Yes, Merkur razors are soft, so I put a plate from Gillette. Otherwise, the face remains black. Futur was very big and heavy for me. But I bought his clone from Qsave, if it fit in size, I would buy the original. But it was impossible to shave off the mustache and sideburns with such a large razor. Although models from Merkur with an open and closed comb are very maneuverable.Merkur have made milder many, if not all of their fixed heads models over the years. I believe that has been made intentionally to boost sales, since milder razors sell more. We are not talking the adjustables. Love both the Progress and the Futur. At the higher settings they give me BBS even with very mild blades.