This is the last of the new razor shave weeks…for now. I’d like to say I have enough razors and won’t be buying any more, but I want one or two more, so I won’t lie to you or myself.
The Merkur Progress 500 (or occasionally called the 50C) was one of the first adjustable razors widely accepted in shaving in 1955, around the same time as the Gillette adjustables. It’s a little odd that in this day and age the design hasn’t fundamentally changed in the intervening 71 years, but here we are. It’s a 2-piece design, which is a first for me, as is the twist-adjustable design. I’m excited to use it as it will be the first twist adjustable I’ve used since 9th grade (that was a Gillette adjustable of a model I can’t exactly recall).
This is the second razor I have that was made in Germany, and the second of the new razors made in Germany. The Mühle was a huge win, so we’ll see if their country-mates can deliver similar success.
I’ve paired it this week with the Gillette Nacet, one of my favorite blades, which I haven’t used since early September 2025.
You may note from the picture above that there are some other new things coming this week: Catie’s Bubbles A Midnight Dreary shaving soap, and Old Spice Lather shaving cream. These were picked up in one of the purchases that happened recently, and even though they’re products at the complete opposite ends of the lather spectrum, I’m excited to give both of them a go to see what they’re about.
So an exciting week of shaves coming up. Let’s see how they went:
The Ratings
Sunday’s Shave, #246. The Proraso Sunday Merkur Progress Adjustable shave.
The setup:
- Razor: Merkur Progress 500 Adjustable, setting 4
- Blade: Gillette Nacet
- Pre-Shave: Proraso Sensitive pre-shave cream (white)
- Brush: Proraso boar shaving brush
- Soap/Cream/Gel: Proraso Sensitive shave soap (white)
- Alum Block: Stirling Soap Co. Alum
- After Shave: Proraso Sensitive aftershave balm (white)
- Stats: 1st shave with the Merkur Progress Adjustable, 1st shave with the Nacet early September 2025, 12th overall shave with the Nacet (tied for 3rd most behind 7 O’Clock Yellow & Shark Super Stainless, tied with Perma-Sharp), 27th shave with an overall rating of 21 (14.8% of logged shaves).
Let me just say from the top that putting the blade in this razor is going to take some getting used to. I went to twist off the head, and it took a bit to realize how wrong I was.
Anyway, on to the shave. I shaved with it on setting 4 (the settings range from 1 to 5), though there were a couple of strokes that were on setting 4 1/2 (a dot between 4 and 5). There was a lot of blade noise, but not a lot of blade feel–at least not as I’m used to. And that was deceptive, because honestly, during the shave, it didn’t feel aggressive, nor was it terribly efficient on my neck, so I was convinced that the Progress trended mild. But the post shave really showed the shave’s true colors, with some strong burn with the alum, and even some sting with the balm.
It wasn’t quite to Parker 55SL razor burn, but close.
So yeah, I need to stay on the lower end on the dial. I’m thinking I may change my plan and go with setting 2 on Tuesday and then decide if I’ll use setting 1 or 3 on Thursday. But one nice thing about having a twist adjustable is just how easy it is to change settings mid-shave.
I will say that even after a pass and not having much lather on my face, the Merkur glided beautifully. And with lather (either fresh or reapplied), it just floated.
But after the fact, the closeness is definitely there, probably because I did take several extra strokes on my neck to clean up a few spots, and I’m sure that helped contribute to the extra irritation.
One interesting thing to me is just how the rating system is working. This was arguably not a great shave, but the overall rating calls it a great (but not almost perfect) shave. And I think that’s accurate–it was a very close shave, generally good, and I can work with it to improve it in the future. So not a shave to lose hope over, but certainly not an excellent one as I’ve really had a lot of lately.
Comfort: 19 of 25
Quality/Closeness: 24 of 25
Overall: 21 of 25
Tuesday’s Shave, #247. The Catie’s Bubbles shave.
