@slybrewguy , I also tried pushing the cart yesterday by going ATG in a trouble spot. The next day I have zero irritation, and like you, my neck has zero irritation. This is a nice shave.
New Gillette 2 blades cart: The Gillette Skinguard!
- Thread starter mata_66
- Start date
Razor: Gillette SkinGuard on a "Fusion5 ProShield Power Razor with FlexBall Technology".
Soap: Mike’s Natural - Pine and Cedarwood.
Brush: RazoRock Synthetic Plissoft.
Lather: Warm Water, Face Lather, Regular Mug.
Objective: Conquer a decent 5 days of growth.
Technique:
1 Main WTG Pass and 1 WTG and XTG Touch-Up Pass for missed areas and a closer shave.
I go for a consistent, clean, even, and irritation-free look rather than an ultra-close BBS.
I arrange my face to shave it like the surface of a diamond.
Review:
Great smooth blades.
People are right: you can't even feel this thing.
The excellent prep and DE-based technique we’ve learned here made the experience even better.
The blades truly do all the work.
I applied 0 pressure.
No nicks or irritation.
This razor is only “good” as a maintenance shaver to conquer a short stubble on a “fat/chubby” face with few contours.
This means that you can use it to safely shave every single day.
But, when it comes to conquering 5 days of growth: DEs and the Gillette Sensor have this razor beat with ease.
I’m currently looking for a cartridge razor that I can use for a quick and efficient daily morning shave.
This razor did not allow me to be fast.
The lubrication strips were interesting to say the least.
Once in contact with water, they release some saliva/gel-like substance.
It was weird because when you pull the razor off your skin, you can see some saliva/gel-like fluid connecting the razor to your face.
It almost looked like I had spit on my face. No big deal.
But, I think the bottom lubricating strip is completely unnecessary.
Our shaving lather, gel, and creams do what this bottom strip does.
The top strip kind of functions like a soother, lubricator, and cleaner to help with buffing or to see results.
Both, the Sensor and the SkinGuard have this top strip and it’s good.
This razor is probably best used with something like Cremo after a hot shower or a thorough warm soap wash of the face.
Thick and creamy lather slows it down a lot.
You will repeatedly have to lift it off your skin.
Try a thinner lather.
My Sensor can easily work with thick lather.
Blades were never a problem for Gillette.
Even their DE blades are great.
The form factor in which these blades are placed is an issue.
These modern Gillette razors have heads that are too wide and thick.
Here’s a size comparison I did:
Gillette Sensor: 1x
Gillette SkinGuard: 2.5x
Gillette Guard: 2x
This would be a better razor if they got rid of those stupid microfine and the huge lubricating strip at the bottom.
But, that would mean it turns into a Gillette Sensor!
See where I’m going?
I hate those stupid unrealistic commercials showing a man making a curved pass across his face.
Not practical at all.
The big head makes it difficult and slow to work with contours even with DE training.
As far as aesthetics are concerned: it looks better than the Fusion5s.
BUT: The coolest looking cartridge razor ever is the original Gillette Sensor or Sensor Excel.
It is sleek and compact; like a modern smartphone compared to a clunky Blackberry.
One of the things that drove me to DE shaving was the fact that these large heads made shaving uncomfortable and slow.
You have to repeatedly lift and re-apply the razor. Quite annoying.
My first razor was a vibrating Fusion5 with 5 murderous blades.
It worked okay until my “man-baby” facial hair turned into tougher “real-man” facial hair.
I had to resort to using that single trimmer blade at the back of these razors as a main stay.
Then, I started looking into DE razors because fewer blades have got to be better, I thought!
So, this SkinGuard is vast improvement.
For now, I’ll use the SkinGuard on occasion.
But, on a regular basis, maybe the only place I’ll use the SkinGuard and the vibration on is my nape where I like a slow shave.
I am no longer going to use the vibration feature on my face. I don’t think it helps.
There’s a reason why the default handle on the SkinGuard does not vibrate.
It’s useless or even detrimental on sensitive skin.
The Sensor and SkinGuard have the best cartridge blades I’ve ever tried.
DE blades match up but only after you’ve tried a few and picked the ones you like.
Conclusion: Added the SkinGuard to my repertoire. But, the Sensor is my go-to cartridge.
I will now be using my excellent wet shaving prep along with my Sensor to give myself a light daily shave to maintain a consistent look with zero irritation.
Soap: Mike’s Natural - Pine and Cedarwood.
Brush: RazoRock Synthetic Plissoft.
Lather: Warm Water, Face Lather, Regular Mug.
Objective: Conquer a decent 5 days of growth.
Technique:
1 Main WTG Pass and 1 WTG and XTG Touch-Up Pass for missed areas and a closer shave.
I go for a consistent, clean, even, and irritation-free look rather than an ultra-close BBS.
I arrange my face to shave it like the surface of a diamond.
Review:
Great smooth blades.
People are right: you can't even feel this thing.
The excellent prep and DE-based technique we’ve learned here made the experience even better.
The blades truly do all the work.
I applied 0 pressure.
