Phoenix Shaving ShaveSplash was lucky enough to get an advance copy of Phoenix Shaving's upcoming new brush, WÜRM. As with many things from the fertile and inventive mind of Douglas Smythe the product is a bit of a roller coaster ride back in time, and into the future, at the exact same moment. It draws its inspiration from the Klenzo B1086 from the 1950s, the backstory of which is described below by Douglas himself. We tested the brush over multiple shaves and here are our impressions. In addition to its retro-space-age alien good looks, the handle of the WÜRM fits nicely in the hand. It's 3.5 ounces feels solid without feeling heavy, and its accordion ridges provide excellent grip. At 22mm, the knot is on the smaller side, which has pros and cons. ShaveSplash typically builds lather in a bowl, and the compact size requires a full brush load and a little extra swirling to achieve maximum lather volume. Conversely, the smaller profile allows for neat and precise application of the lather, putting it right where you want it with no mess. The knot is Phoenix’s Micro Super Future Hybrid, made from an in-house designed black synthetic fiber. The crimping gives it a look and feel that approximates natural badger, while remaining softer, as is typical of synthetics. By ShaveSplash’s subjective estimation, the fibers come closest in softness to the Mondial Krex and Plisson High Mountain White synthetic fibers. Overall backbone is on the lighter side, making the knot soft and forgiving on the face, but still substantial enough to work up an excellent lather. It is difficult to compare backbone between knots because loft, width, density, and the set of the knot all play a role. We found the Atomic Rocket knot to be ever so slightly stiffer, with the Moon Stryker stiffer still. Much of that difference, however, appears to come from knot construction rather than the quality of the fiber itself. On a crowded playing field, the WÜRM stands its ground. As with all things from Phoenix Shaving it has a wildly unique retro charm married with futuristic innovation, while also being easy to use and extremely comfortable on the face. Once again, Phoenix delivers something from the past which feels new, and is likely to be an icon of tomorrow. Visit Phoenix Shaving to Learn More Brush Comparison Photo Brand Brush Knot Fiber Size Fiber Softness Rank Mondial Gibson EcoSilvertip Krex 25 1 Plisson Essential Plisson Style High Mountain White 22 2 Phoenix Wurm Micro Super Future Hybrid In-house design 22 3 Phoenix Atomic Rocket Synthetic Suave In-house design 26 4 Razorock Beehive Plissoft In-house design 28 5 Phoenix Moon Stryker Snickle Synth Hybrid In-house design 24 6 Maggards Custom Timberwolf In-house design 26 7 Please consider using this link when buying from Phoenix Shaving to support ShaveSplash. Please also consider downloading our app, ShaveSplash: The Rabbit Hole on iOS and Android. Here's what Douglas Smythe from Phoenix Shaving writes about the WÜRM..... TLDR: The Phoenix WÜRM takes its physical inspiration from an obscure American vintage brush, the KLENZO B1086, a clear, rectangular, accordion-bodied Pure Badger shaving brush produced for the Rexall/United Drug empire around the middle of the 20th century. Its original base is marked U.S.A., STERILIZED, SET IN RUBBER and PURE BADGER. Surviving Klenzo records show Lucite lather brushes being sold by Rexall by 1948 and genuine 100% badger Klenzo brushes set in rubber being advertised during the early 1950s. [The exact B1086, however, appears to be remarkably elusive. Despite a surprisingly active community of vintage-brush collectors, I have yet to locate another documented example. Any help with this side quest is greatly appreciated. Also: Being that you are a fellow Shnerd or Shave Nerd, you might just find the following ramblings of a man, who breathes in way too much essential oil, interesting. Or at the very least, mildly entertaining...and possibly useful in a future blackmailing opportunity. Just read it.] WÜRM Specimen B1086? The story behind WÜRM begins with one of the more stranger vintage shaving brushes I have ever come across, the KLENZO B1086! Originally made in clear Lucite, the brush has a rectangular footprint and a deeply segmented, accordion-like handle that feels far more mechanical than ornamental. Or maybe that's just me...But you have to admit, even its name sounds oddly futuristic. KLENZO B1086 could just as easily be the designation of a rather cute droid, a laboratory unit, or some forgotten piece of starship trooper tchotchke. No? --Turn the brush over and things only get stranger (kinda). As expected you get the usual branding and wording typical for that time: "KLENZO, U.S.A., STERILIZED, SET IN RUBBER, PURE BADGER, along with the B1086 model number...but then, there's a mysterious circled M whose meaning, as far as I can determine, has been lost to time. (maybe we can solve this today too! If you know anything, I'm all ears!) To brush collectors however, KLENZO itself has considerably more history behind it. The name belonged to the United Drug Company, the organization behind Rexall and one of the great American drugstore empires of the twentieth century! United Drug began operations at 43 Leon Street in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1903, and the KLENZO name was being used for brushes by the early twentieth century. United Drug's trademark records specifically include lather brushes and claim first commercial use in 1909. By the 1920s, Rexall stores were already advertising KLENZO shaving brushes, including models proudly promoted as being “set in rubber,” a construction feature important enough to eventually find its way directly onto the bottom of brushes like the B1086. Fun Fact: “Set in Rubber” wasn’t just vintage advertising language. It described a real manufacturing improvement. Instead of setting the bristles in glue, makers anchored them in rubber, creating a more water-resistant and durable bond. By the early 1900s, the phrase had become such a valuable selling point that competing brush companies actually fought over its use in court! (Rubberset knew what they were doing with that name!) The word “STERILIZED” opens another, much darker chapter of shaving history. During the early twentieth century, contaminated animal-hair shaving brushes were linked to outbreaks of cutaneous anthrax. Wartime shortages and poorly disinfected animal hair created a genuine public-health problem, serious enough that sterilization and labeling requirements became part of the American brush industry. By the time brushes such as the B1086 appeared, the word STERILIZED had become a mark of reassurance. PURE BADGER mattered too, because KLENZO offered brushes in different grades. The B1086 was not coy about what it contained. This was a genuine badger brush from an era when knot material told the customer a great deal about the quality level of the tool in his hand. ANOTHER FUN FACT: Early shaving-brush makers used several different sterilization methods. Some boiled the loose animal hair in water for hours. Others exposed it to pressurized steam in an autoclave, used