You may recall that a while back (a whole year, basically–eek!), I had the idea to try out the razors I had with the blades they came with. The point was to see if those blades presented the best shave possible from those razors.
And for the most part, they did not. As review, I shaved with my Rockwell 6C and the Rockwell blades, the Henson Mild and the RK blades, and the King C Gillette and its King C Gillette blades. And none of them rose to the position of being an almost perfect shave. Of all of them, the Henson and the RK blades were the worst, but the other two were okay–not great, but passable.
So if the blades paired with razors from the factory generally don’t make for a good shave, why would I go back for more punishment?
Simple: I have the blades, I have the razors, and I’d like to see how they work together. And maybe I’ll want to try a blade with another razor to see how it works down the road.
So this week, it’s the first of three more matched razor-blade pairings: the Mühle pairing, the Mühle R89 with their blades. And unlike most of the other pairings, Mühle does make their own razor blades (obviously, Gillette made their own blades for the King C Gillette). And let’s be fully transparent here: the Van Der Hagen
The R89 has quickly become one of my favorite razors, providing a satisfying, comfortable, mild shave every time. This will be the third week of shaves with it, and it has yet to disappoint, but what better way to learn about a razor and blade than by potentially getting some poor shaves from them?
But honestly, no, I’m not just expecting these to be poor or disappointing shaves. If anything, I’m expecting that these three Mühle shaves will be the best of this upcoming bunch. Mühle strikes me as an organization that would take this pairing seriously and would make a blade that would pair well with its entire product line. But we’ll see how things turn out.
So, obviously, the blades are new to me. What else this week will be new?
For Tuesday’s shave, I’m getting the new-to-me Cella Rapid Shaving Cream (red formula) involved in the party. I really like the Cella red soap, and I really loved the tube-based Cella Organic Shaving Cream (green), so I’m looking forward to a strong shave on Tuesday with the whole of the Cella red tube-based line.
On Thursday, I’m going full British…Well, a lot British. I’ll pair the Taylor of Old Bond Street Jermyn Street pre-shave gel with the new-to-me Truefitt & Hill Authentic No. 10 Sensitive Shaving Gel. This one will be interesting because I’ll be pairing a pre-shave gel with a shaving gel. I’m planning on using the Omega Mixed Midget brush, but may just skip that. But ultimately, I’m expecting a very slick shave on Thursday because that’s what gels do.
Speaking of gels, interestingly, this appears to the the first week that I’ll be using two pre-shave gels in the same week.
There’s the plan, so let’s see how things went.
The Ratings
Sunday’s Shave, #282. The Proraso Sunday Mühle Shave.
The setup:
- Razor: Mühle R89
- Blade: Mühle Stainless Steel
- Pre-Shave: Proraso Protective pre-shave cream (blue)
- Brush: Proraso boar shaving brush
- Soap/Cream/Gel: Proraso Protective shave cream (blue)
- Alum Block: Stirling Soap Co. Alum
- After Shave: Proraso Protective after shave balm (blue)
- Stats:
- 7th shave with the R89
- 27th blade brand used in my shaves
- 1st shave with the Mühle Stainless Steel blade
- 7th shave with a blade that shipped with a razor
- 18th shave with the Proraso blue product line
- 3rd blade used with the R89
- 98th almost perfect shave
- 32nd shave with an overall rating of 24 (14.7% of all logged shaves)
- 4th consecutive shave with an overall rating of 24
It’s hard to exactly state what I was expecting here. As I mentioned above, I was expecting a better than average result, but that expectation was tempered with some hesitation because so many blades just don’t seem to be well paired with a razor.
But as it turns out, very little anxiety is warranted with this combo. Yes, the blade feels a little aggressive, and there was a lot more blade feel than I expected with the R89, but it was comfortable and smooth with almost no irritation, and great closeness with only 3 passes.
The fact that there is any blade feel at all with the R89 is interesting, as it’s got a negative blade exposure, meaning that the edge of the blade sits behind a straight line that runs from the top cap to the comb or guard on the plate. So I kind of wonder if they’re maybe cheating a little bit and making their blades slightly wider than the norm (yes, it does happen. Blades aren’t always exactly the same size.).
