Review Details

Merkur 37C DE Safety Razor (Slant Head)

Product Review (submitted on 1 April 2020):

I'm an occasional (and lazy) shaver; roughly once a fortnight for a full shave with a couple of neck shaves in between, and I'd been using a Muhle R89 safety razor for quite a few years before the head snapped off mid-shave leaving me with a tense few minutes finishing my chin with my wife's leg razor.

I have thick facial hair combined with relatively sensitive skin, and I'd always thought I was rubbish at shaving, as it was a good shave if I only had a few cuts and my face only felt afterwards as though it'd been attacked by a couple of stray wasps rather than battered by a full swarm and queen.

On the basis of reviews talking about how slant razors cut better than straight razors thanks to the head angle and are more effective for irritable skin as they pull less on the hairs, I plumped for the Merkur 37C slant and I am over the moon that I did because teamed with Astra blades it does an absolutely beautiful job.

Shaving is quicker, easier, with a better finish and significantly less irritable, and now my face glows cleanly afterwards like I've been lying in the sun rather than lying with my face in a bucket of vinegar.

I can't recommend it highly enough.

I've read that beginners should be careful with the slant razors - I'm not sure I agree with that. The principle of slant or straight is almost identical and only takes a minimal amount of getting used to if you've recently moved over to safety razors - if anything, because this cuts better than my old straight safety razor there's less of an incentive to go at your face more aggressively.

I also like the head release screw located at the base of the shaft (the R89 had to be twisted from the head, which now and then resulted in sliced fingers).

(Thanks also to English Shaving Company for getting the razor so quickly to me during the pandemic lockdown, great service!)