Goodfellas Smile Lybra Razor Review
How’s it going? Episode 38 in my razor review series, and this one is the Goodfellas Smile Lybra. This razor came on loan from a good friend, Tim. Thank you, Tim. I’ve had it since early April. It’s now almost late June. About 30 shaves in, give or take.
If you want to see me shave with it, I just shaved with it in my Obsidian Ember review. Go check that out. In this one we’re not shaving. We’re taking a look at the specs and talking through the razor itself.
What the Lybra Is
The Lybra is a three-piece razor: handle, top cap, and a single reversible base plate. Flip that plate and you flip between two distinct shaving geometries. One side is the mild plate, a straight bar. The other is the efficient plate, a tooth/comb bar. You use one at a time.
The entire razor is 316L stainless steel, made in Italy by Goodfellas Smile. The one exception is a small fiber plastic washer inside the handle joint. It protects the mirror finish on the base plate from getting scratched. They did the same thing on the Stiletto. You could take the washer out. I wouldn’t.
Efficiency: Mild Plate
The mild (straight bar) side has a blade gap of 0.028 inches, or 0.70mm, and a blade exposure of +0.1mm.
My efficiency scale: five is average, ten is the most efficient razor I’ve ever used. In my experience, the mild plate sits in a range similar to the Edwin Jagger 3ONE6, the Muhle Rocca, and the Rockwell 6S or 6C on plate four. Solid middle-efficiency territory, in terms of how close to the skin it shaves.
Optimal angle on the mild side is 30 degrees. You can get away with about 35.
My blade of choice on this plate ended up being the Kai. I wanted just a bit more out of the mild plate, and the Kai gave me that.
Mild plate efficiency score: 7 out of 10.
Efficiency: Aggressive Plate
Here’s where I have complicated feelings about this razor.
The efficient (tooth bar) plate has a gap of 0.047 inches (1.20mm) and a blade exposure of +0.3mm. Going from 0.028 to 0.047 in gap, and from +0.1mm to +0.3mm in exposure, is a massive jump. Wet shaving isn’t a game of inches or yards. It’s a game of millimeters, and a fraction of a millimeter can make a real difference. These changes are extreme. Normally you see much more incremental progression between mild and aggressive settings on a two-plate razor. This isn’t incremental.
Because of that gap, I stopped using the Kai on the aggressive plate entirely. I went to Derbys and other middle-of-the-road blades when it came to sharpness. I tried a lot of blades playing with this razor, trying to find a happy place. I could get a damn fine shave with it, even out on the river with a Kai (go watch that video). But after all those shaves I kept wanting something in between. A 0.035 gap, maybe +0.2mm exposure. A Goldilocks plate. That option doesn’t exist on the Lybra.
(And while I’m at it: why didn’t they name the plates something simple? Plate A, Plate B, Plate 1, Plate 2. Calling one the mild plate and the other the aggressive plate works fine, but letters would have been easier.)
Angle discipline matters on the aggressive side. Stay right at 30 degrees. Deviate past that and this razor will let you know. There’s bite to it. The learning curve is real.
Aggressive plate efficiency score: 9 out of 10.
Symmetry and Build
Weight: 129 grams, or 4.55 ounces. This is a beefy razor. The balance is about as good as it gets.
The head is slim. Not the thinnest I’ve shaved with, but slim enough that shaving under your nose should be fine.
Blade tabs are fully covered. That’s become standard on higher-end razors, and the Lybra delivers on it.
The knurling is where I have a complaint. The handle looks great. When my hands are dry, the grip is fine. When they’re slick mid-shave, I wanted more. The knurling isn’t bad. It just isn’t as grippy as I’d like.
One practical note worth mentioning: about 80% of the time when you go to load a blade, the middle plate sticks. It doesn’t always fall out on its own when you take the razor apart. Get your thumb up underneath and pop it loose. If that doesn’t work, drop it gently into your palm, or flip the whole thing over and let the post land on your hand. First-world problem. Once you know the move, it takes two seconds.
Symmetry score: 9 out of 10. The point knocked off is for the knurling.
Tolerance
Blade alignment is perfect on both plates. No issues at all. Zero chatter. The base plate locks everything down firmly, and the alignment is exactly what you’d expect from a razor in this price range.
Tolerance score: 10 out of 10.
Durability
316L stainless throughout, aside from that plastic washer. This razor is built like a tank. Heavy, solid, feels like it could outlast all of us. I’ve said it before about beefy razors: you could club somebody with this thing and the razor would come out better than the victim. I don’t recommend that. The point stands. This is one of those razors that’s going to last forever.
Is This a Good First Razor?
No. For a first razor, I recommend something in the $30 range. If wet shaving doesn’t click, or that particular razor doesn’t work for you, you’re not out much. The Lybra is well outside that range. On top of the price, the efficiency is higher than what I’d put in front of a new wet shaver.
Friendliness score for new wet shavers: 4 out of 10. Maybe a second or third razor, if we were talking one-on-one. Not a starting point.
Value
Shave Nation and Razor Emporium both list the Lybra at $225. Shop around. West Coast Shaving has it at $289. New England Shaving at $287. That’s close to a 30% premium for the same razor. I’m scoring this against the $225 price. Bob Barker would not be pleased with those other two.
At $225, you could almost buy two Rockwell 6S razors if you catch them at a good price. There are other razors I think represent better value. That said, for what you get, 316L stainless steel, Italian-made, perfect blade alignment, zero chatter, and a second shaving geometry on the reverse of the plate, $225 is defensible. I got my first damn fine shave around the fifth or sixth shave. After about a week I had it dialed in and was shaving comfortably. Then I started experimenting with different blades. The razor rewards patience.
The only reason it doesn’t score a ten is the Goldilocks problem. The jump between the two geometries is too large. I kept wanting something in the middle, and it doesn’t exist.
Value score: 9 out of 10, based on the Shave Nation and Razor Emporium price.
It’s the little big things, my friends. Thank you again to Tim for the loan. I really enjoyed every shave with this one, especially the last couple of weeks. Take care, and I’ll see you in the next one.