Brotherhood: Razors of the Dark Side

[Mick]

Reading all of the talk about cartridge and system razors has set my interest to the point that I have contacted several manufacturers asking for "samples" of their products.

I have been shaving for over 45 years and never in that time have I used a cartridge razor (nor canned foam but that is another thread altogether). I've always used a DE, soap, mug, brush, and face lathered (until joining B&B last year)

I am starting this thread so that users of cartridge and system razors can have a place to discuss the good, bad and the ugly about these type of shaving devices. It will be a thread for giving and asking for advice about cartridge shaving.

Myself, since I have no personal experience. will be a "lurker" in this thread acting like a sponge to absorb all that others have to say so that once my "samples" arrive I can tackle each one and can make intelligent comments (good, bad, or meh) on these Razors of the Dark Side.

OK so let's hear from all of the silent ones. This is the place to discuss these type of razors from the single and multi blade all the way to the "use once and throw away" disposable razors.

As is the standard from all B&B members:

Courtesy and the proper decorum are expected from all who choose to participate in this discussion

 

[chongo gordo]

Just a note on house-keeping, shouldn't this thread be under the "Single Edge" section of safety razor topics?

 

[mattymatt]

So, did your request for sample products work out? Which companies are sending you something?

 

[Mick]

So, did your request for sample products work out? Which companies are sending you something?

Only received auto-responder replies from the requests I made yesterday.

I will have to see what shows up at the P.O. Box later this week

 

[elderberry99]

Just a note on house-keeping, shouldn't this thread be under the "Single Edge" section of safety razor topics?

I have to agree on this one Turtle. Being a cart, this should have been put in the Single Edge section of forum.

 

[The Nid Hog]

From Nid Hog's Epilady Blog:

I don't have much to say about cartridge systems. I've never used an injector and, although I went through a fair number of Atras in my day, that's been a while ago. My most vivid experience with an alternative shaving system happened when my best friend and I were out Christmas shopping. This must have been during the early 80s. He wanted to get a nice present for his then-girlfriend/now wife. Somehow, he hit on the idea of getting her an Epilady. If you've never seen one, it looks like an electric razor. However, where the screen would be on an electric razor, there is a nightmarish looking combination of wheels and vibrating springs. The idea is that a woman runs this contraption up and down her legs and it removes any hair it runs over, leaving the shaver with soft, hairless limbs. The maker even uses the euphemism "depilatory" to describe the process.

Anyway, I picked up the demonstrator model and had a look at it. It was already switched on and buzzing happily. Just to see what would happen, I ran it over a little patch on my forearm. Well, it turns out that the word "depliatory" means "to tear out by the roots." And that's exactly what it did to the hairs on my arm. In fact, about thirty years after the fact, I still have a little hairless patch, like a 1-inch square LZ chopped out of my otherwise hairy arm.

My buddy went ahead and bought it for his girlfriend. I imagine that she used that horrible gadget once in a while, but I can't say for sure. They did end up getting married, which suggests to me that she left the Epilady in the box.

 

[dougmac]

I've tried the Gillette Sensor, Sensor Excel, Mach 3, and one of the Schick multi-blade disposables that was big 10 years ago (I didn't like it, and therefore don't recall the name).

The Sensor was sent to me for my 18th birthday from Gillette, along with a sample of their aftershave balm and splash. Nice marketing! I've been a loyal Gillette man ever since, even though now I'm using their 1940's DE razor with non-Gillette blades

Anyway, the Sensor Excel was always my go-to razor until I found DE shaving, the Mach 3 just didn't seem an improvement to me, so I never upgraded. Even though I liked the Excel best, I never really got a good shave from it, always needed to wait at least 3 days between shaves in order for my skin to be ready for another go. Now that I'm using a DE specifically, I noticed I really only like the super sharp blades (Feathers), and they allow me to shave every day with no issues (as long as my technique is good!). I wonder if the main reason I had such poor results from the cartridge is that the blades in them just aren't sharp enough? I'd be curious to try a Feather-sharp cartridge just to see.

Kudos on starting the thread, Turtle!

 

[Lockedin]

I've been a Mach 3 user since '98 or '99 (bought into the hype early on).


All of the following are just my observations. As always - YMMV

Pros:
Speed - Shaving face & head takes about 10 minutes - head shaving is especially fast
Easy - Passable to good shaves are easy to accomplish
Quantity - Easy to find (under lock & key generally - see below)
Forgiving - Contours to all but the sharpest corners of the face without attention to angle / technique

Cons:
Expense - $23.95 for eight cart. pack (24 shaves for me, so about $1 per shave in cartridges alone)
Access - Under lock & key - easy to find, but not so easy to get at when a 17yr old girl is trying to get them out of the cabinet for you!
Gooey - Blue / White strip contacts the skin after the blades have passed, depositing some sort of gooey stuff to alleviate razor burn. It causes breakouts (on my face at least) unless thoroughly washed immediately after shaving, negating the soothing effect.
Frequency - When the blue part of the lube strip disappears, they say it's time to replace the cartridge - I need to change long before the strip changes, unless I want to wince & bleed.
Quality - 3 pass BBS shaves are possible, but do not seem to last long - I have visible stubble by 10am - 3.5 hours after shaving
Accuracy - is almost impossible with this cartridge - beard / side burn levels can be a bit sloppy & a guesstimate at best, the resulting edge is "feathered" rather than a nice clean line.
Razor Burn - especially on the end of a third (and final) shave of a cart. No amount of prep - Showering, using conditioner on beard area, shave oils / creams / soaps, hot towels, etc does not seem to help with the pulling & irritation.


