Traitorous patriot!
Gillette Guard longevity test
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- #142
The sad part is, even if they ever decided to bring the gaurd system to the US they would upcharge it so much I would still have to buy it in bulk online from India. Still... It would be great to walk into my local Walmart, pick up some guard carts, bottle of skin bracer, and a can of barbasol and be ready to shave and not deal with shipping, the internet, etc.
You can buy like 100 carts for $25 on ebay. Plenty of time to reorder and wait for shipment when you do it that way.
Very true. I usually get 96 carts for around $23 via Amazon, only $2 away from free shipping and they show up in less then a week vs almost a month via eBay sellers from India. Also the Amazon ones show up in a factory sealed Gillette box which makes me feel... I donno, "better" I guess you could say. Meaning I'm not just getting an envelope full of individual packs that sat on a shelf.
At first I thought that was crazy when I compared to the $0.09 per blade I used to pay for Astra sp's however now that I'm getting 5-7 shaves from a $0.24 cart we are only talking $0.03-$0.05 per shave where as I typically only got 1-2 shaves from DE blades... Worst case scenario I'm breaking even vs de blade cost.
Ah, there you go. I didn't realize they were selling on Amazon.
I'm completely puzzled as to how you can dull a DE blade in a single use. I shave with them around 40 or 50 times and then I throw 'em out. They could probably go longer but I get bored easily and figure I got my money's worth out of them after 25 shaves. I have very thick coarse hair and fairly sensitive skin. What DE razors have you shaved with?
Yea, it always blew me away too. Let's see if I can remember everything, I tried:
Merkur 23c, 34c, 1904, and 37c, standard razors de, several vintage Gillettes including old, superspeed, blue tip, tech, travel tech, slim, bakelite tech, paa bocs, baes, and prismatic, several cheap weishi style tto's, RR old type, RR German 37, and several more I can't remember off hand.
Also I've tried:
Astra SP, nacet, gsb, 7oc black, 7oc yellow, dorco, feather, crystal, personna blue, personna red, and several more I can't remember off hand.
Besides those I've tried over 6 different schick injector "types", the ebarbershop O clone, and the cheap amazon L clone all with the Chinese schick blades and the Pella blades.
As far as carts I've used (not counting the guard right now) dorco 2, 3, & 4 blade carts, Gillette good news twin, Gillette fusion, schick st twins, and big singles.
Not a single style of razor or razor/blade combo that I listed above ever allowed me to pull more then 2 shaves out of a blade/cart besides the guard. I've tried shaving before, during, or after a shower, I've tried foams, gels, creams with brush, creams with soap, oils, alternative products like Dr Carver's and cremo, I've tried cold water, hot water, less water, more water, witch hazel, alum, balms vs splashes, no aftershave at all, spraying the blade with alcohol... Nothing besides the guard ever did it for me. I don't know what or why, it doesn't make sense (I know) but I'm living, breathing proof.
It has to be my skin. No, I'm not the usual guy that says they have sensitive skin because a TV commercial told them so. I have a long family history of oily skin, blemishes, etc. My mom is almost 50 and still gets pimples. My grandfather is 72 and still gets pimples. I could wash my hands and wash my face then apply alcohol so I know they are entire clean... If I then hold my thumb on my cheek and count 30-60 seconds I absolutely will have a huge, deep pimple there the next day. Guaranteed.
Besides that, it may be the thickness of my hair. I have hairs on my chin and neck that are thicker then sewing needles. No exaggeration, my wife has pulled them and checked.
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- #148
Have you ever seen a dermatologist?
If it runs in your family, & if someone else in your family has seen a derm, the same treatment might work for you too.
I hve not seen one. I've been experimenting and I've found what works best for my skin is what would destroy most other people's. For example: after about 17 years of fighting my oily skin I've found plain bar soap to be the best for me to wash my face with. I then will use alum and alcohol based splashes post shave. It works for me but most other people would dry out terribly.
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- #150
I'm fairly similar. I soap my face in the shower several times & wash with water as hot as I can bear, until all traces of oil are removed from my skin. I use the harshest bar soap I can find. In extreme cases, during the height of summer, I'm sometimes forced to use laundry detergent to get rid of all the oil. Twice . I then shave, then apply large quantities of isopropyl alcohol ( with a small amount of high alcohol AS) to my face. I used to use alum, but I've stopped after the Alzheimer's scare.
