October 22, 2003
All About Shaving
I don't care what you say about shaving your legs, etc. , as a woman you just won't understand this topic in the same way. Shaving is something rather philosophical for the guys. Unless you are an Ayatollah, Sikh or a member of Hezbollah that is. As a right of passage into adulthood, most men develop a certain skill in shaving and extend it to a technique, equipped with a combination of tools exclusive to their own flair and aptitude.
At the center of those tools, is of course the razor. We've evolved from the straight blade to those funny looking thin insert blades, then we somehow graduated to the twin blade cartridges, at some point in my lifetime. I still remember the first cartridge razor my uncle had bought and was told by the clever salesman he'd probably never ever have to change the disposable cartridge. I also remember buying more than one bottle of Drakkar-Noir, because it was packaged with a very cool black razor handle.
The various cartridges had interesting names; Atra, Trac II, Sensor and then Sensor Excel and all was fine and dandy until Gillette introduced the triple-blades of their Mach 3. This changed everything. I don't know if they actually did spend the humongous money they claimed they had invested in making the Mach 3, but this Gillette product was (and is) superior to anything that came before it. Silky smooth shaving with little irritation and no cuts, your face feels as if it is in heavens. Could anything be better? Apparently Energizer's Schick division think so.
Schick recently introduced their Quattro razor. Quattro as in four. Yes, the thing has FOUR blades on it now! Gillette immediately sues Schick over Quattro (will Audi sue next?), citing patent infringements, but my concern goes beyond that. Where will this end now? From a single blade on a handle to twin blades sandwiched besides one another to a three blade cartridge and now four. Are 5, 6, 7 and more blades shaving simultaneously that far from appearing at my ocal drugstore? I don't think even my Middle-Eastern thick as a young tree single strands of beard could handle anything more. There must be a stop to this madness. Maybe we need a petition or better yet, a UN resolution condemning installation of any more than four blades on a single shaving cartridge as a crime against humanity and punishable under its charter. What do you think? Are you with me on this?
Posted by Pedram at October 22, 2003 10:07 PMGillette is my brand since puberty. From GII to contour to Sensor Excel. I was pretty happy with Sensor Excel. Then somebody gave me a gift -MACH3. It is superior than Excel. But the cartridges are really expensive. I find Sensor Excel much cost effective and more than satisfactory in terms of quality. So I would still like to use it. If I ever want another cutting edge I would prefer MACH3.
If you compare : low end printers cartridges are expensive and are almost costs as much as the printer. The manfactureres are ripping people by the replenishments they ought to buy.
I don't mind if the four or five blade inventions come to market with affordable price. But if it is another ploy to grab customers and bleed them by expensive cartridge prices then I should say keep away from them.
Posted by: Rezwan at October 23, 2003 01:59 AMI would love 4,5, or 6 blades. My chin hair needs it! Don't you watch the commercials Pedram? The first blade trimes, the 2nd blade gets it skin close, and pulls it out a bit, and the 3rd one chops that off, so the hair is underneath the skin! Isn't that fascinating! maybe with 5 blades, we wouldn't have to shave for a week! By the way, have you tried Epil Stop Plus, or Nads on your face? I hear it's been popular in Europe for ages... ;)
Posted by: javed at October 23, 2003 06:53 AMam I the only person who uses an electric shaver ?
Posted by: asad at October 23, 2003 08:28 AMWell, if you guys want to get rid of your face hair for a long time, be men and have your faces waxed!!!!! It will hurt, it will bleed, but you will not have to shave for quite a long time, then do it again, and soon the hair will stop to grow. If you can endure the process, one day you won´t have to shave anymore...
I learned this from a black gay guy who worked for mom. He said this made his skin feel a lot softer, and he used to have thick beard. I did it to one boyfriend once, with cold wax. He jumped on the seat, looked at me as if I was some kind of sadistic torturer from the military police, the cellophane with wax and his beard (hair bulbs and all), and refused to continue. The funny part is that for days he had to shave only three thirds of the original area, because I erradicated the hair from that painful third (nasty laughter here). Small wonder we broke up.
I wouldn't have left a comment if it wasn't for the WAX comment.
Shaving is a ritual, a discipline in my life. As much as I do care about getting rid of every single last piece of hair on my face every morning, it's important for me to know it grows back again...And I'm all in for Mach4, Mach3 does the job very well indeed, yet in two runs, one from top to bottom and another vice versa ( which I think is medically discouraged )I am looking forward to one that would do the job in one shot.
Posted by: Shahin at October 23, 2003 04:48 PMTo: asad, if you had the kind of beard Pedram is talking about, no electric shaver (not even a lawn mower) would work.
Posted by: Naser at October 23, 2003 05:53 PMI prefer these Mach3 stuff, but they are expensive in Sweden, so I have to shave both with my beloved philishave rechargable when watching MTV in the morning before going to work and sometimes with Mach 3 occasionally. Of course nothing can replace the pleasure of puting Gillette foam on your face skin and then using the Mach 3(this sounds like a Gillette advertisement!). But I am thinking about a day that you go to a barbershop and order a LASER shave, once and forever. You just tell the modell and everything would be done by a robotic laser shaver after rendering a 3D model of your face and bear area and the model you want and...
Posted by: Amir at October 24, 2003 12:35 AMWhile a Mach3 is what I use for everyday work, a straight blade is simply the best shave that you can get. I have one, and use it only for special occasions, and when I have the time and patience to work with it.
I wrote a post about this in Sept. '02
Posted by: Cyrus Farivar at October 24, 2003 10:42 AMhttp://cfarivar.livejournal.com/27210.html
Posted by: Cyrus Farivar at October 24, 2003 10:42 AMI use the Mach3, out of the top blades I think it performs the best. I just started using EdgeSaver and that has really increased my opinion on shaving with a razor. It sure is smooth now and it makes the blade last much longer. if you care you can read up on it at www.edgesaver.com
Posted by: tader at December 22, 2003 05:24 PMWhere can I follow up for more information
Posted by: Aly at March 30, 2004 03:08 AMTader, I too have been using Edgesaver on a recommendation from a military friend. I would not shave without it considering i'm now receiving 45 shaves from a mach 3.
Posted by: jackson at April 20, 2004 05:32 PMGILLETTE ARE MUGGING US OFF BY PUTTING CHEAPO COMFORT BLADES IN ALL THEIR CARTRIDGE RAZORS,LESS EFFECTIVE,MORE EXPENSIVE!!!!!!!
Posted by: paul at April 25, 2004 12:28 PM