It is the second slant head razor that I own and the 12th overall Safety Razor I have. The other slant head razor I own is the Merkur 37c Slant and I must say, the RazoRock Wunderbar Slant is the absolute benchmark so far in regards to what I have seen with Slant Head Razors. Maybe even in Safety Razors.
Build Quality
The build quality of this safety razor, being CNC Machined out of 316L Stainless Steel is clean, very detailed and what I like to call, engineered to perfection.It is machined to some extremely precise tolerances, with the top and bottom cap of the razor head precisely connecting with each other with NO rattle / wriggle at all. This is unlike the Merkur 37c, in which you can hear and actually fiddle around with the top and bottom cap of the razor head when they are connected together. You can tell that the razor itself has been through some amazing quality control, and it has, with only 100 of these safety razors initially being produced per month by Italian Barber.
The overall finish of the Safety Razor is reminiscent to me of a machine shop tool. It has had a 3 stage, 3 Media, 18 hour special vibration process applied to it called a "fine finish" as explained by Italian Barber on their site. It gives the overall safety razor a beautiful matte / hand polished hybrid finish, and I seriously like that. In fact, the finish kind of reminds me of a Gillette Fatboy that I own.
I would also like to note that the razor does come with a nice amount of Mineral Oil in between the head caps, as well as in between the handle; again another hallmark of Italian Barber's quality control and care. Extraordinary!
Blade Tab Cover
Clamping of the blade
The Clamping of the DE razor blade between the top and bottom caps of the Safety Razor head is sublime. With the Wunderbar being a 3 piece Safety Razor, I personally loved the satisfaction of twisting the handle until I heard a sudden "Click" sound when the top and bottom cap of the Head clamped down and connected with one another.
This precise clamping is mostly due to the exact and precise tolerances of the top razor head cap, and its absolute precise fit with the DE Blade and the bottom cap.
Handle
The handle is also something I would like to discuss and behold. This razor quite possibly has the best look and feeling knurling I have ever handled during a wet shave.
The pattern is aesthetically beautiful to look at I feel as though my fingers are stuck to the handle like Velcro, which I really like! There is nothing worse than a slippery handle! I tested this by basically slathering the handle in pure lather, and held it with no slipperiness.
This is also coupled with some great head weight to handle weight distribution (50:50) - this is subjective to your hand size and grip. The thickness of the handle to me was also really good to hold and control.
Blade Alignment and Exposure
There is always obvious blade exposure with any Slant Head razor, and the Wunderbar is no exception to that. Differences within slant head razors seem to be, at least to me, the alignment to the top cap of the razor head. With the Wunderbar, the blade is NOT aligned parallel to the top cap of the head, and I felt extremely comfortable to shave with this in the back of my mind, as the weight distribution in the razor at least to me, perfect. I let the weight of the razor, along with the angle of the head basically do the work.
As Joe from Italian Barber said, the key to using the Wunderbar is to let the Blade and head design do all the work. To me, I agree whole heartedly with this. There was not one point in my first shave with this razor in which I actually applied pressure, at all, and I guillotined 7 days of facial hair off like it was nothing but butter. And yes, my facial hair is quite thick.
As Joe from Italian Barber said, the key to using the Wunderbar is to let the Blade and head design do all the work. To me, I agree whole heartedly with this. There was not one point in my first shave with this razor in which I actually applied pressure, at all, and I guillotined 7 days of facial hair off like it was nothing but butter. And yes, my facial hair is quite thick.
Hardware and Software used in this Shave
In this Shave Of The Day, The hardware and software I used was:- Kai DE Blade
- RazoRock Don Marco Italian Shaving Soap
- Vulfix Pure Boar Bristle Shaving Brush
- RazoRock XX Aftershave Milk
- Dr Jon's Classic Aftershave Tonic
Verdict
A very smooth, BBS and overall scintillating to the senses wet shave of the day!The Don Marco shaving soap was great, and the scent was in the top 2 of my all time favourite scents (my favourite being Indian Sandalwood). The scent overtone is reminiscent to that of Blood Orange, with undertones to me of lime, lemon, bergamot. I am telling you, I catch myself just walking past my shave den to just smell the stuff. I did find the soap to dry out from time to time, but that's probably my fault due to taking a lot of pictures for this blog! A little bit of face lathering and she was fixed right up! Did I mention that it lathered sublimely?
The Kai Blades are my favourite and to this day, I cannot fault them. They are, at least for me, aggressive but smooth at the same time, with no irritation given. This is a huge plus for me as I have sensitive skin.
The Vulfix Pure Boar Bristle brush lathered amazingly, held awesome volumes of water and exfoliated my face amazingly when face lathering and when lathering in the ceramic bowl, It is right up there in my top 4 brushes, with it being ranked number 2. It is my first time using it, so my mind might be changed on that as it is my first pure boar hair brush. I am used to using the Silver Tip badgers.
The Dr Jon's Classic Aftershave Tonic feels and smells great! It pairs brilliantly with the citrus scents given by the Don Marco Shave Soap, and offers the added bonus of Alum, Witch Hazel, Menthol, Glycerine and Aloe. It is a definite future pairing!
Overall, Brilliant SOTD (Shave Of The Day) and all the above products, especially the RazoRock Wunderbar Slant head razor, lived up to their expectations. I am definitely impressed and glad I purchased this Safety Razor!
No comments:
Post a Comment