Thread: My Mastro Livi razor, at last: a wonderful life experience!

Steel is inox ATS34

Razorguy:

I emailed Mastro Livi Razors several days ago about this issue but received no response. maybe if you mention it to Mastro, this may have a resolution. I have a high opinion of Mastro Livi, he is a true gentleman and I am sure he would do anything to please one of his costumers.
Thanks.

Originally Posted by Razorthin

Steel is inox ATS34

Mastro Livi used ATS34 steel many years ago and just for very few razors. He mainly used RWL34 and, by reading the certificate, your razor is made from this steel. RWL34 is one of the many steels he still uses today and, in my opinion, an excellent and outstanding one. I have two RWL34 razors made by Mastro Livi and they are both impeccable and super performing.

Originally Posted by Razorthin

I emailed Mastro Livi Razors several days ago about this issue but received no response. maybe if you mention it to Mastro, this may have a resolution. I have a high opinion of Mastro Livi, he is a true gentleman and I am sure he would do anything to please one of his costumers.
Thanks.

I am going to Mastro Livi laboratory tomorrow afternoon and I will show him both the picture and your messages. I am sure he will suggest something in order to work things out.

Originally Posted by Razorthin

I have a high opinion of Mastro Livi, he is a true gentleman and I am sure he would do anything to please one of his costumers.

Hello, I went yesterday to Mastro Livi Laboratory and showed the picture of your razor to him. He said he would certainly be happy to help you and, by reading how you tried to hone your razor, he said using a 1K hone was a very bad idea. Of course, everything can be fixed but, in order to give you a reliable help, he is asking you to provide zoomed pictures both of the edge and spine, in order to let him to better assess the condition of your razor.
He also said the best thing would be to send the razor to him and he would fix it in a minute. However, let's see what we can do by showing him the pictures of your razor. I am sending you a private message with my mail address where you can send pictures, possibly with a reasonably high resolution.

Mastro Livi always had two primary things in mind: making quality razors and pleasing his clients as much as he can. I guess those who personally visited Mastro Livi laboratory and met him can easily tell this.

One of the things Mastro Livi stresses quite a lot when someone is coming to his laboratory - both for watching the making of his artisan made razor as well as buying a ready made straight razor - is the client personally testing the razor before leaving the shop or laboratory.

For this purpose, Mastro Livi allowed his clients to test the razor in the laboratory's dressing room. He always had a dream: having a special place in his laboratory where clients could comfortably test a razor while having at hand everything needed for a luxurious shave, from pre shave to after shave.

When Mastro Livi started renovating his laboratory last summer, he told me he wanted to have a particular area in his laboratory to be especially used for testing razors and reserved to his clients. He was thinking about a corner of his laboratory with an "old fashioned" Italian bedroom wash basin - one of those consisting in a mirror, wash basin, soap holder and jug - something very common in every Italian house of the past. He wanted to make something very Italian and very special.

I liked the idea very much and encouraged him to make this, but I also wanted to add my idea to the project and to share it with Mastro Livi. I suggested it would have been even more special to build a real barbershop inside of the laboratory. An old fashioned Italian barbershop, of course. Mastro Livi loved the idea and this is how "Mastro Livi's Barbershop" came to life.

I am very happy and proud for having given Mastro Livi this idea, as well as for contributing - from time to time - with other ideas about many aspects. Mastro Livi and I talked a lot about this barbershop and developed many ideas together, but - for the sake of truth - he was the only one who practically worked very hard in order to make it real, to turn this dream into reality. It is something it strongly wanted for his new laboratory. It should in fact be said Mastro Livi personally built this barbershop, from ground to roof.

It took about one year to build "La Barbieria di Mastro Livi" (Mastro Livi's Barbershop) and few days ago we thought the right time for inaugurating this lovely place had finally come. This was also a good chance for me to make a new video and to share with you all. I guess you will love to see Mastro Livi's Barbershop, although in a video, but I am sure I will personally meet many of you there while testing your razor and have a luxurious shave.

