Janus Razor Shave Experience

So, I got my Janus adjustable razor in the mail yesterday.  It’s been almost exactly a year since I first saw the prototype at Maggards Meet.  It’s a great looking razor and I’m happy to finally have it.

The shave went really well, giving me a BBS on first use.

Razor - Janus Razor adjustable
Blade - Astra Blue, 1st use 
Brush - Mozingo Blue Pearlescent “Stubby” style, 30 mm ZT2
Soap - Ethos Succes (Pineapplr Noir) soap
Aftershave - Ethos Succes (Pineapple Noir) skin food

https://imgur.com/gallery/iA1Xtdd

I did a 2 pass shave with additional clean up.  1st pass WTG was set to level “6.”  With Gillette adjustables I usually like setting “7,” but I heard this has been dialed up for super efficient lovers.  Starting on “6” was decently comfortable, but with more blade feel than I like.  First pass was extremely efficient.  However, I’m glad I had a great soap with string cushion and sufficient slickness. I imagine I might have been uncomfortable with an average soap. 2nd pass, I bumped the level down to “5.”  It was extremely enjoyable for me.  I may have been influenced by the relative feel from the first pass.  However, upon further shaves I’ll explore if this is the perfect setting for me.  The “6” had more blade feel than a 1.25 WR2.  The “5” was smooth like the 1.15 WR2, RS-10 Aggressive, or Paradigm Diamondback 2020 (used all but 1 shave the last 2 months). Again I’ll explore more soon and possibly even do some comparison shaves with other razors.  These recent adjustables (New Rocnel Sailor too) seem to be ratcheting up the aggressiveness and efficiency.  A little too much for be, but people chasing 1.35 - 1.55 WR2 razors will mostly lonely enjoy them.

The Janus is attractive to me and really solid feeling in the hand.  It appears very well made.  However, I fear some will immediately attack it for not bring mirror polished.  Their are machine marks in a few places, especially near the Toggle.

https://imgur.com/gallery/uQWFb0k

The polish has some texture to it in other areas as well.  You can see it best on the doors.

https://imgur.com/gallery/XYylhpL

I don’t think it’s as well polished as the Diamondback 2020.  The Diamondback is on the left.

https://imgur.com/gallery/cqKnY5S

Here’s some comparison shots to the Diamondback and an F4 Toggle.

https://imgur.com/gallery/TghKzF8

Nice review. Waiting to get mine on Monday 6/1.

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

Good review my friend and yes It is exactly a year since we all met up at the Maggard Shave Meet and I brought the prototype back to Eric at the meet up. So it looks close to the F4 Toggle in size which is considerably smaller than the prototype which seemed so much bigger than the vintage F4 in photos I have stored. So far I'm hearing differences in opinion on the finish from folks that also have theirs already. I'm hoping it doesn't vary from razor to razor and if so maybe a subject that should be brought to Erics attention. I know everyone's face and beard is different but if you felt a decent amount of blade feel on setting 6 comparable to a WR2 1.25 then it would seem like some of the smoothness has been lost comparing it to the prototype and that concerns me as I had more than a few shaves with the prototype set on 9 and there was very little blade feel with WR2 1.35 SB efficiency. Mines being delivered today ( Monday) and I haven't shaved since Friday morning so I'll have a good amount of growth by the time I get home from work tomorrow and I'll shave with it starting on Max setting and go down from there to feel the full spectrum of blade feel throughout the settings. Glad you got your order and the products are working for you. Great photos and I'm looking forward to more photos and seeing some more of your extensive brush collection.

Let me point out that in the last year since the Janus prototype there have been several razors that have upped it in terms of efficiency (Sailor, Tiaga, everyone ordering WR2 135-155), smoothness (2020 Diamondback) and polished mirror finishes (2020 Diamondback). Also there have been increased pricing (think $450 for the Sailor) tolerated by some in their "high end" purchase. None of these razors (DB, Sailor, Tiaga) were available when the Janus prototype was making its rounds (early 2019) so it has a whole new range of competition.

A bit confused......you labeled one of the pictures as a comparison of the Diamondback and an F4 Toggle, but the razor in the photo is clearly the Janus and not an F4 toggle. I think you got Frank confused, too, because he mentioned the size of it in his post, saying it was much smaller than the prototype based on the "F4 toggle" in your pics. Am I missing something? I have no doubt that it is smaller than the prototype, but I don't see any F4 toggle in any of your pictures. If you have one, a side-by-side of the Janus and the F4 original toggle would better show a size comparison.

Thanks for the review.

A bit confused......you labeled one of the pictures as a comparison of the Diamondback and an F4 Toggle, but the razor in the photo is clearly the Janus and not an F4 toggle. I think you got Frank confused, too, because he mentioned the size of it in his post, saying it was much smaller than the prototype based on the "F4 toggle" in your pics. Am I missing something? I have no doubt that it is smaller than the prototype, but I don't see any F4 toggle in any of your pictures. If you have one, a side-by-side of the Janus and the F4 original toggle would better show a size comparison.

Thanks for the review.

Swipe left. There are more photos in that one. It’s a series of 5

Oh, duh.

Sorry for the denseness of my mind today.

It definitely looks like a more desirable size than the prototype.

Is the gillette toggle a favorite of yours, or a razor to which you return frequently? Maybe after you get more experience with the Janus you can let us know how the two compare for you?

First, a little background.  I’m not a seasoned reviewer and my photograph was with an iPad and no light box or real setup expertise.  My go to daily driver for well over a year has been a Timeless Titanium 0.68 SB, which gives an easy comfortable and DFS or better 3 pass shave.  I also occasionally venture to an Old Type, Goodwill, New, Red and Flare Tip Superspeed, and Tech.  My typical blades are GSB, Nacet, Personna red and Feather in no particular order.

On to the shave.  I used the Janus at setting 3, Simpson Duke 3 best brush and D R Harris Arlington soap.  The Janus has a nice weight and felt well balanced to me, but surprisingly slippery which was easily cured by running my slightly wet fingers over the alum block.

This razor has significantly more blade feel and blade exposure than I am used to.  But not uncomfortably so.  My first with the grain pass made it very clear that even at 3 this razor can cut.  One pass with the grain was better than socially acceptable.  My next pass ear to nose (ATG on my neck, XTG everywhere else) easily got me to DFS.  However I saw blood for the first time in a very long time.  Next pass partially ATG and partially XTG made my face feel like glass.  The styptic pencil easily took care of the nicks and weepers.  Testing with the alum block was surprisingly sting free. 

My overall impression without having dialed in this razor is that it can cut, has some blade feel and probably a lot at the higher settings , but was still smooth overall.  It can easily deliver a BBS shave.  I will likely dial this back to 2 next time.

With more and more ultra efficient razors coming to market, I felt relatively secure in knowing that the adjustable aspect would allow for the flexibility that an ultra efficient 3 piece razor would not.  I feel confident that I can use this as a daily driver and as I dial it in avoid the styptic pencil

Excellent initial reviews, Gents. Bravo....

I wish somebody would post an "unboxing" video or just a video showing the razor. Eventually, I'd love to also see a shave video. It kind of surprises me that the only videos on YouTube currently available are the ones Eric posted a long, long time ago.