prolonged dry heat, or soaked the finished brush in heated formalin, a formaldehyde solution. These treatments were meant to kill anthrax spores that could survive in contaminated horsehair and other animal fibers. #TheSporeYouKnow Anyways... The material of the handle is just as important to the story. The original B1086 was made from Lucite, and that meant something very different when the brush was new than it does today. Lucite was DuPont's name for a clear acrylic material introduced commercially in the 1930s. During World War II, acrylic became closely associated with aircraft canopies, windows, gun turrets, instrumentation, and other applications where engineers needed something transparent, lightweight, strong, and less fragile than glass. When these same materials began moving into civilian products after the war, they carried some of that technological prestige with them. Rexall was advertising Lucite shaving brushes by 1948, at a time when a transparent acrylic object still looked strikingly modern. That is one of the things I love most about the original B1086. Today we look at a clear Lucite handle and see vintage design. When the brush was new, people would have seen the future! If you really want to shave like grandpa, you need to think like grandpa too. Come with me now as we crawl inside his mind. To him, this new material belonged to aviation, machinery, laboratories, and the rapidly advancing world of postwar technology! Exciting stuff for sure. The B1086 was not retro futuristic when it was made. It was simply futuristic! Time eventually caught up with that future, passed it, and left behind this wonderfully odd little object that now seems to belong equally to the 1950s and to some science-fiction world that never existed. [the perfect candidate for the PAA Universe.] All that just to say, this is exactly why we chose acrylic for WÜRM. Simply recreating the B1086 in clear material would have turned the project into a reproduction, and that was never our intention. We wanted to preserve the material language of the original while pushing the design somewhere new and fun. The connection to the Lucite ancestor remains immediately visible (right?), but the green transforms the character of the brush. Like a single, fractured facet of an alien prism, light moves through the segmented handle and catches the repeating geometry, creating shifting layers of depth throughout the body. Depending on the angle and the light, WÜRM can resemble vintage scientific equipment, an obvious energy cell, a reactor component, or some unknown irradiated specimen recovered from a craft whose point of origin has yet to be disclosed. #GiantHungrySpaceWorm #BÜRP #EverythingIsFine We also increased the scale. WÜRM is larger than the KLENZO that inspired it, with considerably more presence in the hand and a satisfying heft and weight that make the handle feel every bit as substantial as it looks. The enlarged proportions give those unusual accordion-like segments room to breathe, and acrylic brings enough density to the design that you immediately feel the difference when you pick it up. [You could also knock out a rabid squirrel with this sucker. I speak from experience. #Fact] Mass Soul There is another fun connection here that we could never have planned. [I mean, not without traveling back in time and moving things around.] United Drug began in Boston, Massachusetts. Our business also began in Massachusetts! More than a century separates those two origins, yet this obscure design tied to an old Massachusetts operation, disappeared into shaving history, resurfaced decades later, and eventually found its way into the orbit of another Massachusetts shaving operation with a long-standing weakness for forgotten hardware, lost designs, obscure history, and unexplained details. Even the original B1086's circled M remains unresolved. [Seriously, it keeps me up at night.] I mean, when I allow my mind to wander...it may have identified a manufacturer, mold maker, supplier, factory, or something else entirely! Given the Boston connection, Massachusetts is tempting, but there is no evidence strong enough to claim that, so for now the M remains exactly what it should be: a mystery. [Again, all ears if you can solve this riddle. #PappyNeedsHisSleep] What YES, Is In A Name? The name WÜRM brings another thread into the story for me. It is an indirect nod to “Starship Trooper” by YES, one of the great progressive-rock epics of the early 1970s! The final section of the piece is titled “Würm,” and it always spoke to my soul. In my minds eye right now I can conjure back up the images that music paints in my brain; a freaky, kaleidoscopic, scifi space worm! Turning and twisting, crawling through space-time, devouring everything in it's wake; stars, planets, galaxies...mankind? Rabid squirrels? Sorry, forgot where I was for a sec. Ahem...just listen to the track. [and wear headphones. *very important] Soooo...I guess what I'm trying to say is, the original provides the theme. What comes next is interpretation. [at this point I totally forgot what we were even talking about. I sat there staring at a doorknob for like 2 minutes before it came back to me. But hey ho!] WÜRM: Your New Favorite Brush At this point, WÜRM started becoming more than the name of this ferocious brush. It became a new character in the PAA Universe, although exactly what kind of character still remains unclear. #irony--Machine, organism, droid, experimental grooming unit, recovered artifact, translucent extraterrestrial life-form with an inexplicable talent for building lather & world eating? We are still waiting on that report. People Love This Knot For the business end of the brush, we brought back one of your favorite PAA knots, the 22mm Micro Super Future Hybrid Synth. Longtime Phoenix brush collectors will remember this knot from the Astraeus, where it quickly earned a following because of the particular balance it offers. The fibers are exceptionally soft and can give an almost gel-tip-like sensation on the face, yet the knot retains enough backbone, spring, and pushback to remain lively in use. ["lively" may be the wrong word. How about, Punchy?]-- It does not collapse into a shapeless puff, nor does it rely on stiffness to create backbone. It has enough structure to work a lather while retaining the softness that made the Micro Super Future such a pleasure to use in the first place. Can I get an amen? Bringing it back for WÜRM also creates a little Phoenix continuity of our own. Astraeus was another exercise in Retro Shave Tech, taking inspiration from an unusual vintage transparent brush and pairing that visual language with modern synthetic fiber technology. Pointing out, this knot really looks great in translucent handles and it's a real daily driver too! And this brings us to the end of yet another epic, proto, PAA product description. Oh and remember: The world is WÜRM. [Specimen B1086] ...and it makes one hell of a shaving brush. "Sci-Fi Shaving at its finest, Phoenix Shaving." #JustSayNo If you like our content, you can also support ShaveSplash by buying us a cup of coffee.

