Time to pull the King C Gillette razor back out to play. Sometimes I feel bad that it’s fallen to the third place position in the stable, but then I use the Henson or the Rockwell and that choice is confirmed. Don’t tell the KCG this, but I’ve just ordered a new razor to get it before tariffs effect the price, so it may just fall to fourth place. Editor’s Note: the new razor (a Henson AL-13 medium) arrived on Tuesday and will be pressed into service next week, so the KCG has already fallen to a presumptive fourth place.
As I’ve mentioned before, the KCG is, in my experience, a moderately aggressive razor, so sometimes, depending on the blade and setup, it can get a bit uncomfortable. But one other thing that I’ve realized I don’t like about it is that it’s comb, while closed or at least fluted, has very pointy corners that sometimes just kind of scrape along my skin, or poke my neck, and I don’t enjoy that.
The Dorco Platinum HQ Red blade lands in that collection of blades I’ve tried and fallen in love with lately that are medium aggressive: the Bic Chrome Platinum, and Shark Super Stainless (all of which I also have stocked up on–see the recent Mail Call post). And I’ve tried it with both the Henson mild and the Rockwell (and even the Parker), so it was time to introduce it to the KCG.
I’ve found these medium aggressive blades to be generally pleasant–not to harsh, but providing a close shave.
Part of these weeks is to experiment and see how a combination works, and a great result is just a bonus. I go into them with some thought of how the shave should feel, and I fully expected some more good shaves. The only variable to the week is the non-blade software. Sunday’s shave was outstanding–comfortable, close, and very satisfying. Tuesday’s was comparatively worse: harsher feeling, but still close. Thursday’s shave was back to the almost perfect rating, making for a very happy end to the shaving week.
This week solidified my love for the Dorco blades, as I’ve had 5 almost perfect shaves with it, and all of the shaves with it ranking among the best shaves I’ve had. I’ve decided I’ll be coming back to it to try out two other setups: one with the Rockwell 6C plates 4, 5 and 6–just to see how it handles with a more aggressive razor–, and the other with my new Henson medium. Those won’t happen until mid-October, but I’ll probably expect great things, as the KCG is a medium aggressive razor.
The bottom line from this: I really like the Dorco blade, and will be able to use it in just about all of my razors with great results (though it wasn’t great in the Parker…alas.). I’m glad that I decided to load up on it, because it clearly will be a blade I will come back to in the future.
The Ratings
Sunday’s Shave, #174. The Proraso White Sunday.
The setup:
- Razor: King C Gillette
- Blade: Dorco Platinum HQ Red
- Pre-Shave: Proraso White Sensitive
- Brush: Proraso boar brush
- Soap/Cream/Gel: Proraso White Sensitive Shaving Soap
- Alum Block: Stirling Soap Co. Alum
- After Shave: Proraso White Sensitive Aftershave Balm
When a shave just goes well and is a pleasant, happy experience, that becomes one that you’ll remember. And after a week of three great shaves and two almost perfect shaves, it was a joy to have another almost perfect shave today.
Everything just went well: the soap lathered extremely well (I am really happy with how lathering has been working since I’ve been loading the brush with soap or creme and lathering in the bamboo bowl), the shave was very comfortable and glided well, and applying the alum turned up no sting at all.
The only thing holding this shave back from being perfect is just a little bit of stubble in a few spots on my neck, and I am getting smarter about not overdoing the passes to get those fully knocked down. But there’s so little stubble that I can feel that is really is about as perfect as I’ve achieved.
One thing the KCG does do very well is just glides across my skin. Its weight is almost perfect, and so I just need to guide it and it does its job very well without a lot of pressure. There was a bit of blade feel with this shave, but it wasn’t a bad or aggressive feeling.
Comfort: 5 out of 5
Quality/Closeness: 4.750 out of 5
Overall: 4.875 out of 5
Tuesday’s Shave, #175. The Carden Farms Shaving Soap shave.
The setup:
- Razor: King C Gillette
- Blade: Dorco Platinum HQ Red
- Pre-Shave: Razor Emporium Unscented Pre-Shave
- Brush: Razor Emporium Badger Shaving Brush
- Soap/Cream/Gel: Carden Farms Clear & Clean Shaving Soap Stick
- Alum Block: Stirling Soap Co. Alum
- After Shave: Barbasol 1919 After Shave Balm
The Carden Farms shaving soap stick was something I picked up at the MN State Fair a few weeks ago. They’re a, well, farm in North Carolina that makes and sells a whole line of bath, body, shaving and hair oils, balms, creams, soaps, etc. They sell primarily on Etsy, but I found them in a booth in the dairy building at the fair, and as I like to support small businesses, I was happy to try out a couple of their products (this soap and a beard oil, which you can read about in an upcoming post).
Being the first time with the soap, I found that it lathers well, but didn’t seem to provide the lubrication and cushioning I like from a shave soap or cream. That could just be a problem being the first time out, or it could be indicative of it having a vegetable glycerin base. I’ll keep working at it to see if that is indeed its profile or if I can do better, but my experience with the two glycerin based soaps I have is that they lather well but don’t necessarily provide good lubrication and cushioning (the other soap is the Imperial Barber Products Field Shave Soap).
Probably because of the lather, this shave had a bit more aggressiveness: more blade feel, more sting with the alum block, and just a stronger post-shave feeling of a shave. But there weren’t any nicks or bleeding, and the shave was very close, though a couple of very light spots of stubble are apparent and I used just a couple more extra passes over the standard, so minimal effort again.
I would come back to this shave, but only AFTER coming back to Sunday’s combo. But the closeness with fewer passes tells me this setup, or a setup with the Dorco and a slightly more aggressive razor is a way to go.
Comfort: 4.750 out of 5
Quality/Closeness: 4.750 out of 5
Overall: 4.750 out of 5
Thursday’s Shave, #176. The Cella sample shave.
The setup:
- Razor: King C Gillette
- Blade: Dorco Platinum HQ Red
- Pre-Shave: Razor Emporium Unscented pre-shave
- Brush: Omega 10019 Boar shaving brush
- Soap/Cream/Gel: Cella Aloe Vera Shaving Cream
- Alum Block: Stirling Soap Co. Alum
- After Shave: Dollar Shave Club Post Shave Cream
I was excited about this shave going into it because I’ve only used the Cella shaving cream (they call it a cream, but it is hard like a soap, though they do also sell a cream in a tube in addition to the soap in a tub, but anyway…). I looked forward to getting a better chance to evaluate it.
This shave did not disappoint in any way. I’m calling it another almost perfect shave, better than Tuesday’s shave and perhaps confirming my theory that a glycerin based shave may not offer the lubricity and comfort that I want in my shave. The Cella lathered well in my bamboo bowl, especially after I pressed the small scooped piece from the sample container into the bottom of the bowl. I don’t use it as much as I should, but I really do like the Omega 10019 boar brush.
The shave had ample slickness, which kept things comfortable, even for the single extra pass I made. It was very close and comfortable, with only some light scattered stinging with the alum block on my neck. Finishing with the Dollar Shave Club aftershave, my face feels nice and smooth, comfortable, and moisturized–something that makes me very happy with a shave.
Comfort: 5.000 out of 5
Quality/Closeness: 4.750 out of 5
Overall: 4.875 out of 5
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