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

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

You seem to really like that razor Is very Nice,P160 was one of the best soaps ever,I have one Kilo left

I love that razor!
I do agree: P.160 was one of the very best shaving soap ever. I wish I had one kilogram left: what I have now is less than the half of that!

How do you find the use of olive oil as a post-shave and what benefits do you feel it has over a 'regular' post-shave treatment?

Originally Posted by PigHog

How do you find the use of olive oil as a post-shave and what benefits do you feel it has over a 'regular' post-shave treatment?

Olive Oil has always been used in shaving by our grandfathers. It is now something considered obsolete, but I can tell it works wonders on your skin.
It should be said everyone had in my region - in general, all over Italy - olive oil at hand, not just because it was used as a condiment, but also because it had many uses, including medical ones.
For men, olive oil provided both a post-shave and an after-shave treatment. This however has a scientific explanation: olive oil easily soothes shaving and skin irritations, moreover it is rich in vitamin E, which is very effective for the skin. In my region, olive oil was in fact an immediate relief for skin and women also used for keeping their hair healthy.
In my own experience, olive oil is very effective as a post-shave treatment. Use it like this: wet your hands and pour four or five drops of extravirgin olive oil in one hand (make sure it is extravirgin: simple olive oil is made from a lower quality process) and rub your hands together in order to fully spread the oil in both palms. Now pass your hands in your face like you should in case you were using any aftershave.
The olive oil will be absorbed by the skin within three or four minutes, this means you should wait before applying an aftershave. I generally use this time to wash my hands (to remove the excess of olive oil) and to clean all the stuff. At the end, you will notice your skin is very smooth and fully soothed. Now, if you like, you can use your favorite aftershave.
Our grandfathers rarely had an aftershave the way we mean that (they could rarely afford spending money on such products) and what they used was a rub of olive oil. And it works.
If you try this, I would like to know your opinion.
By the way, another excellent way of using olive oil is for seasoning food!

That's interesting - I'll try it out next time.

Just wanted to thank you for this thread. I just re-read it again and it brings back so many great memories with Mastro Livi. In my opinion, Mastro Livi is the founding father of the Custom Straight Razor in modern times and his work not only brought his beautiful razors into our world but has inspired so many people to start making custom razors. The elegance, beauty and quality of his razors remain an inspiration to us all.

Have fun.

Originally Posted by Lynn

Just wanted to thank you for this thread. I just re-read it again and it brings back so many great memories with Mastro Livi. In my opinion, Mastro Livi is the founding father of the Custom Straight Razor in modern times and his work not only brought his beautiful razors into our world but has inspired so many people to start making custom razors. The elegance, beauty and quality of his razors remain an inspiration to us all.

Have fun.

Thank you very much indeed Lynn for your comment.
I too agree Mastro Livi is the father of custom Straight Razor but I would also add he simply is the greatest of them all, the greatest artist in the world for this art, not only in making masterpieces of truly fine art, but also for his knowledge about steel, forging, shaving and everything concerning straight razors and knives, honing and stropping.
To me Mastro Livi razors are a work of elegance, beauty, noble art and craftsmanship. If we add to this the remarkable person he is, I guess we could say his fame and skill are not things happened by chance. He worked very hard in order to become what he is today, although he has been like that since tens of years. I do live in the very same city - and I love this city immensely - and I can tell the fame and reputation of Mastro Livi was incredibly high since I was a kid. Everyone in my city knew the best knives were Mastro Livi's and he simply was the best you could get for honing knives, scissors, razors and any cutting tool. Everyone of us knew a Mastro Livi knife was a long living and super efficient tool. He simply was the best and still is. And the same can be said for his son Luca who is very talented in this job and makes beautiful knives.
I sincerely wish you will come to Perugia again and meet Mastro Livi again. I understand you would enjoy this tremendously and I am absolutely sure Mastro Livi too would enjoy that as much as you would. That day, which I know will come sooner or later, it would be nice to be there with you: I am sure it will be an unforgettable day.

All the very best to you and long live the Straight Razor!
Last but not the least, my very personal thanks for all of your passion and everything you did and do in keeping alive the noble art and culture expressed through a Straight Razor.

Originally Posted by sheajohnw

Thank you for sharing this wonderful experience. I would like to own one of his razors someday. Can you share with us his advise on how to keep a keen edge? The equipment to use and how to use it? Thanks again.

I am scrupulously following his advices in keeping a keen edge on his razor. The razor Mastro Livi made for me has a Damasteel blade - that is a stainless damascus - this making the blade and edge very strong, hard, durable and efficient. Mastro Livi told me in case this razor is kept by a proper stropping, it will take quite a long time and many shavings (also depending on your whiskers) before it will need to be honed again.
Mastro Livi suggested me to strop this razor with a loom strop and as soon as I realize the razor is losing its edge (that is, when it starts pulling) I should strop it by using Mastro Livi's chromium oxide paste, which I can tell to be of truly high quality, both the paste and stick.
Mastro Livi stressed quite a lot the concept of good stropping as it makes a big difference in a razor's life. In his opinion (and I absolutely believe this) a bad stropping technique will damage the razor's edge, by making it convex, and therefore your razor will need to be honed frequently.

Originally Posted by nessmuck

I have to ask......did you have a cigarette after the shave ....

No, I did not have a cigarette because I don't smoke, but I guess this is what a smoker would do!

Iam having a razorgasm right now ...

Originally Posted by nessmuck

Iam having a razorgasm right now ...

I had quite a lot lately.