After 10 months of having a beard and only shaving my neckline with a DE razor, I decided to switch to the clean-shaven look for a while. I enjoy trying out cartridge razors as well as DE razors, and I was curious about older cartridge systems, so I ordered a Gillette 7 O'Clock Pii razor from eBay, along with a package of 5 Gillette Pii cartridges with no lubrastrip. I liked the design of the razor handle, which looks like the classic 1970s Trac ii handle, and has a nice weight to it with heavy plastic and the metal trim that runs along the handle. For the past week I used the first Pii cartridge with both canned Barbasol and a tube of old spice shaving cream from India. I enjoyed the shaves very much, and received a decent shave even with one pass with the grain. Two pass shaves, WTG and ATG were relatively gentle on my skin and provided a good reduction of stubble, especially with a touch up pass around my chin and jawline, which tends to be a difficult place to shave smoothly. Not quite BBS though, and my black stubble was still somewhat visible in contrast to my lighter skin, but I think the Trac ii is very capable of providing me with consistently good shaves.
I bought a package of 10 Topcare brand Twin Pivot Plus cartridges at my local grocery store this week, which have a lubrastrip and I believe are manufactured by Personna. Compared to the Pii cartridges, these were relatively affordable at under $3 for a tray of 10. After a whole week of daily shaves from the first Pii cartridge, I decided to try a Twin Pivot Plus cartridge. Despite the name, these cartridges do not pivot on a Trac ii handle, but they also fit on the pivoting Atra Handle. I decided to use canned Barbasol on my test shave this morning, to compare this cartridge to the Pii cartridge I used yesterday, also with canned Barbasol. Beginning with a pass down my face, which is generally WTG, the shave felt decent, but the lubrastrip made the razor feel unusually smooth, which prevented me to judge by feel and sound how effective it was at cutting my stubble. After my WTG pass, I would rate the results as decent, and in order to accomplish the smoother final result that I prefer, I shaved up my face for an ATG pass. Shaving ATG with this cartridge resulted in a high amount of irritation, as well as a few small nics which I had to address with a styptic pencil following the shave.
My overall opinion is that for my face, these cartridges do not cut as well or as smoothly as the Gillette Pii cartridges, which is unfortunate, considering the difference in cost and availability. I will continue to try shaving with these cartridges, to see if I can achieve smoother and more comfortable results through practice. My questions for this community are whether others have experiences related to Trac ii shaving that they would like to comment on, and what opinions there are on different brands of Trac ii cartridges. Do you prefer cartridges without the lubrastrip? Is it worth taking the lubrastrip out of the cartridge? Are other brands from India and other countries such as the Gallant ii and Supermax worth trying out? Thank you for your opinions, and I'm looking forward to continuing trying out different shaving techniques and products.
I bought a package of 10 Topcare brand Twin Pivot Plus cartridges at my local grocery store this week, which have a lubrastrip and I believe are manufactured by Personna. Compared to the Pii cartridges, these were relatively affordable at under $3 for a tray of 10. After a whole week of daily shaves from the first Pii cartridge, I decided to try a Twin Pivot Plus cartridge. Despite the name, these cartridges do not pivot on a Trac ii handle, but they also fit on the pivoting Atra Handle. I decided to use canned Barbasol on my test shave this morning, to compare this cartridge to the Pii cartridge I used yesterday, also with canned Barbasol. Beginning with a pass down my face, which is generally WTG, the shave felt decent, but the lubrastrip made the razor feel unusually smooth, which prevented me to judge by feel and sound how effective it was at cutting my stubble. After my WTG pass, I would rate the results as decent, and in order to accomplish the smoother final result that I prefer, I shaved up my face for an ATG pass. Shaving ATG with this cartridge resulted in a high amount of irritation, as well as a few small nics which I had to address with a styptic pencil following the shave.
My overall opinion is that for my face, these cartridges do not cut as well or as smoothly as the Gillette Pii cartridges, which is unfortunate, considering the difference in cost and availability. I will continue to try shaving with these cartridges, to see if I can achieve smoother and more comfortable results through practice. My questions for this community are whether others have experiences related to Trac ii shaving that they would like to comment on, and what opinions there are on different brands of Trac ii cartridges. Do you prefer cartridges without the lubrastrip? Is it worth taking the lubrastrip out of the cartridge? Are other brands from India and other countries such as the Gallant ii and Supermax worth trying out? Thank you for your opinions, and I'm looking forward to continuing trying out different shaving techniques and products.