In all, this was a wonderful shave–very comfortable, despite the aggressive blade feel, and very smooth and close. If the rest of the week’s shaves are similar to this one, I’ll be happy to put the Mühle blade in the mix with the others.
Comfort: 24 of 25
Quality/Closeness: 24 of 25
Overall: 24 of 25
Tuesday’s Shave, #283. The Cella Mühle Shave.
The setup:
- Razor: Mühle R89
- Blade: Mühle Stainless Steel
- Pre-Shave: Cella pre-shave gel (red)
- Soap/Cream/Gel: Cella Rapid Shaving Cream (red)
- Alum Block: Stirling Soap Co. Alum
- After Shave: Cella after shave balm (red)
- Stats:
- 1st shave with the Cella shaving cream
- 2nd shave with a Cella shaving cream (not soap) with the R89
- 12th shave with a Cella lather
- 49th lather used
- 99th almost perfect shave
- 33rd shave rated 33 overall (15.1% of all logged shaves)
- 5th consecutive almost perfect shave
Uh, yeah. Ignore the brush in that photo up there. Maybe some of you have done this, where you’ve bought something from a brand you like and you’ve made some…assumptions. And then when you go to use it, you discover that it wasn’t quite what you were expecting.
Let me introduce you to the Cella Rapid Shaving Cream. I made an assumption that it would be a cream version of the Cella red shaving soap. Or maybe even similar to the Cella Organic shaving cream. But this morning, as I went to squeeze some onto the shaving brush, I discovered that it was thin and kind of gloopy, and wasn’t going to lather, with or without a brush. Reading the instructions, I found that it is meant to be applied with the hands. So yeah. My bad.
All of that aside, it worked very well, was very slick and comfortable, smelled very pleasant, and ultimately delivered a great shave. I probably don’t need to use the pre-shave gel with it, but that just bolstered the slickness, and the R89 just glided across my skin with absolutely no problems.
So yes, another almost perfect shave with no irritation and just a small amount of isolated stubble. The Mühle combo shined yet again, and the Cella red line was wonderful.
Comfort: 25 out of 25
Quality/Closeness: 24 out of 25
Overall: 24 out of 25
Thursday’s Shave, #284. The British-German Shave.
The setup:
- Razor: Mühle R89
- Blade: Mühle Stainless Steel
- Pre-Shave: Taylor of Old Bond Street Jermyn Street pre-shave gel
- Soap/Cream/Gel: Truefitt & Hill Authentic No. 10 Sensitive Shaving Gel
- Alum Block: Stirling Soap Co. Alum
- After Shave: Nivea Sensitive Soothing post shave balm
- Stats:
- 1st shave with the Truefitt & Hill lather
- 50th lather used
- 9th shave with the R89
- 1st set of 2 consecutive shaves not using a brush since early September 2025
- 100th almost perfect shave
- 67th shave with an overall rating of 23 (30.6% of all logged shaves)
This was an interesting shave. First off, the TOBS pre-shave and Truefitt & Hill shaving gel are probably an unnecessary pairing. The resulting lather was very slick, but it wasn’t very protective.
I followed the instructions for the Truefitt & Hill (small amount in the palm, rub together and apply to face), and it just laid down a foamless, slick coating on my face. And while this was similar to the Cella rapid cream from Tuesday, it wasn’t as good at standing up the hairs and protecting my face.
So while the lather was a disappointment, the R89 and the Mühle blade really shined and saved the shave. Even on its third shave of the week, the blade worked efficiently, the razor glided nicely over the slick lather, and I got a shave result that I would otherwise have loved. It was mostly comfortable, though there were 2 small nicks that I felt as they happened, but did not sting with the alum. And the closeness was just as good as the other two shaves of the week with a minimum of passes.
To close it out, here are the takeaways: The Mühle blade/razor combo is outstanding, and I will come back to it down the road. The Cella rapid shaving cream doesn’t need a brush. And I’m not excited about the Truefitt & Hill Authentic No. 10 shaving gel. Obviously, I’ll try it again, but it likely won’t end up among my favorite lathers.
Next week, I pull out a newer razor that I haven’t used since Fetruary.
Comfort: 22 out of 25
Quality/Closeness: 24 out of 25
Overall: 23 out of 25