After many months of hesitation, because I like to keep my den to a minimum, I finally pulled the trigger on a rose gold handled R41. I wanted to make sure it would be something different that I wouldnt want to sell after finding out it was no improvement over my other razors. I was excited because Id read so much about this razor, an innovative design with perfect finish, if we are to believe what people say.
So I received it last Friday. Before I got my first DEs, I was using straights I got my first DE for travelling mostly, and quicker shaves. Anyway, straights are all unique, beautiful items that are the work of skilled artisans. DEs never shook me, they were always machine made tools to me. Sometimes very well made, but that was it. But the R41, by god, it looks like a jewel!
Anyway, so the feel is great, I cant see why people would want to put a different handle on them. But some do, and how is that any of my business? Im not going to go over how wonderful it is because many have already said a lot in that regard.
One thing I wanted to come back to, is how aggressive it is, and how its not for beginners. I do not agree with this. I dont have a very coarse beard, although not thin either, but I do have very sensitive skin, and flat hair, and crazy anarchical patterns down my neck, and all over my face for that matter. Now, my cheeks, chin, mustache, and even the dreaded jaw-line were never much of an issue for me, in spite of my face being quite angular, which doesnt make things easier. I never had an issue getting those areas BBS. My neck, however, and especially the lower right side of it, has always been a problem. Hard to get satisfactory results without a bunch of bumps from flat hairs growing back under the skin etc...
Well, Ive started off with a beginners razor, a EJ89 that is. To get the results I wanted meant going over the problematic neck area over and over again, which ended up in bad looking redness. For the longest time I thought I should try more gentle razors there, but of course that didnt help. Then I found this Gillette adjustable in my grandfathers bathroom, and after using it on setting never higher than setting 4, I bumped it up to 9 one day, to see what an aggressive razor feels like. That was the best shave Id ever got on my neck. Not BBS by any means, but visually satisfactory, and leaving sound skin-colored skin behind. Thats when I realized what I actually needed was an aggressive razor and a gentle touch.
The Mühle R41 took me a step closer to perfection: it is very efficient and requires very little going over the same spot again.
Usually, people associate aggression to this razor. I dont like the term aggression, as it makes it to be aggressive on the skin. It is not. Is it aggressive on the hair? Absolutely. But is any razor not aggressive on the hair? I mean, the reason we shave is because we want our whiskers cut off, were not trying to stroke them gently and beg them into falling off, are we? So the razor is not aggressive, it is efficient, just what a shaving tool ought to be. And the fact that its more efficient on each pass than other razors, just makes it a better shaving tool for me.
People also say its not a razor for the beginner. I disagree with that too. I believe its a razor for whoever wants a close shave with minimal rubbing your face with steel; and I believe thats what every new comer to DE shaving is looking for. Because its so efficient, sure you have to be careful. But some go from cartridge to straight. What do you tell those newbies? Dont its too dangerous, try a DE first? I dont think so. You welcome him to the club, remind him his basics in terms of lather building and light touch and be careful! See I believe it could be the same with the Mühle R41.
In fact, as Ive said before, picking up gentle razors because theyre for beginners caused me to not enjoy DE shaving at first. I actually ended up picking my Mach III back up because I thought although the sensations were nothing as enjoyable as a single blades are, at least I could shave quicker for the same end results.
Do you have to be careful using an R41? Of course you do. I would argue that you need to be careful even with a Mach III. You need to be careful whenever youre using a sharp tool to cut whiskers off your face. You can butcher your face even with a cartridge razor if youre not careful enough, and especially if you dont pay attention to the direction in which your hair grows. Using more efficient razors (≠aggressive!) actually caused me to be more mindful of my beard patterns, and left my skin in better shape than with any other razor Id used before.
In short, the Mühle R41 is efficient, and that might be just what you need to stop bleeding. That and careful examination of your facial hair so you dont cut a long hair against the growth right away. It takes caution, but for those like me with sensitive skin and growth patterns that make you dizzy, it takes caution with ANY tool to get a good, irritation-free shave.