Urkunet Assassin Master According to Urkunet, the Assassin Master is a complete overhaul of the original Assassin razor, with a new look and new baseplate configurations. The original Assassin had 3 plates with gaps of 1.5mm, 2.0mm, and 2.5mm while the Assassin Master plates have been revised to 1.2mm, 1.7mm, and 2.2mm. Visit Urkunet to learn more.

A&E and The Razor Company In support of September being Suicide Prevention Awareness month, on September 12th the Razor Company will launch its line of Never Alone 6 products, the proceeds of which will be donated to help support the cause. The new line will include a soap and splash collaboration with Arian & Evans and the NA6 razor manufactured by Aylsworth Razors based on the Drakkant but with an all new head design. NA6 Razor Specs: • 316 Stainless Steel • 3.75” overall length • 109 grams • 24° shaving angle • .99 mm blade gap • .125 mm blade exposure The new products will be released on September 12th at The Razor Company. Visit the Razor Company

Average Result: BBS/BBS- Composite Score: 31/40 The story of the Yaqi Bohemia, inspired by the Bohin razor, begins in 1833 in Normandy, France, where Benjamin Bohin established the Bohin metalworks. After a century spent producing mainly needles and pins, Bohin turned its attention to the shaving market in the 1930s. But the real prize was not razors. It was blades. Bohin Blades The Bohin Company Established in 1833 By 1918, Gillette was selling more than 30 million blades per year, a market that must have looked especially attractive to a company built around precision metalworking. To support its move into blades, Bohin filed a patent in 1936 for a proprietary razor design, published the following year. Rather than trying to reinvent the market, Bohin hoped to enter it with something familiar but improved. The razor accepted the standard three hole blade popularized by Gillette, while introducing a number of unusual design ideas of its own. Even the patent title was direct: “An Improved Safety Razor.” The razor appears to have been produced for roughly five to ten years and is now highly prized by collectors. Whether it truly improved upon Gillette’s design is open to debate. What is clear is that Bohin made several bold choices that were both technically adventurous and aesthetically distinctive. Bohin Razor Patent 1937 The most innovative aspect of the Bohin was its reversible base plate, which ranks among the earliest, and possibly the very first, of its kind. Each side offered a different level of efficiency, described as “close shave” and “very close shave,” although no published specifications for blade gap or exposure appear to have survived. To make the plate easily reversible, the design remained symmetrical on both sides, and that requirement may also have driven its most visually striking feature: the large, bulbous comb. It is so pronounced that it resembles the baleen of a blue whale. Open combs are generally intended to increase interaction between the blade and the skin while still providing a degree of protection. The tradeoff is usually greater raw efficiency at some cost to comfort. On most razors, the vertical height of the comb is modest, often around 1 to 2 mm, roughly the depth of a typical base plate. The extraordinary feature of the Bohemia is that its comb rises to an extremely tall 7 mm, creating a tremendous amount of surface area between the razor and the face. The base plate is also unusually wide at 26 mm, compared with roughly 25 mm for many conventional designs, which again keeps the blade farther from the skin. The result is a highly protective geometry, but one that comes with a price. The broad plate and towering comb narrow the usable cutting angle, making the optimal angle of attack somewhat tricky to find and maintain. Another defining characteristic of the Bohemia is its heft. At 131g, it feels impressively substantial in the hand. Its mass and density give it a planted, sure footed feel and allow the razor to do much of the work on a typical downward WTG pass. At the same time, that bulk can make it feel somewhat unwieldy, especially when trying to stay within its relatively narrow range of effective cutting angles. On the 0.95 mm side, efficiency is fairly modest, landing in the region of a 5 or 6 and generally producing results in the DFS+ range. Flip the plate to 1.35 mm, however, and the character changes noticeably, with efficiency rising to an 8. Unlike many designs of the period that fall into the Hybrid category, with clamp widths around 12 mm such as the Merkur 34, Bohin appears to have understood the benefits of a much wider clamp. Perhaps reflecting its metalworking DNA and understanding of metallurgy, Bohin chose a substantial 19 mm clamp width, making the design a strong Edge Clamper by ShaveSplash classification. The result is excellent blade rigidity, which, together with the protective comb and broad base plate, makes Comfort its strongest attribute at 9. The comb, however, is also something of an impediment. Combined with the razor’s girth and narrow cutting window, it makes angle control more demanding and drops Ease of Use to its weakest score of 6. Repeated shaves proved fairly predictable, with Consistency earning an 8 and bringing the Overall Composite Score to 31, squarely in premium razor territory. As for outcomes, a standard three pass WTG, XTG, and ATG shave with a Personna Diamond Gem delivered a respectable BBS/BBS- result, worthy of virtually any occasion, with strong supporting scores outside of Ease of Use. Despite its quirks, in the eyes of ShaveSplash, the Bohemia and its progenitor, the Bohin, are gems. Bohin occupies a fascinating place in the history of wet shaving, with the company surviving and thriving today even though its razor did not. Yet what makes the design most compelling is its unmistakable French Art Deco elegance. Its curves, proportions, and eye-catching base plate crystallize a moment when wet shaving and men’s grooming were closely associated with cultivation, refinement, and sophistication. Ultimately, it is that beauty, as much as the engineering beneath it, that makes the Bohemia so intriguing and so worthy of a place in the enthusiast’s collection. The Bohemia For the complete review visit here Find the Bohemia on Aliexpress

