MÜHLE Porcelain Shaving Bowl Review – Modern Classy Look
MÜHLE Porcelain Shaving Bowl
The Muhle Porcelain Shaving Bowl is an elegant-looking piece of lathering kit that features plenty of lathering space and an inner ridge to help build the lather. One concern is that it has no grip, and the potential to drop it becomes apparent.
Pros
It looks very classy and has a great glossy finish
Plenty of room inside for lathering
It handles larger shaving brushes very well
Processes of making are done by hand
Cons
A concern is not having grip and the potential of dropping the bowl
A bit pricey even if it looks elegant
Smaller brushes might get lather on the handles while lathering
It’s been a little while since I bought myself a new shaving bowl to test out, use, and review. On this occasion, I chose the Muhle Porcelain.
The last shaving bowls tested and reviewed were the Fine Accoutrements Lather Bowl, which Robert reviewed, and the Edwin Jagger, which I reviewed. These two bowls are very different from the Muhle I am reviewing today.
Muhle has a small collection of shaving bowls. There are two of these porcelain-type lather bowls (black and white), two mug types (white and black), a chrome-plated stainless steel bowl, and a Hexagon Porcelain bowl, which matches the Hexagon range of shaving products (e.g., Muhle Hexagon Safety Razor).
Let’s take a close look at the design before I tell you how it helps lather up and what my experience is with it.
Design and Features
As with all products I purchase from Muhle, they are always packaged well. I almost want to keep the boxes (I actually do for when I am not using them and testing other stuff).
As the lather bowl is made from porcelain, we can expect more durability from it compared to ceramic, but I am not willing to drop it and test that out. I already have the concern that if I drop it–that’s the end of its lathering life.
At first glance, the bowl looks elegant, and the finish is perfect. It’s kind of ornamental and is going to have a place among all my shaving and grooming gear, no matter how often I use it.
The inner section of the bowl typically has a raised circular ridged section, which helps us guys lather up more easily. The brush whiskers hit the ridge, which encourages a lather-type effect!
The bowl has no handle, so users have to be careful when using it, especially if their hands get lather on them (no non-slip feature here, gents).
The underside is glossy white, and the bottom has a slightly rough surface, which should prevent it from slipping on surfaces.
Using The Muhle Porcelain Shaving Bowl
I tried out a couple of different-sized shaving brushes to see which works best. Small handle brushes can sometimes be –well, too small, and fingers end up knocking inside a shaving bowl.
I used a Simpson Trafalgar T3 Synthetic, which has a 50mm handle height (100mm overall), and an Omega Professional Boar, which has a 70mm handle height (133mm overall height). I used two very different brush types–just for testing purposes. The Omega is very large, while the Simpson is more of a standard size.
I mostly wanted the Simpson Trafalgar brush to be comfortable to use with the bowl as this type of brush is a common size used.
Both brushes lathered up quickly, and the center ridge encouraged lathering. The bowl is large enough to whisk up the lather, and there is plenty of room inside.
The Simpson did leave me with some of the lather going over the handle, which is just something I find annoying about bowl lathering. I could just be more mindful, which would prevent that, but I just want to whisk at my leisure without caution. On the next occasion, I was more mindful and became more acquainted with the bowl, and all went well, with minimal lather on the brush handle (it can be cleaned off anyway if it does spill onto it).
The larger Omega brush was very easy to use, and there was no problem with the lather getting all over the handle.
My only concern with the Muhle lather bowl is holding it without dropping it at some point. I do feel like I need something underneath to provide more grip, just in case.
A mug-type bowl like the Edwin Jagger (Muhle has one, too) has a handle, which prevents dropping the bowl, but then again, they dont have the width that this bowl has. There are obvious pros and cons to each!
There are two ways I could hold this bowl while lathering: the standard holding it underneath (this is the riskier hold) or with a thumb over the top, which keeps it secure.
No lather slips over the top of the lather bowl that I can get with the shallower but wider-type bowls.
Once I got well acquainted with the bowl, I enjoyed using it.
Value for Money
Shaving gear from Muhle mostly does not come cheap, but it’s always high quality and not always as pricey as some others.
The bowl costs $40 USD, £40 GBP, and €31.00 Euro (it’s a bargain in certain European countries—of course, Germany). That price is for the black porcelain, and the white colored bowl costs around 5 USD, GBP, and Euro less.
It’s a bit pricey in the US, UK, and some other countries. You can buy cheaper bowls on Amazon and in brick-and-mortar stores, but if it is the bowl style you want, plus the Muhle branding, then you might be okay with parting with the cash.
I will add that being hand-shaped and glazed should add some value and would increase the costs.
Final Thoughts – Should You Buy The Muhle Porcelain Shaving Bowl?
I love the appearance and finish on the lather bowl, and it whips up the lather very well. It’s almost perfect, even if I fear dropping and breaking it.
The only downside is feeling like I need grip, but adding grip on the outer section will ruin that sleek look.
You don’t need deep pockets to buy the Muhle shaving bowl, but I feel you need to buy it as a luxury item rather than a necessity. We do not even need a bowl to lather (use your face, hand, or any cheap bowl– See Bowl vs Face Lathering – Which is Best Suited For You?). However, when did traditional wet shaving not include spoiling ourselves with luxury stuff?
If you are worried about spending that kind of money on a shaving bowl that could break, you can save money when buying a bowl with the same design, which is ceramic and cheaper, or even plastic, which will not break.
