07.30.07

Derby blade not bad

Posted in Shaving at 8:02 am by LeisureGuy

It’s been a long time since I used a Derby Extra blade. These are held in generally high regard, and I no longer recall exactly why I decided they were not for me. Thanks to LetterK, I have a pack now, and this morning I gave one a go.

I used a Mama Bear Sandalwood Vanilla shaving stick—extremely nice, and gave a thick, dense lather with the Simpsons Emperor 2 Super. Working up the lather was a pleasure in fragrance and feel.

With beard well prepped, I picked up the Edwin Jagger Georgian holding the new Derby and set to work. It was a very good shave. The Derby performs fine, with only a little tugging at my toughest whiskers, which are around my mouth: upper lip, lower lip, and at the corners. No cuts, no nicks, and quite a smooth result.

Finished with the alum block and Coty’s Raw Vanilla aftershave.

I do detect that the Derbys are not quite so sharp as, say, the Feathers and the Treet Blue Special, but they are quite serviceable and I understand why they are the mainstay for many shavers, especially with the very good price when bought in bulk on eBay.

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5 Comments »

  1. steve said,

    30 July 2007 at 10:51 am

    Michael,
    Some months ago you recommended the Emperor line of brushes to me. I was wondering if you could give me your opinion on the 3 brushes in that line as I believe you own all of them. Thanks in advance for consideration of this request.

    Regards,

    Steve

  2. LeisureGuy said,

    30 July 2007 at 11:26 am

    Yep, I have all three, all in Super, which is fine with the Emperor.

    Emperor 3: My first, and though not terribly larger, it feels larger now that I’m used to smaller brushes.
    Emperor 2: Very nice size: because the brush is small, it has a lot of resilience, but is not so dense that it doesn’t hold plenty of lather. It’s around the size of the Simpsons Major travel brush.
    Emperor 1: Small, but fun to use. Holds plenty of lather.

    This isn’t helpful, is it. I’ll post photos. I would say that if you’re going to get only one, probably the Emperor 3 would be the one.

  3. hyperwarp said,

    11 August 2007 at 12:07 pm

    For me, the 3rd shave on a Derb is one of life’s true delights. Have you gone 3 or more shaves on a Derby?

    Am also working my way thru BI’s big sampler, was kind of disappointed in the Treet Black Beauties but will revisit before making up my mind. Am working on the Astra’s starting next shave…

  4. LeisureGuy said,

    11 August 2007 at 1:07 pm

    I have to admit that when the Derby tugged on the first shave, I didn’t try it further. However, I still have a couple of packs, so next week I’ll go for three shaves and see how it goes. Always willing to experiment.

  5. hyperwarp said,

    12 August 2007 at 8:00 pm

    Oyeah, baby…The Astra Superior is a sweet, superb blade. What a shave I got last night (usually don’t care much for the 1st shave on most blades) & tonight the 2nd shave on the ASP was even better. Am gonna stay on them for at least a week then load up a Astra Keramik.

    Thanks for the heads-up on Razor&Brushs blade “samples”. Gio is stocking some great edges & is starting to look more & more like the premier quality retail blade dispenser (sorry, cudn’t resist) in the good ol’USA.

    Browsing thru the BI site tonight couldn’t resist ordering the Eau De Botot mouthwash. Who’d a thunk it, Mouthwash @ a shaving shop….Good enough for King Louis of France, possibly good enough for me…

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