You’re listening to Wet Shaving Talk powered by Sharpologist.com where we’re dedicated to preserving the art and skill of classic shaving. I’m your host Joe Borrelli and today is August 7th, 2023
Today on the Show
Apologies for the Delay
90’s Shaving
Karve Overlander
Under $200 TI Razor??
New Brushes from Simpsons
New Razor using 904L Stainless Steel
Bay Rum from The Holy Black
90’s Shaving
Shaving in the 1990’s was all about convenience. Shave gels were becoming more popular and companies such as Barbasol struggled to stay in business.
Notable Wet Shaving Events of the 90’s:
-Gillette introduced the Sensor Excel Razor (1993) First razor with spring loaded head.
-Gillette introduced the Mach 3 (1998) First razor with 3 blades Stayed in production until 2020.
-Gillette introduces a line of deodorant, shave gels.
-Barbasol featured in Jurassic PArk and The Fugitive
-First Wet Shaving Group Created by Lynn Abrams
Karve Overlander
This Aluminum razor from Karve shaving has been getting tons of great reviews. Pisces at $125 CAD it’s available in several different colors and without a stand.
Under $200 TI Razor??
The Yates Precision Razor is now available in Titanium, and for $170!!!.
Although sold out at the moment, The new Merica TI is 100% CNC machined from solid titanium in the USA. It sold out quickly when first released this week. Mild Shaver.
New Brushes From Simpsons
-Several new brushes by Simpsons just released.
-Possibly the best Synthetic knots, the Platinum Fiber knots are getting great reviews.
New Razor from Carbon Shaving w/904L Stainless Steel
Carbon Shaving is now offering a razor in 904L stainless steel! This form of stainless steel is more resistant to saltwater corrosion, and holds a slightly better polish than 316L.
904L has been used by luxury watchmakers (such as Rolex) since the mid 80”s and has proven to last the test of time. Currently sold out with a lit price of $600
Bay Rum from The Holy Black
The Holy Black just launched their Summer release. This year it was a Bay Rum After Shave. Based on a 1920’s recipe and of course packaged in typical Holy Black Fashion.
Our show is powered by Sharpologist.com, “What Your Father Didn’t Teach You about Shaving”
Special Thanks to:
Mark aka Mantic 59
Most of All……….YOU!!!!
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Please feel free to contact me at [email protected]
Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for videos regarding some interesting wet shaving content.
Our next show will be 8-21-23
Until then….
Shave straight and Shave Safe!
Transcription (machine-generated)
You’re listening to Sharpologist dot com, where we’re dedicated to preserving the art and skill of classic shaving. I’m your host, Joe Borrelli. And today is August 7th, 2023. Hello everyone, and welcome back to the podcast.
After this extremely long hiatus on my part. First, guys, I got to I got to apologize. I have been out for over a month. I think it’s been it’s been over a month since the last podcast, which is probably the longest, um, hiatus that I’ve ever had since starting this several. You know, I guess we’re almost into the eight years, seven, eight years. It’s been a long time with the podcast itself, so it’s the longest hiatus I’ve ever gone through. And to be completely honest, I was extremely sick for the last month, month and a half. Believe it or not. I had a whole bunch of things happen. I just could not. I didn’t have a voice, I couldn’t or anything like that.
I actually tried to do a podcast a week and a half ago and I still just couldn’t do it. Uh, it really. It was just a real a massive upper respiratory infection. I had eye infections, a lot of stuff. My son got sick, gave it to me. It was really intense. And I’m still actually recovering from it. So bear with me if my voice isn’t the same as it usually is, or if I make some sudden pauses and stuff like that just because I’m going through still recovering from it. I didn’t have Covid or the flu or anything like that. I got tested several times for that and did go to the doctor several times, but feeling a lot better and feeling almost back to my normal self. So I’m glad to be back on the show and I do apologize.
I hate missing podcasts and I hate being late on stuff in general, but sometimes when you have no voice and you just can’t talk or it’s just not, you know, it doesn’t sound clean. It’s better just to hold off than to come out with a with a cast or, you know, that’s not up to par in my opinion. So glad to be back. Glad to be talking wet shaving even though I was out, I was still actively looking at stuff. And there is a lot going on right now that I’d like to share with you in this show.
