August Focus - Slim and Feather AC - It's Soviet Razor Day!!!
August 23
Razor - Mladost II, age unknown (ca. 1960-80), origin unknown (possibly made in what is now Yugoslavia or Bulgaria)
Blade -
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(1) Come now, did you really think I'd risk my face to an unknown Soviet razor without this blade in it?
Brush - Omega Pro 48
Soap - Arko
Post - Cold water, Alum, Nivea Original Post Shave
I've declared this a holiday from the Focus to have Soviet Razor Day!! Time to see what the Mladost II is capable of. Still can't find anything specific on it other than a range of possible dates and a couple of possible locations for manufacture. This is not a Russian razor in the sense some are, but is rather a Soviet razor, made within the former USSR during that era. And, the construction definitely screams Soviet made!!! I always check out blade gaps, blade alignment etc. when using one of these razors for the first time. Some are so far off that it makes you reconsider using them, though it has never deterred me. This is one such razor. A couple of bad pictures to demonstrate.
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On the left you can make out the lather scuttles on the bottom. Notice on top - no scuttles in view. the blade is not quite centered and this was after spending quite a bit of time trying to center it. An open view shows the same problem. Scuttle on the bottom, none on top. Nothing changes this position of the blade. I tried to get a picture of the blade angle but it's so close to the blade guards it's like there is no gap at all. Very mild configuration with an uneven head. Great. This is going to be a glorious Soviet shave. Cold water and caviar anyone?
Gave up trying to center the blade. You can't do it. I'm beginning to think this razor is not adjustable, just built to look like one. I can figure out no way to make it change blade gap. And I certainly can't fix the slight misalignment.
Well, nothing to do but lather up, right? I used the Pro 48 and Arko combo for this event as I wanted to be sure of a consistent and thick lather. After using the smaller boar and horse as my daily brushes the 48 feels like a real giant. But man can it work up a lather.
First pass here we go. Two days growth for the razor and the first pass down the right side wasn't bad but did feel a bit tuggy. I was using the side with the blade overlapping the scuttles. The reduction on the pass was a bit light. Turned it around and did the pass on the left side where the scuttles were exposed. Ok, now that was a bit smoother it seemed. Yeah, clearly an issue with blade position. As I finished the first pass I also noticed that the pulling was considerably worse on the overlap side. With the mild gap and the overlap across the scuttles I suspect I was getting the whiskers caught between the blade and guard and that's a bit uncomfortable. Went XTG and found this to be consistent. I could tell which side I was using by the pulling. Managed to get near a DFS after the XTG on my face, almost a CCS on the neck. One more pass, ATG face and went XTG on the neck then went for the M-Slide to try and finish it off. Never try an M-Slide with the wrong side of the razor. It's basically just an exercise in pulling and tugging in ways that make you cuss. I was finally able to get a passable DFS with no cuts/nicks or weepers. Pretty amazing to accomplish that with a Soviet.
Now, with that much pulling and roughness and overall beating up my face how about the irritation you say? Rinsed with cold, picked up the Alum, got ready to suffer and.......well, that's shocking. Really no sting at all. Makes no sense, really, except for the fact I feel I accomplished the result more by just wearing down the beard rather than cutting it. As mild as the blade gap is it wanted to grab and tub more than cut. Yes it did remove the beard eventually but I don't think the edge of the blade ever really got solidly on my face to threaten the skin. It's about the only thing I can think of.
So, what do I think of the Mladost II? It's a great bit of past Soviet manufacturing, certainly worthy of their usual quality control standards. I am a bit surprised it didn't produce any blood but as mild as it is it might be impossible to cut yourself with it. Another tribute to the fine engineers of the former USSR! Probably the same guys who worked on their newest tank!
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