I used to use straight razors but never had the time to really get into sharpening my blades so I went to the next best thing, a safety razor. My first was the Edwin Jagger De89lbl and my second razor was a Parker99R. The Emperor Augustus is my third and I really love this thing. I broke my Parker last night and ordered the Emperor immediately and received it this afternoon and had to try it out. Very little face prep, just wiped down my face with a hot towel and used my trusty Dirty Bird scuttle to froth my soap. I love that thing.

I misread how the adjustment worked and made it a bit too aggressive but it didn't take long for me to realize my error. I find that opening the butterfly and setting the adjustment and closing it again works best for me. When you're in a hurry and don't have time to properly prep, setting to a milder number is WONDERFUL. As I get more familiar with this instrument I'm sure I'll be making adjustments for different stages of my shave and I really love having that option.

I'm sure there are a lot of adjustable safeties out there but this thing is so easy to use and I love the heft of it, too; and the grip is sure. Since I've only had this thing barely a day I may have more to add later, but right now I'm very glad I broke my Parker. It was a great excuse to treat myself with the Augustus.

Edit 8/15/2020

It's been over a year since I purchased this blade. I'm even happier now with my Augustus than the day I received it.

I'm no shaving expert, but because I'm a straight-razor flunkie I do have a few extra items. I have a scuttle, shaving cup, shaving brush and I use shaving soap. All those things make for a better shaving experience when used properly.

1. I have those really nice Israeli blades but I have some Shark blades and I thought I'd give those a go again because they didn't do as nice a job in my old safeties like my Edwin Jagger. With the Augustus, at least when the blades were new, I noticed no real difference. The Shark's might still dull faster, I'm not sure. I'm still experimenting with that.

2. For the Augustus, being an adjustable razor is its most important and useful feature. I find that if I let my beard grow out too much, placing the Augustus on its most aggressive rating works wonders, and with later passes reduce that aggression to allow for a closer shave. YMMV on that and everyone's beard is different, but that works for me.

3. When inserting the blade, its best to put the blade on it's most aggressive setting, which allows the door to open its widest. Then seat the blade and back off the aggression about 3/4 (around 6 or 7) before closing the blade. This allows the clamshell to close without catching on the blade.

4. I wipe down my Augustus with toilet paper to soak up any water before storing.

5. The workmanship is excellent. I've experienced no issues, and it looks as nice as the day I received it. The blade settings is easy to set and is numbered to help you remember what works for you for any situation. I've not experienced any binding on working parts at all.

6. The feel of this blade in my hand is just right. It's heavy enough that it's weight applies enough pressure to do the work and the handle is grippy and comfortable.

7. I think the craftsmanship on this blade is so good I kept the box it came in and use that to store my blade in my office, away from humid air in the bathroom, because the box and razor looks so nice together. That's just me being weird, I suppose.

For item 2, sometimes I have to wipe off my face with a towel and re-apply soap before continuing on my first pass if my beard's gotten away from me (a week's growth) and I've only been able to prep my face with a warm-hot towel for 2 minutes or so. A hot shower does wonders for face prep.

I just wanted to let anyone know who might be interested in the Augustus that I found it worthwhile to come back here a year later to relate how happy I am with mine.

In case some of you were wondering, if I have such a nice blade why do I let my beard grow out for a week or more? Blame my laziness and working from home so much in today's crazy world. I didn't know this would become a problem, but my Augustus helps me makes up for some of my personal shortcomings.

I have had a cheap safety razor for the longest time and it worked... and that's about it, like, it was 100 times better than disposable blades, but oh boy, this safety razor ROCKS! It is an experience! Like, yes, it is more expensive and it does the same thing... kind of. The butterfly opening is just so pleasing. It feels heavy in your hand which makes it feel expensive. The colors are beautiful. The hairs don't get stuck on top of the blade and you don't have to constantly keep opening it like the one I had before. It has two sides! One for sensitive skin which I use on my neck, and one for the rest of the face. I only use the sensitive side haha! This gives you the closest shave possible. My old one could never do what this one does. It is so easy to dry and make your blades last longer. I enjoy shaving every time now. You do feel like an emperor when you do it. It's so empowering. I've never been the guy who needs these things to feel masculine, but man, this makes me feel like a man. I know this is going to last me years. To me, this is worth the investment, and also you get all the nice features and it really isn't that much. There are other safety razors out there that are like 3 times the price of this one and have all the same nice features.

If you can afford it, give it a try.

