Bought a Philips Norelco One blade, not sure I'm into it

[slybrewguy]

As this title says: I bought a Philips Norelco Oneblade and I'm not sure I'm into it.

Let me explain why I bought it- I've been looking for an alternative head shaving solution to an actual blade that cuts closer and quicker then clippers. DE headshaving is nice in that it reduces irritation but it takes forever and I will occasionally cut myself. The headblade gave me ingrowns, an injector gave me ingrowns, even a Gillette guard shaving only wtg gives me ingrowns on my head and nape. Clippers don't cut close enough for me and take a long time, Wahl balding clippers still take a long time and will leave more cuts then a DE. I had a barber shave my head with an Andis profoil lithium and that resulted in the worst bumps on my head I've ever had!

Fast forward, I decided to try the Philips Norelco Oneblade today and it equally does and doesn't do what it advertises. I watched a ton of videos and read a ton of reviews before making this purchase and many people praised it's close, quick, comfortable shaves. I just charged it up for awhile (more on that in a moment) and proceeded to shave my head and face in the shower just like I would a razor. I decided to lather up with proraso green foam since it was a middle ground between dry shave and brush lather. Keep in mind for the purpose of this review that I bought it soley for head shaving but figured I would try it on my face this time anyway.

I shaved ATG with long sweeps vs short strokes as the instructions stated. I followed my face and head hair growth map that I've grown very familiar with to make sure I was going ATG everywhere.

This took me almost 30 mins to shave my head and face. Now, that doesn't seem long but that was only a single ATG pass of each. I had to keep buffing, keep relathering, and it still missed a bunch of hairs. The worst part is the ATG wet shave left more stubble then a single WTG pass with a gillette guard or even a cart.

Let's talk about two HUGE negatives with this product:

Battery- you have to charge it for 8 hours for 45 mins of use! That's insane! With the way my shave went today I'd get 2 shaves tops per 8 hours of charging.

Blade life- they advertise the blade lasting 4 months, a single replacement is $15, a 2 pack of replacements is $25. The 4 month timeframe is based off of 2 shaves per week! With how much hair this left behind, I would have to shave 2 times a day!

I have to leave a positive here somewhere so I can say that it did a better job on my head then my face (though the back of my next stung a bit when I applied aftershave and is a bit red) and it feels good in the hand.

To bring this to a close, I'm not sure I'll be keeping this razor. They say they offer a 45 day satisfaction guarantee and I may be taking them up on that.

I'll leave you with a few post shave pics:

My head-

My face-

And here's two close ups of the "blade"-

 

[Highspeedlane]

It does sound like it misses the mark on expectations...especially battery life. That's a crazy proportion of charge to use ratio.

 

[slybrewguy]

If someone is using the small guard it comes with and is going for the stubble look, it's probably fine. It's just not for me.

As for the battery life, I have a Remington foil shaver that is supposed to charge 16 hours for 30 mins of use but I could shave my head and face with it in 10 mins or less. I only really use it for my head so it actually lasts awhile and I charge it in between uses for an hour or so. The Oneblade just takes so long to get close that it will have to fully charge again quite often.

 

[bro-ham]

If someone is using the small guard it comes with and is going for the stubble look, it's probably fine. It's just not for me.
......

I really think that may be an intended use. I have only seen a TV commercial for this, but the guy at the end of the commercial has a face full of stubble rather than a BBS.

 

[Badgerstate36]

Ive been using the One Blade for about a year to trim my beard every week and for that it actually works well. I know that Norelco says the tips of the blade are rubber coated to make it more comfortable. They say that it, "cuts close but not too close", which IMO would make it not so good for using it to get the hair down to skin level. Ive tried mine for shaving my neck and it was OK but not great.
Like I said, it works well for trimming my beard. I put the #3 guard on it and it works well, although I recently did replace it with a more traditional pair of clippers (Panasonic). I liked mine at first but they changed the design of the blades recently (they supposedly have wear indicators on them) and I feel like the new blades dont last as long as the old ones did. Theyre supposed to last 3 months but I find that after about a month, they get kind of tuggy. Its still usable at that point but it seems to take longer because you have to go over the hairs more to get it to cut.

 

[slybrewguy]

I ended up returning the one blade pretty quickly. I use either my Gillette guard or my Remington foil shaver for head shaving and both give me the result I'm looking for much quicker and easier then the one blade.

 

[Badgerstate36]

I ended up returning the one blade pretty quickly. I use either my Gillette guard or my Remington foil shaver for head shaving and both give me the result I'm looking for much quicker and easier then the one blade.

Have you tried the Schick Xtreme 3? The blades flex and are supposed to be great for head shaving. Im not a head shaver personally but I use the Xtreme 3 when I travel and it gives a great shave.

 

[slybrewguy]

Have you tried the Schick Xtreme 3? The blades flex and are supposed to be great for head shaving. Im not a head shaver personally but I use the Xtreme 3 when I travel and it gives a great shave.

