And now that I've lost some weight, it does not take much for me to get cold at all. So ANY method you use to get hot lather is indeed a welcomed sight and then some. I don't regret any of my purchases when it comes to getting a hot lather shave at all.

Gillette Platinum Plus Part 1:

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. This will be part 1 of 3 in a series of blog posts about these Gillette Platinum Plus DE blades. I was really glad that they arrived a day early because I shave on Wednesdays and I do shave videos on Sundays and if I didn't get them yesterday, I would have not gotten to try them until this Sunday which would have been on camera. So lets get started. Part 1 is specifically about the Rockwell 6C White Chrome and these specific blades. Now onto the shave.

^ The set up was the same. I used coconut oil as a preshave, I went with my usual #4 base plate which is what I use with the Israeli Personna Reds. It was a good but not great shave. I ended up doing 1 full pass with the grain and got extremely close on my cheeks but I needed a lot more for my neck area so I went with half passes to clean that area up. I ended up doing 1 half pass with the grain after performing a full pass, followed by another half pass against the grain and that still wasn't quite enough. I finally got to where I wanted by performing another half pass with the grain in the same area. The blade itself felt comfortable but it was no where close to the comfort level of the Edwin Jagger DE89 has with these Gillette Platinum Plus blades and they are no where close to the comfort level that the Israeli Personna Reds are in this specific set up either. So I will be sticking with the Israeli Personna Red Platinum blades seen below in the Rockwell 6C with the #4 base plate.

Now onto the post shave. I had a few weepers on the very bottom of my chin from where I had gotten a little too close and a slight nick on the left side of my chin which was my fault due to me being slightly careless and I had a couple down and on the right side of my Adam's apple which is my usual trouble spot that always gives me grief no matter what I use which includes cartridges. The alum block had almost zero feel to it and I left it on for several minutes while I cleaned my shave cave up and rinsed out my brush and it closed up everything instantly so they were NOT very deep at all. The biggest surprise was the fact that the aftershave splash did NOT burn at all and it's loaded with alcohol. I used Soap Commander's Reflection and Skin Bracer that day to end Soap Commander October which is all I used for the month of October for both on and off camera. The next combination can be seen below.

^ This combo will be very interesting this coming Sunday. I really need to get a sampler pack for this razor because I've only found 1 blade that I like in this razor and that would be the standard Gillette Platinum blades. Whether they work well in this razor or not will be determined in another blog post at a later date. I did go to Walgreen's today and check to see if they still have these Gillette Platinum Plus blades and I was correct, they don't. Walgreen's also use to carry Head Blade's products but they didn't even have that. All I saw was some way overpriced Walgreen's branded crystal blades which cost almost nothing online versus $5 U.S. Dollars for 10 blades. I'm hoping that the Marvel razor top cap which has the correct angle machined into it and the highly polished oversized safety bars will make for a comfortable shave with these Gillette Platinum Plus blades.

Part 3 will be focused on the Leaf razor which will also be very interesting as well. I'm hoping that it won't be like a Gillette Mach 3 and slice me all to pieces but we will see. I'll make sure to use that razor with these blades off camera. Now the big question that a lot of people will be asking me is will I be purchasing another Edwin Jagger DE89 now that I have found these blades on EBay? My answer is no. I got 4 good years out of it before it started falling apart and before I finally ended up recycling it after it got to where I could not use a blade in it at all even with a different handle. That and it would have been more expensive to repair the DE89 that I had than it would have to simply buy another one which was completely sold out at the time mine failed. Another reason I'm not getting another one is the simple fact that these Gillette Platinum Plus blades are expensive and once they are gone, that's it. The EBay seller does have their own website and they don't even list these blades on it. So I see no reason of buying a razor that you personally know is going to fail at some point and not be able to get these blades for it later on down the road. Those are the reasons I'm not getting another Edwin Jagger DE89 in addition to having more comfortable razors.

Vintage Razor Blades Ordered:

It's been a really long time since I've used these DE blades but I went ahead and ordered 36 blades off EBay. I use to be able to get these at a local Kmart store a few years ago. Unfortunately, that local Kmart store in now closed and as far as I know, we don't have anymore here in the state of Virginia. But that's not the reason why these blades became Vintage blades. Gillette decided to close up their Brazilian shop which is where these blades were made and move them to Russia with their other shops that they have over there. They also changed the grind and the name of them to Gillette Rubie and they now suck as a result too. Basically Gillette ruined one of their best blades which is about normal for them.

