I only ordered this for the shaving bowl - with the soap, blades, brush and styptic matches as a bonus. I already decided the dreadful unbranded "Lord" razor was off to landfill/recycling
On arrival (48hrs after ordering) I decided to try the razor.
It feels lightweight due to the aluminium handle is head heavy and does not have the premium feel of other razors you may already have (I have 6 so I can compare).
Oh dear - this is going to shave like a blunt bread knife . . . .
Nope! I used Proraso shave cream and a boar brush to lather up (I always soak the brush for 5 mins before hand and it becomes sooooo soft)and I put an Amazon unbranded blade into the razor.
Now these blades, while unbranded in every possible way, used to come with nothing to indicate point of origin, but my last order just a few day ago had a piece of card stating "Made in Germany". I put a review on Amazon ages ago saying there was no difference between these blades and a particular German branded blade so it seems I may have been right. Just saying.
The Lord razor was carefully given a "with the grain" shave and I was pleasantly surprised. It works OK - just OK though - nothing special but not so bad it needed to be recycled.
I then continued the shave ending up making a 3 pass WTG - XTG and ATG and I managed a pretty good close shave - totally against my expectations. It left my skin with a tiny-weeny bit of burn but some post shave balm banished that in short order.
The handle is well etched and gives a really good grip so no chance of wet/soapy slippage there.
This razor has now been placed into my travel bag - its a keeper.
Its not in the same bracket as some of my other razors but that was not to be expected. What WAS unexpected was how good it actually is. A good 7/10 and perfect for travel.
I've not tested out the shave bowl or the brush but to be honest the unexpected nature of the razor diverted my attention. I do not expect the bowl and brush to be a bad buy. If it is - I will update this review or add a separate one to say so.
If this is a combination you buy as your first venture into DE shaving then its an absolute winner because it has everything you need to get you going and you may never need to feel the urge to buy
Other Razors
More Brushes
Different Soaps
A variety of Blades
Post shave Balm
And so on . . . .but like most DE shavers you probably will :-)
For £8.99 this is a great purchase delivered so swiftly - and packed up in a nice box with bubble wrap - by LaBarbiera. Well done.