So I just wanted to go over a few things before we get on with it, because it is a jam packed show today. Uh, 90s shaving. You know, we talked about 80s, shaving a little bit last on the last cast. I want to get a little bit more into 90s shaving what was going on. Some major accomplishments in wet shaving in the 1990s. A
new razor by carve the Overlander the overlander is out it is pretty cool interesting very cool razor from a good artisan So we’re looking forward to talking about that and seeing those out there.
A $200 titanium razor? No, an under $200 titanium razor. I can’t believe I saw it. I’m very excited to be talking about it and to see them out for the two shave of the day. Actual shave of the day post. Uh, new brushes from Simpsons. Simpsons has got some new brushes coming out. Some some anniversary brushes.
Really excited to see them and a new razor made with 904 L stainless steel. I’m going to give you a little insight on 904 L stainless what that is and the company that’s making that another real kind of like a milestone in wet shaving to say for modern wet shaving because this is the first razor made with this type of material and it awesome new bay rum from the Holy Black. It is their summer release that it just came out with. Sold out already sold out in a few minutes so really excited to talk about that Great packaging as usual. And of course these guys did not disappoint. So without further ado. Let’s get on with the show.
So just talking a little bit about 90 shaving and what is this decade and what does it mean to the wet shaving world? It’s really it’s it was a decade based on convenience. I’d say. I’d say it’s 95% convenience and technology coming out. Not much new stuff came out in sense of like weird technology or anything like quirky like that. We had more of a few different razors coming out, but real focus on the cartridge razor at this point in time, the 1990s, it does look like the traditional safety razor, straight razor, all that stuff is almost all but gone up until about the end of the decade.
We’ll talk a little about what the resurrection of traditional wet shaving started to come back a little bit in this decade as well. So notable wet shaving events. In the 1990s, Gillette introduced a sensor accelerator in 1993, and this was the first razor with a spring loaded head. So this was that sensor Excel dual blade razor that came out with actual spring loaded head to make it a little easier to go over the contours of the face and stuff like that. Very, very popular Razor did also go over the regular sensor Excel and kind of like pushed it over to the side and more people went for this one instead. So really impressed with that and how they came out and how fast it became popular. Big one was a Gillette introduced the Mark 3 in 1998 and this was the first razor with three blades, and this stayed in production until 2020.
So you’re looking at one of the longest running model of razors that Gillette has ever come out with. And it’s starting in 1998 until 2020. So almost went roughly about 22 years of being in production and just recently went out of production, although there’s still a lot of them out there. I think even some stores still have stock of them. This is my first cartridge razor that I own, This first wet shaving razor. I used to use an electric razor. I bought a mark three way back in 2004, 2005. And I started using that primarily and I put the electric razor away before I started going to traditional wet shaving. Gillette also introduced a line of deodorant and shave gels. They came out with their own line of stuff. The Aftershaves came out. Barbasol was actually featured in Jurassic Park and the movie The Fugitive. So they had big plays, big parts in those movies.
So we got to see some traditional wet or some modern day wet shaving because they were, you know, canned goo or cream. And then the and then most importantly, the first wet shaving group was created by Lynn Abrams. It was a Yahoo! Group and I believe it was 96 or 97 to bring back traditional wet shaving. It started with just under ten members. So. The 1990s were a real transitional period for wet shaving as you have in the beginning of the decade. Pretty much all classic traditional wet shaving with straight razors and stuff, and safety razors are all but gone now, right in the 80s the end of the 80s is when Gillette stopped producing the American made safety razors and for the American market. In the 1990s, it was more about technology, it was more about really different stuff coming out, mostly multi blades to get that convenience.
And then towards the end of the century excuse me, towards the end of the decade, we got to see a Yahoo group and the beginning of the resurrection of traditional wet shaving. So really important decade here, guys, and looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this. If you do have any thoughts, if you have any interesting stories about shaving in the 90s, if you use traditional wet shaving products in the 90s, that would be awesome too. At this point in the 19, in this decade, really, there’s only a handful of sole producers, most of them in Europe. I don’t believe there are many, if not any where in the United States for traditional wet shaving soaps and stuff. Maybe a couple here and there.