I first tried these blades in an Edwin Jagger DE89 and my Phoenix Artisan Accoutrement's Double open comb razors and let me tell you, phenomenal does not do it justice. In the DE89, it felt like there was no blade in the razor at all. Now I did get a little blade feel in the doc but it was still extremely comfortable. I have really missed these blades and just never got around to trying Vintage razor blades before which is about to change. I'm set on which DE safety razors I will be using and there's no plans or intentions in terms of buying another razor. Not unless a disaster happens like it did with my Edwin Jagger DE89 or the first double open comb that I had. Both got recycled at a local metal recycling plant not far from here. The DE89's handle took a crap which was fine because I simply swapped it out for the handle on my Muhle R41 but then the bottom base plate took a crap which rendered the razor useless and it would have cost more to fix it than it would to buy a new one which was sold out at every supplier I was using at the time. The same thing happened to the bottom base plate on my double open comb. Thankfully, someone sent me theirs that they had and they wanted it to go to where it would get used and it has served me well.

These were tolerable in terms of costs. I calculated them to cost $.73 U.S. cents per blade. They were not the most expensive vintage blades but they were not budget friendly either. Which is fine because these are no longer being made so I do expect them to be much more expensive. I will be trying these in the Leaf, Marvel and Rockwell 6C razors that I have in my collection. I did not like the Israeli Personna Reds in the Marvel or the Doc. But I do like them in the Leaf and the Rockwell 6C with the #4 base plate. The only problem that I've been having with the Israeli Personna Red Platinum blades is the longevity. I've already gone through 2 packs and I'm currently on my 3rd one and I've only had them for about a couple of weeks.

There's also a lot more Vintage razor blades that I want to try. The main thing that I was after when I first started wet shaving was longevity and comfortable shaves. I also wanted to save money specifically on blades. That went out the window when I discovered artisan made shave soaps. I do save some money on blades in terms of cartridges but that's where the savings ended. I've also wanted to try other vintage blades because I've heard their longevity is off the page. I've heard of some people getting up to 30 shaves per Vintage blade which is epic. I'm doing good to get 5 with the standard Gillette Platinum blades in the Marvel DE and the 5th one isn't very comfortable either. That would be awesome to get 30+ shaves with the Leaf and not being able to tell if there's a blade in there along with my Rockwell 6C and Marvel DE.

I'm also going to do a Google search, check out Esty and EBay for more Vintage DE razor blades. So far, I have compiled a list. Gillette Super Blue blades, Schick Krona DE blades and Wizamet Polsilver and Wizamet Super Iridium blades. The Gillette Super Blue blades are going to be expensive. I've seen them go for around $25 U.S. Dollars for 10 blades. But if I can get an insane amount of shaves out of just one of these blades, then costs pretty much disappears because I will go as long as I can before switching out a blade if it's comfortable which is really all that I'm after. So lets see what I can find. Schick has a ton of Vintage DE blades but they're more famous for the Injector blades which I'm not a fan of. Gillette also has a few more that I want to try. It will depend on my budget and what all I find online.

Gillette's New Heritage DE Razor:

For the first time in well over 30 years, Gillette North America has decided to release a brand new DE safety razor. The razor will be called the Gillette Heritage DE safety razor. This is huge in my humble opinion. The last DE razor Gillette ever produced was the Black Beauty back in the late 70's. When they stopped producing that razor is unknown to me. I'm sure Matt over at Razor Emporium would have a lot more detailed information. The only thing that I know about the Black Beauty was the fact that in 1977 (which is my birth year razor) was the very last year that you can get the Black Beauty with a metal bottom plate before going to 100% hard plastic or Bakelite. That is really all I know and after that, we've not seen a single DE razor made or released by Gillette North America since that time. Gillette stayed away and decided to make shaving more convenient rather than taking comfort into consideration. This is not a joke ladies and gentlemen. In fact, here's the link where you can pre order it on Amazon right now as we speak: 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XPRRV9Y/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_viiQDb3RFZQF5 :

This is going to be a 3 piece razor which is a very good thing because the twist to open style razors tend to require oiling to keep the internal mechanisms from rusting shut like my very first DE I purchased nearly 6 years ago come the first week of February 2020. I already know about the Gillette Platinum DE blades which are currently made in Russia and they are fantastic blades especially in my Fine Accoutrement's Marvel DE safety razor. The blade gap looks to be similar if not equal to an Edwin Jagger DE89 which is efficient but super comfortable once you find the correct blade for it. I only wish that they would bring back the Brazilian made Gillette Platinum Plus DE blades. I use to be able to get those at a local Kmart store which is now permanently closed. Those were perfect in the DE89 and it almost felt like there was no blade in that specific razor. Right now, the only place I can get the Gillette Platinum Plus is EBay. However, if this razor takes off the way I think it's going to, it will be really cool to just be able to walk into a big box store and get some Gillette branded DE blades right off the shelf:

