Hello everyone. Today marks the day of my first encounter with the infamous R41.
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- RazoRock Mudder Focker
- Semogue 1460
- Mühle R41/EJ handle
- Polsilver SI (#5)
- Floid Vigoroso AS
After yesterday's fantastic shave with the Merkur Futur I did not actually HAVE to shave today, but I decided to go above and beyond duty just to serve this forum and its members.
I used an EJ handle because for me it has the perfect lenght and is nicely balanced when paired with a Mühle head. Loaded the R41 with yesterday's blade, whipped up some nice lather from one of my favorite soaps and went to work. I couldn't feel much stubble this morning so I did not expect a lot of reduction from the first pass WTG, but boy was I wrong. From the moment the razor touched my face I recognized: this is something else. There was actually quite a bit of resistance when I started the first stroke, as if the blade got stuck in the hair. I never touched a straight razor but I imagine this might feel pretty similar. Light touch -- light touch -- light touch! That's what I constantly reminded myself of.
After the first few strokes I think I got the angle right (pretty close to riding the cap) and it actually became a very smooth and pleasant first pass. There is quite a lot of audible feedback (though different from the Futur) and you can always feel the blade. Reduction was very nice for a WTG pass and I think the razor might be pretty aggressive but can be tamed easily.
With the second pass I decided to go ATG, and here it became a little rough and tugging. Probably caused by the blade though - I guess I'll try a new one tomorrow. I still managed to finish the shave without any nicks, cuts or scrapes. Though it was not as close as yesterday's shave with the Futur (to be fair - I did a 3-pass-shave with the Merkur and just 2 passes with the R41). About 50% BBS, the rest DFS.
Initially the R41 did not impress me as much as the Futur did. It is a very good razor and it gives you a nice and close shave, but at the same time it's less relaxed, more arduous - you have to work harder. I'll use the R41 again tomorrow with a different blade to see if that makes any difference.
The Aftershave kept very quiet - but I discovered that Floid is not for me. Far too much menthol. It's not that I don't like menthol ... I detest it

So cold it almost hurt. Which is a pity, because the Vigoroso smells nice and seems to provide good skincare.
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