The Goodfellas’ Smile Syntesi razor. It came into my world by accident–thrown into a box with some other ordered items. I contacted the business and they said they didn’t want it back, so I was randomly gifted a $65 or $70 razor.
The Syntesi, while being a mostly mild razor, has kind of baffled me since I got it. This one is aluminum, and while there is a model that is made from stainless steel. Why is this important? Because this aluminum razor is extremely light (34g, the lightest in the collection), it’s got a very short handle, and the base plate (that black part) feels very flimsy under a blade.
So you’d think the shaves with it have been bad, right? Surprisingly, no. They’ve generally been good, with the Astra blue and green blades, and the Gillette Silver Blue. It’s performed like a mild-medium razor, performing better for me with milder blades. But all of those shaves just feel…flimsy? Just unsatisfying and like the razor is cheaper than it is. And I don’t enjoy that.
So as I’m starting to seriously think about weeding out a couple of razors, this week is meant to think about the Syntesi and decide if it stays. And even if it does, I don’t have it back in the shaving rotation again until at least February 2027 (that’s about six months).
I could just leave it in the collection, but relegate it to once-in-a-while use, along with the King C Gillette, the Parker 55-SL Semi-Slant, and, to a certain point, the Merkur Progress 500. Though I’m still figuring that one out.
I’m giving the syntesi a fair shot, not trying to intentionally tank its shaves. I’ve paired it with the Gillette 7 O’Clock Super Stainless green blade, a solid performer that hasn’t led me astray.
Sunday is a Proraso green Sunday shave–a nice cooling and refreshing combo. Tuesday introduces a new lather, the Omega Eucalyptus Shaving Cream, paired with menthol pre-shave and aftershaves. And another new lather, the Chiseled Face Cryogen soap comes out to play on Thursday, paired with the Proraso blue pre-shave (which has a nice menthol feel), and the Nivea cooling post shave.
The synthetics come out to play again this week from the brush side, so there should be some good lather to shave with.
I’m looking forward to the week’s shaves because there’s been some careful thought and consideration that has gone into these, and I really want to feel more enthusiastic about the Syntesi. So let’s get into it.
The Ratings
Sunday’s Shave #343 The Proraso Green Syntesi Sunday Shave.
The setup:
| RAZOR | Goodfellas’ Smile Syntesi aluminum |
| BLADE | Gillette 7 O’Clock Super Stainless (green) |
| PRE-SHAVE | Proraso Refreshing pre-shave cream (green) |
| BRUSH | Omega S10049 synthetic |
| LATHER | Proraso Refreshing shaving soap (green) |
| AFTER SHAVE | Proraso Refreshing Aftershave Balm (green) |
| STATS | 8th shave with the Syntesi 16th shave with the Gillette 7 O’Clock green 1st shave with the 7 O’Clock in the Syntesi 9th shave with the Omega S10049 brush 6th shave with the Proraso green soap combo 17th shave with the Proraso green line |
| RANKING | 41st shave with an overall score of 22 (14.7%) |
Just over a week in to the new rating scheme and I’m really glad I’ve got it, because this shave really benefitted from it.
Objectively, this was a great shave. It was close and mostly comfortable. But there’s something about the Syntesi that makes the shaves feel rough against the skin. It doesn’t glide the way I’d like, and I have plenty of experience with the 7 O’Clock green blade to know it works very smoothly. I also know that the Proraso combo works very well for me, so I’m also dismissing that. So that only leaves the Syntesi and brings my satisfaction with the shave down one point to a 4. That dropped the overall score to 22 of 25.
This in no way means that it was a bad shave. This was a shave that I’d come back to, but it wasn’t a favorite. I’m less inclined to want to get rid of the Syntesi, but also still not inclined to promote it to the regular lineup.
All-in-all, this was a quality shave that I should be happy with, but I’m not thrilled with it. And the rating feels right.
Comfort: 9 of 10 | Quality/Closeness: 9 of 10 | Satisfaction: 4 of 5 | Overall: 22 of 25
Tuesday’s Shave, #344 The First Syntesi Cooling Shave
The setup:
| RAZOR | Goodfellas’ Smile Syntesi aluminum |
| BLADE | Gillette 7 O’Clock Super Stainless (green) |
| PRE-SHAVE | Razor Emporium Menthol Pre-Shave |
| BRUSH | Simpson Trafalgar T2 synthetic |
| LATHER | Omega Eucalyptus shaving cream |
| AFTER SHAVE | Duke Cannon Ice Cold aftershave balm |
| STATS | 1st shave with the Omega lather 3rd shave with the Simpson brush 10th shave with the Razor Emporium pre-shave 4th shave with the Duke Cannon balm |
| RANKING | 153rd almost perfect shave 92nd shave with a rating of 23 (33.0%) |
Nope. The Syntesi still doesn’t glide smoothly. Regardless of the other equipment in the shave, it just kind of drags across the skin. I don’t know that it actually impacts the quality of the shave, but I can feel that dragging and it just gets a little annoying by the end of the shave.
Overall, this was another great shave, with the exception of that dragging feel on the skin. Admittedly, it fades quickly, but it does detract from the overall satisfaction of the shave, so that’s where that number comes from.
The Omega lather was interesting: as a cream, I expected it to lather quickly, and it did, but it made a huge amount of lather. It felt a touch dry or less rich, with a few little foam drops flying out of the bowl during the lathering. But the pre-shave helped, and the Duke Cannon balm definitely helped soothe things afterward. Why don’t I use that more often? Note to self…
Comfort: 10 of 10 | Quality/Closeness: 9 of 10 | Satisfaction: 4 of 5 | Overall: 23 of 25
Thursday’s Shave, #345 The Second Syntesi Cooling Shave.
The setup:
| RAZOR | Goodfellas’ Smile Syntesi aluminum |
| BLADE | Gillette 7 O’Clock Super Stainless (green) |
| PRE-SHAVE | Proraso Protective pre-shave cream (blue) |
| BRUSH | Yaqi R2002-S Lucky Dice synthetic |
| LATHER | Chiseled Face Cryogen shaving soap |
| AFTER SHAVE | Nivea Sensitive Cool Post Shave Balm |
| STATS | 1st shave with the Chiseled Face Cryogen 6th shave with the Yaqi Lucky Dice 27th shave with the Proraso blue pre-shave 5th shave with the Nivea Cooling balm |
| RANKING | 154th almost perfect shave 2nd consecutive almost perfect shave 62nd shave with a rating of 24 (22.1%) |
Let me clarify something first and then address the big question. This wasn’t just my first shave with Chiseled Face Cryogen, it was my first shave with any Chiseled Face lather.
Chiseled Face Groomatorium is a classic home-based soap maker, which is surprisingly common in this field. On their website, they offer a collection of 10 samples of their most popular scents, and I picked that up a while back. This is the first in line.
To the big question for the week, though, yes, I’m going to keep the Syntesi. Though it won’t be among the favorites in rotation, it will show up 2-4 times a year. This shave in particular proved that it’s a capable razor–the razor/blade combo was wonderfully efficient. And the slickness in today’s software provided a much smoother feel with less dragging.
This shave was very close to being a perfect shave, and to be honest, it’s probably one of the best yet. There was no irritation thanks to the slickness and efficiency, with just a couple of very small spots of stubble spoiling an otherwise outstanding shave.
Next week: an Italian shave…of some sort. I’m still tweaking the details.
Comfort: 10 of 10 | Quality/Closeness: 9 of 10 | Satisfaction: 5 of 5 | Overall: 24 of 25
