Got to shave this morning with the razor and the following set up twenty four hours earlier than anticipated .
I have to say to me the razor certainly has that steampunk , quirky look to it , something that has always attracted me to vintage single edge razors , not that I am any sort of expert on them by any means .
Anyway , for the shave I went with the following ,
Hot water face wash with Glycerine Soap bar ,
3P pre shave , not something I usually use , but, thought I would err on the side of caution ,
Soap/cream , Tabula Rasa , Dark Lavender , bowl lathered ,
Brush Muhle synthetic
Blade , Gem PTFE stainless as supplied in the passaround box with the razor ,
Post shave , Humphreys Citrus witch hazel and Trumpers Coral Skinfood .
EDT , Fahrenheit by Dior .
I went with my usual four pass shave routine , WTG , XTG , a diagonal ear to Adams Apple and a ATG pass .
No problem finding the angle , the blade started cutting the whiskers immediately , it was 24 hours growth of silvery grey wire .
The shave was smooth and efficient , I never felt that the razor was going to cause me harm , as I have seen on other Forums , not so much as a nick or a weeper , not a trace of irritation .
Close shave ? , it could have been a little closer , but , it was a perfectly good shave , more so it being my first encounter with the razor .
Initial impressions are that I rate this razor over other modern Gem razors that I have tried .
I think that I may try a carbon steel blade tomorrow .