I guess it was about 10 years ago that I found myself walking the mean streets of Manhattan NYC when I popped my head into a Art of Shaving store. A small fortune later, I walked out with a sandalwood shaving set.
The set included a Merkur razor and some merkur blades.
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There it sits on the left, lonely. Blade-less. I never use it anymore in spite of how comfortable a shave it gives, because at the end of the day, I’m all about close.
I used that razor for some time. The Merkur blades never did it for me, and I went through dozens of brands trying to find close, finally settling on Feathers. Ultimately, Looking for closer, I decided to get an open comb Merkur.
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And there it is today, hanging in the shower for those rare days when I’ve slept in, but need a shave. It was more “aggressive” than my original no doubt, and it taught me that super sharp isn’t always the way to go - there is sharp and smooth - hence I discovered Personna Reds. But it wasn’t long after getting the open comb merkur razor, that I discovered straight razors!
I shaved with straights for years. It took me a while though. I jumped from straight to DE until one day I vowed to use a straight exclusively for a year. When the year was done, I never went back.