I used to shave every two days. And use a different slant, or maybe just different razor, every third shave. Just to try if I could use all of my razors. At least those that do not take proprietary blades. That came to an end, as I just wanted to be done with the shave: the fun in razors is collecting, not necessarily using.
So: I only used my broken vintage Merkur 37. Vintage as in silver handle, chrome head, broken as in the baseplate loosened itself from the handle. Meanwhile repaired with two drops of superglue.
Anyways: the Merkur 37 was my go-to razor, used 99% of the time, for quite a while.
Then Covid came, and things slackened. Every two days became every three, became every four, became every five. Not longer, because at day four stuff starts to itch and at day five the itch becomes annoying.
Problem is: I am lazy as well. One, one-and-a-half pass at most, and that should do it.
No matter how much I love the Merkur 37, five days of growth needs three passes with that razor, and as I said: I'm lazy.
So I switched. My goto razor became the Valencia. Terrific OC slant, with a nice bit of bite. Mows away my five-day-beard in a jiffy. Love that razor. Started my Slantember with it.
However, the Merkur 37 is still the measure of all things slant. Thing has been produced for about a hundred years non-stop. Quite a bit of that period as the only slant still in production. If only for that, everybody should get one of these. And I mean the Merkur 37, not the German 37 knockoff. So what you can't change handles? You're not meant to!
And therefore, my dear good friends, yesterday, the 30th of September, I dug out my trusty, formerly broken Merkur 37, wiped off the dust, put in a fresh Voskhod, and gifted myself one of those beautiful shaves that can only come from a razor you know by heart, that you can shave with with your eyes closed, and that has been setting the bar for its type for ages.
All hail to the King! Viva Merkur 37!
