Yeah, I’ll talk about the big bag in that picture up there in a second. But let’s talk about the star of the week’s shaves first.
Last year, Personna announced that they’d be replacing a much loved blade in their brand with another blade. And, they announced that this new blade would carry the Gem brand, a legacy shaving brand in the US that was known primarily for single-edge blades and razors with a wedge-shaped head.
Reactions were mixed–people loved the Personna Comfort Coated blades, but they were also excited to have a Gem branded double-edge blade available.
Yes, there is drama in the world of wetshaving.
I’ve had their Personna Red blades for a while and generally like them–they’re aggressive, but mostly comfortable, especially in a mild razor. I picked up some Personna Platinum blades a while back, but haven’t tried them yet. In all, I’ve shaved 4 times with the Personna reds, and something about them early on made me restock those.
But let’s get back to the Personna Gem Platinum Diamond Glide blades. These were an instant hit among shavers, and people have been using and posting them a lot. So I bought 20 of the blades (they’re sold in boxes of 100, so some retailers sell them loose). And this week I’ll put them to work. They’re reported to be aggressive but smooth, similar to a Feather, but more comfortable. Pairing them with the Henson mild this week feels like the best move.
Now, let’s talk about that big bag there in the front of this week’s shave gear. I recently went down the rabbit hole of beard care and some of the less common Proraso shave products. In the process, I found a line of Azur Lime fragranced items–mostly beard oil, wash and balm, but also on their website, there was an Azur Lime post shave balm. I found some of the beard oil and balm at a local salon recently and mostly like it (okay, I like the oil, I’m a little less in like with the balm). And I do like the fragrance. It’s light, summery, and that hint of lime is always pleasant.
The availability of a post shave balm interests me. But that begged the question: is there a shaving cream and pre-shave?
The short story is that Proraso for a while had these larger bags of some of their “professional” shaving creams in the Refreshing fragrance, Azur Lime, Cypress & Vetiver, and Wood & Spice. But some of the shaving creams have been discontinued, including the Azur Lime, so finding the bags can be challenging. After some searching, I tracked some down on eBay. I’m excited to see how it stacks up to the other creams from Proraso.
There are two other new items joining the party this week: first is the Pre de Provence No. 63 aftershave balm to compliment the soap. I really liked the soap and think the fragrance is pretty nice, so wanted to give the aftershave a try as well.
I’m also giving the first go to Duke Cannon Ice Cold Aftershave balm, a store-bought aftershave from one of those brands that is fully leaning into and embracing the masculine motif. I expect lots of menthol action there, so I’ve paired it with the unscented Cooper & French soap, which I haven’t used in far too long.
So there’s the week’s shaves. The first of a multi-week plan to get some new blades in while still rotating through my razors. Let’s see how things turned out!
The Ratings
Sunday’s Shave, #279. The Proraso Sunday Azur Lime/Gem shave.
The setup:
- Razor: Henson AL-13+ mild
- Blade: Personna Gem Platinum Diamond Glide
- Pre-Shave: Proraso Sensitive pre-shave cream (white)
- Brush: Proraso boar shaving brush
- Soap/Cream/Gel: Proraso Azur Lime shaving cream
- Alum Block: Stirling Soap Co. Alum
- After Shave: Proraso Sensitive after shave balm (white)
- Stats:
- 58th shave with the Henson mild
- 1st shave with the Personna Gem blade
- 1st shave with the Proraso Azur Lime lather
- 47th lather used (14 remaining to try)
- 26th blade used (17 remaining to try)
- 29th shave with an overall rating of 24 (13.6% of all logged shaves)
- 30th almost perfect shave with the Henson mild
- 9th shave with an overall rating of 24 with the Henson mild
I’ve been debating since finishing the shave if this becomes the first perfect shave. And I’m really close to doing it. I’m still thinking about this rating.
Everything I’ve read and heard about this blade seems to be true: it’s very sharp, but not uncomfortable. Most call it smooth, and I’d agree–it was a smooth shave, but still had a lot of blade feel and blade noise with no discomfort.
By the time I’d finished the second pass, I could have stopped, but decided to do the third (my pattern is ATG, WTG, XTG), and this produced a wonderful result even on the trouble spots of my neck, leaving only a couple of small spots of stubble that have since laid down or been otherwise dealt with by the balm.
There was no sting with the alum, and the efficiency of the shave was amazing, even with the Henson mild. I am floored and thrilled to have had such an amazing shave.
The Proraso Azur Lime shaving cream is very thick–much thicker than their consumer grade creams, to the point where I needed to press it into the bowl to get it to lather well and not just float around with the brush. But ultimately, it lathered wonderfully to a rich, thick, pleasantly lightly scented foam that lubricated and moisturized through the whole shave.