Can't do blades ony head unfortunately. Even a de, injector or gillette guard going only WTG gives me terrible ingrowns on my nape and the back of my neck. It will sound gross but my neck hair grows so fast and thick that I could get that alone cut 2-3 times for every 1 actual hair cut.

I've tried everything (literally everything: 30+ DEs, carts, disposables, Injectors, guard, shavette, headblade, etc) besides waxing or lasers. Anything with a blade gives me ingrowns in that area, even just wtg every other day. Clippers don't cut close enough. The foil shaver has been my best option by far but it takes forever and I have visible stubble an hour later.

 

[Jacquers]

@slybrewguy Thanks for the review. I was thinking of getting one, but will probably hold off on that now.

I have the same issue - I've never tried a blade on my head, but from past experience of what happens on my face I know I'll have a rash if I used a blade. Have you found anything better in the mean time? The Skullshaver looks like a nice option?

 

[slybrewguy]

@slybrewguy Thanks for the review. I was thinking of getting one, but will probably hold off on that now.

I have the same issue - I've never tried a blade on my head, but from past experience of what happens on my face I know I'll have a rash if I used a blade. Have you found anything better in the mean time? The Skullshaver looks like a nice option?

Ok, this may or may not become a long response. In addition, the last time I shaved my head was 12/31/2018 and I am letting my hair grow for all of 2019 partially for fun and partially at my wife's request. She does like the shaved head but when we met I had longer curly hair and she misses it. I'm not bald or balding at all (besides normal thinning now that I'm in my 30s) so my head shaves are 100% by choice and require even more work and time then my face to get smooth.

With that being said:

I ended up tossing the cheap Remington foil shaver, it missed longer hairs frequently and was a pain to use. That got upgraded to a Braun series 7 which worked fairly well but still left some stubble and occasional irritation. From there I went up to a Braun series 9. Woah baby, that thing is a beast of hair removal. BBS head shave, totally dry, in 10 mins or less. Occasional bumps on the nape of my neck but I learned how to "undershave" that area to drastically limit irritation and still have it look nice. The Braun is a great tool and is very effective, the cleaning base is must as the shaver performed like new every day from it's use, for a time. The reason I got rid of it was Braun does not suggest head shaving with the series 9 as it really packs up the shaver head. This lead to significant premature wear, a cutting head that was supposed to last 12-18 months had to be replaced by 6. I bought a new head and sold it.

In the interim I tried the skull shaver pitbull gold model... That thing is a joke. My Wahl $20 clippers cut closer then that thing. It would catch my skin but not cut my hair (?), It was impossible to clean out without ripping the blade assembly apart (thus voiding the warranty), and it doesn't feel good in the hand. They have a 30 day warranty and are very good at honoring it if you want to give it a try. They told me I should wait 30 days as it takes time for skin to adjust to electric shaving, when I then explained how I've been electric head shaving for several months they just dropped the issue and gave me my money back.

As of late I have been using the new Gillette skinguard cartridge system and have been having some of the closest irritation free shaves of my life as well as the best blade/cart longevity of my life. I'm getting 2 weeks out of 1 cart averaging 6 shaves per week. I haven't used it on my head yet but if/when I shave my head again I highly doubt I would use anything else. Search YouTube, a well known British shave enthusiast/reviewer has come out of his shave video retirement solely to do a head and face shave review of the Gillette skinguard.

 

[Jacquers]

@slybrewguy Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it! It certainly saves me buying and trying those options. I'll keep an eye out for the Gillette skinguard - I don't think it's available where I live yet. These days I have a short beard, but it might just be an options for the dome

 

[slybrewguy]

@slybrewguy Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it! It certainly saves me buying and trying those options. I'll keep an eye out for the Gillette skinguard - I don't think it's available where I live yet. These days I have a short beard, but it might just be an options for the dome

I honestly would consider a mid to high end foil shaver (depending on your budget and density or hair) if I were you. If you want a near BBS head but don't care if it's not 100% BBS, the Braun family of foil shavers should do you great. They are trying to phase out the series 7 in place of the series 5 so you can find series 7 shavers with the base on Walmart and Amazon online for cheap. The foils will also help to clean up your non-beared face areas and the pop up trimmers will line your beard. Once you get used to it (keep in mind, you really need to know your grain map and pretty much waste your time with anything besides ATG) you should be able to do a full head shave to near BBS plus line up your beard, shave your neck, and shave your cheeks in less then 15 mins, maybe even 10, absolutely dry with no water, cream, or soap.

 

[Luecke2326]

I'm so so so glad you wrote this post! I've seen the commercials and the product in the stores and was wondering how the heck this product could do what it says it can do.... Maybe for a millennial who just wants a quick in and out shave who doesn't really care about quality, this product would work? I exclusively shave with a straight razor spare minor cleanup because otherwise I end up with some razor bumps after each shave. For me, I feel like it would be bump city! It just makes me think of a cross between a trimmer, electric, and conventional razor. Again, thanks for the review!