Coop The year is 1989. The “Me Generation” of Wall Street wealth, conspicuous consumption, designer labels, nightclub excess, and “dressing for success” is about to face a backlash. The 1990s usher in a generation that disavows the badges of materialism and searches for authenticity. Grunge erupts out of Seattle and in 1991 the flannel-clad Nirvana drops Nevermind like a bomb. Sensitive, self-conscious masculinity goes mainstream in Singles in 1992, with full-blown Gen X disillusionment arriving in Reality Bites in 1994. Joop! Homme, the inspiration for Coop, was released in 1989 and sits directly between these two cultural movements, with a foot in both worlds. It carries echoes of the confidence and projection of the 1980s while simultaneously hinting at the brighter, softer, more playful direction masculine fragrance would soon take in the coming decade. In the evolution of masculine fragrance, ShaveSplash sees three major historical movements: Citrus-Florals, Fougères, and New Fruits. The Citrus Floral era begins in the 18th century with Eau de Cologne, a citrusy bouquet built around bergamot, lemon, orange, and neroli, blended with orange blossom, petitgrain, jasmine, and lavender. In 1882, Houbigant invents the fougère with Fougère Royale, introducing a new paradigm of powdery lavender, dark oakmoss, and warm coumarin. The fougère movement reached its loudest expression in the late 1980s through the rise of the power scent: fragrances like Drakkar Noir, Azzaro Pour Homme, Kouros, and Tsar. Soon afterward, the fougères gave way to what ShaveSplash calls the New Fruits style, built around juicier, sweeter, lighter notes such as melon, watermelon, pineapple, plum, blackcurrant, and green apple, embodied by fragrances like Escape for Men, L'Eau d'Issey Pour Homme, CK One, and ultimately Aventus. Joop! represents a bridge between the age of power fougères and the coming evolution into the New Fruits wave. It retains much of the classical fougère architecture while introducing a brighter, sweeter, more playful modernity through fruits, spices, vanilla, and honey. Its similarity to the power fougères of the 1980s lies not only in its composition, but in its structural balance. Traditionally, a fougère is built around lavender, oakmoss, and coumarin. Joop! notably contains no lavender, yet heliotrope creates a surprisingly similar effect through its powdery, floral, almond-like softness. Patchouli provides much of the green, earthy darkness associated with oakmoss, while the heavy lean into tonka bean supplies a deeply warm coumarinic backbone so often found in the power fougères and fundamental to classical masculine perfumery. Vetiver further deepens the composition, giving the fragrance a rich masculine gravity despite its sweeter profile. Joop! ultimately feels fougère-descended. Despite its Oriental elements, including cinnamon, jasmine, and orange blossom, it transcends both categories. Where it differentiates from the classical fougères and power scents of the 1980s is in its complexity and tonal contrast. Mandarin orange and orange blossom introduce youthful brightness and softness. Honey adds richness. Vanilla contributes smooth confectionary warmth. Tobacco creates a velvety creaminess that anchors the sweetness with darker masculine depth. Phoenix Shaving’s Coop masterfully preserves the legendary projection and longevity of the original. With restrained application, the fragrance becomes less of an overwhelming power scent and more of a sophisticated bouquet balancing warmth, sweetness, florals, spice, and juicy brightness. For the collector who already owns the classic fougères and barbershop staples, Coop offers something genuinely different. That may ultimately be its greatest strength. It is familiar without being conventional, sweet without abandoning structure, modern without severing its historical roots. For the connoisseur looking to add breadth and historical perspective to a den, Coop earns its place not merely as a novelty or homage scent, but as an important evolutionary step in the story of masculine fragrance. Despite its roots in the late 1980s, it remains remarkably relevant today. The fragrance avoids feeling dated or trapped in the excesses of the power-fragrance era, instead presenting a balanced profile that still feels attractive, wearable, and contemporary, giving it a versatility many classic powerhouse fragrances lost long ago. Shave Soap Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements’ flagship CK-6 soap base is a vegan formula that founder Douglas Smythe calls the “Mystical Trifecta of Slick.” It blends three Amazonian butters, bacuri, cupuaçu, and murumuru, with shea butter, cocoa butter, jojoba oil, and glycerin to create a voluminous, high-density lather with exceptional moisturiztaion properities that offers excellent cushion, above-average slickness, and rock-solid stability. Skin Foods: Glycerin, Kokum Butter, Shea Butter, Cupuacu Butter, Jojoba Oil, Murumuru Butter, Bacuri Butter. Aftershave Skin Foods: Aloe, Vegan Liquid Silk, Bayberry Extract, White Willow Extract. Learn More about Coop at Phoenix Shaving Phoenix Shaving

The Golden Age Wet Shaver Anyone who knows Jason Miller, AKA The Golden Age Wet Shaver, knows that he is all about positivity. Jason has always been candid that his life has been filled with both tremendous joys and deep challenges, experiences that clearly inform his empathy, generosity, and soulful perspective. His passion for wet shaving, and perhaps even more importantly for the community surrounding it, is legendary. It pours out of him with an almost religious enthusiasm, punctuated by his now famous exclamation: “Shababa!” Spend any time around Jason and you can’t help but feel his acceptance, his passion, and his joy. There is a tremendous amount of Jason himself in his collaboration with Heritage Hill, aptly named The Golden Age Wet Shaver. His passion, warmth, and exuberance all seem to be captured inside the fragrance, like lightning in a bottle. It opens with energy, settles into a glowing sweetness, and finishes with an enveloping earthiness. In many ways, it smells exactly like the personality that inspired it. While the inspiration is unmistakably Jason, Heritage Hill is responsible for bringing that personality to life, masterfully blending what could easily have become competing forces into a fragrance that is bursting with character yet remarkably wearable. The composition opens with a mouthwatering burst of pomegranate, sharpened by the slight bitterness and aromatic snap of juniper. The effect is juicy, refreshing, and electric. Vanilla sugar quickly introduces a warm confectionary sweetness, deepened by an amber accord that gives the fragrance an almost caramelized glow. Violet provides a subtle floral lift around the edges, preventing