I am really looking forward to the other shaves this week!
Comfort: 25 of 25
Quality/Closeness: 24 of 25
Overall: 24 of 25
Tuesday’s Shave, #280. The Pre de Provence shave.
The setup:
- Razor: Henson AL-13+ mild
- Blade: Personna Gem Platinum Diamond Glide
- Pre-Shave: Proraso Sensitive pre-shave cream (white)
- Brush: Yaqi Rainbow synthetic
- Soap/Cream/Gel: Pre de Provence No. 63 shaving soap
- Alum Block: Stirling Soap Co. Alum
- After Shave: Pre de Provence No. 63 aftershave balm
- Stats:
- 22nd aftershave used (1 left to try)
- 20th blade used with the Henson mild
- 2nd shave with the Pre de Provence lather (look for the rating on the Lather Ratings page)
- 1st shave with the Pre de Provence No. 63 aftershave balm
- 96th almost perfect shave (overall rating of 23 or 24)
- 30th shave with an overall rating of 24 (14.0% of all logged shaves)
So yes, this combination is exquisite. Close, very comfortable, efficient, and enjoyable. The blade noticeably feels a little less sharp than Sunday, indicating it quickly loses its edge, but that didn’t seem to detract from the overall shave.
I didn’t put the comfort rating at the same level as Sunday’s shave because there was just a little more irritation with the alum. It didn’t last long, but following a shave with no irritation, I needed to acknowledge the difference.
As noted above, this was the first shave with the Pre de Provence No. 63 aftershave balm and the 2nd with the lather. And while you can check out the rating on the Lather Ratings page, I’ll note here that neither are super exciting, but they’re pleasant and do their jobs well. The soap lathers efficiently and carries with it a light and enjoyable fragrance. It isn’t super slick or extremely rich feeling, but it’s thick and slick enough. And the balm is more lotion like, but not thick, so it seems to absorb quickly. It has a stronger fragrance initially, but that has faded quickly to a pleasant floral and green plant scent.
Again, overall a great shave. The Gem seems to work extremely well for me in the Henson mild, and I’m excited to try it in some other razors in the coming months.
Comfort: 24 out of 25
Quality/Closeness: 24 out of 25
Overall: 24 out of 25
Thursday’s Shave, #281. The 60th Henson Mild shave.
The setup:
- Razor: Henson AL-13+ mild
- Blade: Personna Gem Platinum Diamond Glide
- Pre-Shave: Razor Emporium Menthol pre-shave soap stick
- Brush: Razor Emporium badger brush
- Soap/Cream/Gel: Cooper & French Unscented shaving soap
- Alum Block: Stirling Soap Co. Alum
- After Shave: Duke Cannon Ice Cold aftershave balm
- Stats:
- 3rd shave with the Personna Gem blades
- 60th shave with the Henson mild
- Only the 3rd blade to have its first 3 shaves with an overall rating of 24 (Astra blue, Wizamet Iridium were first and second)
- 97th almost perfect shave
- 31st shave with an overall rating of 24 (14.4% of all logged shaves)
- 11th shave with the Henson mild with an overall rating of 24
- 32nd almost perfect shave with the Henson mild
First, the takeaways from the week: the Personna Gem is an outstanding blade. It still felt sharp, despite my feelings from Tuesday. And yes, I will be planning some shaves with it in my other milder razors coming up in the Summer. But for now, I’m putting it away because there are other things to try.
Today’s shave was another wonderful one. It was close with minimal effort (though I did need one extra pass for closeness in the trouble spots on the corners of my throat), and again, very comfortable, with only mild, brief sting from the alum.
Now that the grittiness has gone away from the Razor Emporium menthol pre-shave, I’m really liking it. It works just as well as its unscented sibling, and I really like the stick form for using it.
The Cooper & French lather was great again today, and lathered wonderfully with the Razor Emporium badger brush. The brush still loses some bristles, but not nearly as many or as quickly as it had been, so I’m happy with it again.
Finally, the new kid on the block for this week–the Duke Cannon Ice Cold aftershave balm–worked well. There is some strong initial menthol cooling, and it doesn’t have much of a scent, but I think I’ll have to use more than I think I need to get the moisturization that my skin needs after a shave. We’ll see how it goes with future shaves, but it certainly isn’t bad.
Big win for the week with the Gem blade! Next week, we try the Mühle with it’s blade to see if it’s a good combo, or if that blade is another disappointment.
Comfort: 24 out of 25
Quality/Closeness: 24 out of 25
Overall: 24 out of 25