The case looks fantastic, but knowing Gillette North America like I do, I can just about guarantee you that only this specific razor will fit into the case. That and I don't think they are going to be a permanent thing either. I'm certain that they will continue to produce these razors but they will more than likely be packaged differently. I first heard about this from my friend, Ken Surfs over on YouTube. He uploaded a video about it and it shocked me. I also personally think that Gillette may have waited too late to do this. If they had done this about 4 or 5 years ago, there's no telling what would have happened. The reason I say this is because 5 years ago, there was not a lot of DE safety razor manufacturers back then like there is today. You had Merkur which is now made by Dovo and you also had Edwin Jagger and their line of razors and that was just about it without having to go and find a Vintage over on EBay. Those were the ONLY mainstream mass produced DE safety razors that were available nearly 6 years ago when I first started:

^ The specs that they have listed on Amazon makes me think that it will be on the light side which I don't like because I personally need a heavier razor to be able to plow through my thick beard but for someone who has a light beard growth, the weight might be ideal. The size also makes me think that there will a good chance that the razor head will have some blade overhang on the sides so do be careful when shaving next to your ear lobes and other sensitive areas. The blade gap looks very similar to the Edwin Jagger DE89 which means that there's a really good chance that it will be a comfortable razor especially for someone whom has been using one for a while and has their technique down pat. Here's a photo of the upcoming release date:

^ The release date is only a couple of weeks away and I know someone is going to ask me the following question. "Will I be pre ordering this razor or buying one later on in the future?" My answer to that specific question is NO and it's not for the reasons you might think either. I've got a ton of DE safety razors sitting in a dop bag and hardly none of them get any use. The reason is because, I like what I've been using for a while now and I have only 4 DE razors that I will be using on a frequent basis. The Leaf which is my top razor of choice out of my entire collection. The Rockwell 6C White Chrome with the #4 base plate and I prefer to use the Israeli Personna Red Platinum blades in both of those razors. The Fine Accoutrement's Marvel DE safety razor which I prefer to use the Gillette Platinum blades that are included with this specific razor that I'm writing about. And last but certainly not least, the original Phoenix Artisan Accoutrement's double open comb razor. My RazoRock Eco can also be easily included in that list as well but I use that one to trim my moustache with more than anything else.

The price seems fair if you get all of this in one package. If they decide to keep producing the razor and discontinue the case, I think they can get away with a $30 U.S. Dollars price tag. They could still turn a profit easily with these razors. Now what happens after they release this razor is any ones guess. As I stated earlier, they may be a tiny bit too late but you will never know for sure until afterward. I'm also sure that these razors have been outsourced from overseas. Gillette would have to retool their factory which they did not too long ago with their new sensitive skin razor known as the Gillette SkinGuard which uses the dual lubrication strips and only 2 blades with a plastic spacer between them. I'm thinking that they are tired of seeing their razors sit on the shelves of many big box stores and seeing DE blades out selling them at every turn. If they had done this nearly 6 years ago, chances are this blog would have not been changed from an automotive/ home distilling blog to a wet shaving blog. I probably would have never discovered Artisan shave soaps or shave creams like Proraso and Taylor of Old Bond Street. I'd probably be using this razor and Barbasol shave foam. I'm glad that they did not because these artisan soaps have really helped in terms of getting a really close and comfortable shave. This could also be a one time limited edition release. Only time will tell and we the general public will find out as things happen.

