Review - Monsieur Charles disposable blade straight razor
Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 10:34 pm
Review
The Monsieur Charles is a disposable blade straight razor made for the barber/beauty trade. It's designed to use Personna injector blades. The body is probably brass w/ a chrome plating in a U shape with sliding flanges to hold the blade edge. The scales are red plastic, which reminds me of a Case Red Imp. One inserts an injector blade into the carrier, which is then slides into the razor. The two flanges come to within about one eighth of the blade's edge which makes it difficult to cut yourself very deeply.
The weight and balance of the M. Charles are similar to a regular straight. The shaving angle is steeper and frankly it's not as smooth or comfortable as a regular straight razor. My other criticism is that the flanges that hold the blade are not tight enough to suit me. They shouldn't budge, but they do, sometimes during the shave which is not pleasant. Also no shaking off of excess moisture. Not bad for a starter or a travel razor, as no honing or stropping are needed; but I wouldn't want to have it as my only straight either. My Merkur Slant, Gillette Tech & Super Speed, Schick injector, and Gem Micromatic give as good a shave w/ less hassle.
The Monsieur Charles is a disposable blade straight razor made for the barber/beauty trade. It's designed to use Personna injector blades. The body is probably brass w/ a chrome plating in a U shape with sliding flanges to hold the blade edge. The scales are red plastic, which reminds me of a Case Red Imp. One inserts an injector blade into the carrier, which is then slides into the razor. The two flanges come to within about one eighth of the blade's edge which makes it difficult to cut yourself very deeply.
The weight and balance of the M. Charles are similar to a regular straight. The shaving angle is steeper and frankly it's not as smooth or comfortable as a regular straight razor. My other criticism is that the flanges that hold the blade are not tight enough to suit me. They shouldn't budge, but they do, sometimes during the shave which is not pleasant. Also no shaking off of excess moisture. Not bad for a starter or a travel razor, as no honing or stropping are needed; but I wouldn't want to have it as my only straight either. My Merkur Slant, Gillette Tech & Super Speed, Schick injector, and Gem Micromatic give as good a shave w/ less hassle.