the sweetness from becoming too heavy. Underneath, sandalwood creates a smooth, creamy foundation, while musk gives the composition body and a soft, hazy sensuality. Finally, oakmoss contributes a loamy green earthiness that grounds everything and makes the fragrance feel remarkably alive. Perhaps the most interesting part of The Golden Age Wet Shaver is the way it evolves. What begins bright, tart, and energetic gradually becomes warmer and richer as the amber emerges. Over the course of the wear, that initial burst of color seems to soften into a golden veil of warmth and sweetness, much like Jason himself. Jason Miller and Heritage Hill have created something genuinely distinctive, a fragrance that is bright, warm, exuberant, and overflowing with positivity. It is especially well suited to summer, yet possesses enough depth and richness to remain interesting well beyond the opening splash. A Golden Age treasure. Shave Soap For the complete ShaveSplash review visit here Find it at The Razor Company

I can’t express how excited I am about this launch. ShaveSplash: The Rabbit Hole Gen 2.0 represents a complete restructuring of the app and, in my opinion, makes ShaveSplash dramatically more useful for the wet shaving community. The biggest change is that ShaveSplash is now cloud-connected. Your entire Den now lives securely in the cloud and can be accessed from virtually any connected device at ShaveSplash.app. And that cloud connection opens up a whole new world of features. Your Den is now directly connected to the ShaveSplash BST. See something in your collection you want to sell? You can move it from your Den to the BST with just a few taps. You can also post WTBs, trades, and even PIFs for the entire community to see. Looking for something specific? Expert members can create BST alerts and receive a notification when the item they’re hunting for becomes available. Your daily Shave Logs can now be converted automatically into public SOTD posts for the community. No more recreating your shave or copying and pasting everything into another post. You can even share your Den with friends, giving other wet shavers a look at your collection through a simple web link. Gen 2.0 also adds a community forum, in-app messaging, advanced analytics, community insights, and much more while still including all of the ShaveSplash reviews, product information, collection management tools, and features you already know. And perhaps most importantly, ShaveSplash: The Rabbit Hole remains almost entirely free to use. The core experience is available to everyone, with optional Expert features for those who want even more functionality. An enormous amount of work went into Gen 2.0, including tremendous contributions from ShaveSplash members who shared ideas and helped test it, and I genuinely believe it has the potential to become something special for the wet shaving community. ShaveSplash: The Rabbit Hole Gen 2.0 is available now for iPhone and iPad on the Apple App Store. Give it a spin, build your Den, post a shave, browse the BST — and let me know what you think! Explore ShaveSplash: ShaveSplash.app Download on the App Store:ShaveSplash: The Rabbit Hole

The Design94 Infinity Average Result: BBS Composite Score: 30/40 The Infinity is a bit of an anomaly. Although it shares the same basic architecture as the classic Hybrid design, its efficiency and overall performance tend to be higher than many of the razors that share its common DNA. The defining attribute of a Hybrid is a clamp width between 12–16mm, the distance measured between the widest points at which the blade is clamped. The classic Hybrid design features two pillars, or ridges, that rise from the base plate to make contact with the top cap and secure the blade. Interestingly, the design first appeared in the UK in 1927, developed by two little-known British inventors, John Henry Morgan and Alfred Stewart Mumme. The design was later sold to Wardonia UK, which appears to have licensed it to Merkur before it eventually evolved into the legendary Model 34. Interestingly, proponents of this design language have largely been concentrated in Germany. In 2007, Mühle, working with Edwin Jagger, introduced a similar architecture with the R89/DE89. Then, in 2014, Giesen & Forsthoff launched the strikingly similar three-piece Timor. Finally, Design94 introduced its first model using the same basic architecture in 2021. All are Hybrids with clamp widths of approximately 12mm. However, despite sharing the same basic structure of twin pillars and a roughly 12mm clamp width, the Design94 is markedly different from its predecessors. The challenge common to all Hybrids is that, because the blade is clamped roughly halfway between its center and cutting edge, it tends to suffer from flex, or chatter, reducing both efficiency and comfort. This is because the blade is neither supported close to its edge nor bent sufficiently to create rigidity through torsion. The Design94 also exhibits some noticeable flex, but where it departs from the others is in its much wider blade gap and unique blade exposure. The Design94’s blade gap is a prodigious 1.1mm, a size that usually requires at least a modicum of caution and skill. Although the 34C’s blade gap is not officially published, it is believed to be around 0.70mm, similar to the Timor and Yaqi Orion, while the R89 is estimated at only 0.45mm. But the single biggest difference, and the Infinity’s defining characteristic, is its blade exposure. While the others are all neutral to slightly positive, Design94 publishes an exposure of negative 0.05mm. Or at least, that is what they say. The feel and efficiency of the Design94 simply do not suggest a razor with negative exposure, and it is ShaveSplash’s contention that, in practice, this is not really the case. On close inspection of the top cap, two raised bumps can be seen that appear to create a flat ribbon designed to control the movement of the head against the skin. If a straight line is drawn from the top of the bump to the shave guard, the resulting shave plane does indeed appear to place the blade edge behind that line, creating negative exposure. However, after numerous shaves with the Design94, ShaveSplash does not believe this is the shave plane actually utilized during the shave. The bump may instead force the skin to fold slightly lower, pushing it into the true shave plane created by the broader curvature of the top cap. Therefore, while the geometrically calculated exposure from the top of the hump may be negative, the effective exposure