Janus Razor Shave Experience

Mine had the uneven doors which is was led to me returning it. Otherwise I thought it was an incredible job.

First shave with the Janus was pleasant. I usually shave on ~48hrs growth, but I couldn’t wait to test it out. Even on 24hrs growth it impressed. 

There is certainly blade feel, but by using a steep angle I could really control it. It was also very smooth using this technique, likely because of those rounded safety bars. I had to be VERY conscious though, as I felt any lapse in attention would lead to blood. I don’t really have any razors like that in my den, and they don’t tend to stay. 

I started with setting one... pretty good, a safe place to start. Bumped up to 9 and it was certainly more aggressive but not by much. Dropped to 5 and I couldn’t make it comfortable. Tried 3 and it seemed just right. 

So I got a little wild and weird and things still turned out ok! No irritation and the efficiency seems fantastic. In a couple days I’ll try sticking to 7 and 4 and see how it goes. 

I did have to keep adjusting the safety bar. As I pushed it down to even it out on one side, it would pop up on the opposite side diagonally. Odd. 

I received my Janus in the mail this morning as it seemed the border agents all wanted to have a look and had been holding onto it for the past few weeks. I did a thorough inspection of the razor and am both impressed and disappointed. 

First, the razor feels solid and mechanically sound. The toggle and adjustment dial are both satisfying to use. Yes the numbers are faint, but I don’t really shave in the dark so I’m not too bothered. The grip feels great, however I am worried about once it is wet. 

There are some issues with the razor. The doors seem slightly ajar when closed. The safety bar also seems misaligned but I have not tried it with a blade in yet. There are some scratches, both inside near the toggle stem and on the actual toggle. The finish on the razor is equivalent to a GC84 I owned in the past. Not impressive, but certainly not bad. 

Overall, even with its quirks, it looks attractive. I’ll shave later today as my CG level 3 hasn’t left me with much this morning. 

I'm sorry but this just has to be said... How does this razor make it out of QC? Makes absolutely no sense to me especially since there were only 50 razors that were released!! There is absolutely no excuse for this and just plain sloppy for a $600 razor!!

AQU  Have you been in contact with Eric about this? You seem so calm about all the problems with your razor, how is that ?

I received my Janus in the mail this morning as it seemed the border agents all wanted to have a look and had been holding onto it for the past few weeks. I did a thorough inspection of the razor and am both impressed and disappointed. 

First, the razor feels solid and mechanically sound. The toggle and adjustment dial are both satisfying to use. Yes the numbers are faint, but I don’t really shave in the dark so I’m not too bothered. The grip feels great, however I am worried about once it is wet. 

There are some issues with the razor. The doors seem slightly ajar when closed. The safety bar also seems misaligned but I have not tried it with a blade in yet. There are some scratches, both inside near the toggle stem and on the actual toggle. The finish on the razor is equivalent to a GC84 I owned in the past. Not impressive, but certainly not bad. 

Overall, even with its quirks, it looks attractive. I’ll shave later today as my CG level 3 hasn’t left me with much this morning. 

I'm sorry but this just has to be said... How does this razor make it out of QC? Makes absolutely no sense to me especially since there were only 50 razors that were released!! There is absolutely no excuse for this and just plain sloppy for a $600 razor!!

AQU  Have you been in contact with Eric about this? You seem so calm about all the problems with your razor, how is that ?

I haven’t been in contact yet. I plan to shave a few more times with it this week and then will call him and have a nice discussion about the razor. I really do think in a different year this razor is produced properly and with less issues.

As for being calm, I’m not sure, I guess I feel confident in Eric’s ability to offer refunds within 30 days much like other vendors in this field.

Well I showed my Janus to a certain razor maker today whose opinion on machining and finishing I certainly trust and J said that he was impressed, he thought the finishing was better than the first razors he made. He also thought that the fit and tolerances were good. He really liked the handle knurling. Anyways just thought I’d share that someone who makes high quality razors thinks that Janus is off to a good start for a first attempt


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Had a great shave this morning on 2 days growth. Went 7-4-2 using a steep angle. 

To keep it short:
- 7 felt like a Blackbird but slightly more efficient. I was a little surprised at how much it mowed down.
- 4 felt And performed like my General V2 on the second pass. 
- Cleanup was with 2 and I don’t think it was efficient enough at that point for some of my whiskers. A bit like Karve OC B I owned over a year ago.  
**note: these are not side by side comparisons, just my memories and memory can be fickle.


11 hours later the hair has started to return ever so slightly. Some areas where I must have got the angle just right are as smooth as when I shaved this morning. 

The knurling works for me, however the extra space between the blade and the edge of the razor gave me trouble for getting the hairs right up against my nose. I usually use the corners of the blade to clean up those areas, so I’ll have to adjust my technique. 


Saturday’s shave I’ll aim to try 8 and 6 for a two pass. We’ll see how it feels, but I’m enjoying the razor immensely. 

My shave today was ok. My last two shaves were with an Astra SP and today I swapped in a Voskhod which I can usually get a smooth shave with. 

8 was fine, but I think I prefer it on setting 7. 

I did a second pass on 6 but struggled to keep the angle. 

I ended up doing a final pass on 4 which was as good as I remember.

I may go back to the Astra for the next shave and try 7-7-4 or even 4-4-4. 

One thing I noticed is that the top cap doesn’t even touch my face. It makes things difficult when the razor is inverted to use on my neck as there’s nothing really to keep the blade from biting. See below:



What experiences are others having?

Not going to do any full report. But I’ve had a couple more shaves with it. The Janus on 5 shaves similar to a Toggle on 7. The Toggle is smoother and more of a tug feeling when cutting. The Janus is more sharp and efficient. After 3 passes they felt almost identical in results. They just got there differently. I’ve shaved on 2, 4, and 5 now after my very first pass on 6 being a little much. 5 is my perfect. 2 was less sharp and efficient than I desire. 3 would be ok for daily shaves. Haven’t shaved on 4 but I think it would be good on 2 day growth we’re I want less exposure. The razor is coming into its own for me. I should probably compare the Janus and Rocnel Sailor. They are both sharp and aggressive.

Not going to do any full report. But I’ve had a couple more shaves with it. The Janus on 5 shaves similar to a Toggle on 7. The Toggle is smoother and more of a tug feeling when cutting. The Janus is more sharp and efficient. After 3 passes they felt almost identical in results. They just got there differently. I’ve shaved on 2, 4, and 5 now after my very first pass on 6 being a little much. 5 is my perfect. 2 was less sharp and efficient than I desire. 3 would be ok for daily shaves. Haven’t shaved on 4 but I think it would be good on 2 day growth we’re I want less exposure. The razor is coming into its own for me. I should probably compare the Janus and Rocnel Sailor. They are both sharp and aggressive.

Tuned in for that comparison. What setting do you typically run the Sailor on?

Not going to do any full report. But I’ve had a couple more shaves with it. The Janus on 5 shaves similar to a Toggle on 7. The Toggle is smoother and more of a tug feeling when cutting. The Janus is more sharp and efficient. After 3 passes they felt almost identical in results. They just got there differently. I’ve shaved on 2, 4, and 5 now after my very first pass on 6 being a little much. 5 is my perfect. 2 was less sharp and efficient than I desire. 3 would be ok for daily shaves. Haven’t shaved on 4 but I think it would be good on 2 day growth we’re I want less exposure. The razor is coming into its own for me. I should probably compare the Janus and Rocnel Sailor. They are both sharp and aggressive.

Tuned in for that comparison. What setting do you typically run the Sailor on?

Very interested to see this comparison as well.


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