Submitted 3 weeks ago by AutoBot@sub.wetshaving.social [bot] to wetshaving@sub.wetshaving.social
Share your shave of the day!
Nonidi 9 Frimaire an 233 de la Révolution, jour de Genièvre
Death is not in its prime anymore - the soap has signs of oxidation, and the lather is not what B&M soaps normally are.
Have a good evening!
This is shave 25 of my run through all 14 generations of GEM-style razors, and I have reached the penultimate GEM, the Contour, or when ASR stopped trying
The Contour
At this point, ASR has given up. The Contour brings nothing new to the table and is just a cheaper version of the Push-Button with a slightly modified handle design and no more gold plating. That’s it.
The head is remained the same, just that it’s raw unplated stainless steel.
A look under the base plate shows that there was a slight modification of the outline of the thin leaf (foil?) spring that opens the top cap to accommodate the new footprint of the handle’s neck. It’s that thin sheet that’s placed between the base plate and the neck of the handle.
Looking into the open razor, we can see that also the width of the foil springs was reduced, but the cutouts on the back of the base plate still have the full width for the wider springs. It makes for a slightly more sluggish mechanism, and in the open position, a little bit of slack in lets the head jingle. No big deal, but distinctly cheap feeling. Lastly, they also dropped the grooves on the safety bar. Apparently, those “tough whiskers” don’t need setting up anymore for closer shaving?
TL/DR, this looks and feels like the budget version of the Push-Button, which itself was a sub-par attempt at replicating the magic of the Flying Wing. #Sad
The shave
Fantastic warm and sweet shave with MotI, Haverford, and TV. These scents have been among my favourites since the beginning of my descent down the rabbit hole and they still are.
The timeline
Very interesting. I would guess that the mid-40’s was the beginning of the heyday for DE razors, and 1970/71 was the introduction of the cartridge razor. The marketing push on these things has been extraordinary, and there’s a sleek look to their design (somewhat like the Blackland Vector’s). Given the influence marketing has on us, it is a wonder that GEM blades, and DE blades are even made anymore.
November 29, 2024
Brush: Elite Razor Neo-resinate 26mm Mother Lode
Blade Holder: Gillette Fatboy E4 (setting: 4)
Blade: Wilkinson Sword Black (1)
Lather: The Cajun Blade - Wild Oud - Soap
Aftershave: Eufros - Rosa Oud - Aftershave Balm
2 passes. Face lather. Excellent shave.
Wonderful evening shave to complete my 58th this month. I have enjoyed visiting my safety razor collection over the past days.
Home stretch tomorrow!
Yep! I enjoy BBS November but I’m always surprised at how an extra 10-15 minutes of shaving messes with my daily schedule.
29.11.2024 - Black (Friday) themed shave
-> 2 pass head shave. There was just one weeper, but not even that noticeable. Great shave otherwise.
We were bombarded by so many sales themes in Germany that I actually thought last Friday was BF. Turns out it is today… but no wonder when we do “Black Weeks” or even months over here. On the one hand, it’s better than just concentrating all sales on a single day or weekend. On the other, most of it is shameless commercial tactics anyways. I bought lots of stuff before today for sale. Nevertheless, I was in the mood for a themed shave with the colour black as my leitmotif.
Boca Negra is a beautiful blend of darker gourmands (coffee absolute, dark chocolate, ginger, black pepper) as well as resinous and woody notes. It’s inspired by a perfume called Boccanera, but no direct dupe afaik. To me, it smells delicious and sophisticated at the same time. The black, screaming mouth on the tub art adds a surreal art touch to it.
As always, the Flying Wing gave a great and hassle free shave. I was intrigued enough to get one of my GEMs going again after @djundjila 's series is almost concluded. Especially the “super close shave by holding it flat against your skin” was kinda cool. Simple, but it works. Even though the ‘guiding eye’ can never be seen during shaving.
Have a great weekend, folks!
Friday, November 29, 2024: FLS
Another quick two-pass shave. Lavanille is such a complex but lovely scent.
November 29, 2024
If this was my first experience with this soap base, I would be very dissapointed! My brush was too wet, and oof. Puffy and almost useless. Totally different than yesterday with the same soap! I imagine when people say this soap base isn’t very good, this is what they’re referring to. Luckily I normally do it correctly and load with a relatively dry brush, and the lather is fantastic.
I have run into this with the CF base before too. If I have time I’ll try and start over, but that’s not always an option.
Nice tea combo for a calm Friday evening shave.
This was shave 26 of my run through all 14 generations of GEM-style razors:
Friday, November 29, 2024: SLS
gcgallant@sub.wetshaving.social 3 weeks ago
November 29, 2024
Brush: Chisel & Hound Classic 26mm V23 Fanchurian
Blade Holder: Blackland Razors Vector
Blade: Feather Artist Club Professional (11)
Lather: Gentleman’s Nod - Tusitala - Soap
Aftershave: Gentleman’s Nod - Tusitala - Aftershave
2 passes. Face lather. Excellent shave.