along the functional shave plane is positive, and by no small margin. ShaveSplash would estimate effective exposure at between +0.10 and +0.20mm, placing it in the realm of some famously efficient razors such as the Blackland Blackbird, Tatara Nodachi, Wolfman WR1 0.74, or even the Timeless 0.78. And herein lies the secret power of the Design94. Its effective exposure is formidable, and when combined with its substantial blade gap, it delivers tremendous shaving power. As a result, its Efficiency is Medium-High, scoring a 9, with an average result of BBS. However, it cannot entirely escape its Hybrid genealogy and the resulting lack of blade rigidity. Comfort noticeably suffers as a result, scoring only a 7. Consistency is sound, with repeatable and predictable results, earning an 8. But the combination of a wide gap, high effective exposure, and noticeable blade flex creates a recipe for mishaps and requires both practice and careful attention, particularly when paired with a sharp blade. Cuts, nicks, and weepers appeared during multiple early test runs, and for this reason Ease of Use was scored at 6. So while the Design94 delivers an impressively close shave, it comes at a price. Its titanium construction is precise, and its mirror polish is lustrous. At 75g, it feels nimble while still possessing enough weight to feel substantial. Essentially, it is the same razor as Design94’s first titanium edition launched in 2021, which received a Special Mention at the German Design Award in 2022. The aluminum Aviation94 and steel-headed Life series from 2023 share identical head dimensions, with a 1.1mm gap and stated exposure of -0.05mm, although the Infinity is the first to feature a 92mm handle with a new three-sided fluting pattern. In addition, the Infinity is bundled with a matching titanium stand, the first in the series to allow the razor to stand upright. Hybrid Razor Comparison Among Hybrids, its Composite Score of 30 is above the class average of 29, and it is one of only two to achieve an average result of BBS or better. The best-performing Hybrids tend to employ trapezoidal head shapes that create additional torsion and rigidity by bending the blade downward to better control flex, as seen in the Maxwell June, Yates Winning, and class-leading Stando Sarmata. Among non-trapezoidal Hybrids, however, the Infinity is the most efficient, and its Composite Score is surpassed only by the Hone Type 15, Rocnel 304, and SV 2.0, all of which emphasize Comfort and Ease of Use over outright Efficiency. For lovers of fine workmanship, innovative design, and a close shave with a healthy growl, the Design94 Infinity should be on the short list. See the full ShaveSplash Review of the Design94 Infinity here Read the Art & Science of Razor Evaluation to learn about our scoring methodology Visit Design94 to learn more about the Infinity

ShaveSplash: The Rabbit Hole Gen 2.0 is now live on Android, and I’m incredibly excited to finally share it with the community. This is easily the biggest step forward for ShaveSplash so far. Gen 2.0 takes ShaveSplash beyond being just a personal wet shaving app and turns it into a much more connected platform built around your collection, your shave history, and the community itself. At the center of the new experience is the ShaveSplash Den, which now lives in the cloud. That means your Den is no longer limited to your phone. You can access and manage it from any PC at https://shavesplash.app, making it much easier to organize your razors, brushes, soaps, aftershaves, and other gear wherever you happen to be. One of the features I’m most excited about is the new ShaveSplash Buy/Sell/Trade marketplace. Every user has access to the BST, and your Den is connected directly to it. If there’s something in your collection you want to sell, you can move it from your Den into the marketplace quickly and conveniently instead of starting a listing from scratch. The idea is to make collecting, buying, selling, and trading feel like one seamless experience. The ShaveSplash BST also includes something I think is especially useful for collectors: item alerts. With an Expert membership, you can set alerts for specific products you’re looking for and receive a notification when a matching item becomes available. So instead of constantly checking forums, Facebook groups, and marketplaces hoping that elusive razor, soap, or aftershave finally pops up, ShaveSplash can keep an eye out for you. Gen 2.0 also introduces a public forum built directly into ShaveSplash. It gives everyone a dedicated place to ask questions, share discoveries, talk about products, compare experiences, and simply enjoy the hobby with other wet shavers. Along with direct messaging, SOTD posts, and the BST, the forum helps turn ShaveSplash into a true community hub rather than just another shaving utility. Shave Logs have also become much more social. When you log a shave, ShaveSplash can automatically turn it into an SOTD-style post for the community to see. It makes sharing your shave much easier, while also helping build a broader picture of what people across the community are actually using, enjoying, buying, and rating. There’s a lot more packed into Gen 2.0 as well, including direct messaging, expanded community tools, advanced analytics, and deeper insight into community trends. The bigger idea behind all of this is to bring your Den, shave history, marketplace activity, forum discussions, reviews, and community interactions together into one connected experience. And just as importantly, ShaveSplash remains free to use for all of the core features. You can build and manage your Den, participate in the public forum, use the BST, log your shaves, share with the community, and explore the platform without a subscription. Expert membership adds premium features such as BST alerts and other enhanced tools for those who want to take things a little further. Gen 2.0 is launching on Android first, with iOS coming shortly afterward. You can download ShaveSplash: The Rabbit Hole now on Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vibecode.shavesplash And you can access ShaveSplash Community on the web here: https://shavesplash.app I’ve been looking forward to getting this version into everyone’s hands for quite a while. Gen 2.0 feels like the point where ShaveSplash really starts becoming the platform I always hoped it could be, and I’m genuinely excited to see how the community uses it. Give it a try, explore the new features, join the conversation, and please let me know what you think.

