I Used to Consider This Acceptable

[JMT]

Yesterday as I was preparing to shave I decided to try an experiment. I was going to see if a Mach 3 would provide a good shave if it was used with a brush and high quality cream. I was trying to answer a question which is sometimes asked on this forum. Is it the razor or the prep and lather that makes wetshaving better?

I still do not know the answer to that because I have never used a DE with canned foam or gel.

The results:

I performed a two pass shave, something I never have done before with a Mach 3 or any other multi blade razor.

After the first pass I was shocked at how rough my face still felt. I assumed that the few months of using a DE had trained me to not apply enough pressure for a Mach 3.
So, I lathered up again and this time intentionally applied pressure and went against the grain.
Still, there were places on my face where the stubble could still be felt. The most surprising of all was on my cheeks. I never have any problem getting my cheeks smooth.
I figure I should stop at this point because I did not want to cause any irritation.

My conclusion is that the Mach 3 just does not shave that well. I did not have any irritation or nicks, but that was never a problem for me with any multi-blade razor. I switched to wetshaving for a better shave, now that I have performed this experiment I do not think I will ever go back.

Have any of you tried this, what were your results?

 

[Dennis]

Jim - You just need to stick with it for a while so your face can readjust...

Dennis

 

[moses]

I've been meaning to try that for a while.

I will say, though, that I actually got a closer shave with one pass with a Mach 3 than I have ever gotten with one pass with a DE. I am almost always quite rough after one pass. The advantage of a DE for me is that I can do more passes...

 

[mantic]

I recently heard a comment that modern, multi-blade razors are "grooming instruments" and not "shaving instruments."

--Mark

 

[JMT]

I will say, though, that I actually got a closer shave with one pass with a Mach 3 than I have ever gotten with one pass with a DE. I am almost always quite rough after one pass. The advantage of a DE for me is that I can do more passes...

I always thought I did, but now that I tried this experiiment I am doubting that.

 

[Ashe]

I always managed to get fairly BBS with a Mach 3 and general canned gels etc however I always had some irritation in the lower part of my neck and every once in a while a few ingrown hairs. Sometimes the irritation lasted a whole day which is pretty painful in my opinion.

I then ditched my canned gels and replaced them with some basic body shop shaving cream and made good lather with my Omega brush. The lather was very good and made my Mach 3 glide over my face without too much irritation.

I'm in the DE shaving boat now since 2 weeks (have a full DE, high end cream and badger brush setup) and while I still have to learn alot, I get fairly good results to my expectations. I sometimes have a little bit of irritation but those are gone after 1 to 2 hours and that is when I did one too many passes to get to that perfect BBS. It's tempting to try that extra pass to get real BBS but once I feel I'm getting near BBS results I now stop, to learn the technique more.

The steps you take before lathering up (wetting your beardhairs sufficiently), creating good lather and using and alum block, AS + moisturizing balm have in my opinion the most effect. I must admit that I prefer to shave now with a DE because of the classy ritual and the added focus you need and in general the much less iritation, however I can say that at this time I can get comparable smootheness results as with the Mach 3 but then with less irritation.

I am not saying that this will stay the same once I master the technique of proper wet shaving but I do say that the steps you take before and after the shave are very important too. Whether you're using a Fusion, a Mach 3 or simple BIC disposables or a DE, if you master the shaving technique with any of those particular instruments, you can get good shaves.

The hairs on my chin are thick and I must say that my Mach 3 went over them much easier, giving me a very enjoyable result on my chin. Initially when I started with my Long Classic I did long strokes on my chin and in my neck. I now changed that completely to shorter strokes on my chin and neck, combined with some "blade bluffing". I now get much better results from the 1st to 2nd pass. I still use long strokes on my cheaks and sideburns though.

As usual, YMMV.

 

[ada8356]

My conclusion is that the Mach 3 just does not shave that well.