But I know like. Uh, true Hill was out there. You have, like, you know, Mitchell’s Wolf that’s always been around. There’s been quite a few of them out there, you know, companies that were making soap and brushes and stuff like that, but just not much on the mainstream. It was very, very specialized. Shops would have them and stuff. Not too much in the USA, it was mostly in Europe and other areas. So if you have any thoughts on the 1990s and what shaving or any stories or any pictures or anything you want to share, please, please let me know. Send me an email. Joe Wet shaving news at gmail.com.
Moving along with the carve Overlander razor. Now this razor is actually an aluminum razor by carve. It’s just been getting a just been getting quite a few reviews lately priced at $125 and that’s in Canadian dollars. It’s available from several different colors and with or without a stand. So taking a look at it, you can see in the show notes you have black gold. There’s a silver one. There’s it looks like a rose gold one. Carve has been making razors, I think, for about 6 or 7 years now. I’ve primarily used I’ve used stainless steel and brass. I believe they use brass mostly was when they came out with. But now this aluminum razor is priced right so convert it to American money.
You’re looking at 100 bucks roughly, maybe a little bit less about maybe a little more. So $100 razor from an artisan that will last you a lifetime. There’s options. You can get a stand, you can get different plates, different colors. So I think this is really cool. Just this is a recent razor. It’s only been around a few months, but it’s been getting a lot of reviews and a lot of people are talking positively about it. Haven’t heard too many negative things about carve. So that’s what I like to hear and see because this is just a real consistent quality vendor and just excited to see an entry level razor like this that’s actually priced for anybody to get, you know, to get a nice custom piece for around that price. It’s a very, very impressive and wishing them all the best of luck in this razor.
All right. Now, something I’ve never seen before, under $200 TI or titanium razor, unheard of. This is literally the least expensive quality titanium razor out on the market, priced at $170. The Yates Precision Razor is available. It’s been sold out several times in the last few weeks, but it’s called the new Mirka TI 100% CNC machined from solid titanium and it’s actually made in the USA selling out quickly. It was first released a few weeks ago. Very it’s a it’s advertised as a mild shaver, but it does look like it’s they’re going to come out with something more aggressive in the future. From what I saw in some of the notes on their Instagram page. So Yates is another not too large of a razor producer. There’s a couple of them out there. But this this is really exciting. Packaging looks really good too. A nice little tin that’s coming with with some blades.
But looking at that, you’re just saying, hey, this is great, a titanium razor that is actually affordable. I mean, I’ve seen titanium razors go for four, five, $600, right? I think I have one. But my paradigm TI two was 395 when I got it. And that was about, what, 4 or 5 years ago, three years ago, whatever it was. So, I mean that is, that’s a lot just to have this razor in your collection or just even try it out and you’re definitely going to get your money back if you if you you don’t like it. So excited to see the reviews on this. There’s only a handful of them out there. They’ve been selling out quickly, but they are making more. It is not a limited edition. It will be a regular stock item for them.
And Simpsons has come out with a few new items lately and from a company that’s been around, well, well over 100 years, Right? About 100 years, maybe longer. I don’t know. It’s been around for a while. Just to see them come out with some new stuff is awesome and very exciting because you know that they are going to make sure that they have the best quality control possible. Right? Every Simpson brush I’ve owned has been pretty good. I’ve never had any issues. So these limited edition platinum fiber fox, ebony glasses excuse me, brushes. Sorry, I say glasses. You guys know them in the liquor business. I’ve been talking wine glasses for the last 3 or 4 days now, so it may just slip out here and there. I apologize. They came out with this new knot which is the platinum fiber. A synthetic knot. And apparently this is by far what everybody is saying, the best synthetic knot that’s ever been out that’s ever come out. And I’ve said this before, but the technology and the development of synthetic shaving knots, I’m telling you, if you don’t try them yet or haven’t tried one, you are going to love one when you try. They’re getting better and better. And I think what we’re going to see is I think in the next few years, you’re going to see some that are going to well, outperform badger and boar brushes and that will be, you know, and also sustainable.
