2023-07-22 Lather Games SOTD
- Brush: Yaqi Rainbow (legs)
- Brush: Dogwood Milkglass (face)
- Razor: Fatip Gentile
- Razor: Merkur 33c
- Razor: Merkur 41c
- Razor: RazoRock Lupo 58
- Razor: Wolfman WR2
- Lather: Stirling Soap Co. - Bella Roma (legs)
- Lather: Fine Accoutrements - Platinum (face)
- Post Shave: Aqua Velva - Ice Sport - Aftershave
- Fragrance: Montblanc - Individuel
Today's theme was inspired by the Mr Lovenstein comic.
Bella Roma is a dupe of Valentino Donna Born in Roma. Opens with blackcurrant and jasmine, dries down to jasmine and musky-woody vanilla. In the original fragrance, the opening is the best part of the experience before the blackcurrant fades and the jasmine takes over; in the soap the jasmine isn't quite as obnoxious so I don't mind the post-shave scent as much.
Platinum is pineapple-forward, which is (surprise) another berry. Ice Sport has some sort of generic red berry accord in it; doesn't last forever, but it's there up front. Montblanc Individuel (which isn't a dupe of Original Santal because a) they were both made by the same perfumer, and b) Individuel came first) is best described as "raspberry dryer sheets." Loads of berry notes today between the face and leg shaves.
ANYWAY
Today's challenge was inspired by one of my own shaves during the 2020 Lather Games, wherein I realized "a lot of ladies come to the DQ thread to ask for razor advice, but almost all of us shave our faces and don't know how well these razors work for legs," so I decided to put six of my "beginner-friendly" razors to the test and find out which ones were actually comfortable leg shavers.
This year I have more razors in my collection, so I put five new options against the previous champ: the Fatip Gentile. I started by using an electric trimmer to take off the bulk of the hair so I was only wetshaving a single ATG pass on stubble, to better simulate typical leg-shave conditions. The shave itself was better and faster than in previous years - my legs feel pretty great now with hardly any irritation, and that's the goal right?
Before and after photos complete with identifying cat-related leg injury on left thigh and signature fucked-up right ankle.
The 2023/2020 combined razor rankings:
My top choice for shaving stubble:
- Merkur safety-bar razors, preferably with a long handle. Shaves close and smooth ATG at most any angle, almost zero blade feel whatsoever. Absolute most comfortable leg shaver I've tried so far. Not noticing any post-shave irritation from this one today. Clogs quickly if stubble is longer than 2-3mm, but it's pretty easy to swish clean.
If you tend to let your hair grow out a bit instead of keeping up with the stubble, these options may not be as magically smooth but won't need as much swishing around to unclog:
- Merkur open comb razors, preferably with a long handle. Shaves close and smooth ATG at almost any angle, but has more blade-feel than the safety bar version. Absolutely impossible to clog; I did an entire quarter of a leg without clearing the razor and suffered no loss of efficiency.
- Fatip Gentile, preferably with a long handle - definitely not a piccolo! Shaves close ATG at practically any angle, comfort ranges from "good enough" to "fantastic" depending on the shave angle. Much like the above option, it has more blade-feel than the Merkur safety bar design, but on the other hand: slow to clog and easy to clear with a swish under water.
- Maggard V3M / equivalent Baili with long handle: performs a lot like the Gentile but a little less comfortable and more prone to razor burn.
Razors that you can use but I wouldn't offer as a recommendation:
- V3 / Edwin Jagger / Muhle. Similar to a Merkur in most ways, but less comfortable with its greater blade-feel. Much easier to cut/nick yourself with these.
- Lady Gillette: fussy about angle if you want a close shave, clogs quickly and is frustrating to clear out. Probably an okay shaver with practice. Very cute though.
- Wolfman WR2. A lovely face shaver, but when it comes to legs it just feels like a slightly more comfortable V3M at 15x the price. It's better, but it isn't 15x better.
NOT Recommended:
- RazoRock Lupo (any version). Too much blade-feel, too many nicks and cuts. While I love this razor for faces, it's just not leg-friendly in my experience.