Always happy to receive some freebies. I knew before I started reviewing products for a living that some folk out there get free boxes of stuff to review. Never happened to me before, all the things I review I have to get reimbursed for, but the fine folks over at Dorco have sent me a goodie box, straight from their Lucky 7 line, and it seems to be right up my alley. Needless to say, this review cannot be entirely unbiased, but I will do my darndest to make it as fair and to the point as I possibly can. Knowing how flowery my writing can be sometimes I don’t expect to succeed in making the review to the point, but I am fairly confident you can trust my opinions of these fine products.
So let’s itemize this box. Contained here is a pair of mentholated shave cream tubes, a Dorco Pace 6, a Lucky Tiger pack that contains their branded shaving cream, their branded after shave and a Dorco Pace 7, with 8 cartridges. Another case contained the Dorco Prime, an old school designed double blade, with 30 replacement razors, a maintenance box and mirror. All in all a fine array of products to get stuck in to.
If you have read any of my previous reviews of shaving products then you should be familiar with my methodology, for those who aren’t it is as follows. Application of exfoliant and removal, application of warm shaving cream, a three pass shave, with the grain, perpendicular, and against the grain, finally the application of a menthol balm to assure as little irritation as possible. I have been shaving like this for years, and if provides the closest of shaves, with the minimum of problems. With a while new set of products to test I have to change that, or slot different products into different steps.
Outside the boxes – Creams and a Pace 6
I have a whole review dedicated to the Dorco Pace 6. I absolutely adore the thing, a smartly design 6 bladed razor, that was for a time my personal favorite. I have used the Pace 6 many times in the past, so am intimately familiar with the quality and feel of the shave. What I have not done in the past is used it with a brand related shaving cream. Personally I use the cheapest shaving cream I can get. I spray it into a mug of hot water and left it become luxurious. I honestly didn’t think it mattered. I am happy to say that I was quite wrong in that regard. Foams are good, creams are better.
In the past I have tried out all kinds of tricks, mostly when I ran out of foam. I have used just water, soap, shampoo, conditioner, moisturizer, you name it I have at one point or another used it to shave. When you find yourself bereft I recommend conditioner as the best option. The Mentholated Shave Cream by Dorco is like a subtle blend of moisturizer, conditioner and shaving foam. It lathers up well, while and the menthol makes you feel fresh. Most surprising for me was how clean the strokes were. My bladed glided along the skin, removing the hair and the cream, making it super easy to see where I am in the shave.
Overall I was impressed, but I don’t think it’s for me. In a review of just that product it would have done wonderfully, but I got a whole box of stuff, and there was one other shaving cream in it. I highly recommend giving cream a go, the Dorco brand Mentholated Shaving Cream is $6 so well worth it as an entry level product.
Back to the Future – Dorco Prime
Now this was something I was excited to try out. The Dorco Prime is as old school as it gets, a classic double sided blade design straight out of Dorco’s 1950 days. Just look at the thing, it is gorgeous. In the box is 30 replacement blades, the handle and a handy compact, that can store your handle and has a nice mirror. Real thought went into the contents of this starter set, an eye towards not only value but portability as well. So let’s look at the handle first.
I had never used one of these before a few days ago. Didn’t know what to expect. The first thing you’ll notice when you pick up the handle is the heft. It is divine, a real solid weighty build that feels sturdy and dependable. It is one of the few downsides to modern shaving that so many of the products on the market lack weight. Fitting a blade was easier than I thought it would be, there is a small section at the bottom of the handle that spins, opening up the top section. Just slide a double ended blade on there and close it up.
So the shave. I am a proponent of the multi bladed razor. I dislike feeling any stubble on my face whatsoever. So I went into this shave expecting to be a little disappointed. The moment to moment use of this blade is far and away better than anything I have used in the past. It is a breeze, and the difference in weight is a big part of that. The grooved texture metal of the handle allowed me to maintain an easy grip and not once did I worry about cutting myself, even in tricky areas. My actual three pass shave resulted in a close shave, not the closest I have ever had, but a damn good one. I realize I am more than a little bit picky when it comes to my end result, the vast majority of shavers out there don’t mind if they run their hand against the grain when they’re done and feel a little stubble.
One of the great things about the old school design is how easy it is to do a clear. Just unscrew the bottom and you can get all of the hair removed from the blade in a thrice. The double ended nature of the device means that each blade nets you a little under ten shaves too, assuming you make use of your case to protect it from the elements. The starter set comes with 30 blades, so a $20 purchase of the starter set has the potential to last you the guts of a year.
There are downsides to the Dorco Prime. The single bladed nature means that it will never give me personally the shave I want, but that is offset by all of the positives. Longevity, heft, price, dependability and portability. There are few out there that can match the Dorco Prime in those areas, and I know, I’ve looked.
You can check out the Dorco Prime with all available discounts by clicking here.
Lucky 7 Dorco Shaving Set
I couldn’t think of a clever subtitle for this section. I was too enamored of the products. The Lucky Tiger Shaving set is amazing. Here we have four items. Shaving Cream, Aftershave, a Dorco Pace 7 Handle, and eight Dorco Pace 7 blades. Again, if you have read my other shaving reviews you will know that the Dorco Pace 7 is my blade, the one I used three times a week, give or take, and the end result of my shave is perfection. It’s the two new things here I will be focusing on.
I have used all kinds of shaving products, narrowing down my preferences over the last fifteen years, ending up with a process that lacked aftershave. That, as it turns out was a mistake, and one that is fairly common. Aftershave is an essential part of the shaving process, especially for those of us who reuse our razors and blades. It acts as an antiseptic, and the more you reuse your blades the more bacteria is likely to be on them. A quick splash of the good stuff is more than enough to kill off what’s on your face.
The Luck Tiger brand products here are new to me. The first thing that struck me when using them was the smell. It’s like citrus and spices and all kinds of things, absolutely amazing. Both the cream and the aftershave smell pretty much the same, so you are going to smell like them, best to find a complementary deodorant. The quality of the cream here is the reason I could not recommend the mentholated cream above, in terms of use they are essentially the same, but the ingredient set and the smell of this one puts it a cut above, though at three times the price one would expect the quality to be commensurate.
The cream and the aftershave both have Calendula in them, I have gone on at length about how cool this stuff is. It not only helps sooth the skin, but can facilitate the closing of wounds, in the off chance that you cut yourself. Olive oil fruit extract, chamomile and borage oil round out the Lucky Tiger Shaving cream, allowing the blade to glide, your skin to be soothed and moisturized. The aftershave lacks the olive oil fruit extract, substituting aloe vera, to really sooth the aches and prevent burn.
The shave I got when all three products combined was literally the best of my life. With the Dorco Pace 7 I knew I was in for a good time, but the addition of the Lucky Tiger brand items really elevated the experience. My skin was smooth and unblemished, I could feel no stubble and I smelled amazing. The only minor downside might be the price. The set individually is worth $70, so the fact that the box set is $49.50 is a bargain, but it might put a few folk off.
You can check out all the available Dorco Deals including $15 off a purchase of $40 or more by clicking here.
Lucky 7 Conclusion
Considering what you get, the asking price is well worth it. No where else offers the quality here. No other company has a seven bladed razor for a start, and as a result it is quite impossible to get a closer shave with another firm. The added bonus of the Lucky Tiger brand gear is the icing on the cake.