 

[slybrewguy]

I'm so so so glad you wrote this post! I've seen the commercials and the product in the stores and was wondering how the heck this product could do what it says it can do.... Maybe for a millennial who just wants a quick in and out shave who doesn't really care about quality, this product would work? I exclusively shave with a straight razor spare minor cleanup because otherwise I end up with some razor bumps after each shave. For me, I feel like it would be bump city! It just makes me think of a cross between a trimmer, electric, and conventional razor. Again, thanks for the review!

Happy to help! I would take the new Gillette skinguard over the Norelco oneblade any day. The skinguard also sacrifices closeness for comfort but is at least a real razor that will give you effortless DFS+ shaves, much more 'presentable' then the stubble look. Honestly, I think a full beard is more professional then the stubble look. Beard looks intentional, stubble looks lazy.

 

[Luecke2326]

Honestly, I think a full beard is more professional then the stubble look. Beard looks intentional, stubble looks lazy.

THIS! With out a doubt!

 

[slybrewguy]

So I'm going to revive this thread a bit, I now have one of the Philips Norelco oneblade face & body model:

One of my complaints about the regular model was 8 hour charge for 45 mins of use, this one is 4 hours charge for 60 mins or use. Much better. This one is lithium ion battery so you get full power until it runs out, the regular model was nic cad. Much better. I do not do any 'below the neck' trimming or shaving besides occasionally freshening up the pits during hot summers so I'm able to use the extra blade it came with as an extra face shaving blade so that is like a built in $15 coupon. The shave is still where is was at in my original post in terms of overall closeness however the lithium ion power helped to grab some flat lying hairs leaving a better result then the regular model.

So what changed and why did I revisit this tool (while being happy I did)? My perception of a 'close' or acceptable shave changed.

I always chased BBS for years and the damaged it caused was far beyond never ending ingrown hairs (even with great lather and DE technique)... It caused me to disregard anything that wasn't BBS as almost shameful.

As time went on and I focused on getting a quality, acceptable shave, that could pass the wife test but not destroy my skin I began to finally realize what everyone around here was saying this whole time: a little bit of micro stubble is ok because you don't see it from two feet away.

With that being said, I've been using Braun electrics mostly and have been satisfied with them. They do still cause some of the issues associated with 'too close a shave' and i have to shave every other day as a result. I've now found the Philips Norelco oneblade provides me the absolute best middle ground between a close, wife approving shave and maintaining that daily in minutes with no fuss and no ingrowns. The even better part is, it handles lather much better then any foil or rotary I've ever used so I can still pull out brush and cream if I want to feel fancy.

I never came here looking for a hobby, a hobby found me, but in doing so I have been able to answer most of my questions, fix most of my issues, meet some really cool people, and learn far too much about yet another useless topic haha. Cheers ladies & gents!

 

[Weean]

Saw an advert for this on UK telvision yesterday - along the bottom of the screen there was a disclaimer to the effect 'does not shave as close as a traditional shaver'. And they want to charge a premium?!

 

[ShaverAZ]

I was looking at the one blade & saw the accompanying spendy replacement blades. The every 4 months replacement seemed stupidly expensive, plus reviews weren't that good for it.

Ever consider just getting a Norelco rotary razor? My boss had one & it looked to do an excellent job. He even brought it to work for a quick touch up if some company bigwigs were coming to the office to visit.

 

[slybrewguy]

I was looking at the one blade & saw the accompanying spendy replacement blades. The every 4 months replacement seemed stupidly expensive, plus reviews weren't that good for it.

Ever consider just getting a Norelco rotary razor? My boss had one & it looked to do an excellent job. He even brought it to work for a quick touch up if some company bigwigs were coming to the office to visit.

Rotary shavers give me the worst irritation of anything, thanks for the suggestion though! Overall I'm still very pleased with my oneblade. The blades aren't as expensive as I thought they would be, I can get about 3 months out of 2 blades and two blades cost $24 average retail... So $12 a blade every 5-6 weeks. That price goes down further if I buy a 3 pack of blades ($34 or around $11.30 per blade) and/or I stock up when there is a sale/coupon (usually getting blades down to $9-$10 a piece). If I'm shaving my head and face the blade life drops down to about 4 weeks but that is a beyond reasonable reduction in lifespan as I've got a big ol noggin lol.

If you are considering trying it but worried about the cost then keep an eye on Amazon, they run sales on these things all the time. They regularly have the base model oneblade on sale for anywhere from $20-$30. Even if you don't like it for actual regular shaving, it's fantastic for camping, overnight trips, and cleaning up neck/sideburns/etc between hair cuts!

 

[naughtilus]

Waking up at 6am, barely finding your way to the bathroom. You want peace, quiet, more sleep and rest in your comfy soft bed.

And then...

Spoiler: *click!*

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!!!!!!!

So damn annoying.
No, thank you. I don't care how it shaves.