You know, you can get more of it. You know, it’s not it’s not one of those things where, hey, you got to you know, it’s coming from an animal. This is coming. You know, synthetic means it can be made in an unlimited amounts. So the limited edition Chubby Threes are here Posted in the show. Notes are different colors with these new knots and they’re talking. They’re claiming this is the undisputed king of synthetic fiber and is now available in these limited edition brushes. Chubby brushes. So if you’ve tried one, you’ll know. I have tried to synthetic brushes from synthetic from from Simpsons. And I got to say, they’re awesome. They’re really good. So I’m impressed. I’m very excited to see what these brushes come out and start seeing some reviews. Price point on them is just around €125. So roughly, what, 130, $135. So fair price for a brush, especially when you’re looking at some of these hand-tied brushes going for four and $500.
I have a feeling these are going to perform up there with the big boys too. So something to look into if you’re into synthetic knots and synthetic brushes, whatever this is the time for you. You’re going to love this and you should be happier than anybody else, because these are these are really becoming great performers. So check it out. If you haven’t had a chance. It’s on the Simpson website. It’s not listed on any other secondary site yet. You’ve got to buy direct from them for the time being. I’m not sure if companies like West Coast shaving maggots or anybody is going to carry it yet, but as of as of today, they don’t have it on their website. And something extremely exciting.
For those of you guys out there that love. Uh, different types of razors and different types of metals. New razor from carbon shaving, which you guys know I’ve tried. I like. I’m a fan of carbon shaving. I’ve been really watching them since the day they came out. I believe it was in 2018, 2019 when they came out with one razor. I was really interested back then and I actually pulled the plug and bought 1 in 2020. So very interesting to see that they came out with a. Actual new razor made with 904 l stainless steel. Now what is 904 Stainless steel? You ask? Well, it is actually it’s a stronger, not a stronger stainless steel. It’s more of a stainless steel. It’s resistant to corrosion, specifically saltwater corrosion and holds a slightly better polish than 316 L 904 l has been used in mostly in luxury watchmaking, you know, with luxury watchmakers.
Actually, Rolex uses 904 L for all their stainless steel models and they’ve been using it for they started using it in the mid 80s and they actually went to every single one of their models, I believe in the late 90s, early 2000, they’ve been using 904 L stainless steel primarily before that was 316 L So what does this do and why do people use 904? It is it’s more resistant to corrosion. It does hold a better polish. A couple of things are I don’t know if it’s as strong as 316 l, I don’t know if it’s as durable. It does pit a little bit easier, but the only thing is and why they use it for the watches is because it’s resistant to saltwater. It’s better resistance to saltwater than than 316 L And is actually it’s also more more expensive to produce. So what I thought this was really nice was that a razor company would start using this. I’ve been actually waiting for somebody to start using 904 L for several years now because I am really into stainless steel watches. I’m a big fan of, of actual like, you know, sport watches, dive watches and stuff like that. I love the history of watches. You know, I do read up a lot on brands like Rolex, Omega Breitling, you know, AP and Patek Philippe. You know, I always like to read a lot about those those watches. They’ve been around for years and they last for years. You know, I do really enjoy that, that industry.
So to see that an actual safety razor is coming out with this this type of steel, it is very exciting. Now, the only thing is the price of it is very high. It’s priced at $600 for this razor and it’s already sold out. I think he made a handful of them. There’s does say that there’s more to come. But, you know, are you going to notice that much of a difference in performance between a 904 and 316 XL? Absolutely not. It’s not going to be that that much different to where it’s going to be life changing. Right. But it will hold a better polish and is better resistant to corrosion. Great for watches if you’re going to go diving with them. You know, I don’t know many people that dive with stainless steel watches and good for razor because, you know, it will be okay with a razor.