It must be said Mastro Livi's Barbershop is a private barbershop and it is reserved to his clients only, to those who are visiting Mastro Livi laboratory and want to test their own razors. It is a lovely place and I am sure you all will like it. It is an old fashioned Italian barbershop and there you will find everything, from pre-shave products to after shaves, including scissors and everything about a barber's job.

Something amazing you will see inside Mastro Livi's Barbershop is a real and genuine old Italian barber chair, a style of chair belonging to the beginning of 1900s and that Mastro Livi personally restored. He wanted this chair to be inside of his barbershop and this is where you will sit down in case you are coming to have a shave. You will see it is something very different from modern barber chairs, although this is what you would have seen in Italian barbershops at the beginning of the 1900s.

For the occasion of this video, Mastro Livi invited professional Barber Luigi Migni, a genuine Italian barber and having his barbershop not so far from Mastro Livi laboratory. Luigi Migni is among the very few barbers in Italy who still makes use of a real straight razor for shaving his clients. In his barbershop you will in fact see a shelf in which are displayed many beautiful vintage straight razors which he uses for shaving. Of course, he also has and uses Mastro Livi straight razors.

Barber Luigi Migni was really surprised when he saw Mastro Livi's Barbershop for the first time few months ago and he said he will be very happy to give Mastro Livi's clients valuable advices about shaving and straight razor use. He will also be available to shave Mastro Livi's clients in Mastro Livi's Barbershop when they are coming and in case they want so.

By the way: the "old fashioned" Italian bedroom wash basin is part of Mastro Livi's Barbershop and you will see it in the corner, next to the sink; yet another sign of Italian culture and tradition which perfectly fits in an "old fashioned" Italian barbershop. This wash basin was made by a majolica artisan and artist from Deruta, the Umbrian town famous all over the world for the traditional majolica and earthenware works.


Enjoy the video and see you very soon in Mastro Livi's Barbershop!

This afternoon Mastro Livi and I went to Luigi Migni's Barbershop because Mastro Livi wanted to personally thank him for being so kind and taking part to my latest video. Mastro Livi wanted to make a very special razor for him as a sign of gratitude for his kindness, time and valuable advices.

I of course took some pictures of Barber Luigi Migni receiving a stunning CarboInox straight razor from the hands of Mastro Livi. I can tell he was very happy for that and I am sure you can tell yourself by looking at the following pictures. I also wanted to take a picture of Barber Luigi Migni's shelf in which he keeps part of the razors he inherited from his master when he was an apprentice and worked in his master's barbershop.

Barber Luigi Migni receiving a CarboInox straight razor from Mastro Livi



The CarboInox straight razor Mastro Livi especially made for Barber Luigi Migni



Barber Luigi Migni holding his Mastro Livi CarboInox straight razor



Barber Luigi Migni seems to like quite a lot his new Mastro Livi razor!



The shelf in which Barber Luigi Migni keeps the razors and part of the tools inherited from his Master



Mastro Livi CarboInox Damascus Steel, 8/8 Full Hollow, Snake (Livi) Point
especially made for Barber Luigi Migni
Scales are made of Umbrian and lovely smelling juniper wood.



Mastro Livi signature and dedication to Barber Luigi Migni

Cool stuff! I really enjoyed seeing Livi's barbieria.
What was the shaving cream used for the shave in the video?

I am glad you enjoyed watching the video and thanks for taking the time for watching it.
Barber Luigi Migni used Dr. Harris Almond Luxury Lather Shaving Cream.

I am very glad to share with you all some pictures of Mastro Livi's Barbershop I took this afternoon.

Mastro Livi's Barbershop as seen from the laboratory



Mastro Livi's Barbershop as seen from the laboratory's entrance



The chair and sink. The chair is a genuine Italian barber chair of the beginning of 1900s and restored by Mastro Livi.



A view from the bottom



Mastro Livi in his private barbershop



Mastro Livi sitting in his barber chair

That was a wonderful video. Thanks very much for taking the time to make it and post here.

If I ever visit Perugia and I need a shave, I now know who to go to. That barber REALLY knows his business.