No nicks or irritation.
This razor is only “good” as a maintenance shaver to conquer a short stubble on a “fat/chubby” face with few contours.
This means that you can use it to safely shave every single day.
But, when it comes to conquering 5 days of growth: DEs and the Gillette Sensor have this razor beat with ease.
I’m currently looking for a cartridge razor that I can use for a quick and efficient daily morning shave.
This razor did not allow me to be fast.
The lubrication strips were interesting to say the least.
Once in contact with water, they release some saliva/gel-like substance.
It was weird because when you pull the razor off your skin, you can see some saliva/gel-like fluid connecting the razor to your face.
It almost looked like I had spit on my face. No big deal.
But, I think the bottom lubricating strip is completely unnecessary.
Our shaving lather, gel, and creams do what this bottom strip does.
The top strip kind of functions like a soother, lubricator, and cleaner to help with buffing or to see results.
Both, the Sensor and the SkinGuard have this top strip and it’s good.
This razor is probably best used with something like Cremo after a hot shower or a thorough warm soap wash of the face.
Thick and creamy lather slows it down a lot.
You will repeatedly have to lift it off your skin.
Try a thinner lather.
My Sensor can easily work with thick lather.
Blades were never a problem for Gillette.
Even their DE blades are great.
The form factor in which these blades are placed is an issue.
These modern Gillette razors have heads that are too wide and thick.
Here’s a size comparison I did:
Gillette Sensor: 1x
Gillette SkinGuard: 2.5x
Gillette Guard: 2x
This would be a better razor if they got rid of those stupid microfine and the huge lubricating strip at the bottom.
But, that would mean it turns into a Gillette Sensor!
See where I’m going?
I hate those stupid unrealistic commercials showing a man making a curved pass across his face.
Not practical at all.
The big head makes it difficult and slow to work with contours even with DE training.
As far as aesthetics are concerned: it looks better than the Fusion5s.
BUT: The coolest looking cartridge razor ever is the original Gillette Sensor or Sensor Excel.
It is sleek and compact; like a modern smartphone compared to a clunky Blackberry.
One of the things that drove me to DE shaving was the fact that these large heads made shaving uncomfortable and slow.
You have to repeatedly lift and re-apply the razor. Quite annoying.
My first razor was a vibrating Fusion5 with 5 murderous blades.
It worked okay until my “man-baby” facial hair turned into tougher “real-man” facial hair.
I had to resort to using that single trimmer blade at the back of these razors as a main stay.
Then, I started looking into DE razors because fewer blades have got to be better, I thought!
So, this SkinGuard is vast improvement.
For now, I’ll use the SkinGuard on occasion.
But, on a regular basis, maybe the only place I’ll use the SkinGuard and the vibration on is my nape where I like a slow shave.
I am no longer going to use the vibration feature on my face. I don’t think it helps.
There’s a reason why the default handle on the SkinGuard does not vibrate.
It’s useless or even detrimental on sensitive skin.
The Sensor and SkinGuard have the best cartridge blades I’ve ever tried.
DE blades match up but only after you’ve tried a few and picked the ones you like.
Conclusion: Added the SkinGuard to my repertoire. But, the Sensor is my go-to cartridge.
I will now be using my excellent wet shaving prep along with my Sensor to give myself a light daily shave to maintain a consistent look with zero irritation.
If your whiskers are anything like mine (I can be shaping a beard at 5 days), any cart that can produce a normal shave without much clogging sounds like a winner to me (price aside).
It is a winner.
But, the Sensor is still in first place for me.
I am slow at DE shaving. But, I still like it.
With the Sensor, I am 4x as fast!
I was never that fast with the Fusion5 or this SkinGuard.
Well, I have to give another notch to the skingaurd. I was half way through the second pass with a different razor that wasn't going well when I reached for the gaurd to finish the shave off. Not only did it take me to the same near-bbs it did yesterday but it acted as if my skin wasn't feeling 'hot' from the other razor. I've got a guard coming in the mail to test it against since it's been awhile since I've used one. I'm becoming more impressed...
Well today marks shave number 6 for me with the new skinguard razor. To be fair, one of those was a single WTG pass and another was only 2 passes so we could say it's received the 'use' of 5 full 3 pass shaves. At this point I have seen, felt, nor heard any degredation in it's performance what so ever. The first first shave in the cart had a very minor tug to it (like the Indian guard system) but the blade settled in very nicely by the second shave (also like the Indian guard system). At this point the regular single blade guard would have started to tug and burn, I never got more then 3-4 full (2-3 pass) shaves out of those before I would toss them.
Now only a week of shaving on one cart isn't much, I know that. However I average 2 shaves per DE blade, 3 shaves per SE blade, and 4 shaves per any other cart system I've tried. If I get even 1 more good shave out of this cart before tossing it then it really isn't as expensive as it seems and at this point I won't be surprised if this cart lasts me almost another week which would put my at an average of $5 per month. That's cheaper then my Braun cleaning solution and well worth the extra couple bucks to prevent the issues I always had with DE and SE shaving.
