Bluebeards Revenge shavette - once again, stand aside Gillette Mach3! ....and it´s getting crowded.

As you might have read here, I opted out of the pay-lotsa-bucks-for-lotsa-blades-camp some time ago. My bucks, actually "kronor" since I´m Swedish, end up in shaving stuff to some extent anyway. I still buy soap, new brushes (The Body Shop one is good) and now also a shavette:

It´s getting crowded - iPhone 5s, cable release, flash

I have a large interest in sharpening things. Of course I´ve tried to sharpen a straight "cut throat" razor   too, and I´ve gotten it so sharp it kind of passes the "hanging hair test". But I wanted to try a shavette  so I can just change the blade when it´s getting dull instead of having to maintain the straight.

My theory is that the DE blade cuts the hair more easy because it is so thin. The safety razor blade still needs less force than the straight razor blade to cut a hair even if the edges are as sharp simply because it´s thinner. I like to think it´s pure physics - a thin wedge needs less force than a thick wedge, even if the tips are as sharp.  Of course a dull edge needs more force which brings us to the next point:

With a shavette for safety razor blades you get very, very sharp blades for little money. When the blade is getting duller you simply insert a new one. No sharpening, no hones, no strops, no stropping or messing around. Just pick up the shavette and start shaving. I know that many guys enjoy the straight razor routine and as I enjoy sharpening stuff I can understand that. And if you want the "old days" or "self sufficient" feeling the shavette is out.


Lets look at it from a "money spent" - perspective. I´d say a straight razor is about even with the Bluebeards Revenge shavette if you buy an old used one on ebay. If you buy a new, finer, straight razor you can spend some insane amounts of cash, so for this comparison we choose the used one.
The strop you need runs about $40-80 for a basic one and a waterstone around $90 depending on what you buy, both bought new from amazon. (These are just examples and you can certainly find both cheaper and more expensive alternatives.)

For about the same $150 you can buy 1200 Astra Superior Platinum blades here, that's 2400 blade changes for the shavette as it uses a blade snapped in half. That means you´re set for 23 years if you change blade two times every week. I doubt the strop will last that long...

Keep in mind when you read this that my hands are rather clumsy, I have limited sensory function so I find it difficult to apply just a little pressure which of course affects how my shave turned out:
The first shave with the Bluebeards Revenge shavette went quite ok. The Astra blade sliced through my beard effortlessly going along the grain. All you have to do is kiss the face with the edge, no pressure needed. I did cut myself a little on my upper lip. Lesson learned: don´t try going against the grain on the upper lip on the first pass. Actually you´re never supposed to go against the grain. The first pass should be along the growth direction and the second pass across it, if your skin can take it. Some people do go against the grain on the third pass. I do that with my



A few things about the Bluebeards shavette: The packaging is quite funny! "Not for girls" heh heh. You´ve gotta smile when you read that! Also quite funny website at Bluebeards Revenge.
The quality? I´d say you get what you pay for. Tiny cracks around the rivets in the scales, a little rough edges on the blade holder as its a stamping, a little crooked grind around the exposed edge. But it´s perfectly useable and the price is very fair so I don´t complain. I actually like that the scales are plastic as they feel warm to the touch.


Even though I like the shavette and the idea of shaving with it, the british aluminium Gillette Tech still is the best razor I´ve ever used. It´s very good, cheap and mild. It´s kind of a shavette but with built in protection so its much harder to cut the skin. The razor holds the blade and guides it and you simply drag it around your face. You can actually just view both as razor blade holders, one with guards and guides and one without.

The shavette has the advantage that it doesn´t care if you have one days growth or a full beard. It simply can´t clog since it´s an open razor. That´s why it´s also good for the neckline, more so than the safety razors.



Colclusion: The Bluebeards Revenge shavette with Astra Superior blades is an economical way to shave if you are willing to learn the skills it takes. The Bluebeards Revenge website has good how-to videos. The shavette is also just the tool to shave the neckline or a long beard.

UPDATE: I've gotten several ingrowns after using the shavette several times, of course I just had to go against the grain. Told you that was a bad idea. Changing the blade to a Derby helped some, the Astra SP in a shavette seems too sharp for my clumsy hands. Since the Gillette aluminum Tech gives me great shaves I think I'll stick to that, at least until I'm patient enough to use the shavette.
But I will still have the wife shave my neckline with the Bluebeards Revenge Shavette, so it's not a wasted purchase. Actually, if all you intend to do is trim your neckline I'd say the shavette is a perfect buy!

Linocell Elite Extreme Glass Screen protector - it works! ...and their quality control doesn´t?

I got tired of bubbly, scratched up plastic screen protectors on my iPhone, so when I got my new iPhone 5s I decided to try a glass one. It´s more expensive so hesitated a bit - after all the Linocell Extreme Glass screen protector is like 20 times the price of the cheaper plastic films.

But I bought one and put it on. One thing I noticed was that it was easy to get a perfect result. Included in the package is a piece of sticky film that you use to remove dust from the screen before you put the glass on. If you have a light colored surface in front of you and look at your phone at an angle its easy to see every speck of dust on the screen. Once the screen is as clean as possible you drop the glass in place and watch as it adheres to the screen.

Take care to line the glass up well. A tip is to center the home button and while holding the top end up a few mm away from the screen, press and bend the glass gently so it sticks around the home button. Then, while maintaining pressure around the button hole, align the top edges and let that end go so it gently snaps down against the screen. It can be a bit fiddly to move the top end sideways as you probably have to release the bottom end a bit. You´ll get there!

A tip is to do this in the bathroom after somebody has taken a shower as that cleans the air. And if the floor is wet that also lowers the amount of dust in the air. Fluffing around a towel does not. Its a balance...



Back to the reason I write this:

Busted screen? Nope, busted Linocell Glass! - iPad mini, some cropping

I fumbled and dropped my phone and, of course mr Murphy, it landed face down on the ground. And the asphalt was covered with coarse sand left from the winter season. Nice point impact.

I guess the saying is true, "The value of an item can be very different from the price paid for it"! In my case a 20-dollar screen protector saved my iPhone screen. 

However. After dropping my phone I bought two Linocell Extreme protectors, one for me and one for the wife, and the wifes one had this included:

Not so neat looking huh? - iPhone 5s, some cropping and adjusting 

And this is what it looks like through the loupe:

A grain of sand? - iPhone 5s + 10x loupe, cropped

Looking real close it looks like a small grain of something found its way between the glass and the adhesive film. Oh btw, they advertise this screen protector as 0.26mm thick, but that is just the glass. Add the adhesive film and you get 0,40mm instead. Not much difference but worth mentioning.

Here´s the great part: I contacted the vendor by email and they promptly sent me a new one free of charge. Thats the way costumer support is supposed to work! I bought these at Kjell & Company (in Swedish). In all situations like this it helps to take pictures and include them in the email. It makes things easier for the costumer support and it helps you get help faster.

The sum of it all: I´m real happy about this screen protector. Being glass it feels just like the original screen, and it doesn´t scratch as easily as plastic films. And since it has already saved me a screen swap, I´d say its earned its keep!



Update november 2015: I´ve bought several glass screen protector since this post was written. I´ve found them for as little as $8 sold under differet names. But the product seems so similar it makes me think they are all made in the same factory in China...

I´ve dropped my iPhone three times now breaking the screen protector. I actually had my iPhone 5s replaced since I dropped it into my ultrasonic cleaner while filming a clip for Youtube. Ooops! Luckily enough insurance covered most of the cost.



"The value of an item can be very different from the price paid for it". Word!