... with The Sussex Razor
The Soap: Tabac
The Brush: The Guv'nor
The Blade: Gillette 7 o'clock super stainless
The Razor: The Sussex Razor
The Balm: Nivea
The Shave:
I need to start by saying that I've just had a fantastic shave with this razor so please read through the whole of this before making any judgement or assumptions. Let me also start by saying that The Sussex Razor is a stunning piece of shaving hardware that I fell in love with from the moment I saw it. Solid brass, weighty, long-handled and elegant - an absolutely fantastic bit of shaving technology that manages to look like something from the past and a little futuristic all at the same time. It's also at the pricier end of the market. Not as expensive as, say, the Rex Ambassador, but still enough to make you swallow a few stiff drinks and hold onto the wall for support before you make the decision to buy it.
Imagine, then, the expression on my face* when I came away from my first shave with it still feeling like I needed a shave. It was curious. I'd assumed, by looks alone, that the razor would have been slicing through stubble just like any other DE razor.
But The Sussex Razor definitely isn't just like any other DE razor.
If you've ever shaved with an Ever Ready 1912 or GEM single-edge razor, you'll know that the angle for shaving - as in, how far out you need to hold the handle - is somewhat more pronounced than with a DE razor. In that sense, The Sussex Razor shaves more like an SE than a DE. Start with the top of the top cap flush against your face, the handle at a 90 degree angle, then move the handle down slightly and you've got the right angle. Also, the general advice with a DE razor is that you need to let the weight of the razor do the work or, more simply, use a light touch. Or, even more simply, don't push the razor into the face. Specifically, your face. Or anyone else's, for that matter. Not so with The Sussex Razor. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that the more pressure you apply, the better. I know it goes against your every instinct with a DE reazor, but it works. I really pushed the razor into my face and still didn't cut myself.
I got the above advice from David Sargeant, the actual creator of The Sussex Razor. I got in contact with him after my initial shave and told him I was having problems and he very happily told me what I could do to improve my shave. So I gave the razor another go and I was rewarded with the sort of close shave I'd been expecting first time round. Additionally, I found it helped to stretch the skin a lot more than maybe I would normally with a DE, so that it was a bit like shaving with a straight razor or a shavette, or a Razorine. The shaving angles for that and The Sussex Razor are very similar, in fact.
There's still room for improvement with my technique for The Sussex Razor, but there again there's always room for improvement with my technique for any razor. You never stop learning, do you? It would be a bit boring if you did.
* Let's put it this way, it wasn't a happy expression.