My Henson AL-13 ++ medium razor is black. The Gillette 7 O’Clock Super Platinum blade comes in a black tuck and is known as a 6 O’Clock Black blade. So this week will feature black shaves.
Cute naming aside, I’m looking forward to this week, for a few reasons. First, I want to see how the 7 O’Clock black blade works with the Henson medium. It did very well with the Rockwell 6C with plates that are close to the medium’s aggressiveness, so I’m thinking this should be another good week of shaves. Second, I do find myself looking past this week to revisiting the 7 O’Clock yellow blades starting next week, and that excites me in a stupid kind of way.
As mentioned in the last SOTD post, I’ve decided that this blade is the most aggressive of the bunch, slightly more aggressive than the green variant, and far more aggressive than the yellow. Though who knows, I could be proven completely wrong starting next week when it comes to the yellow. A more aggressive blade should benefit more mild razors and not the medium, but with the Rockwell, anyway, the medium range seemed to be the sweet spot for quality and comfort.
So enough jabbering, and let’s get to the shaves.
The Ratings
Sunday’s Shave, #208. The Proraso green Gillette & Henson black Sunday Shave.
The setup:
- Razor: Henson AL-13 ++ medium
- Blade: Gillette 7 O’Clock Super Platinum (black)
- Pre-Shave: Proraso Refreshing pre-shave cream (green)
- Brush: Proraso boar shaving brush
- Soap/Cream/Gel: Proraso Refreshing shave cream (green)
- Alum Block: Stirling Soap Co. Alum
- After Shave: Proraso Refreshing aftershave balm (green)
As mentioned above, after the successes with the Rockwell, I expected good things. The Henson medium is efficient, but also does bring more blade feel to the party. So I expected good shaves, but was also prepared for some disappointment if necessary.
Today’s shave was not a disappointment. In fact, it was almost perfect. It was very comfortable, with almost no irritation or sting, which was provided by the great slickness and cool menthol feel of the Proraso Sunday pre-shave and lather. Followed up by the balm, my skin is soft, moisturized, and comfortable.
There is just a touch of stubble left in one spot on my neck, but I resisted temptation to keep going at it, and I’m glad I did because it isn’t distracting or unpleasant, and the comfort of the shave more than makes up for a few hairs left behind.
All-in-all, an excellent Sunday shave and great start to the shave week.
Comfort: 24 of 25
Quality/Closeness: 23 of 25
Overall: 23 of 25
Tuesday’s Shave, #209. The Carden Farms black shave.
The setup:
- Razor: Henson AL-13 ++ medium
- Blade: Gillette 7 O’Clock Super Platinum black
- Pre-Shave: Razor Emporium Unscented pre-shave shaving stick
- Brush: Razor Emporium badger shaving brush
- Soap/Cream/Gel: Carden Farms Clear & Clean shaving soap stick
- Alum Block: Stirling Soap Co. Alum
- After Shave: Dollar Shave Club Post Shave Cream
This shave was the cautionary tale about the importance of lather for slickness and protection.
First off, I decided to go back to the Razor Emporium badger brush, which I’d sidelined a while back because it was losing bristles at a huge rate, and I found that annoying (and unpleasant to shave with). I’d hoped that some time of just sitting dry would have helped it recover a bit, but no, it still lost a lot of bristles this morning.
Second, the Carden Farms lather, like the Imperial Barber Products field shave soap, are glycerin-based, and just lacks the slickness that I really like in my shave lather. It lathered well, making a good thick lather, but it just did not have the slickness that I expect.
The combination, along with the more aggressive Henson medium setup, meant that there was a good bit of blade feel, which made me limit the extra strokes, which meant the shave ultimately isn’t as good as it could have been. Now, let me be clear, it wasn’t a bad shave at all, but, especially with the new rating scale, it wasn’t close to being an almost perfect shave.
There was some sting with the alum that lasted for maybe 30-45 seconds, and the Dollar Shave Club post shave cream helped ease things even more, so really, this is a shave that I’d ordinarily recommend and come back to, but when compared to others with better results, I know I don’t need to settle–I know what the razor and blade are capable of, and this result seems to fall squarely on the lather and brush.
Comfort: 21 out of 25
Quality/Closeness: 21 out of 25
Overall: 21 out of 25
Thursday’s Shave, #210. The Italian black shave.
The setup:
- Razor: Henson AL-13 ++ medium
- Blade: Gillette 7 O’Clock Super Platinum (black)
- Pre-Shave: Proraso Sensitive pre-shave cream (white)
- Brush: Omega 10019 boar brush
- Soap/Cream/Gel: Cella Aloe Vera shaving cream (green)
- Alum Block: Stirling Soap Co. Alum
- After Shave: Zingari Man Artisan Aftershave Sego Balm
Let me make this clear from the top, because you, dear reader, wouldn’t know I changed something in this shave unless I told you. I swapped out the pre-shave in today’s shave. I just haven’t been happy with the Edwin Jagger pre-shave, so I decided as I was getting the products out of the bins to swap it with the Proraso white pre-shave for this morning. And I’m very glad I did.
This was an almost perfect shave and was very satisfying. It was a very comfortable shave with only an initial sting with the alum on the neck, but otherwise, an incredibly close and comfortable shave that was very pleasant.
The pre-shave provided nice slickness for the Cella lather, and they worked together incredibly well. The lather was thick and rich and slick, and just reapplying small amounts between passes helped a lot. Both of these are Italian brands, hence the name of the shave. I have no idea if they’re bitter rivals or just friendly competitors, but this was a great pairing.
The Zingari Man sego balm doesn’t thrill me, but worked well for this shave, providing a nice, well-moisturized finish to the shave, and just improved the result.
So I close out the shaves with the Gillette 7 O’Clock black blade for now with an outstanding shave, and I’m looking forward to starting in with the yellows this weekend.
Comfort: 24 out of 25
Quality/Closeness: 24 out of 25
Overall: 24 out of 25
