I've been wetshaving for about seven months or so (I lurked around these parts for a couple of months after I started before I joined the forum). Normally I split my shaves about evenly between DE and cartridge razors with some injector and SE shaves mixed in for variety. When I shave with a cartridge razor, I use either a Mach 3 or a Trac II. No matter which razor I use, I normally get a DFS/DFS+ in two to three passes plus a little cleanup.
I was in the grocery store on Saturday, February 20, and I saw the non-vibrating, non-battery-powered Fusion handle available for a pretty decent price. There has been a lot of discussion about the Fusion around these parts lately, most of it negative, and I realized that I'd never tried the razor. I decided that there was no time like the present to find out about the Fusion for myself, so I grabbed a handle and tossed it into the basket. While I was checking out, I formulated some basic conditions for my experiment:
Initial Observations
I unpacked the Fusion handle and found it to be much more solidly built than I expected. It felt comfortable in my hand, like a slightly larger and heavier Mach 3. I like the single edge trimmer blade; that's actually a handy feature, although you could argue that if the cartridge was narrower, you wouldn't need it. There was too much plastic in the packaging for my taste, but unfortunately that's the trend these days.
The Shaves
Day One, Feb. 21
I lathered up some KMF lavender and shea butter cream for this shave and received a BBS from the Fusion: two passes plus cleanup in barely ten minutes. The first WTG pass was a little rough, probably because I had more growth than usual; I experience this with the Mach 3 as well. The second ATG pass was much smoother, with only a small patch of stubble left on my neck. I didn't feel any stubble until about seven hours later. No ingrown hairs, razor burn, or skin irritation noted.
Day Two, Feb. 22
Same as yesterday: KMF and a BBS in two passes plus cleanup. Both passes were smooth and easy. Again, the shave lasted about seven hours before I noticed any stubble returning. No ingrown hairs, razor burn, or skin irritation noted. The wear strip on the Fusion cart is already almost faded out. Tomorrow's shave will be interesting, I think.
Day Three, Feb. 23
For this shave I switched to Alba Botanicals key lime and coconut brushless cream. Normally, this cream gives me a smooth, easy shave when used with my Mach 3 or my injector. Today, the best I could get from the Fusion was a DFS in three passes plus cleanup. While the cartridge passed over my face smoothly, it just didn't feel like it was cutting as well as the previous day. My face was slightly pink in spots and looked a little irritated even though the shave felt fine; no ingrown hairs noted. The wear strip was totally faded from green to white. Stubble began to reappear after a mere five to six hours. I expected at least another two or three shaves from the cartridge, but I think trying to coax a fourth shave from the cartridge would be a bad idea.
Day Four, Feb. 24
Bearing in mind the results of my previous shave, I loaded up the second cartridge and returned to KMF lavender cream. I easily acheived a BBS in two smooth passes plus some cleanup on my neck. This cartridge, while a smooth shaver, didn't feel like it was as good as the first one. Stubble began to return about six and a half hours after the shave but no ingrown hairs appeared.
Day Five, Feb. 25
This morning after my shower I returned to the Alba Botanicals brushless cream. While my shave was just as smooth as yesterday's, it took three passes and almost half of a fourth in cleanup to obtain a DFS and I felt some stubble returning after just four and a half hours in spots that I know I shaved clean. No irritation or ingrown hairs, though, so that's something to be happy about. By the end of the shave, I could tell than a shave tomorrow would probably push this cartridge too far; the wear strip was also almost completely white. In accordance with conditions #3 and #5 above, I decided to end the experiment.
Conclusion
My Fusion experiment was most enlightening although much shorter than I expected going into this whole thing. I'm glad that I took the time to do it. Here are the positives and negatives as I saw them.
The non-vibrating Fusion is indeed capable of delivering an outstanding shave the first time you use a cartridge. When the cartridges were new, obtaining at least a DFS+ or BBS was fast and easy. I never had a problem maneuvering the razor around my face, so the size of the razor was not an issue for me, and I loved the trimmer blade for the sideburn area. I found the non-powered handle to be quite comfortable in my hand and it was slightly heavier than my Mach 3, which made it easier to avoid using excessive pressure. I was also pleased to see that Gillette kept the "rinse-through" design of the Mach 3 cartridge and thus I did not experience any problems with the razor clogging.
