When I got home this evening, I took a close look in the mirror and was surprised to see how badly that Zorrick blade had beat up my neck. A year ago, I would have just skipped shaving for a day or two, to let my neck recover from the damage. But these days, I am far too accustomed to the comfort of a great shave, so skipping tonight’s shave was not part of the equation.
I’m really surprised at how poorly the Zorrick performed for me. I know several gents have had excellent luck with them. One in particular, a gent known in Web shaving circles as Leisureguy has spoken quite highly about Zorrick blades. My friend Giovanni, at Barbieria Italiana has the Zorricks available at a really attractive price, but I’m not going to be able to take advantage of the savings. No matter, Giovanni keeps my blade of choice, the Derby Extra Super Stainless in stock, as well.
So this evening, I spent a bit of extra prep time. A lot of hot water, followed by a hot towel treatment. I then grabbed my tube of Proraso shaving cream and whipped up a bowl of lather. I worked some of the menthol-eucalyptus goodness into my beard and then applied a second hot towel.
With a fresh Derby blade loaded into the Merkur 23C, I re-lathered with the Proraso and did my usual three-pass shave — North to South, a re-lather, South to North, a re-lather and then an ear to chin pass. I started looking for the possible trouble spots that might still have a bit of stubble, but my face was smooth as glass. A quick cold water rinse, followed by a generous spalsh of Pinaud Clubman and life was good again. That menthol-eucalyptus worked its magic.
I was hoping to rotate my Wadsworth straight razor in for tomorrow evening’s shave, but I’ll see how my neck is looking. If there are still signs of the Zorrick battering, I’ll just repeat tonight’s selection.
Related posts:
- Shave therapy
- Catching up on my shave reports
- The Great Shave Experiment continues
- Polsilver — another great blade
- More great shaving soap
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Our Mileage is not varying in regards to the Derbz. My day in & day out blade of choice.
Always a great & “forgiving” edge. The third shave on a Derb is for me as close to perfection as any blade gets. The 3rd mow is so good that I chuck’em after the 3rd (even though I could probably get one or two more good shaves) just so I can reload & get to the 3rd shave on a new Derb.
Am, thanks to Gio, embarked on “TWTOB” (The World Tour of Blades), so am regularly sampling
other edges over time.
Our Mileage is varying Significantly with regard to the Zorrik. I’ve been getting some really
great shaves off the Zorrik. Any possibility you just got a bad one or have you tried a few?
I’ve seen a lot of gents saying the same thing about the Zorricks. Frankly, I probably didn’t give it a fair enough test, as witnessed with my Sputnik experience. The Sputnik in my Merkur was passable, but in an early Super Speed, it was great. The Zorrick was hard on me and I didn’t try it in another razor, I just pitched it.
I think I need to get my hands on some more Zorricks and try them in a Super Speed or a Krona, to see if the results are any better.
The Derby blades have always worked so well, I was getting close-minded about the options. I think the Derby will always be a good ‘go-to’ blade, but after seeing the difference moving a Sputnik to a Super Speed made, I may have stumbled on a new combination.