Lord Premium Safety Razor Model LP1822L aka L6

I bought my husband a Merkur for Valentine's day, 2011. He loved it so much that I bought myself one of that same model. The craftsmanship and beauty of the Merkur won me over not to mention the exceptional reviews given to the particular Merkur razors that I ended up going with. The only thing I didn't like about the Merkur was the price. The particular model Merkur I selected cost around $32 back in February. However when I purchased mine in July it had gone up to around $36 or so. Fast forward to making Christmas plans when I decided that we were enjoying the comfort of wet shaving so much that I would put together a wet shave kit for the sensitive-skinned guys on my shopping list. Feeling the pinch of the tight economy and hoping that the Merkur model I was so fond of had dropped back down in price I hopped online to Amazon only to discover that now the same model razor was going for around $42 each. No way, I thought so I went in search of a good quality, economical razor. I had completely overlooked and not even noticed the Lord before. For the price I assumed it must be a piece of junk and so I went on in search of a high quality razor even if a bit pricey. Even though the Lord was enjoying several good reviews here on Amazon I was still afraid of getting what I paid for if I went cheap. After reading everything on Amazon written about the L6 Lord though I thought it was at least worth researching a bit more. After browsing a few different wet shaving sites I decided to put my question to the wet shaving, double edge blade loving crowd at Badger & Blade. What I received back in answer to my question were many very honest opinions regarding the Lord. Firstly, the guys who responded insisted that I get the Merkur-type head of the L6 and not the tech head available on what I believe is the previous model (the L5 I think?). Overall, everything they said sounded like this was one really good performance razor that while lacking in the craftmanship and beauty as compared to a Merkur, was still nice looking. I'd like to think of it as comparing a Mercedes Benz to a Honda. I needed four shave kits and needed a good quality, nice looking razor that would look great in a shave kit, perform extremely well, and cost enough to allow room in my budget to add soaps, dishes, badger brushes, razors etc... So I took the plunge and bought four. After tucking them away in my "Christmas storage space" I pulled them out a week or so ago. My husband and I decided to pull them out of the packaging (which looked cheap anyway and had obviously bad grammar printed on the back - I'm no grammar snob but this was pretty obvious). We placed each razor in it's little decorative box to create the shave kit along with the other goodies. I have to say that I agree with the boys at Badger & Blade. The razor is heavy but not nearly as heavy as the Merkur (actually I think it's better and the Merkur is too heavy). It has a nice weighted balance and a nice overall feel to it - it doesn't feel cheap at all. It isn't tacky in the least. In fact it looks awfully good (just don't hold it next to the Merkur or it does look fairly plain). My husband and I even ran the head of the Lord against our palms to get a feel and both admitted that if it wasn't exactly the same as the Merkur it was close to it. No, the craftsmanship isn't there the way it is in the Merkur. In a few of the razors the head isn't perfectly aligned just right, the decorative pattern on the handle feels like it's going to give you a "paper cut" if you slide it through your hand too fast, and it may have a few nicks here and there. But, despite all of that it's truly a great razor. It has character, it feels balanced and friendly in your hand, and it promises to deliver a great shave which I have no doubt it will. For me it was very simple - either find an affordable razor or find some other gift to give. I've bought four and well, although I don't regret buying the two Merkur razors, they are great but for the money I do honestly believe the Lord L6s will turn out just as well (although not as pretty).P.S. I'm going to try my best to remember to come back and update after the gift giving to see how the guys like their razors and how well they shave.

I remember my dad using double edged razors when I was a kid. I, personally, began shaving when the cartridge razor era began, so I had never really shaved with a double-edged razor. My son introduced me to the concept a little over 2 years ago.I began looking around for a cheap way to get into the field, I bought a cheap butterfly style from a big box store (don't do it) and almost gave up on the experience. I looked at the LORD razors and, on a whim, bought the Lord L5. To my surprise, I actually enjoyed the shaving experience. I then I purchased the LORD L6 (this razor), two years ago, on the recommendations of several reviews on wet shaving sites.I was shocked by the difference in the quality of the shave between the 2 razors. By far LORD's L6 is the better of the 2 razors. It's replication of the Merkur head is the reason.The L5 is a copy of the Gilette TRAC razor head. I now own several of the original Gillette TRAC razors, which I like very well, I don't think LORD got it right. I suspect the zinc alloy casting technique does not work well for the TECH style razor head.I also now own a Merkur razor as well as the LORD L6. While the L6 is not as well made, in my opinion it provides an equal shave. I like the Merkur style head for its comfort while shaving. It is more forgiving than the TECH style head.The major problem with both LORD razors is that the aluminum handle and the zinc alloy razor head do not play well together over time. I noticed corrosion on the threads of the head fairly quickly after I began to use both. I discovered that this could be controlled by greasing the threads with petroleum jelly. I also take the head apart to rinse the blade after each use and do not tighten it back down on the blade until I am ready to shave again. These 2 steps have almost completely eliminated the corrosion.A big thank you to my son for introducing me to wet shaving and vintage double edge razors. Sometimes an old dog can learn "new", well "vintage" tricks.In conclusion, if you take care of this razor, it will likely be the only one you will ever need again, but you, like me, will fall in love the technology and buy vintage and upscale razors just for the fun of it. Even if you are not careful with this razor, it is cheap enough to replace often, and still have a wonderful shaving experience.