Anybody else's skin would need serious treatment after my regimen!
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Wow, laundry detergent. I haven't gotten there yet haha. Though one day I was looking at my oily skin in the mirror when my wife came in and I jokingly made a comment saying "forget it, I'm just going to start showering with Dawn dish soap."
She remained silent for a moment before saying, "well it gets the grease off the ducks so... Good enough for the ducks is good enough for you, right?" Lol
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- #152
Only during the height of summer. It gets to 40-45° Celcius.
My wife has skin thats the polar opposite to mine. Creams are absorbed in minutes with no trace. She now uses oils to moisturize her skin.
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- #153
26th shave with 2018 cart.
Progressing as expected.
Progressing as expected.
Nice! Now, I assume this is with your usual method of using the guard only for your wtg pass correct? I'm still getting usually 4-6 total shaves doing 2.5 passes as I stated above before I toss and replace the cartridge. If I were using them for only a wtg pass I also could see getting 20+ shaves easily.
I'm not sure how many shaves I got out of my last cart but it had to've been more than 10. I'm already on shave number 7 with the new one and it feels just as sharp as the day I unwrapped it. I really hope I can get at least 40-50 shaves out of them because I get around 40 out of a DE blade and I'm serious about keeping the blade costs down. At $.25/ea, they are already more than 2.5X what my DE blades cost. But as long as I can get 25 shaves out of one (a penny a shave), then I'm super happy.
I know"A penny a shave" oh first world problems
It's true...But for what it's worth, I grew up super poor. We lived in a 100 year old house with holes in the roof and floor. No working bathroom. No AC or heat. A fridge that we had to prop shut with a stick and defrost the freezer once a month. We washed our clothes by hand and hung them out to dry. Grandma got a disability check and food stamps once a month, along with a box of government food (powdered milk, block of cheese and some peanut butter). We ate mostly balogna and cereal. I only ever had two shirts to wear to school at any given time and all clothing I ever owned was given to me from some other family. Walked everywhere in the Houston heat (grocery store, school, everywhere). Food was sometimes an issue and we ate next to and slept in roaches. So... there's a reason I'm inclined to make everything stretch, even though I own a ton of shaving crap and don't intend to stop
I know
But for what it's worth, I grew up super poor. We lived in a 100 year old house with holes in the roof and floor. No working bathroom. No AC or heat. A fridge that we had to prop shut with a stick and defrost the freezer once a month. We washed our clothes by hand and hung them out to dry. Grandma got a disability check and food stamps once a month, along with a box of government food (powdered milk, block of cheese and some peanut butter). We ate mostly balogna and cereal. I only ever had two shirts to wear to school at any given time and all clothing I ever owned was given to me from some other family. Walked everywhere in the Houston heat (grocery store, school, everywhere). Food was sometimes an issue and we ate next to and slept in roaches. So... there's a reason I'm inclined to make everything stretch, even though I own a ton of shaving crap and don't intend to stop
No shame in being frugal, I was just messing with you. That's a tough background, I'm sure you are a really grounded person today. While my situation wasn't the same I can say I grew up the poor kid in a very rich area. I shared a small apartment with my mom in the basement of my grandparent's house and she worked 2 jobs to get by because my dad passed when I was young. Meanwhile all my friends lived in $500-$750k mini-mansions and had stay at home moms because their dads all cleared $100k+ a year.
That's a serious woman. I hope you bring her lots of flowers on Mother's Day. I'm sorry about your dad. I grew up with a dad and no mom. He did the best he could to take care of us kids and his own mom but as a full grown adult, with tons of life experience, I see things now I couldn't see as a youth. We didn't have to suffer the way we did. As for your last comment, I'm certainly not well-rounded with my mommy issues and lack of good parenting, but you bet I have a lot of perspective. Cheers, friend.
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- #160
Not quite.
As previously stated in post #131, I'm doing a WTG pass with ATG on the cheek-sideburn area. Call it 1½ passes.
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