VIKINGS BLADE "˜The Emperor' Review

TLDR: Nirvana, maybe.

I really want to make sure everyone here understands that while I'm very partial to this brand by now, and that you've seen me heap praise on them, I don't get one single thing from VIKINGS BLADE. Nada. Nothing. If I ever did, I'd be very up front about that, but as it is, this is a completely honest an off-the-cuff observation of the razor as I know it right now (I'll be updating this tomorrow).

Okay, now that the official "˜I don't work for them or get kickbacks' statement is out of the way, lets get on with the observations.

Close your eyes and take yourself back to your best Christmas; the one you were most excited about. You just knew that you'd be having the greatest day ever, tomorrow. Tomorrow"¦ it seemed so very far away, and you were just giddy with excitement. That's me. Tonight. But the day didn't start out that way. But let's back up almost a month, because that's where this all begins.

One of my most treasured friends, a big "˜ol Texas boy had a birthday coming up. He's a good bit younger than I am, but we share a lot of common ground, and he's recently become a daddy, and I adore his wife, she's an incredible person. I can only imagine how much I'd dote on his little one if I were nearer. This is a beautiful family. I suppose I am doling out praise to show how much he means to me. He's a good man. In fact, he's a member of this group.
Anyway, being that it was the occasion of his birthday, and knowing his overt love of all things masculine I was searching my brain trying to dig up something he might enjoy. That's when it dawned on me that a razor might be the deal. Very masculine, and very much something that if you like, becomes something you have for ages and continues to be useful and enjoyable.

What razor? I've already gotten a couple of different razors by this point though I was still figuring all of this out, but I had some idea about what things to look for. I know what makes an adequate one and what makes a nice one. I have discovered the VIKINGS BLADE and since he's genuinely a descendant of the Vikings (ethnicity, not football team) I can't resist landing on that brand. Hmmm"¦ what to get"¦ Awww hell, why not? I go for the Emperor. Why? I dunno, it just seemed like one that'd be worth having; a really nice gift. And in the grand scheme of things, it isn't really all that expensive. A worthy investment, I think. I pull the trigger.

Secretly, I kept wondering what that one was all about. I bought the Chieftain JR and loved it. Then I bought the Baili Classic Long Handle which is identical to the VIKINGS BLADE Godfather (which sells for more than 3x as much), and I've recently purchased their Vulcan, which is, in a word, incredible. On a whim, I succumbed to the curiosity and ordered an Emperor for myself. I really wasn't overly excited about getting it as I loved my Vulcan so much. To be honest, I almost forgot I'd ordered it and checked on something else, from work, when I noticed that it was supposed to deliver today. "Hmm, well, we'll see" I thought, and dismissed it.

When I walked through the front door I saw the silicone whiskey ice cube molds that I'd ordered (I'll be putting that to good use in a bit), a bunch of surprisingly robust metal decanter labels, and the box for the Emperor. There it was. Something in me lurched a bit, you know, when you know you have a treat waiting but you hold off and savor the anticipation. And yes, I fully recognize that I'm a weirdo for getting excited about a razor. Shut up.
I wash out the cube trays and fill them, then walk them out to the garage to the freezer. I unpack my stuff from the day, put my keys in their assigned cubby along with my sunglasses. I give the pups a little love and say hello to the boys, who know full well what that box contains and are completely aware of my recent obsession with razors. They don't quite get it, but that's okay. I'm fine with this. They have theirs and they seem happy enough with them.
But there sit I. Now looking at the box. Okay, let's do this. I walk over and pick the box up. Whoa. This box is *heavy*. Why is it so heavy? What's in there? I sit down at my little rough-reclaimed wood table, flip on the overhead light, and begin unboxing. The design on the box is different than the Vulcan, and I'm impressed by that. It's a bit of nice art. It doesn't really amount to anything except for the experience of opening it for the first time, and I really, truly appreciate when manufacturers do that. It really does make things special for a person like me who's excited to be doing this.

Sliding the inner box out of the outer jacket finds me greeted with a nicely crafted and finished brown faux leather box with a magnetic flap to keep it shut. A brown ribbon protrudes by which to pull the flap up. I accept the invitation and pull it open and what I reveal is"¦ it's just beautiful. I am not writing hyperbolically when I tell you this is truly a work of art. The Vulcan is a beautiful razor, but this is in a completely different class. The most striking difference is its frosted finish; it is matte silver. It looks for all the world like a warrior's weapon which has been crafted by a very skilled smith. I admire it for a moment, in the box, and observe the markings on the butterfly doors as well as the adjustment knob at the top of the handle just under the base.