Well of course! Why do you think they introduced the Fusion!? The Mach 3 is an antiquated ***!

 

[Suzuki]

Can't speak to the Mach 3, but I do get good shaves with the Sensor (including the Sensor 3) when used with quality cream soap.

Not as close as my DE or injector, but acceptable given the speed of the shave - which is why I use them at work or the gym.

 

[DemocritusJr]

I'm so disappointed in all of you. Surely eveyone knows by now that the problems your having getting a good shave with three blades would be easily done away with if you'd just upgrade to four!

 

[TraderJoe]

A while back (after getting accustomed to using DE), I gave my Sensor Excel a try again for the hell of it.

Result: Day one went ok, it did the trick, but definitely left stubble. Day two led to major irritation...the reason why I stopped using it in the first place. It now sits in a mug collecting dust with the rest of the cartridge clunkers I had amassed.

 

[Suzuki]

I'm so disappointed in all of you. Surely eveyone knows by now that the problems your having getting a good shave with three blades would be easily done away with if you'd just upgrade to four!

Good point - I've actually gone one (or six further) and have plastiwelded two fusion heads together to form a 10-bladed, 4-lubristrip frankenrazor! This thing gives a better than BBS shave - how's that you say? Simple, it actually removes the epidermis! The other upside is that you only have to shave once a week - the downside is that using an alum block or alcohol a/s really smarts

 

[ada8356]

Good point - I've actually gone one (or six further) and have plastiwelded two fusion heads together to form a 10-bladed, 4-lubristrip frankenrazor! This thing gives a better than BBS shave - how's that you say? Simple, it actually removes the epidermis! The other upside is that you only have to shave once a week - the downside is that using an alum block or alcohol a/s really smarts

I would imagine that you're none too attractive without the epidermis on the face either!!

 

[rafikz]

I have no problem with M3

DE suck! Yeah I said it

 

[boboakalfb]

I have no problem with M3

DE suck! Yeah I said it

No IMHO...YMMV...?

 

[TraderJoe]

I have no problem with M3

DE suck! Yeah I said it

if the shoe fits...

 

[rafikz]

Sorry DE rock
Bu not for me
To each his own

 

[Suzuki]

I would imagine that you're none too attractive without the epidermis on the face either!!

Yeah, that is a problem - hard to get dates when you look you're one of the guys from the movie "Face Off" - after your face is removed, but beofore the new one is attached!

 

[_C_]

I can attest to the cruddy shaves produced by the M3, both prior and post high-end shave creams.

I shaved with the M3 using shaving foam for a couple months prior to finding out about B&B. Honestly, I thought the folks were nuts for claiming that one blade was better then another, and as such, just updated my Cream and started using a brush. I actually found the shaves to be worse with the high-end Cream. It seemed like the blade was gliding over the hair (probably due to the extra lubricant) rather than pulling them out of my face as usual. It wasn't until I switched to a DE that my shaves started getting better.

For those that that are wondering if my technique or creams/soaps may have been at fault: My technique was three pass, with grain, across grain and against grain. The creams/soaps I used was Body Shop and Williams mug soap.

Chris

 

[JohnP]

I have a sneaking suspicion that the marketing geniuses at Gillette intentionally lower the quality control/save money on their razors and blades just as soon as a newer product comes out.
Case in point: Gillette DE blades (esp. here in USA) were apparently the best to get for years; now they are hideous....
Same thing has happened with the Mach 3. Great shaves with them for quite awhile, but now...they seem to be of considerably lower quality than the fusion blades IMHO. Now, the Fusion shaves the same way as I remember the Mach 3 working...they are lowering the quality on the old products (I suspect, anyway) to herd the masses toward the new:
I think it is a way to convince people that, yes, indeed the new, space-aged toy currently being marketed is better than the last. It is almost believable if one only uses the new after trying the old...until one tries a QUALITY DE blade....and realizes that there was nothing wrong with them, but it is all a sham after all....
John P.