Got the envoy yesterday and today I got around doing a first shave with it.
First up the soap, love the scent and performance very nice overall slickness, cushion, nice post shave feel. Most likely I will be ordering some this week.
The first impression with the Envoy.
To me it is the nicest razor out there. Lovely machining, perfect weight, fittings, balance and knuckling. The grip is just second to none. Beautiful all round razor.
I was greatly surprised to see that it was not as aggressive as my Rex on setting 3 (riding the cap as with the Rex I had). However, it does have a lot more blade feel than what I like. While it was a trouble free shave, it was not the smoothest by far.
Personally I find the blade feel excessive for what I like, leaving a slight soar feel after the shave. The alum block was a bit vocal in some areas that I had to insist a a lot more than usual.
To me, it felt like setting 7-8 on a Fatboy with the performance of setting 3 (perhaps a bit lower). Most likely due to the blade angle with which the razor holds the blade, exposure, and having to ride the cap as opposed to having a natural shave angle given by how the blade sits on the razor. While with the fatboy on setting 3 I hardly have to insist on some troublesome areas, I did have to insist with the Envoy. The end result, a bit of irritation here and there but nothing to write home about. The shave not as close as with my other razors but, let’s be realistic, it was my first shave with it.
Tomorrow I will do a shootout: the Envoy vs the game changer and share impressions.
Greetings from Santa Rosa, CA