I found Gillette's claim that the Fusion is less irritating than the Mach 3 to be inaccurate, at least on my face. I found that after the first shave, the potential for irritation rose very quickly and without warning (EDIT: while I only observed and documented one case of visible irritation, on the last shave with each cartridge it was clear that I was going to be irritated on the next shave simply because of the number of passes I would have to make). The shave quality was no better on average than that provided by Mach 3 or Trac II and the cartridges degrade far too rapidly. I don't have a particularly coarse or thick beard, so I would have expected no fewer than five shaves per cartridge, the same as I get with any other cartridge razor. Instead, I got five shaves from two cartridges. It's possible that I simply received subpar cartridges with my handle, but tossing a cartridge after two shaves is simply not acceptable for any cartridge razor in my book.
Going into this, I wanted to believe that the Fusion was a decent but misunderstood razor; after all, this was the same company that produced the Trac II and most will agree that the Trac II is actually a pretty good cartridge razor. My initial positive impression of the Fusion quickly gave way in the face of experimental evidence. I see no advantage to the consumer in shaving with a Fusion, although I'm sure Gillette/Procter & Gamble is laughing all the way to the bank. The Fusion's shave quality can easily be equaled by a DE razor after one becomes familiar with proper technique. Not only is the Fusion's shave quality not superior to other razors, it costs much more per shave.
I've said elsewhere on this forum that when my current cartridge supply runs out, I won't bother restocking them unless I must travel carry-on and will go DE/SE/injector all the way. The Fusion did nothing to change my mind.
I was in the grocery store on Saturday, February 20, and I saw the non-vibrating, non-battery-powered Fusion handle available for a pretty decent price. There has been a lot of discussion about the Fusion around these parts lately, most of it negative, and I realized that I'd never tried the razor. I decided that there was no time like the present to find out about the Fusion for myself, so I grabbed a handle and tossed it into the basket. While I was checking out, I formulated some basic conditions for my experiment:
- I would begin the experiment on February 21.
- I would shave exclusively with the Fusion for the duration of the experiment.
- I would use only the two cartridges included with the handle; assuming five to seven shaves per cartridge, which is my average for the Mach 3, this would yield approximately 10 to 14 shaves, which I decided would be enough to form an opinion about the razor.
- I decided to stay with KMF or Alba Botanicals creams for this experiment because that's what I normally use when I shave with a cartridge razor and they provide irritation-free shaves.
- I reserved the right to end the experiment early if warranted by razor burn, irritation, and/or ingrown hairs, partially because I need to maintain a professional appearance at work but mostly because I'm not a masochist.
- I would not post my results until the entire experiment was complete. I wanted to avoid accidentally biasing my results through discussion and analysis while I was conducting the experiment. It's also nice to read about these kinds of things all at once rather than trying to follow a thread over the course of multiple days.
Initial Observations
I unpacked the Fusion handle and found it to be much more solidly built than I expected. It felt comfortable in my hand, like a slightly larger and heavier Mach 3. I like the single edge trimmer blade; that's actually a handy feature, although you could argue that if the cartridge was narrower, you wouldn't need it. There was too much plastic in the packaging for my taste, but unfortunately that's the trend these days.
The Shaves
Day One, Feb. 21
I lathered up some KMF lavender and shea butter cream for this shave and received a BBS from the Fusion: two passes plus cleanup in barely ten minutes. The first WTG pass was a little rough, probably because I had more growth than usual; I experience this with the Mach 3 as well. The second ATG pass was much smoother, with only a small patch of stubble left on my neck. I didn't feel any stubble until about seven hours later. No ingrown hairs, razor burn, or skin irritation noted.
Day Two, Feb. 22
Same as yesterday: KMF and a BBS in two passes plus cleanup. Both passes were smooth and easy. Again, the shave lasted about seven hours before I noticed any stubble returning. No ingrown hairs, razor burn, or skin irritation noted. The wear strip on the Fusion cart is already almost faded out. Tomorrow's shave will be interesting, I think.