The head design allows a wide blade gap, with very little blade exposure. That makes for a blade that is very efficient and solidly fixed, with no flex whatsoever, which is something Ive found hard to manage on flat lying hair and changing growth patterns, and even a bit scary. It is the best razor Ive ever used (EJ89, 37C and Gillette Slim before that, plus also GEM 1912 and Schick in the SE department), and also the best-looking/best finished razor Ive ever had in hand.
Finally, nothing to do with the R41, but Id gotten a brush and razor stand for my EJ89 a while ago. Theyre the best-looking stands available, IMO, well finished and compact. Anyway, my EJ89 didnt fit, because the narrowed-down part of the handle, right before the head is wider on the EJ89 that it is on the Mühle. I ended up forcing the razor holding bit on my stand so my EJ89 would fit. Later I tried tightening it a bit, when I got me 37C and so on. I ended up breaking the thing. I contacted Mühle with the hope that they would re-send the broken bit. I let them know that it was, obviously my fault a hundred percent that Id not been too smart and butchered the beautiful piece of engineering Id bought from them. They said because of their quality standards they couldnt send me just the bit because Id have to damage the pole that holds both the brush and razor holders. And it makes sense, if I were to take a picture of my stand and put it online for a SOTD or something, I understand why they wouldnt want it to interfere with the well-deserved image of their company theyve worked to accomplish and maintain. However, they offered that I ship it to them so they could repair it, for a modest amount of money. I said that shipping it is going to be expensive, and Id much rather they just sent the broken bit, but that I understood. They then offered to sell me a new one at 50% off. They were very understanding, and quick at getting back to me the whole time. So not only do they sell premium, innovative items, but their customer service is also top notch. And lets remember that the new design of the R41 was the result of their taking in feedback and perfecting their product line: they listen to their customer! Again, as Ive said in my post on Merkur, Im not in any way affiliated with Mühle, but I thought such great customer care deserved a good word in or should I say, yet another good word in in the shaving community.
Oh, and again, to be fair to the beautiful German language (it IS beautiful, don't let those WWII movies with psychopaths on crystalmeth yelling through old-time speakers turn you off), Mühle is pronounced \ˈmyː.lə\.
So I received it last Friday. Before I got my first DEs, I was using straights I got my first DE for travelling mostly, and quicker shaves. Anyway, straights are all unique, beautiful items that are the work of skilled artisans. DEs never shook me, they were always machine made tools to me. Sometimes very well made, but that was it. But the R41, by god, it looks like a jewel!
Anyway, so the feel is great, I cant see why people would want to put a different handle on them. But some do, and how is that any of my business? Im not going to go over how wonderful it is because many have already said a lot in that regard.
One thing I wanted to come back to, is how aggressive it is, and how its not for beginners. I do not agree with this. I dont have a very coarse beard, although not thin either, but I do have very sensitive skin, and flat hair, and crazy anarchical patterns down my neck, and all over my face for that matter. Now, my cheeks, chin, mustache, and even the dreaded jaw-line were never much of an issue for me, in spite of my face being quite angular, which doesnt make things easier. I never had an issue getting those areas BBS. My neck, however, and especially the lower right side of it, has always been a problem. Hard to get satisfactory results without a bunch of bumps from flat hairs growing back under the skin etc...
Well, Ive started off with a beginners razor, a EJ89 that is. To get the results I wanted meant going over the problematic neck area over and over again, which ended up in bad looking redness. For the longest time I thought I should try more gentle razors there, but of course that didnt help. Then I found this Gillette adjustable in my grandfathers bathroom, and after using it on setting never higher than setting 4, I bumped it up to 9 one day, to see what an aggressive razor feels like. That was the best shave Id ever got on my neck. Not BBS by any means, but visually satisfactory, and leaving sound skin-colored skin behind. Thats when I realized what I actually needed was an aggressive razor and a gentle touch.
The Mühle R41 took me a step closer to perfection: it is very efficient and requires very little going over the same spot again.
