Monsta_AU
...can I interest you in some vintage blades?
Staff member
Forum Administrator
Grand Society
- Joined
- Feb 2, 2011
- Location
- Guildford.nsw.au
I have sourced some Gillette Goal blades through bestshave.net recently. As I am in the process of moving and blah blah blah, they have sat quietly in the stash. That was until the other day when I received a PM from a member of another forum asking me the following question:
Well, that was all the prodding I needed. I gave him my thoughts on the Rubie and mentioned although I had Goals, the opportunity to try them had not yet come up. I did however promise him that next shave, I was running with a Goal.
After my shower this morning, I dumped a 2-shave Yellow out of the Slim, and loaded a Goal. First impressions re: packaging was good. Double-wrapped paper, the inner being decent wax paper. There was 4 smaller glue spots, indicating an Indian origin. The blade itself was clean and the printing crisp.
Lather this morning was Proraso. I find that I don't like this in the cooler weather with the menthol component, but after being on La Toja stick for the last week and a half, I wanted something creamier.
Shave Details:
Blade: Gillette Goal (fresh)
Razor: Gillette Slim (Setting 6)
Lather: Proraso Original, from tube, lathered in bowl
Brush: Muhle Pure Badger
Passes: WTG + ATG + touchups
Initially, the WTG pass didn't set me on fire much. I felt a small bit of roughness, but as a few strokes kicked in I found the blade performing nicely. Ended up with a small nick just below my bottom lip, something that happens often with the menthol cool/numbing that goes with Proraso.
Once I went into XTG, this blade began to shine. Sharpness came out, effortlessly taking away what little stubble remained from the WTG pass. Still remained smooth, didn't feel any roughness.
Washdown was plain water, no AS/ASB or alum today. Result was BBS cheeks, DFS+ everywhere else. No irritation, just a good and close, comfortable shave. Now I have let my skin drydown, I might go add some Niviea ASB.
For a first shave initial impression, this reminds me of a Bleue, however sacrificing the facial feedback of that blade for a bit more sharpness, and maybe losing a notch of smoothness as well. So basically, if you love Bleues but sometimes want a bit more sharpness, you are going to love the Gillette Goal. Much better value than Yellows or Blacks too.
From a value perspective, you can currently get 300 Goals from bestshave.net for USD$51.45 with free shipping. Delivery time is 2 weeks, and BestShave is a trusted vendor. This equates to AUD$46.90 at XE.com mid-market rates at the time of writing, or 15.63 cents per blade. This is reasonably close to the rate I paid for my Bleues in a 4,000 lot.
Generally, I can recommend these blades. I feel they should suit most people wanting something a touch sharper but still want the smoothness. If they do not suit you, then you can probably swap them to someone who does like them, they are a reasonably in-demand blade.
Well, that was all the prodding I needed. I gave him my thoughts on the Rubie and mentioned although I had Goals, the opportunity to try them had not yet come up. I did however promise him that next shave, I was running with a Goal.
After my shower this morning, I dumped a 2-shave Yellow out of the Slim, and loaded a Goal. First impressions re: packaging was good. Double-wrapped paper, the inner being decent wax paper. There was 4 smaller glue spots, indicating an Indian origin. The blade itself was clean and the printing crisp.
Lather this morning was Proraso. I find that I don't like this in the cooler weather with the menthol component, but after being on La Toja stick for the last week and a half, I wanted something creamier.
Shave Details:
Blade: Gillette Goal (fresh)
Razor: Gillette Slim (Setting 6)
Lather: Proraso Original, from tube, lathered in bowl
Brush: Muhle Pure Badger
Passes: WTG + ATG + touchups
Initially, the WTG pass didn't set me on fire much. I felt a small bit of roughness, but as a few strokes kicked in I found the blade performing nicely. Ended up with a small nick just below my bottom lip, something that happens often with the menthol cool/numbing that goes with Proraso.
Once I went into XTG, this blade began to shine. Sharpness came out, effortlessly taking away what little stubble remained from the WTG pass. Still remained smooth, didn't feel any roughness.
Washdown was plain water, no AS/ASB or alum today. Result was BBS cheeks, DFS+ everywhere else. No irritation, just a good and close, comfortable shave. Now I have let my skin drydown, I might go add some Niviea ASB.
For a first shave initial impression, this reminds me of a Bleue, however sacrificing the facial feedback of that blade for a bit more sharpness, and maybe losing a notch of smoothness as well. So basically, if you love Bleues but sometimes want a bit more sharpness, you are going to love the Gillette Goal. Much better value than Yellows or Blacks too.
From a value perspective, you can currently get 300 Goals from bestshave.net for USD$51.45 with free shipping. Delivery time is 2 weeks, and BestShave is a trusted vendor. This equates to AUD$46.90 at XE.com mid-market rates at the time of writing, or 15.63 cents per blade. This is reasonably close to the rate I paid for my Bleues in a 4,000 lot.
Generally, I can recommend these blades. I feel they should suit most people wanting something a touch sharper but still want the smoothness. If they do not suit you, then you can probably swap them to someone who does like them, they are a reasonably in-demand blade.
