It’s week two of the four weeks of Lord blades, and this week, after a week of an uncoated blade that felt rough, I’m back with the Lord Platinum, a blade that obviously is coated with platinum.
As a reminder, I’m pairing the blades with the Rockwell 6C plate 2, Henson mild, and Mühle R89. And while I’m looking forward to this week’s shaves with what is hopefully a better blade, I’m also looking forward to the software.
I’m really excited about the lathers this week. I open it up with the Old Spice Original cream, which really surprised me in its first use with an outstanding thick, rich lather.
Then I take on Razorock’s Mudder Focker soap, a soap best known for its hand-drawn label art, but that I found a little underwhelming in its first go back in July because the lather was a little thin. I’ll go into Tuesday’s shave with that in mind as I hope to find the lathering sweet spot with it.
Then I close out the week with Tcheon Fung Sing Crem Purissima. Outside of having just a quintessential red tub with a red label, it smells great and makes a wonderful lather.
All three of these lathers are on for their second try, so I’ll be issuing ratings for all of them over on the Lather Ratings page.
And I’m even excited for the Yaqi & Parker brushes that will be in the mix for this week. The synthetics in the collection are really quickly becoming favorites because they’re just so pleasant to use. And I’m leaning into their animal friendliness as well. I have no plans to add any future animal hair brushes in the future.
The bottom line is that I’m just really looking forward to these shaves. They should be good ones with a new blade. So stay tuned for the reviews!
The Ratings
Sunday’s Shave, #331. The Old School Old Spice & Barbasol Sunday Shave.
The setup:
- Razor: Rockwell 6C plate 2
- Blade: Lord Platinum
- Pre-Shave: Cella Pre-Shave Gel (red)
- Brush: Yaqi R2002-S Lucky Dice Synthetic
- Lather: Old Spice Original Lather shaving cream
- Alum Block: Osma alum block
- After Shave: Barbasol 1919 after shave balm
- Stats:
- The Rockwell plate 2 comes into the shave with an average overall rating of 22.55 in 20 shaves
- 1st shave with the Lord Platinum blade
- 16th blade used with the Rockwell’s plate 2, 20th blade used with all Rockwell plates
- 2nd shave with the Old Spice Original shaving cream
- 4th shave with the Yaqi R2002-S Lucky Dice synthetic brush
- 7th shave with the Cella red pre-shave
- 27th shave with the Barbasol 1919 balm
- 144th almost perfect shave
- 11th consecutive almost perfect shave
- 89th shave with an overall rating of 23 (33.5% of all logged shaves)
Let me start by saying that my expectations were confirmed: that this coated blade was far and away better than the uncoated Lord Classic used last week. The whole shave was smoother, more comfortable, and just generally more pleasant. And paired with the Rockwell plate 2, it made for an outstanding shave that was wonderfully comfortable.
It should be noted that I accidentally left more water in the brush when I went to lather, which led to a thinner lather (which I did augment a bit with more cream), but it still came out thinner than I’d like. And yet, combined with the Cella pre-shave, I had a wonderfully slick base for the shave. Everything just glided so nicely.
I did need some extra strokes to the shave, but stopped short to avoid any irritation–though I think I could have made another pass without a problem. But the result is not quite as smooth and shave result as I’d like–there is some stubble in the usual spots.
So, as expected, this was a much better shave–at least much more enjoyable. And based on this first shave of the week, I’d reach for the Lord Platinum before the Classic.
Comfort: 24 of 25
Quality/Closeness: 22 of 25
Overall: 23 of 25
Tuesday’s Shave, #332 The Mudder Focker Shave.
The setup:
- Razor: Henson Medium AL-13+ mild
- Blade: Lord Platinum
- Pre-Shave: Taylor of Old Bond Street Jermyn Street pre-shave gel
- Brush: Parker Blue Storm synthetic
- Lather: Razorock Mudder Focker shaving soap
- Alum Block: Osma alum block
- After Shave: Dollar Shave Club Post Shave cream
- Stats:
- The Henson Mild razor comes into the shave with an average overall rating of 22.14 in 67 shaves
- 23rd blade used with the Henson mild
- 2nd shave with the Mudder Focker lather
- 7th shave with the Parker Blue Storm synthetic brush
- 145th almost perfect shave
- 12th consecutive almost perfect shave
- 90th shave with an overall score of 23 (33.7% of all logged shaves)
Another shave that was comparatively better than last week’s shaves with the uncoated Lord Classic blade. But the Platinum doesn’t seem to be efficient either. It took some effort to get the closeness I want, and I think that effort led to a touch of irritation.
But, all of that being said, it was still a great shave. The TOBS pre-shave isn’t as slick as some gel pre-shaves. But the Razorock Mudder Focker made some outstanding lather that was rich and thick.
Overall, a great, satisfying shave, but not as good as I know I’m capable of having.
Comfort: 24 out of 25
Quality/Closeness: 23 out of 25
Overall: 23 out of 25
Thursday’s Shave, #333 The TFS Red Shave.
The setup:
- Razor: Mühle R89
- Blade: Lord Platinum
- Pre-Shave: Razor Emporium Unscented pre-shave
- Brush: Yaqi Rainbow synthetic
- Lather: Tcheon Fung Sing Crema Purissima shaving soap
- Alum Block: Osma alum block
- After Shave: Harry’s Post Shave balm
- Stats:
- The Mühle has an average overall rating coming into the shave of 23.73 in 15 shaves
- 7th blade used with the R89
- 2nd shave with the TFS lather
- 21st shave with the Yaqi Rainbow synthetic brush
- 6th shave with Harry’s post shave balm
- 146th almost perfect shave
- 13th consecutive almost perfect shave
- 56th shave with an overall rating of 24 (20.9% of all logged shaves)
This shave was easily the best of the week–comfortable and very close without needing the extra effort of the previous shaves. It was smooth and pleasant and enjoyable. So yes, I’d come back to this combo.
Of the three razors I’m using each week for these comparisons, the Mühle seems to be the most aggressive (or the least mild, depending on your point of view). And that contributed to a lot of blade noise and feel both with the Platinum blade this week and with the Classic last week.
The second use of the TFS lather was outstanding, as expected. It’s rich and thick, wonderfully protective and slick, and has a very pleasant sweet almond fragrance. This is one of the best in the collection.
So, how does the Lord Platinum compare to the Lord Classic? Substantially better. Whether it’s the coating or the edge or whatever, the Platinum just delivered an overall better experience–smoother feel, more comfortable shaves, and just more satisfying. All of that said, though, it’s pretty clear that these Lord blades are milder than a lot of blades, and noticeably so.
Next week, the last coated blade of the four: the Lord Super Chrome.
Comfort: 24 out of 25
Quality/Closeness: 24 out of 25
Overall: 24 out of 25