I read the label affixed to the top of the box, with the handle bright in the dark foam beneath. Again, I'm enjoying the experience of this (though to be honest I think they could have done better with that label; it was an afterthought among the rest of the kit). Once read, I decide to lift this out. I'm fully prepared to be deeply disappointed. There's no way this razor is as heavy as the box suggests; surely there's some hidden weight in the box. As I put the box in one hand, and lift the razor free with the other, I'm absolutely floored by the realization that it is, indeed, the weight of the razor which has suddenly shifted from the box hand to the now razor-equipped one. And the handle is very thick. And I can tell straight away that the grip simply won't be compromised in the slipperiest of situations. My primary criticism of the Chieftain JR is that the chrome plating rounds the edges, which ultimately compromises the grip (though I've never dropped it). This has no such compromise. The thickness of the handle coupled with the sharply checked and slightly frosted finish (which is quite similar to my SUPPLY razor) ensures that you won't be dropping this thing unless you intend to, and you'd never intentionally drop something so handsome.
You've heard me go on about razor handle length. It doesn't mean much at all when you're shaving, yet the mind does tend to want a longer handle for whatever reason. This is longer than the Chieftain JR but shorter than the Vulcan and the Baili Classic Long Handle. And a good bit shorter than the Vikings Revolution razor. It is dead in the middle of handle length but is far and away the fattest of the bunch. Frankly, this feels like the Goldilocks handle; it's just right. It's better than right, but there aren't adequate words for that and I'd feel a little absurd describing how much I enjoy the fat shaft in my hand. Yeah, I know you're thinking it. No worries. $10 is $10.

The adjustment runs smoothly, and it is interesting to see how it articulates the head (I'm not helping myself any, am I?). It has a rather large head (seriously, stop) and is quite sturdy. As I fingered the adjustment on the bottom the butterfly opened (see, told you to stop) and I was amazed at the smooth, precise, fluidity. The Vulcan is a very well put-together razor handle, but this"¦ This is completely in its own league. The Vulcan is a top of the line Toyota, but this is well into the top of the line Lexxus. They're related, to be sure, but the engineering is something completely superior. This was a handle that was truly engineered by people who were talented and really enjoyed this work. It shows. It is art.

So now that I've gushed all over this thing, I'll tell you how it shaves. Tomorrow. I want to let my beard grow in, until I have the normal shave length before writing an actual shaving review on it. But for now, I hope you enjoy the pictures.

I have a lot of things to say, so if you want the tl;dr, here it is: You want to buy this.

First things first: this is my second Vikings Blade product. I first purchased their cheaper Chieftain starter handle, and that review can be found here [https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R1ABZ8A8WBBJKW?ref=pf_ov_at_pdctrvw_srp]. While I loved it, my particular handle snapped apart at one of the two butterfly enclosures after five months, as mentioned and shown in that review. Vikings Blade contacted me and offered a fix [as can also be seen on that review], which I bartered into a free upgrade replacement to The Crusader.

Honestly? Considering this is only about 12$ more than The Chieftain, it's WORLDS better in every way, and I'd have been happy to pay for it considering the huge leap. When my Chieftain broke, I was out of town for a while and had to buy a replacement at a local shave shop; their cheapest handle was nearly 100$ and, frankly, it's a piece of garbage. It's feather-light [a bad thing, trust me], and swapping the blades is much more inconvenient than the simple butterfly enclosure on either Viking.

The Crusader is longer, heavier, grippier on the handle, and overall aesthetically more pleasing than the Chieftain. A cool bronze/black as opposed to the entirely silver look, and the material of the black handle is less slippery than the all-metal construction of the Chieftain. The head is weighted in such a way as to let you apply the minimum amount of pressure, as gravity does most of the work. Considering how sharp the blades you might be using are, you want to be able to press down as little as you can, which is much more difficult to do when your razor handle is feather-light.

Now on to the shave. Both Viking handles come with some "Mild" blades, and those are GREAT for when you're just starting out as you're much less likely to pierce the skin while you're still getting used to how different this is from disposable razors. That said, safety razors are surprisingly simple to get used to, and I didn't feel the need to buy anything other than regular double-sided blades on my next visit to a drug store.