Day Three, Feb. 23
For this shave I switched to Alba Botanicals key lime and coconut brushless cream. Normally, this cream gives me a smooth, easy shave when used with my Mach 3 or my injector. Today, the best I could get from the Fusion was a DFS in three passes plus cleanup. While the cartridge passed over my face smoothly, it just didn't feel like it was cutting as well as the previous day. My face was slightly pink in spots and looked a little irritated even though the shave felt fine; no ingrown hairs noted. The wear strip was totally faded from green to white. Stubble began to reappear after a mere five to six hours. I expected at least another two or three shaves from the cartridge, but I think trying to coax a fourth shave from the cartridge would be a bad idea.
Day Four, Feb. 24
Bearing in mind the results of my previous shave, I loaded up the second cartridge and returned to KMF lavender cream. I easily acheived a BBS in two smooth passes plus some cleanup on my neck. This cartridge, while a smooth shaver, didn't feel like it was as good as the first one. Stubble began to return about six and a half hours after the shave but no ingrown hairs appeared.
Day Five, Feb. 25
This morning after my shower I returned to the Alba Botanicals brushless cream. While my shave was just as smooth as yesterday's, it took three passes and almost half of a fourth in cleanup to obtain a DFS and I felt some stubble returning after just four and a half hours in spots that I know I shaved clean. No irritation or ingrown hairs, though, so that's something to be happy about. By the end of the shave, I could tell than a shave tomorrow would probably push this cartridge too far; the wear strip was also almost completely white. In accordance with conditions #3 and #5 above, I decided to end the experiment.
Conclusion
My Fusion experiment was most enlightening although much shorter than I expected going into this whole thing. I'm glad that I took the time to do it. Here are the positives and negatives as I saw them.
The non-vibrating Fusion is indeed capable of delivering an outstanding shave the first time you use a cartridge. When the cartridges were new, obtaining at least a DFS+ or BBS was fast and easy. I never had a problem maneuvering the razor around my face, so the size of the razor was not an issue for me, and I loved the trimmer blade for the sideburn area. I found the non-powered handle to be quite comfortable in my hand and it was slightly heavier than my Mach 3, which made it easier to avoid using excessive pressure. I was also pleased to see that Gillette kept the "rinse-through" design of the Mach 3 cartridge and thus I did not experience any problems with the razor clogging.
I found Gillette's claim that the Fusion is less irritating than the Mach 3 to be inaccurate, at least on my face. I found that after the first shave, the potential for irritation rose very quickly and without warning (EDIT: while I only observed and documented one case of visible irritation, on the last shave with each cartridge it was clear that I was going to be irritated on the next shave simply because of the number of passes I would have to make). The shave quality was no better on average than that provided by Mach 3 or Trac II and the cartridges degrade far too rapidly. I don't have a particularly coarse or thick beard, so I would have expected no fewer than five shaves per cartridge, the same as I get with any other cartridge razor. Instead, I got five shaves from two cartridges. It's possible that I simply received subpar cartridges with my handle, but tossing a cartridge after two shaves is simply not acceptable for any cartridge razor in my book.
Going into this, I wanted to believe that the Fusion was a decent but misunderstood razor; after all, this was the same company that produced the Trac II and most will agree that the Trac II is actually a pretty good cartridge razor. My initial positive impression of the Fusion quickly gave way in the face of experimental evidence. I see no advantage to the consumer in shaving with a Fusion, although I'm sure Gillette/Procter & Gamble is laughing all the way to the bank. The Fusion's shave quality can easily be equaled by a DE razor after one becomes familiar with proper technique. Not only is the Fusion's shave quality not superior to other razors, it costs much more per shave.
I've said elsewhere on this forum that when my current cartridge supply runs out, I won't bother restocking them unless I must travel carry-on and will go DE/SE/injector all the way. The Fusion did nothing to change my mind.
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More like $8 a week.
. Your experiment reminded me of why I got into DE/SE shaving. When I travel via airplane I shave with a Trac II or Atra.