Public Service Announcement:

This is not shave related but this is a public service announcement. For some reason, people seem bent on trying to steal other people's money and financial information more than normal. This same group tried to go after me for a debt that NEVER EXISTED. This same group is now trying to go after my mom and it's already failed and blew up in their faces. They are claiming to be collecting for Lehman Brothers. There's several problems with this and then some. Lehman Brothers was a bank that switched from your standard banking to mortgages. They filed chapter 11 bankruptcy in early 2008 and was gone by November 20, 2008 right after Obama got elected. And thankfully he's long gone and has been gone for nearly 4 years now. With that being said, how can you collect for a company that's been gone for 11 years? Problem number 2. Mom never had a mortgage with Lehman Brothers and could not and would not get one because she was with in an eyelash of paying the one she had paid off. In fact, she paid hers off in early 2005. Once you pay something like a mortgage you have NO DESIRE to have another mortgage in your life period. See below for more information and how this was impossible: 

The impossible part is due to Lehman Brother's locations. They NEVER had any location in Virginia ladies and gentlemen. In fact the nearest one if you can call it that was in Montgomery, Alabama and that is an extremely long way from us period. It's a 7 hour drive one way from us. Now why would my mom who is about pay off her mortgage drive 14+ hours round trip to take out a second mortgage? It did not happen. This same group also tried to pull the online banking reference and said this happened in 2004. We did NOT have Internet services until 2006 and we only had it briefly because I was working a full time job and did not need it and I never had enough time to use it. Plus online banking didn't really take off until much later and only a handful of banks had that capability in 2004. So that shot that idea down in a big way. Kindly hard to apply for an online mortgage when you didn't even have Internet services in 2004 and didn't get them until many years later isn't it? There's also more things that threw up even more red flags.

They tried to mention having our I.D. on record. That also failed. The state of Virginia now has their both their driver's licenses and state photo I.D. special ordered due to extra security features such as holographic photos and anti theft features. Plus there's talk that even more will be added here pretty soon, possibly later on this month. So unless we walk in somewhere and present our driver's licenses, there's NO WAY they could have our photo I.D. on their records. Once again, another futile attempt to steal information.

Another problem that they did not take into account is the fact that we monitor our credit and the credit card companies do call us when there's an issue in a heart beat. I got issued a brand new card because of Tiki Bar Soaps. Their website was not secure and my credit card company sent me a new credit card and locked the other one. They called and told me this after mailing it to me. So I know what's on my credit report along with mom's. They are simply stupid crooks. With all of the anti theft features and precautions that we take and that our state also takes in addition to the banks calling and alerting us, this all but proves a fraud case. If they continue to call and harass us, I will be calling the police and pressing fraud charges big time.

They also kept changing their location on the caller I.D. shown above. You would figure crooks would be much smarter than that but they are not. So please take a moment to keep an eye on things ladies and gentlemen. This ends my public service announcement.

Sensitive Skin Strikes Again:

Earlier today, I got a great shave in with zero blood and it was close. Unfortunately after the second pass, I had a really bad case of razor burn to and my sensitive skin also flared up to the soap that I was using which is Soap Commander's Bounty which is extremely strange because I've NEVER had a reaction to ANY of Soap Commander's products since day 1 and that includes their sandalwood scent and I'm highly allergic to with the exception to Soap Commander's which is called Commitment. Me having a reaction to some coating on the blades is not unusual at all but having one to a Soap Commander product is extremely strange. So I must cease and desist from using Bounty and the Gillette 7 O'clock green blades. When I get paid this coming Thursday, I will be placing an order for some of the Israeli Personna Red blades for my leaf. My skin can't take using any other blades after this: 

But before I do, I will be trying these Gillette 7 O'clock Yellow labeled blades in the Leaf razor next. I've used them before and these remind me of the old Gillette Track 2 cartridges that you can still buy in a lot of the big box stores today. In fact, if you do an Amazon search for the Gillette Track 2, you will see the old Gillette 7 O'clock orange logo in the results. I can use a Gillette Track 2 with no issues and I do have one in my collection. It's a 1971 replica made by Col. Conk which I've not used in a while. There's also a good chance that I might have a 7 day beard growth in my next video. This sensitive skin situation is getting old really quick. The tough beard does not help matters out at all. In fact, it makes things worse:

So I must say good bye to the 7 O'clock green labeled blades. My sensitive skin simply can't handle these blades anymore. That's all there is to it. I've tried a ton of blades and these were the most promising. The part that is terrible is the fact that I have a bulk pack of these 7 O'clock green blades and I can't use them. Thank goodness that these DE blades are stupid cheap. I could not simply throw out cartridges of any kind due to their costs but these I can. I'll mail them off to a friend of mine. I know he does not have a lot of DE blades so why not send them to him instead:

I also have bulk pack of the Chinese version of the Gillette Wilkinson Sword blades. They are a touch sharper than the Saloon Pack which WAS made in India before Gillette decided to close the plant to make strictly cartridges and focus their greed onto those markets which is totally uncool in my humble opinion. Gillette stop being greedy. You will NOT beat the cost of DE blades and you are slowly killing your business. Plus that heated razor is a joke. I'm not going to pay $200 U.S. Dollars for a heated handle and your overpriced blades that may or may not work. Personna blades specifically the Israeli reds/Platinum Blues (In the United Kingdom's packaging) has won hands down. I'm also certain that once these Gillette Track 2 Plus blades are gone, I will be replacing them with Personna's version.

