Gillette Pivot Ball Razor - Stop The Insanity Already

Thoughts and input on anything related to wet shaving or men's grooming.
rsp1202
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Re: Gillette Pivot Ball Razor - Stop The Insanity Already

Post by rsp1202 »

I was checking out deodorants recently at Bed Bath & Beyond. Every one of them smelled like the other -- some vaguely "marine" scent or knock-off of Irish Spring. (Only one was unique: English Leather, a horrendous musk that snapped my head back.) The same holds true for shampoos, bath soaps and canned shave creams. And here I was worried that I'd grow tired of my Boellis Panama 1924 shave soap. Heaven-scent (literally) compared to the rest.
Ron
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Re: Gillette Pivot Ball Razor - Stop The Insanity Already

Post by harper »

Porter:

I never did any work in the male toiletries field so your guess is as good as mine. I do remember that in the 70's lime and lemon were popular and Gillette made shave cream and shampoos that carried those scents. I remember that because Gillette in Canada was charged by some guy for false advertising ... he said they did not use real lemon juice in their shampoos. The President of Gillette Canada invited the legal people involved to the Gillette plant and showed them several 55-gallon barrels of real lemon juice that they used in the products. Claim did not proceed.

Eventually lemon and lime seemed to fall out of favor with the public and the scent seems to have disappeared from products which in a way, from my standpoint, is too bad because it was pleasant and has a clean, refreshing touch to it.

Personally, I use Hermes Equipage cologne as an aftershave ... I dilute it with some water in my hand ... but I don't use it very often. I am not big on male scents and like everything that carries the Hermes name it is expensive ... $140 or so a bottle ... but I am still using (one more left) a supply that I bought duty free in St. Thomas some time ago for about half that price. When that runs out I will forget about it. However, I am virtually 84 and a bottle lasts me for about 1.5 years so my supply may outlast me.

cheers

Bob
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Re: Gillette Pivot Ball Razor - Stop The Insanity Already

Post by brothers »

One possibility is that as a group, we don't care so long as it doesn't stink. If they're all the same, and don't stink, we're reaching for the one that we saw in a commercial 10 minutes ago. Or, we're reaching for the one we always get, and it better smell the same as we expected, or we'll be confused for a few seconds, then we'll go on our way. Rather than this universal fragrance being the product of being ignored, I propose the possibility that large sums of money and time are expended to find something that manipulates and satisfies our collective sense of smell and adds some aura of competence to whatever product is at issue at the moment.
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
harper
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Re: Gillette Pivot Ball Razor - Stop The Insanity Already

Post by harper »

Gary, or as in my case the one I began using at the gym 30 years ago. It turned out to be unscented aerosol Right Guard and I continue to use it because it is unscented.
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Re: Gillette Pivot Ball Razor - Stop The Insanity Already

Post by harper »

Ron, I didn't know they still made English Leather. I think that product in one form or another has been around as long as mankind. I remember getting it when I was really young .. say about 15 or so ... and I thought it was terrific. Now, like the old Old Spice, I wouldn't get near it although I might be tempted to use the Old Spice soap on a rope if I got it as a gift. I am down to 12 bars of Equipage soap which is no longer being made but I was able to pick some up in various places that had bought it before they stopped production. It is not that it is really a super soap but when I open a new bar (it is very tightly wrapped in plastic) I am back in Paris until the scent disappears ... about three days.

cheers

Bob
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jww
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Re: Gillette Pivot Ball Razor - Stop The Insanity Already

Post by jww »

The drive to profits at P&G is well embedded within the organization. They do some interesting things with the marketing -- much of which is simply lame --- but they do drive a volume of profits and thus make their shareholders happy.
Wendell

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Re: Gillette Pivot Ball Razor - Stop The Insanity Already

Post by harper »

Wendell, isn't driving profits legally the purpose of a corporation? I see nothing wrong with that. I think they are pretty astute ... pushing brand names and not P&G the same as Unilever does. I have never had anything to do with P&G other than buying their products.