The setup:
- Razor: Merkur Progress 500 Adjustable (setting 2)
- Blade: Gillette Nacet
- Pre-Shave: Razor Emporium Unscented pre-shave soap
- Brush: Omega 10019 boar brush
- Soap/Cream/Gel: Catie’s Bubbles A Midnight Dreary shaving soap
- Alum Block: Stirling Soap Co. Alum
- After Shave: Dollar Shave Club Post Shave Cream
- Stats: 69th almost perfect shave, 2nd almost perfect shave with the Nacet and first with the Progress, 13th shave with the Nacet, 1st shave with the Catie’s Bubbles lather, 55th shave with an overall rating of 23 (30.2% of logged shaves).
This was a very enjoyable shave, which was a welcome change after Sunday’s shave, which was my most uncomfortable shave since October.
As noted above, after Sunday’s shave, I decided to back way off on today’s shave and changed the razor setting to setting 2, and that was the right call. This was a very comfortable shave, but still with more efficiency than most mild shaves, so I’m thinking Thursday’s shave will be on setting 1 or 1 1/2.
In fact, this shave was so good and comfortable when compared to Sunday’s, that I actually said “oh yeah” out loud mid-stroke early on into the strokes on my neck.
This shave also featured Catie’s Bubbles lather for the first time, and I was very pleased with it. It lathered very well, was excellent at taking water to make for a thick but wet lather, and provided great slickness to the shave. The scent was pleasant–almost fruity–but not strong, just there enough to give a pleasant edge to the shave. I can understand why a lot of people like their stuff.
So overall, a wonderful shave that made me very happy. My skin doesn’t hurt, and I got a very close shave in the process.
Comfort: 23 out of 25
Quality/Closeness: 23 out of 25
Overall: 23 out of 25
Thursday’s Shave, #248. The Old Spice shave.
The setup:
- Razor: Merkur Progress 500 Adjustable (setting 1)
- Blade: Gillette Nacet
- Pre-Shave: Proraso Sensitive pre-shave cream (white)
- Brush: Yaqi Rainbow synthetic shaving brush
- Lather: Old Spice Original shaving cream
- Alum Block: Stirling Soap Co. Alum
- After Shave: Nivea Sensitive Soothing Post Shave balm
- Stats: 2nd straight almost perfect shave, 3rd shave with the Merkur, 1st shave with the Old Spice Original shaving cream, 14th shave with the Nacet, 15th shave with an overall rating of 24 (8.2% of all logged shaves).
Another new lather to try here, and this one is kind of a throwback: Old Spice. Now, they don’t make the old pucks of soap anymore, though you can spot some on eBay. Though there are tons of copycats, and I did recently get one to try, so that will be coming up. But this stuff is still made, and it’s made in India, so I’m wondering if it’s popular there?
The great thing about products like this is because they’re so cheap (I threw it into an order to get the free shipping and it was only $7), you have pretty low expectations, and this far surpassed those expectations. Unlike Cremo or my Barbasol 1919, this is a lathering cream, so I put the Yaqi to use and squirted some of the cream in the dampened synthetic brush and went to work.
I’ve been finding with the Yaqi that I start lathering using some strong pressure on the brush, and once it starts to develop and it looks like I’ve got the water to soap ratio right, then I’ll back off the pressure and just concentrate on moving the brush around quickly in the bowl. This made a great, thick, and luxurious lather that went on well, provided great lubrication, and had a very light, pleasant scent.
Setting 1 on the Progress is mild, maybe similar to the Henson mild, but not as mild as the Oliworks plate 1 or Rockwell 6C plate 1. There was minimal blade feel and some positive blade sound, and it was remarkably efficient for being so mild. While I did need extra strokes to get the closeness I want on my neck, there were only a couple of small, very brief spots of irritation with the alum.
In the end, after the waiting period to let things settle down properly, there is no discernable stubble on my neck, and none of the discomfort that my skin gets after some shaves. So this shave goes down as one of the best, especially surprising with a cheap shaving cream and still trying to dial in a new razor.
Another great way to end the shave week. Next week, I’m back at comparing two blades by the same company, so we’ll see how it goes.
Comfort: 24 out of 25
Quality/Closeness: 24 out of 25
Overall: 24 out of 25