I'm very pale-skinned, so I've always had a frustration with the leg-shaving experience: no matter how vigorous my efforts or which company's disposables I used, I could never get a close enough shave that it really mattered, because you could always see the hair that remained just beneath the reachable skin layer and it made the entire experience frustrating and somewhat fruitless. From my FIRST shave with The Chieftain, I immediately knew I'd never be going back to disposables over safety razors. I've been shaving my legs for 15 years, and I'd NEVER had a closer shave than one with a safety razor.

On top of that, get this: NO razor burn. Dealing with itching and light burning after a shave regardless of what shaving cream I used or which brand of razor I was using is just something I'd accepted as a fact of life, and the COMPLETE lack of that after just my first, clumsy foray into safety razor shaving was an awakening. All I did afterwards was put lotion on my legs, which you should be doing anyway regardless of how you shave. I'd never had smoother legs.

After dealing with The Chieftain slipping around in my hands because the handle isn't particularly grippy and it's a little too short, I would wholly recommend The Crusader as a starter instead if you have even the slightest inkling that you might never go back after starting to use a safety razor over a disposable. Obviously you'll get the best results if you're soaking in a tub so you can take your time without running water washing off whatever shaving cream you're using, but after some practice, you'll find that even in a shower you can do a fast and efficient job without slicing up your legs. That said, even in a shower vs. a bath, I *do* recommend investing in a good brush, bowl and shaving soap set [I got this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072XC76T6/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&th=1]. The action of lathering up using the brush, especially if you've been soaking for a bit, really helps bring the hairs out to make sure you're getting the closest shave you can, and the weight and length of The Crusader makes it by far the best of the now FOUR total safety razor handles I've used, including The Chieftain. Make sure you wash it out and dry it off when you're done using it to protect the metal, and it should last you a very long time.

As an extremely hair-averse freak, I'll just straight-up say that switching from disposables to safety razors irrevocably changed my life for the better, and I would recommend The Crusader as the only handle you'll ever need if you're thinking of starting down this path. I shave my legs as well as my arms and my You Knowâ„¢, so having a reliable and efficient way of removing all that hair is a huge boon. I love a ritual, so honestly I've somehow found that using The Crusader has become something that's almost fun because of all the prep I put into it. I'm a weirdo who's probably alone in that, but even then, I think the fact that this gives an absolutely killer shave is undeniable, whether you're shaving just your face or your entire freakin' body.

It was better than expected; I just received it today. I only had ASTRA blades, which are Gillete blades made in India. So I set ,the angle to 1", which isitive skin setting. Put a blade in, then tighten the blade into place. The blade setting works best if the butterfly is open and set first. Adjusting the angle while the blade is under pressure isn't very effective. To test the blade set on "1", I dry-shaved my neck and trimmed my beard edges on my face. This was a test to see if I wouldn't cut myself. On a setting of one and dry. I didn't cut myself. I felt a slight burn, but it was very mild. I could not believe the shave. I always had to buy the cheap plastic Gillette twin blade with a lube strip. If not all other razors cut me or the razor burned me badly.

This razor is very well made for the price. If you can't fork out the extreme prices, others are demanding. This is the way to go. I can't wait to use the actual blades made for this razor.

I wouldn't normally dry shave. But I needed to know if this razor was up to par. And it passed with flying colors.

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Updated review 01/19/202:
I have used this model up to setting 5 with the Astra Blades. I use Sensitive Skin Shave Cream by CREMO. I also use a little water to thin it out. I bought the non-adjustable butterfly version by Viking and nicked myself a few times. I have sensitive skin. But this model is very nice. I have never knicked myself with the Emperor Adjustable model.
If you adjust the blade. I advise you to open the butterfly and then set the adjustment. Then tighten the butterfly back down. This puts less stress on the mechanics and ensures the blade bends and adjusts.

I liked this Emperor Razor so much I bought a spare! Not that I will need it for a very long time. But I wanted to have this same model. I would love this in STAINLESS. I would pay $100 for a stainless version. The design is nice and I get a very close shave. I would love to use the Viking blades but my success with the Astra is so good I might wait. I didn't have Viking blades at first to test with. And since I haven't nicked myself with this unit with the Astra blades. I am reluctant to mess with a good thing.

If you are debating buying this. Besides Amaozn having an excellent return policy. I don't think you will return it. I bought a spare. I only ever do that when something is so good I fear years down the road it might not exist.

I am sharing my success and I have sensitive skin. I am not saying other products are not better. This combination of products helped me.