First shave with a Mach3!

[galopede]

Yep, I have to admit it, I used a Mach3 this morning. Age 54 and never tried one!

The other day I was trying to convince a friend of the benefits of a proper shave when it slipped out that I'd never used a Mach3. I had a beard for many years and when it finally came off, I used disposable twin blade jobbies until I discovered B&B and went back to the DE's I'd started with all those years ago. I'd looked at the M3 but wouldn't pay the money as I thought it far too much for a bit of plastic and steel!

Anyway, my friend made a deal. He gave me on old M3 handle with a new blade, and I lent him an old Gillette with a Tesco blade.

This morning I gave it a go. At about 9:30 as I'm just starting a fortnight's holiday!

I lathered up with Proraso soap, a MÜHLE pure badger brush and my favourite stainless steel cat food bowl. (My friend uses canned gloop of course)

Off I went, scraping away. Reasonably smooth though didn't feel that nice, a bit like running a Surform over my face! The swivelling bit was good round the jawline, I must admit. Still I had to do four passes and a lot of extra cleaning up of rough bits! Who said you can do it in one quick pass?

Finished off with the cold water and King of Shaves ASC2 after shave balm with tea tree (my favourite though the smell makes my eyes water for a moment!)

What do I find when it had all settled down? Lots of rough patches. even on the cheeks which are always flawless with the DE. It's now about 1:00 in the afternoon and my face is starting to feel like sandpaper! Itching a little too. I don't have a heavy growth and a morning DE shave lasts until bedtime.

Well, I've tried the M3 and found it lacking. Back to the Futur or the HD or even the old Gillette adjustable tomorrow! Decisions.

Roll on tomorrow morning because I have now confirmed which is the best a man can get...

Gareth

 

[crackstar]

Gareth, I use only a DE or a straight razor, no more Mach 3 for me!

Jeff

 

[Jonnybc]

Roll on tomorrow morning because I have now confirmed which is the best a man can get...

Well, at least you know now.

 

[olkev]

Wow, for a minute there I thought we had lost somebody to the dark side.

 

[galopede]

Gareth, I use only a DE or a straight razor, no more Mach 3 for me!

Jeff

Straight razor - that's my next ambition! More expense.

Might get one of those Shavette things and have a try without need for the sharpening gear!

Gareth

 

[rvbert0]

Do please post your buddy's thoughts on the DE...

 

[pokkuhlag]

What happend to :

your face has to adjust to the razor

kind of advice?

 

[NMMB]

What happend to :

your face has to adjust to the razor

kind of advice?

You make a good point... but as somebody who used a M3 for several years before becoming "enlightened", my face never adjusted. I don't think that I ever had a truly good shave with my M3 (even after I started using a badger brush and nice creams - though, this did lessen the irritation).

Hey, the way that I see this is as a case of "know your enemy"... and now you do.

 

[kozulich]

Off I went, scraping away. Reasonably smooth though didn't feel that nice, a bit like running a Surform over my face! The swivelling bit was good round the jawline, I must admit. Still I had to do four passes and a lot of extra cleaning up of rough bits! Who said you can do it in one quick pass?

Gareth

Did you experience any problems with your M3 getting clogged? That was the main problem for me.....well, that and the price.

 

[Stauff]

I have one M3 deep in the inner reaches of some closet. Digging it up and using it would make me feel like a sinner... Still, I might take it with me on travel.

 

[htownmmm]

Your friend's name wouldn't happen to be Darth Sidious?




Marty

 

[dustind]

The Mach 3 was good to me for many years, the down side was the cost. At $1.75 per blade it was an expensive razor to use. Even one blade a week is $91 per year.

 

[dojohnso]

I am a week old convert from cartridge razors. Its a good way to get a feel for what wet shaving is all about. I now use a DE, and Ill never go back to a cartridge. Yes, the shave is that much better. Ive had 3 shaves now, and with each one im getting more parts of my face to feel BBS. Oh what a feeling!

Doug

 

[jduffy]

Multi-blades just do not work for everyone. I never, repeat NEVER got a good shave from a multi-blade. I was always cut, nicked, and vicious razor burn.

I did more damage to my face with one multi-blade shave than I've done with two months of DE shaving.

I have no need to go down that road again. As long as they keep making the blades, I'll keep shaving with DE razors.

 

[Dave_D]

Had occasion to do a comparison myself this summer. I traveled to Venezuela in July and had to leave my treasured razor blades at home because of the baggage hassles. I brought a Trac II with me, but I also brought the Merkur HD along in the hopes that I might find some decent blades at my destination. Well, I can tell you we really have it great here in the states with our razor blade selections because the selections I found there were not that great. After a few decent, but not stellar shaves with the local blades, I tried the Trac II. Underwhelmed isnt the word. In 2 or 3 strokes it was immediately apparent why I had taken up wetshaving with a single edge in the first place. The Trac II Gummed up every second or third stroke, multiple buffing passes required, not an sotd for the books.

I ended up going back to the locally available blades in the Merkur HD.

On a side note, Venezuela was great.

 

[galopede]

Did you experience any problems with your M3 getting clogged? That was the main problem for me.....well, that and the price.

Surprisingly no, I didn't get any clogging. I don't have a heavy beard and I rinse the razor frequently.

Also I reckon using a proper cream (Proraso) and brush must have helped as I regularly clogged up the disposibles I used with tinned gloop before going back to a DE.

Gareth

Darth Sidious? Is that something to do with Star Wars? I lost interest in Star Wars after the first one!