Thread: Project: "Shave with Eight SE hoe razors in a row"

Originally Posted by Substance

love it what an awesome thread great write ups
but no Rolls LOL??

If you can believe it I've actually never owned a rolls razor

Originally Posted by Darkbulb

If you can believe it I've actually never owned a rolls razor

"Yet" is key here. I have a feeling you will someday!

I've been using the Rolls since the mid-80s, while on tour I traveled with a Rolls and a Swaty. I never liked the edges off the supplied honing component so the Swaty worked until I started using jnats.

The Rolls looks scary, but is quite sedate. The guard works great. A few passes and you realize it won't cut you at all.
Then, there are those who remove the guard. That is where straight razor experience should help!

I've tried it without the guard but prefer to leave it on.

Shave Report # 5 - Le Coq


I actually got two Le Coq razors to try out. The one I picked for today's shave is the more 'substantial' of the two as far as weight goes.





It has a very nice feel to it - heavy, solid and in that way it reminds me of how the L'Essor feels when you pick it up.

So, I loaded it up with the REX blade and was happy to see that the blade fit very securely into the head.


Lathered up with some Fitjar Shea Pleasure shaving cream (first time using that btw and it performs as amazing as any other Fitjar soap I've tried in the past!) and went to work.

Stropped the blade 20-30 times on my Chicago strop.

First pass (WTG):
Immediately as I do my first downward strokes it has quite a bit of audible feedback. I was surprised that the head didn't feel as 'solid' against my face like the L'Essor (which felt as if the entire razor was one, single, solid rubust device). Luckily that feeling actually went away after a while as it was replaced by a very, very nice shaving experience.
The razor holds the blade at a very comfortable blade gap and angle and even though I had two days of growth to get through the razor did a stellar job mowing it down.

After the first pass I'd say I was 65% shaved. Some stubble left under the nose and on my throat.

Re-applied some delicious Shea Pleasure and went back in for more.

Second pass (ATG/XTG):
The second pass ended up being somewhat of a combination of XTG and ATG where I felt it made sense (XTG on my cheeks and under my nose and ATG on my throat).
As I stretched my skin with my other hand I was once again remembered how much more I treat these razors as shaving with a straight razor than any other types of razor I have. I think it's the feel of the wedge blade - it's not as sharp as a modern disposable blade but it's more forgiving I think.

Finished up the second pass and I was about 85% shaved. I could feel some stubble on my throat and around my mouth but all in all a great result.

This razor actually exceeded my expectations and shot up to second spot in how I'd rank them. The L'Essor still king of the hill.

Only three more to go.....AND today I might be received three new, freshly honed wedge blades from Glen / @gssixgun

Received another three wedge blades from Glen / @gssixgun (in addition to the REX I had received earlier) - and they look great!

With three razors to go I'm thinking they will each get the first run with a new blade (if they all fit of course). Also going to see if any of these can fit the Roger razor that I had to pass up on earlier.

Purty:

Shave Report 3B - Rasoir Roger

This is a 'return' to the Roger razor that 'failed' in Shave report 3 above due to the fact that the REX blade didn't quite fit the razor.
I received another three freshly honed razors and ONE of them - the Rapide blade ended up being a perfect fit!

So, we're back to Shave Report 3..."B" - the second take.

Visually the Roger rasoi....razor is very striking with its spiraling handle and big, impressive back prominently displaying its name.
But there is somewhat of a 'disconnect' in what meets your eye and how it feels when you pick it up.
The handle is hollow and the razor is very lightweight - it almost feels toy-like when you pick it up and looking at the details and the pieces I would think that this was very much a lower priced item compared to the decadent L'Essor (I guess I should say "Radum" these days) - and some razors from Le Coq.
Having said that there is a certain charm about it and I was very curious to try it out.



Loaded it up with the Rapide blade, picked out my shaving gear du jour and headed to my salle de ba....my bathroom.


Lathered up some Fitjar Shea Pleasure soap w/ my Rubberset 400. Great, slick lather which I am thinking is really helping in tests like these, splashed some warm water on my face and went to 'work'....

[Pause for comment]
Glen / @gssixgun is a master honemeister....as I start sliding down the razor on the side of my face it is incredibly smooth...zero tugging or resistance....this blade was given a fan-tastic edge].
[/End of pause]


The ATG pass is going extremely well and gives a very close, comfortable shave. Sure, the razor does feel a bit 'tinny' when using it as there is a certain lack of substance, but the shave is going oh so well.
I finish the ATG pass and am rather perplexed. This shave was nearly as good as the one I got from the L'Essor. Am I truly reviewing razors or wedge blades or worse - my stropping skills.

I wanted to switch to the REX blade to see how it would feel with that blade but, well, it doesn't actually fit the razor so that'd be hard.

Mental note: For next shave report shave one pass with a freshly honed wedge and switch to another blade for the second pass. Something I should had done all along if I had had all the blades when I started this. Oh well...there's still three razors to get through.

Finish up my second pass - my XTG-ATG combo-pass - and it's equally smooth and pleasant. My face is in many places straight-razor-smooth. Some areas on my jawbone that has some stubble but all in all a good 90% fully shaved. Very nice.

So, in summary;
- visually very appealing,
- very light weight and lacking the perceived quality you get from other hoe razors of more substance, but
- able to produce an amazingly good shave. Seriously - that was a great shave.


Since the Roger was somewhat of a repeat razor it appears I still have three to go....

Shave Report 6 - Le Coq II (aluminum handle)
or "Move over L'Essor"

It was really bound to happen at some point. The mighty L'Essor (ok, ok "Radium") saw itself dethroned this morning.

Now that I've ruined any sort of surprise this nerdy shave report might have held let's get into the guts of it.

I have to Le Coq SE hoe razors - the first one was covered in "Shave Report 5" above and was a more 'substantial' offering with a nice, solid handle.
The Le Coq I tried out this morning was the, I assume, more inexpensive brother sporting a smooth, lightweight hollow aluminum(?) handle that, I will admit, made me view as a bit of a lesser offering.

Le Coq (II) with its more plain looking and feeling handle:



For comparison, here are the two Le Coqs next to each other (Le Coq II on the left):


There was even some difference in head-design (Le Coq II on the left):


I loaded it up with a freshly honed Faynett wedge blade and was really happy to see that it was a perfect fit:


Lathered up some Soap Commander Endurance with my L'Occitane Plisson brush and had at it.

Now....I did have some preconceived notions about it all before I started...I felt that the lighter handle indicated lesser quality and on top of that the handle seemed a bit too smooth so I was worried it would feel slippery.

Let me tell you.....I am not a very intuitive person...the shave was fan-tastic!
Sure the handle felt light in my hand but it also felt very balanced moving a lot of the weight naturally towards the head.
The handle also didn't feel slippery even though I certainly got some water and lather on my hand at times.

As I started shaving I could feel that the blade angle was near perfect and the OC teeth had juuust that right curve/bend to them to make them feel noticeable - and actually functional.

I didn't shave at all yesterday, as I'm sometimes lazy, so the razor did have to work a bit.

Now here's the thing...I did ONE WTG pass (and two small clean-up passes around my mouth/under nose) - and, are you sitting down? - I was clean shaven.
No really. I was. I'd say, using my rather soft number assignment methology, I was 90-95% clean shaven. We're talking smooth.

I didn't even bother doing a second pass.

Sorry L'Essor/Radium you are now #2. All Hail "Le Coq II" (I really need a better name for it).


Two more razors to go...will one of them jump out and surprise me in the same way as LCII (nah..that doesn't work either) did?

Stay tuned to find out.

Nice work and fun reading! Keep us posted!