This is my first forum thread here, so forgive me if I possibly have this in the wrong area/section.
First, a little information about the situation. I love shaving with my DE razors and never plan on switching back to using cartridge exclusively. It has been over a year or more since I have shaved with a cartridge razor. But, I recently began thinking of where there might be scenarios where I can not use my trusty DE razors. These scenarios being where maybe I might be in a rush or I have traveled using a transportation method where I can't bring my DE blades onto the vehicle. So I went to my local stores and bought the basic Gillette Mach 3 and Schick Hydro 3 replaceable cartridge razors. I bought the Schick Xtreme 3 disposable razor that I will either pair up with the Gillette Sensor 3 or Sensor 3 simple (which style would you guys recommend?). Then Finally for 2 blades I bought the Gillette Sensor 2 and the Schick ST2 disposable razors.
I just finished doing a shave with the Mach 3 and Hydro 3, so they will be first up. I shaved one half of my face with each razor. For my shaving cream I used Old Spice Original with the Omega 10066 Boar Hair brush.So here is how each razor stacks up to one another:
Smoothness: When they both first touch my skin and cut for the first time, there was barely a slight tug from the Mach 3 and a tug that was mostly the same but slightly more noticeable from the Hydro 3. Afterwards though, subsequent passes were really smooth with the Hydro I believe being smoother since it has more hydration gel in the hydrating pad.
Closeness: At the end of the first pass I felt like maybe the Mach 3 had gotten just ever so slightly closer than the Hydro 3. But to me they were so close that there is the possibility that they were pretty much the same.
Hydration: By far without a doubt the Hydro 3 had much more than the Mach 3. Personally, I though that the Hydro 3 had a little too much of the hydrating gel. It was enough to where you could take your fingers and feel/see gel come off your face in a small string. While the Mach 3 you could not feel much if any hydration. Though personally, as long as the soap/cream is doing its job I don't think that it should matter. But that is what I felt after doing a pass with each razor.
Head Movement: The pivot point on the Mach 3 is down near the bottom of the cartridge. The head pivoted very easily as I was moving it along my face. The Hydro 3 has where pivoting action moves along a circular track. I had some trouble with this one, as I felt that I needed to push down somewhat to get the head to begin to pivot and move around some of the curves of my face, while the Mach 3 I did not have to push or do anything at all to get the head to pivot.
So overall they both did pretty well, but personally I would have to give it to the Mach 3. I chose it because I personally liked the way that the head moved compared to the Hydro 3, and it did not leave a lot if any hydrating gel on my face. The hydrating gel in the Hydro 3 for me, like I said earlier, was just WAY to much in my opinion. Though I do give it props because it is doing exactly what it is meant to be doing. I will eventually do another few shaves with each one individually and see if my opinion of each one changes. I will probably be reviewing the Gillette Sensor 2 and Schick ST2 next.
First, a little information about the situation. I love shaving with my DE razors and never plan on switching back to using cartridge exclusively. It has been over a year or more since I have shaved with a cartridge razor. But, I recently began thinking of where there might be scenarios where I can not use my trusty DE razors. These scenarios being where maybe I might be in a rush or I have traveled using a transportation method where I can't bring my DE blades onto the vehicle. So I went to my local stores and bought the basic Gillette Mach 3 and Schick Hydro 3 replaceable cartridge razors. I bought the Schick Xtreme 3 disposable razor that I will either pair up with the Gillette Sensor 3 or Sensor 3 simple (which style would you guys recommend?). Then Finally for 2 blades I bought the Gillette Sensor 2 and the Schick ST2 disposable razors.
I just finished doing a shave with the Mach 3 and Hydro 3, so they will be first up. I shaved one half of my face with each razor. For my shaving cream I used Old Spice Original with the Omega 10066 Boar Hair brush.So here is how each razor stacks up to one another:
Smoothness: When they both first touch my skin and cut for the first time, there was barely a slight tug from the Mach 3 and a tug that was mostly the same but slightly more noticeable from the Hydro 3. Afterwards though, subsequent passes were really smooth with the Hydro I believe being smoother since it has more hydration gel in the hydrating pad.
Closeness: At the end of the first pass I felt like maybe the Mach 3 had gotten just ever so slightly closer than the Hydro 3. But to me they were so close that there is the possibility that they were pretty much the same.
Hydration: By far without a doubt the Hydro 3 had much more than the Mach 3. Personally, I though that the Hydro 3 had a little too much of the hydrating gel. It was enough to where you could take your fingers and feel/see gel come off your face in a small string. While the Mach 3 you could not feel much if any hydration. Though personally, as long as the soap/cream is doing its job I don't think that it should matter. But that is what I felt after doing a pass with each razor.
Head Movement: The pivot point on the Mach 3 is down near the bottom of the cartridge. The head pivoted very easily as I was moving it along my face. The Hydro 3 has where pivoting action moves along a circular track. I had some trouble with this one, as I felt that I needed to push down somewhat to get the head to begin to pivot and move around some of the curves of my face, while the Mach 3 I did not have to push or do anything at all to get the head to pivot.
So overall they both did pretty well, but personally I would have to give it to the Mach 3. I chose it because I personally liked the way that the head moved compared to the Hydro 3, and it did not leave a lot if any hydrating gel on my face. The hydrating gel in the Hydro 3 for me, like I said earlier, was just WAY to much in my opinion. Though I do give it props because it is doing exactly what it is meant to be doing. I will eventually do another few shaves with each one individually and see if my opinion of each one changes. I will probably be reviewing the Gillette Sensor 2 and Schick ST2 next.