Is it a little excessive? You know what? I don’t know. To each his own, I think that anybody that’s buying luxury safety razors, it’s excessive, right? I buy them. I have quite a few nice ones and I love them and they shave great. But they don’t shave that much better than a vintage Gillette three piece tech, you know, or something. That’s half the price. You know, it doesn’t. But this is just something that see that a first in the industry to see 904 L stainless steel exciting to see something new and carbon shavings at it again these guys use different types of metal. They’ve used everything in their in their safety razor production. They’ve used Damascus steel where they folded it. I mean that’s the only one that they’re the only ones that have done that. They’ve done a hybrid between carbon fiber and stainless steel, carbon fiber and titanium, titanium and stainless steel. I mean, they’ve done so many different like forms of metal that this is just really cool to see this as well. So is it excessive? Is it is it going to make your razor shave any better? I don’t think so. I don’t think it will make you shave your razor shave any better. I think you can get a carbon stainless steel razor with 360.
No at half the price and be happy with it. But it’s good to know that they are offering this one. And if you are a fan of 904 L stainless steel this is your chance to get a razor with it. So good luck to you. Carbon shaving. We salute you for doing something new and keeping innovative in this in this ever changing market.
And moving along. One of my well, one of my favorite scents, I guess, for uniqueness is bayrum. Bayrum is just a cool scent. It’s a cool history. You can make it yourself if you really want to. Living in South Florida, there’s a lot of rum distilleries. You know, rum is very big down here, especially in the Caribbean area to the, you know, just to the east of me, 60 miles east of where I live is the Bahamas and all those islands and stuff. They have tons of rum production, A little history, guys. You know, me being in the liquor business, I do know a little bit about rum. Rum is the most unregulated spirit in the world.
And the reason being is made in so many different countries, it’s hard to get like a regulation on it, but it’s also one of the best selling ones and is also one of the, in my opinion, one of the most interesting and complex spirits you can get. So just knowing that a bay rum for your aftershave to me always gets me very intrigued. Now, the first time I’ve seen this by Holy Black is they did a bay rum for their summer release. Usually they do like a like a soap set, an aftershave set like they use the creeper base that they’ve been making for several years.
But this time they did a very cool actual aftershave made from bay rum, so they used a 1920s recipe and age their, their excuse me their, their rum or their jeweler’s alcohol in a barrel for over a year before doing this. So that’s very cool. So it is essentially like a spirit. I like that. On the label it says Bottle and Bond. For those of you out there that are really into Bourbon, a Bottle and Bond, Bourbon has got to be aged in a bonded warehouse, has to be a certain proof and has to be only and also a certain demographic inside of it. So it’s got to have 51% corn, all that stuff, you know, And it’s very cool to have a bottle and bonded bottle because this bond is basically aged in a and gone through a government funded and government inspected warehouse.
So that’s kind of cool that they put that in there. I thought that was a nice little touch, although not needed, but. It’s definitely packaged in wholly black fashion, wrapped in old paper with hay and all that stuff in a box. I mean, this is really cool. I did miss it. The release went quickly. This one wasn’t able to get my hands on one. But for those of you that did, I hope you enjoy it. And there’s really a lot of great bay rums out there. I know Phoenix artisan accoutrements they make a killer couple of bay rums. He does the same kind of system where he’ll age it in a wooden barrel, an oak barrel for over a year before post before putting it together. I mean, there’s a lot of people that do their own bay rums. You can make one in a mason jar with some wood chips and put it into like a dark closet, leave it for a few months and get your own as well.
So, I mean, it’s really it’s a fun, fun aftershave, very classic scent. It’s either a hit or miss with a lot of people. Some people love it, some people hate it. My wife hates it. She doesn’t like it when I wear a bay rum. She does not really into it and I like to wear it during the summertime usually because it just kind of like kind of fits in Caribbean hot humid. That’s kind of just works for me.
All right, guys. So that concludes the podcast this week. I am so happy to be back and to be able to talk to you guys about wet shaving. It’s been a long month and a half being away. Hopefully I don’t have to go away again for a while and everything works out, so just let everybody know I’m doing good. I feel great. I am getting better. Nothing permanent damage. Just just had some really bad luck with some health issues and this was really just really sick for about a month. But I’m feeling a lot better and looking forward to seeing your guys, you know, your shave of the days and send me some emails. If you’ve got any questions or anything you want to see featured on the show as well. So our next show will be on the 21st of August. Until then, shave straight and shave safe. Bye bye now.