https://dogood.t2t.org/campaign/strike-gold-shave-9-11-never-forget-collection-fundraiser-2026/c813904 As we approach the 25th Anniversary of September 11, 2001, we pause to honor the lives lost, the families forever changed, and the brave first responders who answered the call without hesitation. In remembrance of this historic day, Strike Gold Shave is proud to partner with the Shave Dad Wet Shaving Forum to release a special collection of shave soaps, aftershaves, and body products. This limited-edition fundraiser is dedicated to preserving the memory of those we lost and honoring the courage, sacrifice, and resilience displayed on that day and in the years that followed. This collaboration carries special meaning, as both the founder of Strike Gold Shave and the founder of the Shave Dad Wet Shaving Forum are retired police officers who dedicated their careers to serving and protecting their communities. Together, we share a commitment to ensuring that the legacy of 9/11 is never forgotten. Tunnel to Towers was founded in honor of FDNY firefighter Stephen Siller which provides mortgage-free homes to Gold Star and fallen first responder families, supports catastrophically injured veterans and first responders, and carries forward the spirit of service and sacrifice exemplified on September 11th. Through the wet shaving community, we hope to unite people in remembrance while giving back to an organization that continues to make a meaningful difference in the lives of our nation's heroes and their families. We invite you to join us in honoring the 25th Anniversary of 9/11. The Strike Gold Shave collection will be available exclusively through Strike Gold Shave and promoted in partnership with the Shave Dad Wet Shaving Forum on Facebook. Never Forget. Honor. Remember. Give Back. About Tunnel to Towers Make a donation in support of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation. Since 9/11, Tunnel to Towers has been supporting America's first responder and military heroes. Do good and help America to Never Forget 9/11 and the sacrifices of its heroes.

Kilimanjaro Pete Hendrix made a bold and perceptive choice in selecting Byredo’s Bal d’Afrique Absolu as the inspiration for Kilimanjaro. Although the original Bal d’Afrique became enormously popular, the Absolu moved the composition in a decidedly different direction. It stepped away from the lighter, greener, more floral character of the original and moved toward a warmer amber profile with clear gourmand leanings. Two new notes were central to that transformation: praline and black amber. Both proved somewhat divisive, but together they created a fragrance that is sweet, creamy, and richly textured without becoming cloying or oppressive. Even more surprisingly, the composition remains perfectly suited to warmer weather. The quiet heart of Kilimanjaro is praline, a word many of us have heard but may not have experienced. A praline is a confection made from caramelized sugar and nuts, bringing to mind the warm aroma of the New York City street vendors who sell bags of freshly candied almonds and cashews near Central Park. Hendrix wisely keeps this note restrained. Even so, it infuses the fragrance with an unmistakable caramel richness and nudges the composition away from a traditional amber and toward the gourmand family. The other defining element is black amber, a warm and resinous accord with suggestions of dark woods, along with faint leathery and smoky undertones. It gives Kilimanjaro depth and sensuality, grounding the sweetness of the praline and lending the fragrance a darker, more sophisticated foundation. Given these two dense and sugary notes, both commonly associated with cooler weather, it feels like a bit of olfactory alchemy that Kilimanjaro remains light and gentle enough for the heat. The secret lies in two additional elements. Blackcurrant introduces a tart, sharp, and distinctly green quality. It is reminiscent of crushed fern leaves, snapped green sapplings, and dark berries still clinging to the stem. Blackcurrant also appears prominently in Creed Aventus, where it contributes to that fragrance’s unmistakable freshness and energy. A strong note of lemon then brightens the opening. It cuts through the richness of the praline and black amber while combining with the tart greenness of the blackcurrant to give the fragrance a crisp and luminous lift. Without these brighter notes, Kilimanjaro might easily have become heavy. Instead, it remains vibrant, airy, and remarkably well balanced. Pete Hendrix has created a fragrance with a genuinely distinctive place in the artisan wet shaving catalog. Gourmand compositions built around notes such as praline are difficult to execute. They can quickly become thick, overly sweet, and exhausting. Kilimanjaro avoids those traps entirely. Instead, it is playful, delectable, and delightfully unexpected. It has enough sweetness to feel indulgent, yet enough freshness to remain lively and versatile. It is equally at home during an active summer weekend, beside a fire on a warm evening, or even in a more formal setting. Kilimanjaro is special, original, and unlike nearly anything else in the artisan wet shaving world. It is also a new ShaveSplash favorite. Shave Soap Details Find Kilimanjaro at the Razor Company Read the Full ShaveSplash Review