IMHO these are about the best of the cartridges without getting prohibitively expensive. I do get decent shaves, and when compared to other cartridge systems, less irritation & burn.

That said - I sought out a DE / Straight razor community for a reason, didn't I?

 

[MiguelATF]

I'm a forum 'newb' - but a long term Dark-Side Razorholic. I grew up with electric razors - something that my brilliant father, a card-carrying Caltech nerd, used himself - and like most sons, I wanted to be like and/or emulate what my father did. So getting my first Norelco was a big thrill. Can't remember when my first non-electric shave came about but it would have been in the '70's, probably a disposable Bic. That was the era of extremely cheap - and extremely simple - disposable/throwaway razors which sort of worked, sometimes.

Unlike possibly most B&B'ers, I was positively blown away, years later, the first time I tried a Mach 3. The subsequent introductions of the Fusions left me head scratching until I tried them - and was favorably impressed. The power versions - with an internal battery which makes them vibrate - seemed stupidly gimmicky to me until the first time that I tried on and had an A-HAAAA! moment.

So - what am I even doing here at B & B?

Good question. I think, above all, I value the ritual of shaving - of doing things the old-fashioned way - of tradition. I like that in a lot of areas. But I also like modernity and ease of use and totally trouble free tools or hardware. I spent enough time owning seriously problematical old English or Swedish cars that were wonderful to drive when they worked but had enough quirks to drive a normal person right to the edge - so that when I got my first super-reliable Honda it was....a revelation. Selling the Triumph Spitfire which rarely ran and replacing it with an insanely reliable but even more fun-to-drive Mazda Miata was even more of a revelation.

Ditto for shaving. The ease and efficacy of the latest round of cartridge technology - typified for me by the Proglide Fusions which I use - are literally light years ahead of the ancient Bics and their ilk. But other aspects of the modern everyman mass-produced shaving approach left me unhappy - specifically all the canned foams or gels. Transitioning to a good soap and brush - my first, bought for me as a special present by my wonderful significant other - was an eye-opening revelation. Suddenly, shaving became much much much more F-U-N.

Lately I've been evolving. Discovering the shea-based French Pre de Provence soap and using it daily was an eye opener. So was (just recently) my first English soap, Harris's subtle, classic and luxurious Arlington. It's nice taking the time to pamper myself. But through it all, thick and thin, what most B&B'ers call the Dark Side - or the evil Cartridges which seem semi-universally loathed and mocked, or in some quarters, feared, around here.....make me more than happy 8 days a week.

That's where I'm coming from.

One more minor point - about cost. So many people, not just B&B'ers, complain about the cost of acquiring the newest, best, latest models of Gillette's multi-blade multi-lubrication strip multi-$$$$$ cartridges which never seem to last more than 3 or 4 shaves - that you'd think that would be a problem for me too. And, honestly, it was for awhile. Not that the cost of cartridges was ever prohibitive - it never came close - but every once in awhile I wondered. Then, not too long ago, I read some interesting articles and reviews by Dave Alexander, the opinionated, intelligent head writer for the Mens Hair/Style sections of the website about.com. Dave is stylist and barber but also an articulate thinker - and one of his columns first exposed me to the concept of actually taking care of your expensive Gillette cartridge - so that it will last for months, not days. That's right....MONTHS. Many others have talked about this too, some in commonsensical ways, others sounding like total nut cases. But I applied some of D.A.'s suggestions - mainly cleaning my cartridge meticulously in a rubbing alcohol/Cognac mixture (the cognac was my idea, not his!) after each shave - and so far, the longevity of my supposedly overpriced cartridges has been extended by a fairly shocking factor.

Bottom line - if you take care of your cartridges, they'll last - and give you buttery smooth BBS shaves - way longer than possibly 99% of hardcore DE-only purists would believe possible.

So....I think that's all for the current rant - but it's fun to join the Brotherhood of the Dark Side - though, honestly, I've been a member in good-standing for longer than Badger & Blade has been in existence.

I only have one question which perhaps someone can answer for me -

When I search different forums, I find literally hundreds and thousands of posts about cartridges, Gillette, Shick, etc - many bashing them as 'evil', others touting their benefits, some secretly confessing that they still love their Atras or Edges. So WHY does B&B have a tiny Razors-of-the-Dark-Side "Brotherhood - but not have a Sub-Forum for Cartridges and Cartridge users under the Safety Razor section? Every serious Dictionary or Wikipedia or Encyclopedia DEFINITON for 'Safety Razor' include Single Razors - Double Razors - AND Cartridge Razors -

But somehow, BadgerAndBlade doesn't.

