For those of you who shave, you MUST--if you haven't already--switch to the Schick Quattro. I had thought that the Gilette Mach3 offered all the blade I'd ever need, but I must admit that four blades are perceptively better than three. All it ever takes is one pass of the Quattro razor to mow your facial lawn. (Remember having to always make multiple passes? Who has time for this?) Plus, the redundant slicers relieve the need to press the flesh so hard that you strike blood.Plus, Nathalie likes to see me move my business away from Gillette. Meanwhile, I hope the scientists at Schick Labs are hard at work on a Pentium product.
Does this defeat the Mach 3 Turbo? The Turbo is a Mach 3 that vibrates too.
ReplyDeleteAlso:
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/33930
if you like that then you should keep an eye out for the 5 blade Gilette Fusion razor that is coming out this spring sometime - it will also have an interesting "precision trimmer" single blade on the back....
ReplyDeleteHow often do you have to change the blades in one of these babies?
ReplyDeleteDavid, It HAD to be smooth, after all its schick quattro for women ;-)
ReplyDeleteTried the Quattro, went back to my Mach3. Quattro's blades too close together to clean easily under running water or with a good whack on the side of the sink. --Richard Tallent (www.tallent.us)
ReplyDeleteIf you suffer from in-grown hair, you probably want to stick to the one blade razors. Anything else is trouble
ReplyDeleteIMHO, the razor is a second-order factor. You'll see an order of magnitude difference if you focus on the prep instead.
ReplyDeleteGo buy yourself a silver-tip badger hair shaving brush. Buy the most expensive bristles you can find, in a handle that matches your taste. Then, be *sure* to buy a glycerin-based shaving soap. Pop for a nice nickel soap dish, too, David -- you can afford it. Go here: Emsplace isn't the most sophisticated ecommerce site on the net, but ignore the amateur look of the site; they have the goods, and they're great help if you need to call them.
Then, before you shave, run the hottest water you can get into the cup (warming the soap), and wet the brush with it, too. Lightly shake the water out of the brush (leaving just a touch in), dump out the water, and lather up the brush.
Then lather your face. Two things:
1) You'll fall in love with the way the brush feels. It's almost as good as sex. And you can do it before you go to work and not be late for work.
2) You won't get a 1/2" thick lather like you do with shaving foam/gel. Don't sweat it; just make sure you've rubbed the brush bristles into your facial bristles for 15-30 seconds.
Then shave. Pick your razor -- it almost doesn't matter. The shave will be the most comfortable, luxurious shave you've ever had, and your shave will be as close and smooth as anything you've tried - ever.
I'm not kidding.
Jay,
ReplyDeleteHow are you? It's been a long time, since ON days. (unless you're a different jay batson...)
This is great advice--I am definitely going to try this.
Meanwhile, Jay, I have some advice for you: if you think that any kind of shaving "is almost as good as sex", then you're not doing sex right.
David
David --
ReplyDeleteYes, it is the same Jay Batson, and yes, it has been a long time. I should have looked you up with I was out there doing some consulting for Chris R. @ Nominum a couple of months ago. (Interesting company.) Next time I'm in the bay area, interested in a coffee?
I'll be anxious to hear about your shaving brush feedback. And maybe "almost as good as sex" was a little hyperbole; but then, what entrepreneur do you know doesn't have a little of that in them? :-)
-jb
Very interesting to see a blog who talk about shave products.
ReplyDeleteIt occur to me, if there is a computer simulation for shaving
More blades are better? We don't believe this statement to be true. Take a look at a new innovative product that will give a shave better than anything you have experienced thus far. www.myorbix.com Please read the testimonials.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone looked at the edge of various maker’s double edge blades under a 10 power magnifying glass, or, better yet, a microscope, to see if they can see a difference in the blade edges?
ReplyDeleteI looked at a Schick and a Merkur under a 10X glass. The Merkur has a rough edge. The Schick has a much smoother edge.
I checked this out after using one of each blade. The Schick gave me 25 good shaves before it started pulling,
The Merkur blade gave me a worse (it pulled more) shave on the first shave than the Schick did after 25 shaves.
I used to get 60 good shaves out of the Gillette Blue Blade. Now I am doing good to get 30 out of stainless steel, platinum, etc.
Seems the blade makers are just not putting as good of an edge on their blades just so they will get duller faster.
I have not tried the Feather Blades yet, but have ordered some, as they have a reputation for sharpness.
A person should be able to tell just how long, comparatively, a blade will last just by looking at its edge under a microscope.
The whole thing seems to be a "sting" operation though, as sharp blades could go out for weeks and then start sending out less sharp ones.
Using a brush to apply any type of shaving cream can have a luxurious feeling, but the reason why it leads to a smoother shave is the time you spend keeping the beard wet.
ReplyDeleteYou can get the same result shaving while in the shower. Keep the face wet while you shower and, before you leave, shave without any cream at all (you need a mirror that won't cloud up in the shower).
Consumers' Reports ran an article many years ago. Shaving creams do not soften the beard--the water does that. What the shaving cream or gel does is keeps the water from evaporating until it softens the beard. A thick cream or gel does a better job at this than a thin one (again, another reason why spending time with the brush working up the lather helps.)
Consumers concluded that the longer you spend applying the shaving cream, with or without a brush, the smoother the shave, because of the longer time keeping the beard wet.
Spending two minutes applying a shaving cream or soap with a brush does the same thing--softens the beard. The longer you spend on this, the softer the beard.
Actually, shaving cream serves another purpose--it acts as a marker, so you can tell where you have already shaved and where you still need to shave. Not a very crucial feature, but a bit of a help. Some creams have Aloe or similar skin lotions, which may have a marginal benefit.
When I did basic training in the army, the NCO's would threaten as a punishment forcing us to shave "dry". Try it--it is painful.
When the beard is sufficiently soft, you can use almost any of the commercially available blades. I find the cheapie Bic single blade as comfortable as any of the expensive contraptions, and as long as I keep the beard wet, that blade seems to last weeks and weeks. I don't need vibrators, multiple cutting surfaces and, best of all, I don't have to worry about replacing batteries or traveling with chargers.
Incidentally, if you use an electric shaver, you need to do the reverse--dry the beard, not wet it. Electric pre-shaves are designed to dry the beard so the stubble stands up.
I forgot to add to my comment that the main objective is to keep the beard wet for a minute or two in order to get a smooth shave: Rinse the face with warm soapy water first. This removes some of the facial oil that hinders the water from getting to the stubble and softening it.
ReplyDeleteSpending a couple of minutes applying an expensive soap with a nice brush does the same thing--gets rid of the oil and keeps the stubble wet until it softens, but it is not necessary.