I do have a bulk pack of Derby Premium half blades if these 7 O'clock yellow labeled blades do not work and thankfully, I do have a couple of the Israeli Personna reds left just in case those don't work for me either. I'll have to look at my blade log book to see what all I've tried and there's a good chance that I will toss that one out after I get another one started copying over some entries and adding new information that I've discovered since starting it. I've also got my Fine Accoutrement's Marvel DE safety razor near by as well. I should have stuck with the Personna Platinum blades that I tried in my 37C slant years ago. Had I known back then what I know today, then I would have stuck with the Israeli Personna Reds/Platinum blue blades a long time ago. It's a lot cheaper to buy a bulk pack of those blades and burn through them due to a tough beard than it is to suffer sensitive skin issues on a constant basis just for an extremely close shave that ends up being uncomfortable. So now I will see what happens next.

Israeli Personna Reds & The Leaf Update:

Today's shave felt great but it also told a very familiar story that I had with these blades in the past with another razor. That same story was with the Merkur 37C slant and these specific blades with the United Kingdom packaging which was 2 great shaves before having to swap out the blade for a fresh one. The first shave with the Israeli Personna blades was phenomenal! It felt like there was no blades in the leaf. That's how comfortable they are in the leaf razor. But I did not get a close enough shave the first time around because I had an excessive amount of beard growth which was too much for these specific blades to handle. That changed today and I also had a minimal amount of irritation in my neck area due to it still being sensitive and I did mow off a couple of bumps in the process. But other than that, no massive amounts of blood at all:

The second shave on these blades felt a lot less comfortable compared to the first. They had a slight pulling sensation to them but I feel that could have been taken care of with a tiny bit of stropping on a towel of some kind. Just be careful with the tabs on the side of the blade because they will catch on a towel if you are not careful. In terms of closeness, I managed to pull off a two and half pass shave with minimal to no stubble left over:

The post shave feel was way better this time around compared to the last one. I had mowed off a couple of bumps but other than that, there was no blood involved. About an hour later, I could tell that this was one of my best shaves in terms of left over stubble which was minimal and could only be found in my usual trouble spots. Another thing I noticed is that I was able to go against the grain with the half pass that I performed on my neck area which is a good thing. I also found that I can easily buff with these blades as well. Will these Israeli Personna Reds become my "go to" blade in the Leaf? Probably not but I may get a couple more packs of them. it will depend on my budget over the next couple of months. Plus I currently have enough blades in stock to tide me over.

Would I recommend these blades for sensitive skin and light beard growth? Absolutely and then some. If I did not have 4+ days worth of beard growth the first time around, I would probably would have gotten a far better post shave the first time around and I probably would have gotten another shave out of these blades. We will see what happens with my next shave which will probably be either Sunday or Monday. I find that I get a lot less irritation with less passes and no more than 3 days worth of beard growth especially with these lovely Israeli Personna Red labeled blades. These are perfect for 3 days worth of beard growth or less if you have a tough beard like I do. If your beard is not as tough as mine is and have a lighter growth, then you could probably go longer if you wanted to which is a good thing.

I know I will be asked so I will do what I can. These blades are the best that Personna has to offer in my humble opinion in reference to the ones I've tried both recently and in the past. They do have some Personna X half blades out on the market now, but I have not tried them and I really don't feel the need to try them in comparison. The Personna Lab blue blades were not as good in the Leaf compared to these and I'm not going anywhere near the Personna Medical Prep blades. The Medical Preps were harsh on my skin and would not hardly plow through my beard when I was still in my 30's. So there's no way I will try them in the leaf now that I'm in my early 40's with a much tougher beard along with known sensitive skin issues.