PILS 104NL Average Result: BBS- Composite Score: 32 The PILS 104NL is, in a word, elegant. It even looks gentlemanly, with its black acrylic handle making the razor appear as though it were dressed in a tuxedo. Everything about the razor reflects quality and refinement, from its solid 112g weight to its tight tolerances, graceful curves, and restrained blade presentation. The 104NL is a variant of the iconic 101NE. Mechanically the two razors are identical, with the only difference being the handle. Instead of a solid stainless steel bar, the 104NL uses a smooth black acrylic sleeve over what appears to be a steel core. ShaveSplash chose the 104NL not only because of its distinguished appearance, but also because the acrylic wrapped handle is slightly thicker than the all steel version, which better suits our preference for larger grips. The reduction in weight from 123g to 112g also makes the razor feel a little more nimble, although the balance shifts slightly toward the head. Like the razor itself, the history of PILS is distinctive and, to some extent, mysterious. The company was founded in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1980 by Werner PILS, a former sales director in the fragrance and cosmetics industry who believed the market lacked truly premium men's grooming products. Long before artisan safety razors became commonplace, PILS was applying industrial design and precision machining to traditional wet shaving. Werner retired in 2003 and sold the company to Micha Birkhoffer, who also came from the fragrance business. Although the exact introduction date remains uncertain, the now famous 101NE appears to have entered the market during Birkhoffer's tenure in the late 2000s. Whatever its exact origins, it has become one of the longest standing designs among modern artisan safety razors and remains instantly recognizable today. The design itself is unlike anything else currently available. CNC machined from stainless steel, the 104NL is a two-piece razor in which the handle and baseplate remain permanently attached, while the handle rotates freely. As the threaded stud from the top cap engages the baseplate, the handle is simply turned to tighten the assembly. The top cap is equally distinctive, with side flanges that fold neatly over the blade. The alignment posts are located on the baseplate rather than the cap. They hold the blade securely, but the cap must be seated carefully to ensure the blade is clamped evenly. Architecturally, the 104NL is a classic Edge Clamper with a clamp width of 19 mm. The top cap is also 19 mm wide, leaving a 1.5 mm blade reveal that produces the familiar T shaped profile seen on razors such as the Wolfman. Unlike many razors, however, the baseplate contributes very little additional curvature. Even the bevel near the outer edge remains remarkably flat, allowing the blade to lie almost straight throughout its length. Because the top cap maintains continuous contact with the blade across its full width, rigidity is excellent, with only the faintest trace of blade flutter during the shave. That blade orientation defines the character of the razor. The 104NL performs best at an exceptionally shallow shaving angle, with the cap at a 15-20% degree angle from the skin and the handle approaching perpendicular to the face. Those who naturally ride the cap will adapt immediately, while shavers accustomed to steeper angles may need several shaves before finding its sweet spot. PILS publishes no technical specifications, but by observation ShaveSplash estimates the blade gap at roughly 0.6 mm with slightly positive blade exposure. Running a piece of cardboard across the shave plane supports that assessment. The engineering translates directly into the performance scores. The narrow blade gap and restrained exposure bridle Efficiency at 6, but thanks to excellent blade rigidity Comfort earns a 9. Ease of Use also receives a 9. Once the proper angle is found, the razor becomes remarkably forgiving. Consistency scores an 8 because the shallow shaving angle leaves less room for variation than razors with a more neutral geometry. The result is a Composite Score of 32, placing the 104NL toward the upper end of the BBS- category, which corresponds to a 5 on the ShaveSplash nine-point scale. The comparison that comes most readily to mind is the Karve Overlander. While both razors produce similar shave results, they arrive there through different engineering solutions. The Overlander uses an 18 mm clamp width, but pairs it with a 19.5 mm top cap that extends over the blade to provide additional support and reduce blade reveal to roughly 1.25 mm. Equipped with the 4” inch handle, it weighs 113g, almost identical to the PILS, although its balance feels noticeably more neutral. Karve Overlander Both razors display exceptional machining, beautiful polishing, and forgiving shave characteristics. Both also produce consistently close shaves without demanding perfect technique. The Overlander gradually separates itself in small but measurable ways. Efficiency is slightly higher and, with additional buffing, it can occasionally reach the BBS/BBS- category. Blade support is marginally better, which improves Comfort. Its more balanced weight benefits Ease of Use. Finally, because it naturally encourages a shaving angle closer to thirty degrees, it is easier to shave consistently, giving it a modest advantage in Consistency as well. The PILS 104NL succeeds because it offers something beyond shave performance. It has an unmistakable personality, combining elegant styling, distinctive engineering, and meticulous craftsmanship into a razor that feels genuinely special every time it is picked up. Enthusiasts who appreciate thoughtful industrial design, precision machining, and the history of modern artisan razors will find much to admire. It could easily become a daily driver for those who enjoy its shallow angle technique. For buyers searching for a single razor where absolute performance is the only priority, ShaveSplash gives a slight edge to the Karve Overlander. For those who appreciate originality as much as results, however, the PILS remains one of the hobby's true classics. ShaveSplash uses a Personna GEM Diamond Glide blade for all its testing and performs a traditional 3-pass shave. To learn more about our testing methods see here. See the Full ShaveSplash Review Here See the ShaveSplash Razor Ranking Here Read More About The Art & Science of Razor Evaluation Visit PILS to Learn More and See the Full Line Up