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Straight Arrow wrote:I think the modern multi-bladed cartridge razors work great. They just aren't nearly as much fun. I'll stick with my DEs.
+1
I have both powered and unpowered Fusions, which I bought for the shipping cost (here on BST I believe) a while back, but haven't used them. They're just sitting in a box for now. Maybe when I develop a major tremor or hand weakness I'll switch from DEs to the Fusions.
It always interests me to read about the irritation that gents report with the Fusion. I really don't understand it, unless they are using the razor unskillfully. The latest version, the ProGlide, is extremely mild against the skin. At least that's how I find it, and I do four passes. But then, I have 40 years of experience under my belt with cartridge razors. I'd suggest that a negative judgment be withheld until one has used the Fusion for several weeks at the very least.
If I were to go back to a DE - which I last used in the early 1970's - I'd probably get a lousy shave too. Not because of any design flaw in the razor, but because I have forgotten how to use it. I think this applies equally well to cartridge-bashers. If you're happy with your DE, good for you and carry on. But don't generalize about the Fusion until you have used it enough to know what you're talking about.
I have absolutely no problem with your post. But canned stuff and disposables eat my neck, so I'll stick to my quality creams,soaps and my DE and Straight. They work perfectly every time.
Cartridges give a pretty quick easy, and decent shave. They tend to be a bit harder on the skin, and a ****LOT**** more expensive. Plus they do lack the joy of using a well made DE. I prefer my De, but carts give a lot of guys pretty good shaves.
Canned goo, otoh? It is just nasty. The scent and, should any touch yout lips during a shave, the taste are repellent. Not to mention that they perform at a far lower level. I'd use a burmashave brush and williams over goo. *shudders*
I have a power Fusion razor and the latest version of heads. I use them when I get scrapes or weapers from my Futur/Feather shaves. I have never had ingrown hairs no matter what I did so that is no problem. My only issue with the Fusion is that I can never get quite to bbs with one. Very close but never all the way. I find it to be the gentlest razor of any I have tried. I got my last batch of blades by bidding on ebay. Came out to about to $2 per head.
When I got back from my annual holiday trip back east my DE went missing. (My wife unpacked my stuff and stashed my whole toiletry, DE included, although my brush somehow found its way back onto the counter where it belonged.)
Luckily I had a couple of Gillette Fusion heads sitting in a drawer, so I lathered up like normal and went to town...and was amazed. It felt amazing. I was totally baby-butt smooth, even on my neck, and not a bit of irritation.
As I've stated before, I started DE shaving as research for a project, so I suddenly had some very real doubts about the work I was doing. I kind of panicked.
Two days later, when it was time to shave again, I did the same thing (my DE was still missing) and this time it SUCKED. I had crazy razor burn and bumps and I got an ingrown hair. WTF?
Two days later, DE still missing, I had to shave for a meeting. I switched the head for a brand new Fusion head, and I got a perfect shave. Perfect.
A few days later, still unable to find my Merkur, I shave with the same Fusion head, which I've only used once...and it SUCKED.
So, that seems to be it for me. I get one good shave out of a $3 cartridge. To that I say, "No thank you." In a pinch I bought some grocery-store DE blades ($2.50/10 blades) and I've gotten more shaves out of them.
"When I am working on a problem, I never think of beauty. I think only of how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong." ~ R. Buckminster Fuller
I went "back" to cartridge razors (Hydro first, then ProGlide) about a year ago and haven't looked back.
My head hasn't burst, and the World is till turning ... which is nice.
Then again, I've never had any issues whatsoever with multiblade razors, and the cost (?) seriously, if I had to scrimp and save for money to buy razor blades I'm sure I would have much bigger issues to deal with.
The cartridge razors work well enough on my upper face (cheeks, mustache, even chin), but destroy my neck; rash, ingrowns, bumps, blood - hideous. Since learning superior technique (of razor and lather prep), I have gone back, experimentally, to carts a few times. They work ok for a day or two, but after that my neck, jaw-down, is alight. Notably, theres no variation from one cart. system to another, and any DE razor/blade combo seems to be similarly gentle on my skin - so its certainly something about the mechanics of the cart. that doesn't work for me, and something about the DE that does.
~ Infusing the irreducibly quotidian with sensual pleasure ~
This thread inspired me to break out my Fusion Pro Glide (powered) this AM and I got a fantastic shave. Even better than my M3 which has been my mainstay for close to a year now. I used Rise Super Foam and finished off with Celee Visal ASB. Absolutely perfect shave this morning.
Variety is the spice of life. I sometimes just paint on a thin coat of lather with a soft floppy brush than gently shave off with a Wilkinson Hydro - gives a super shave. Other days I will face lather with a stiff scrubby brush and shave off a thick creamy lather with a DE or straight. Each to their own. My main objection to cartridge blades is their price here in the UK. So I don't use them as often as DE blades. But they are very effective for most people.
I believe cartridges work well and also believe many shavers would benefit from the DE. In fact I'll go so far as to say a shaver who learns the full DE experience may well put the cartridges in a drawer and forget about them.
Squire, you are likely right but the reverse probably isn't. The majority of people who have always used a cartridge razor are unlikely to try and learn how to use a DE because they will probably find they get weepers, etc. when they first try and it takes a dedicated type of person (like those who use straights) to keep at it. Of course, some do because they believe they will get a better shace with a DE; others like to experiment, like to try new things and a DE experience is new to them, and who knows why, while some have issues (bumps, etc.) with multi-blade razors. I can shave faster with a multi-blade than a DE and the result is close to that of a DE but not quite the same.
I understand the attraction Harper, if speed and efficiency were my goals I would shave with a Bic in the shower. More of a chore than a pleasure but it works.
Squire: if I shaved in the shower with a Bic the Biblical reference to the waters running red with blood would be appropriate. I hate, despise, and loathe all disposables and if all I had to use for the rest of my life were disposables I would grow a beard and I am not a fan of a beard on me. And I knew a lot of really nice people at the gym who thought disposables were just fine to shave with.
Last summer I bought a 12 pack of single blade disposables, have used them on two intervening road trips, and now the 12 appear to be multiplying faster than the loaves and fishes did. I'm starting to loathe the sight of those little orange razors, as they keep falling out of the bag one at a time, but am too stubborn to just throw them away and use a real razor, so I keep fighting on. They've become a major source of road trip disappointment and frustration, right up there with a traffic jam in Dallas at 5:30 pm. Next trip will probably result in the whole shebang being left behind to repopulate the entire hotel after I'm gone.
Gary
SOTD 99%: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, soaps & creams, synthetic / badger brushes, Colonial General razor, Kai & Schick blades, straight razors any time, Superior 70 aftershave splash + menthol + 444