These blades are no where near as sharp as my Gillette 7 O'clock green label blades which is the middle of the road of the Gillette 7 O'clock series and work perfectly for me in the leaf razor. However, these Israeli Personna Reds are far more comfortable to use than anything I have tried in the Leaf razor. The only problem I have with these Israeli Personna Reds is that they don't have any longevity to them. I can get 4 great shaves out of the Gillette 7 O'clock green labeled blades and I can 5 out of the Gillette 7 O'clock black blades which are not quite as sharp as the Feather blades but pretty close. The Gillette 7 O'clock yellow labeled blades are equal to the old Gillette Track 2 cartridges that you can get today and I can only get 3 shaves out of those. I also can't buff with any of the Gillette 7 O'clock blades at all and I can't go against the grain either especially when I need to specifically with my neck area in a couple of spots. I have a feeling that I will probably end up getting a bulk pack of these before long because these blades were the best I've tried in the Leaf hands down in terms of comfort. Nothing has come close.

RazoRock Eco Blade Longevity Update:

The blade search is over for the RazoRock Eco ladies and gentlemen. I'm happy to report that I just got a quick shave in with a Soap Commander product and that this was the 6th shave on the half Feather DE blade and the blade had been corked 2 times before it was installed into the razor. It was not uncomfortable or anything and it was still pretty sharp but, it was starting to have a slight tug to it like the blade was trying to catch and grab a hold of my facial hair in my moustache area. I could have gotten maybe one more shave in with it, but I learned a long time ago to go ahead and throw out the blade when it starts to do that and install a fresh blade into the razor. Another thing that I also learned a really long time ago that applies to DE blades is "when in doubt, throw it out" . Most new guys don't do this and go back into an old habit from when they used cartridges before converting. For those that are doing that, "Stop it!" It don't take but a few seconds to swap out the old blade for a fresh one. If your lather dissipates, reload the brush and reapply the lather. It's been a while since I've had an extremely bad shave due to these practises:

As you can see below, I got my usual lather out of one of my Soap Commander products (can't remember which one off hand). I sometimes shave off camera to just enjoy a really good shave or when I'm heading out the door and don't have time to record and edit a video. So I'll try to come back and do a blog post about it if I have time to. A lot of times, I really don't have the time to blog and I'm in so many groups now that it's really getting hard to keep up:

In my last video, I had miscounted the number of shaves on the Feather DE blade that I had in the Eco razor. I had marked the wrong side and thought I had put a fresh blade in and I got quite a shock when I flipped the blade over and seen how many I actually had after I had recorded the video. I also found another pack of Feather DE blades and I still have one left in the other pack that I've been using. So I am good to go for a while now. Now lets do some basic math here. I get 6 shaves out of a half of a Feather blade. So when you snap one in half to use in the Eco, that equals 12 shaves per whole DE blade and with the Yellow labeled pack of blades, there is 10 blades to a pack. What that means is that you will get 120 shaves out of a single pack of Feather blades even after you cork the edges twice which is simple to do. Now if you just shave once a week, that's over 2 years worth of shaving just from 1 single 10 pack of Feather DE blades. This gets cut in half for the black labeled Feather blades which only has 5 blades per pack and the same can be said for the Red labeled pack of blades as well:

The 6th shave felt good and was really close and smooth in terms of the post shave. I don't have anything left in my moustache area as a result after completing 2 passes. In fact, I got close as a cartridge in terms of the post shave quality. The 7th shave would have felt terrible and pulled something fierce plus, it also would have left a ton of weepers all over the place. I didn't have that issue today with the blade in the Eco. It did feel like it was trying to catch yes, but I did not have any weepers afterward. I did have a couple of spots on my neck with the Leaf but I had none with Eco. I'll be doing another blog post on that situation here in a little while. So based upon today's shave, I can confirm that using the RazoRock Eco will double if not triple the longevity of your DE blades which is a huge game changer in my humble opinion. That was one of the reasons I got into wet shaving which was to save money on blades.

All in all, I am glad that I purchased this razor and could not be happier with its performance. The fit and finish is phenomenal and at only $30 U.S. Dollars, you can beat the price. Plus, Joe over at Italian Barber does throw in a 100 pack of Crown Half DE blades which he stated that he gets 2 head shaves out of a blade. So that's a year's worth of blades thrown in for free with your order. I myself thought that Crown half blades were pretty good. Unfortunately, I would be doing good to get 2 shaves out of a blade so I went with the Feather blades instead. That's one of the bad things about having a tough beard and sensitive skin. It gets even tougher if you are on medication and the older you get, the worse it gets. I did like the weight but I thought it would do better with a larger handle. So I put the original handle that came on the Eco onto my Hawk Feather Artist Club razor and grabbed the 175B Midnight Black handle that I got from West Coast Shaving Supplies and installed it onto the Eco and it worked like a dream. My RazoRock Eco now weighs in at just under 8 ounces or half a pound. The added weight made a huge difference for the better.