After 3 whole years of non multi-blade wetshaving, I decided to give my old sensor and mach3 a shot again, 5 shaves apiece, and the results are very interesting. I have been devoting every third shave to the multiblades whilst the two others were straight razor shaves. I have however not been using canned gel or foam because I wanted to see if good old fashioned lather would make a difference and in my opinion it does.
First off, I remember from my multiblade days that clogging of the spaces between the blades with shaving debris and goop-residue was an issue, in fact when the mach3 came out, my shaves improved significantly because it was simpler to wash out the residue from the mach3 than the sensor. When you use a shave cream or soap and a brush this is not an issue because the lather and shaving debris rinses away effortlessly.
Shave-quality-wise I was quite surprised to come to the conclusion that both the sensor and the mach3 give a very decent shave when you do a three pass WTG, XTG and ATG routine but in my opinion the sensor is the better of the two: it does not seem to drag as much as the mach3 (go figure it has one blade less) and overall it gave a better shave. There are some spots on my face that the mach3 never gets properly: along the jawbone, at the corner of my mouth and the neck. One the whole however, I felt well shaven with both the sensor and the mach3 and they obviously have the advantage that you do not have to think about what you are doing and you can shave at record speed, albeit in total boredom. I did however notice that my face did not seem as soft as after a straight shave and regrowth seemed quicker especially so after mach3. I had no issues with blade life and I could quite easily have got a further few shaves out of each cartridge.
To sum up, first of all I would say that whereas the sensor and mach3 are capable of giving you a good shave, my distinct impression is that it will not be as thorough as that provided by a straight, SE or DE (which I find pretty much equal in closeness, obviously YMMV applies). Second and most importantly, using lather made from a brush makes all the difference.
First off, I remember from my multiblade days that clogging of the spaces between the blades with shaving debris and goop-residue was an issue, in fact when the mach3 came out, my shaves improved significantly because it was simpler to wash out the residue from the mach3 than the sensor. When you use a shave cream or soap and a brush this is not an issue because the lather and shaving debris rinses away effortlessly.
Shave-quality-wise I was quite surprised to come to the conclusion that both the sensor and the mach3 give a very decent shave when you do a three pass WTG, XTG and ATG routine but in my opinion the sensor is the better of the two: it does not seem to drag as much as the mach3 (go figure it has one blade less) and overall it gave a better shave. There are some spots on my face that the mach3 never gets properly: along the jawbone, at the corner of my mouth and the neck. One the whole however, I felt well shaven with both the sensor and the mach3 and they obviously have the advantage that you do not have to think about what you are doing and you can shave at record speed, albeit in total boredom. I did however notice that my face did not seem as soft as after a straight shave and regrowth seemed quicker especially so after mach3. I had no issues with blade life and I could quite easily have got a further few shaves out of each cartridge.
To sum up, first of all I would say that whereas the sensor and mach3 are capable of giving you a good shave, my distinct impression is that it will not be as thorough as that provided by a straight, SE or DE (which I find pretty much equal in closeness, obviously YMMV applies). Second and most importantly, using lather made from a brush makes all the difference.