cheers

Bob
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Re: Gillette Pivot Ball Razor - Stop The Insanity Already

Post by Squire »

Most guys I know regard toiletries as everyday consumables and use whatever their wives pick up at the store.
Regards,
Squire
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Re: Gillette Pivot Ball Razor - Stop The Insanity Already

Post by 95% »

On a recent trip to the beach, I brought along a travel can of Gillette gel instead of my normal shaving gear. Sure, it worked OK. But the heavy, greasy consistency, together with that dumbed-down "universal fragrance" that Gary mentions, left me disgusted after a few days. Yet this goopy substance is manufactured by the same company that makes the (for me) excellent Fusion ProGlide razor. The irony of it - a superior product and a lousy companion product by the same people - is something I can't explain.
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jww
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Re: Gillette Pivot Ball Razor - Stop The Insanity Already

Post by jww »

harper wrote:Wendell, isn't driving profits legally the purpose of a corporation? I see nothing wrong with that. ...
I wasn't suggesting there is anything wrong at all with driving shareholder value. Just suggesting that they have done some interesting/stupid/intriguing marketing campaigns over the years, that's all.

My oldest son is an account mgr at one of P&G's agencies, out of Toronto. He has some very funny stories to tell about the irony and disfunction within the company when they believe themselves to be thinking out of the box. He suggested they aren't the sharpest minds on Younge Street by any stretch but they sure know how,to make money .... lots and lots of it. They just don't get any of mine for shaving gear. :wink:
Wendell

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Re: Gillette Pivot Ball Razor - Stop The Insanity Already

Post by harper »

Wendell, I have seen corporations do some incredibly silly things for what they think are logical reasons. I have also seen
some do very logical things for very silly reasons. And while I can't really support this off the top of my head ... but some of the big bank problems tell me I am right ... I'm sure
some companies do things that are immoral, unethical and illegal.

I suspect P&G is like any other giant with pockets of brilliance and pockets of stupidity. As you note, P&G seems to satisfy their shareholders
with good earnings.

In the end, as long as Trumper stays in business and there are good razors, blades, and brushes of whatever kind available I'm reasonably happy at least when it comes
to shaving.

Cheers

Bob
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Re: Gillette Pivot Ball Razor - Stop The Insanity Already

Post by harper »

Porter:

Your post caused me to get out an old can of Gillette Fusion gel ... at least 5 years old I would suspect ... and use it this morning. Now, I am not going to go back to using canned shave stuff of any kind for any reason that I can think of but I didn't find the gel as bad as you did. I got a very good shave, close without problems, and it performed about as well as I remember it doing. I can't recall why I bought it or if it came in a package of some kind but I haven't used it for years and it was still usable ... something I can't say about the very expensive tubs of the high-end Brit creams (I find now that I tend to buy the tubes even though they are more costly on a per ounce basis because their shelf life is at least 3 years and probably longer).

If push came to shove and I had no choice I could live with a gel a lot better than I could with canned shave cream. The canned cream has a wonderful lather and gives me a super shave but it has no body to it. As Gertrude Stein said of Oakland, California, her home town: "there is no there there" and that's how I feel about canned cream. I could live with it and would use canned cream in preference to plain soap which is what my son uses (he will never learn from his wise old dad) but I wouldn't like it.

Since Gillette seems to know its markets ... and has a lot of know how in its fields ... I presume they make their toiletries for specific markets and based on their domination of the razor and blade market in the US I wouldn't bet against them.

Fortunately, the Gods have not ordained that I have to use the gels or the canned creams.

Cheers

Bob
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Re: Gillette Pivot Ball Razor - Stop The Insanity Already

Post by rsp1202 »

I've had good results using the Pivot Ball with Aveeno Men's Unscented Shave Gel. I didn't expect it since the gel doesn't foam up much, but even with five blades and the thin coating I've never gotten a nick, just a bbs shave. I don't use this combo every time because of the multi-multi-blades -- but for a few day's growth it works fine and the irritation level is low. Similar results with the Mach3, so maybe the Aveeno should get the kudos.
Ron
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