Ok so my product review today is non cigar related but shaving related.
Last week I managed to bag myself a Merkur Vision 2000 safety razor.
My every day razor has been the Merkur Futur which is the visions little brother and up until recently I thought it could not be beaten in terms of shave quality and reliability.
Here's a link that demonstrates the Razor, the seller has a YouTube video on their page.
http://www.mensbiz.com.au/merkur-vision-2000-double-edge-razor.html
The vision is traditionally one of the most expensive razors on the market but i got one at a price I couldn't refuse and I've been shaving with it for the last week.
I can honestly say this razor has given me the best shaves of my life, that may seem extreme but I cannot fathom how incredibly close and smooth the shaves are, I thought results like these can only be obtained by somebody else shaving you, like a Turkish barber. But this razor whips off a weeks growth in no time and doesn't break a sweat! It's adjustable too, you can adjust the blade exposure to give you an even closer shave. What I do is I shave firstly with the blade exposed the most, then dial the exposure down so I can go against the grain, this results in one seriously close shave.
There are two things to consider if your thinking of buying this razor:
1: the price... This bad boy ain't cheap, but think of your yearly spend on cartridge razors and stems, this would pay for itself within the year and last you a lifetime. The blades for these razors are much sharper than cartridge razors and 10x cheaper. The prices of 1 pack of gillette fusion places would get 100 double edge blades, so initial outlay may seem extortionate for a razor but the long term savings can't be argued.
2. The need for maintenance, this is the most mechanically advanced safer razor on the market with many moving parts, with that the razor needs to be dismantled every once in a while for thorough cleaning. There are many guides for this online and it's relatively easy when practised once or twice.
So there you have it. If anybody's thinking they want to change their shaving routine to a better one the merkur vision 2000 is incredible.
To be honest there are some fantastic safety razors out there that still do a fantastic job, I would take even the cheapest safety razor over gillette fusion. Good shaving cream and brush and your good to go.
Hope you enjoyed the review folks.
Thanks!