It seems weird to me that there are only a few dozen threads about the Dark Side - but hundreds about cartridges. Isn't it time we admitted that they are not only real - but also used - and, surprisingly, can and do function as part of a dedicated and thoughtful shaving experience? Or should we just keep our collective heads buried deep in the metaphoric sand of if-we-ignore-it-or-relegate-it-to-an-obscure-section-then-maybe-we-can-keep-pretending-that-it-doesn't-really-exist?

Cheers everyone! Go Dark Side!

 

[KQY61]

Hi,

I see where this one had little interest. So little, it didn't get moved with all the other clubs and brotherhoods. I expect that will change real soon now.

But, having spotted it for the first time today, I will say I have tried all the Gillette carts from Trac-II thru Fusion because they send me one every time one comes out. Probably due to my long time subscription to Auto Week.

I started shaving with soap, mug, brush and an Early Tech at age 15 in 1976. Whilst I tried every cart, I always found them to be 'meh'. I always stuck with the soap, mug and brush though. The only canned goo I ever liked was a cream like paste in a cart that stuck into a brush handle. Called Brush Plus, it was great for the travel kit. Long gone now, of course.

I do like the Mach 3 the best of all the carts. I still have two handles and some carts for air travel. When using it, I have to shave again after work or look scruffy. But, it beats mailing myself blades when travelling by air. My wife used to use the M3, but switched to my dad's old 40s Super Speed. She also takes a M3 when traveling by air. Hence the two handles.

Stan

Edit: I have yet to receive one of the Fusion Orange Ball thingys yet. Last one to show up was the Proglide...

 

[The Kiwi]

I've tried the Gillette Sensor, Sensor Excel, Mach 3, and one of the Schick multi-blade disposables that was big 10 years ago (I didn't like it, and therefore don't recall the name).

The Sensor was sent to me for my 18th birthday from Gillette, along with a sample of their aftershave balm and splash. Nice marketing! I've been a loyal Gillette man ever since, even though now I'm using their 1940's DE razor with non-Gillette blades

Anyway, the Sensor Excel was always my go-to razor until I found DE shaving, the Mach 3 just didn't seem an improvement to me, so I never upgraded. Even though I liked the Excel best, I never really got a good shave from it, always needed to wait at least 3 days between shaves in order for my skin to be ready for another go. Now that I'm using a DE specifically, I noticed I really only like the super sharp blades (Feathers), and they allow me to shave every day with no issues (as long as my technique is good!). I wonder if the main reason I had such poor results from the cartridge is that the blades in them just aren't sharp enough? I'd be curious to try a Feather-sharp cartridge just to see.

In my day, there was no birthday razor, nor was there for my son, whose 18th birthday was 1981. That would have been four years too late for my own first shaves, although when the need for a super fast shave came calling, it was the Sensor Excel twin that was what I used.

The Mach3 I bought when that was brand new was such shoddy junk it dropped its cartridge off constantly. I've never tried another Gillette (hardware) anything since. I wasn't well impressed with the Schick FX series of cartridge razors after the Sensors came along, however both the Xtreme3 and the Hydro3 have worked well for me as "blind", shave by feel razors in the shower, where even if I had a mirror, my near-sightedness would make it useless.

The Quattro was too big and awkward. It is now about five weeks away from the sixtieth anniversary of my firsrt shave. I used some unknown model of a DE given to me on my fourteenth birthday by an Aunt or Uncle (there were three or four such hand me downs), and made a bloody butchery of myself. I skipped shaving until I acquired an SE that was less bloodthirsty, and used those for the next eight years.

I've successfully DE shaved from 1962 onward, using a Gillette Slim that I still have today. But there are patches of direction-confused hairs at the collar line on my neck that have always been a problem, and for years, I had to accept a "so-so" shortening of the stubble there, until the Sensor razors appeared, so that's been my cleanup for those patches, although when it's time to change Sensor cartridges, I've used the Xtreme3 for that, and it is a decent stand-in.

 

[DougK]

I originally came here because cartridges and electrics weren't working for me and I was tired of the irritation. At the time, I mostly used the Mach 3 and Edge gel, along with having tried just about every other cart or disposable razor out there. Then I came here and really learned how to shave properly with a DE, brush, and soaps and creams.

A couple of years ago, I was out of DE blades, so I picked up some Trac II carts to tide me over while I was waiting for my Feathers to arrive in the mail. Surprisingly, my shaves were just as good as I'd been getting with the DE; it was my technique all along, not my tools. Ever since then, I've kept the Sensor Excel and Trac II razors in my rotation along with my more traditional tools.

Lately, I've become a huge fan of the Gillette Guard, which pretty much gives me everything I would want in a cartridge razor: single blade; pivoting head; no lube strip; close, comfortable shave; and a low enough cost to make it an attractive option when I don't feel like loading up my Tech.