Recently we took the Dreadnought challenge. Well, they didn’t really challenge us to anything. It was more like we challenged ourselves to see if the tools really mattered that much when it comes to a great shave.
We’re simple modern guys, who are minimalists in practice. We shave with electric razors, and when they finally break down, we buy a decent safety razor, some foam and call it good until a new electric razor comes to the door in a brown box.
So when we received the Ultimate shave kit from Dreadnought, we were overwhelmed by the number of tools we had to play with. You’ve got your pre-shave oil, real shaving cream (not foam), cream brush, a burly chrome double blade, and some post shave balm.
And you know what? for a couple of guys who have been chopping whiskers for over 100 years combined, we discovered that shaving can become more than just a daily chore. It can be somewhat of a daily meditation ritual, in much the same way as James Bond meticulously loading a full cartridge into his Walther PPK.
The Luxury Pre-Shave Oil preps your beard and skin by providing a thin layer of protection and lubrication between you and the blade. This means it will glide across your face without snagging and pulling on your whiskers, which is something we absolutely hate. So, we liked this.
The Luxury Shaving Cream was applied with Dreadnought’s manly ‘Avenger’ brush. One thing you learn quick, is a little bit goes a long way, unlike that wimpy thin foam. What we found is that the cream made a huge difference to the quality of the shave. It is thicker, provides better coverage, and when you use a quality brush, it softens the whiskers far better. Okay, so we are believers in these too.
The Spartan Double Edge is something we liked right off the bat. It is beautiful, classically design, and made with a quality finish. One thing we noticed is this bad boy does not clog up half as easy as your typical safety razor. And when it does get a bit full, you just whip it around to the other side and keep going. The key to one of these if you are a veteran electric shaver like we were, is to take short gentle strokes, and the outcome will be zero cuts and zero razor burn.
The final step is the Post Shave Balm, and by this point we were believers in the Full Monty. The shave balm goes on smooth, feels cool and tingly, and has just a touch of scent to give you a goose in the morning, and then quickly fades in time for you to splash on a little cologne of your choice.
You could say we’re born-again shavers. I for one have not touched an electric shaver in over two months, and I don’t plan on it. Thank you Dreadnought for making a man of us. We are Spartans!
And these guys have a great sense of humor too. Check them out here.
About Dr. Eric J. Leech
Eric has written for over a decade. Then one day he created Urbasm.com, a site for every guy.
About Dr. Eric J. Leech