Usually, people associate aggression to this razor. I dont like the term aggression, as it makes it to be aggressive on the skin. It is not. Is it aggressive on the hair? Absolutely. But is any razor not aggressive on the hair? I mean, the reason we shave is because we want our whiskers cut off, were not trying to stroke them gently and beg them into falling off, are we? So the razor is not aggressive, it is efficient, just what a shaving tool ought to be. And the fact that its more efficient on each pass than other razors, just makes it a better shaving tool for me.
People also say its not a razor for the beginner. I disagree with that too. I believe its a razor for whoever wants a close shave with minimal rubbing your face with steel; and I believe thats what every new comer to DE shaving is looking for. Because its so efficient, sure you have to be careful. But some go from cartridge to straight. What do you tell those newbies? Dont its too dangerous, try a DE first? I dont think so. You welcome him to the club, remind him his basics in terms of lather building and light touch and be careful! See I believe it could be the same with the Mühle R41.
In fact, as Ive said before, picking up gentle razors because theyre for beginners caused me to not enjoy DE shaving at first. I actually ended up picking my Mach III back up because I thought although the sensations were nothing as enjoyable as a single blades are, at least I could shave quicker for the same end results.
Do you have to be careful using an R41? Of course you do. I would argue that you need to be careful even with a Mach III. You need to be careful whenever youre using a sharp tool to cut whiskers off your face. You can butcher your face even with a cartridge razor if youre not careful enough, and especially if you dont pay attention to the direction in which your hair grows. Using more efficient razors (≠aggressive!) actually caused me to be more mindful of my beard patterns, and left my skin in better shape than with any other razor Id used before.
In short, the Mühle R41 is efficient, and that might be just what you need to stop bleeding. That and careful examination of your facial hair so you dont cut a long hair against the growth right away. It takes caution, but for those like me with sensitive skin and growth patterns that make you dizzy, it takes caution with ANY tool to get a good, irritation-free shave.
The head design allows a wide blade gap, with very little blade exposure. That makes for a blade that is very efficient and solidly fixed, with no flex whatsoever, which is something Ive found hard to manage on flat lying hair and changing growth patterns, and even a bit scary. It is the best razor Ive ever used (EJ89, 37C and Gillette Slim before that, plus also GEM 1912 and Schick in the SE department), and also the best-looking/best finished razor Ive ever had in hand.
Finally, nothing to do with the R41, but Id gotten a brush and razor stand for my EJ89 a while ago. Theyre the best-looking stands available, IMO, well finished and compact. Anyway, my EJ89 didnt fit, because the narrowed-down part of the handle, right before the head is wider on the EJ89 that it is on the Mühle. I ended up forcing the razor holding bit on my stand so my EJ89 would fit. Later I tried tightening it a bit, when I got me 37C and so on. I ended up breaking the thing. I contacted Mühle with the hope that they would re-send the broken bit. I let them know that it was, obviously my fault a hundred percent that Id not been too smart and butchered the beautiful piece of engineering Id bought from them. They said because of their quality standards they couldnt send me just the bit because Id have to damage the pole that holds both the brush and razor holders. And it makes sense, if I were to take a picture of my stand and put it online for a SOTD or something, I understand why they wouldnt want it to interfere with the well-deserved image of their company theyve worked to accomplish and maintain. However, they offered that I ship it to them so they could repair it, for a modest amount of money. I said that shipping it is going to be expensive, and Id much rather they just sent the broken bit, but that I understood. They then offered to sell me a new one at 50% off. They were very understanding, and quick at getting back to me the whole time. So not only do they sell premium, innovative items, but their customer service is also top notch. And lets remember that the new design of the R41 was the result of their taking in feedback and perfecting their product line: they listen to their customer! Again, as Ive said in my post on Merkur, Im not in any way affiliated with Mühle, but I thought such great customer care deserved a good word in or should I say, yet another good word in in the shaving community.
Oh, and again, to be fair to the beautiful German language (it IS beautiful, don't let those WWII movies with psychopaths on crystalmeth yelling through old-time speakers turn you off), Mühle is pronounced \ˈmyː.lə\.