Gillette informed me via email that by March this system will be in all Walmarts, all over Amazon, and made a permanent option for their refill mailing club system.
Now only a week of shaving on one cart isn't much, I know that. However I average 2 shaves per DE blade, 3 shaves per SE blade, and 4 shaves per any other cart system I've tried. If I get even 1 more good shave out of this cart before tossing it then it really isn't as expensive as it seems and at this point I won't be surprised if this cart lasts me almost another week which would put my at an average of $5 per month. That's cheaper then my Braun cleaning solution and well worth the extra couple bucks to prevent the issues I always had with DE and SE shaving.
Gillette informed me via email that by March this system will be in all Walmarts, all over Amazon, and made a permanent option for their refill mailing club system.
They finally have a commercial option for men when are looking for a little bit more.
I want to know the ingredients inside their new PURE SHAVE GEL.
I'm more of a foam guy when I'm not using a brush but I also am curious about that new line. If it's not too expensive (for a can) I'd give it a try. I always have a can of something around just in case but it's $1-$2 cans of barbasol, foamy, or the new series 3 cooling gel, not the almost $6 fusion cans.
Just tried the SkinGuard again today.
Only had about 2 days of growth.
Used it WTG and a little XTG.
I'm reiterating my previous opinion.
Don't use it with vibration but the FlexBall isn't too bad actually.
The single blade on the back isn't all the good anymore.
It could've done better with my neck area.
I used it with my La Toja stick instead of something creamier/thicker and I was right to do so.
Sensor is still the king for me.
Only had about 2 days of growth.
Used it WTG and a little XTG.
I'm reiterating my previous opinion.
Don't use it with vibration but the FlexBall isn't too bad actually.
The single blade on the back isn't all the good anymore.
It could've done better with my neck area.
I used it with my La Toja stick instead of something creamier/thicker and I was right to do so.
Sensor is still the king for me.
x2 on the la toja as a good soap pick and in the rear blade dulling quickly. That rear blade's short life and the really long handle are the only two complaints I have really. I've actually been on the look out for aftermarket fusion handles to see if I can find something smaller. I just today used the regular guard for the first time in awhile to compare it to the skinguard. The regular guard gave me a much closer shave quicker however my skin feels a little 'tight' and 'hot' (though I'd still call it an irritation free shave). In terms of hair removal, the guard did in 2 passes what the skinguard does in 3 passes maybe some extra touch up. The skinguard just rewards your patience and time with an even better post shave feel.
The SkinGuard became available at my Walgreens store today. This has been a long wait, but I got one, & a can of the Pure shave gel too. If I can get a better post shave feel & a decent shave I'll be satisfied. They only had 3 left on a 15 razor display.
Ron I
Ron I
PLEASE: Post a picture of the ingredients list on the PURE SHAVE GEL!
Thank You!
I'm going to check my local Walgreens today as well. I'm more interested in the new PURE tubed product labeled "shaving cream" and hope it also performs well with a brush because it's MSRP is 5.99 so if I can get a $6 tube of brush lathering cream at my local Walmart I will be pumped.
1st shave report. Good and very comfortable. Seemed it took me longer to shave than with DE or Mach 3.
I have never been able to get a picture to post so I can't post ingredients list. I will, however, share with you that it's the best gel I've used, YMMV.
Ron I
I have never been able to get a picture to post so I can't post ingredients list. I will, however, share with you that it's the best gel I've used, YMMV.
Ron I
How much growth were you trying to get rid of?
In my case: a DE or a Sensor are a lot faster, easier, and less irritating on more than 2 days of growth.
Thank You in advance for posting the ingredient list.
Last edited:
One day's growth. I shave daily, Ingredients:
water, palmetic acid, triethanolamine, isopentane, gylceryl oleate, stearic acid, glycerin, isobutane, sorbitol,
hydroxyethylcellulose, fragrance, peg-23m, peg-90m, menthol, bht, glyceryl acrylate/acrylic acid copolymer
pvm/ma copolymer. aloe barbadensis leaf juice, mentha piperita oil
Added is: this packaging is powered by air.
I'll definitely be buying this.
Not a bad set of ingredients.
The gels are the only thing that I miss from my Fusion5 days.
With solid prep, the gels should be even better now.
I gave up the old gels because of the unnecessary dyes.
I'm also never had an issue with canned products though I was more of a foam guy. May I ask what you mean by "solid prep" when you talk about gels? I'm just curious what other people are doing with these types of products.
Checked 2 Walgreens and 1 CVS today in the Daytona Beach area and found no skinguards or pure gel/cream.
Nothing special.
Just warm water and soap or cleanser on the beard before the shave -- either by itself or through a shower.
Keep the beard wet and warm before you apply the gel.
Gillette's gels provide ample slickness and cushion.
Try this unscientific test: place some Barbasol or a Gillette Gel on a wet finger and then run another wet finger over it, back and forth, as if to test the cushioning and slickness capacity of the gel or foam.
The gel has won out for me.
This doesn't mean that I never use Barbasol or an authentic shaving soap.
Mike's Natural is my current go-to.
Thanks!
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