Ok, I have been De shaving for about 9 mos. now and have often thought that I would try my old Mach 3 again someday but have been worried I would like it and be tempted to abandon my beloved vintage Gillettes (although I did note that the benefits as far as ingrown hairs were irrefutable.)
Anyway, I find myself on vacation now and having flown without checking a bag, I planned to stop by Walmart to pick up some Personna blades. Since transportation here is out of my hands, I ended up being offered by my host (uncle) a new Fusion blade to shave with instead of making a trip to the store and, rather than rudely reject it and explain how "superior" my own methods are, I gratefully accepted.
I decided to try to keep everything else the same: same lather, brush, etc., of course but also I decided to do the same shaving pattern and number of passes, which is quite different to how I shaved formerly. So, I lathered up and did a WTG pass, relathered and followed with a XTG pass. That's right just two passes is what I have been doing with a DE (I formerly did one N-S pass with the Mach 3, without regard for direction of growth).
Here is what I found:
(1) I noticed right away how much drag there is with the cartridge. Like pulling sandpaper across the face resistance-wise, although not nearly so abrasive. Definitely a different feel.
(2) the razor did not remove the lather. Instead it pulled through it and left kind of a slime trail behind. Not really a dealbreaker, but I found it annoying. Of course, this was my first time ever with a Fusion.
(3) The shave took the same amount of time. It was no faster nor slower than the DE. However, formerly I only did one pass and took longer sweeping strokes, whereas this time I really tried to emulate the action of the DE with short deliberate strokes. I am sure a quicker sloppier shave could be acheived with a cartridge and perhaps even with equivalent results.
(4) although the first pass seemed fairly effective, I did not find the second pass to result in additional beard reduction. Not sure why this is, perhaps it has to so with the inability to vary blade angle or some other inherent drawback of the system.
(5) the kicker: after rinsing and applying an aftershave, I felt around my face and although in some places the closeness was comparable, in others it was a much less close shave. Granted, I was unable to do any real touch up due to the aforementioned problem of the "slime trail" which I couldn't see through. Also, I am sure that my technique could be modified to maximize the effectiveness of the cartridge system rather than using DE techniques.
However, I feel vindicated and I am definitely happy with my DE experience. I may try once more with my old Mach 3 to see if that is better than the Fusion, but I don't think I will be going back to cartridges. I do feel I need to find a better travel system as both times I have flown since taking up DE there has been major hassle and I had to end up using something else. A good disposable may be in order (Bic sensitive?)
Anyway, I find myself on vacation now and having flown without checking a bag, I planned to stop by Walmart to pick up some Personna blades. Since transportation here is out of my hands, I ended up being offered by my host (uncle) a new Fusion blade to shave with instead of making a trip to the store and, rather than rudely reject it and explain how "superior" my own methods are, I gratefully accepted.
I decided to try to keep everything else the same: same lather, brush, etc., of course but also I decided to do the same shaving pattern and number of passes, which is quite different to how I shaved formerly. So, I lathered up and did a WTG pass, relathered and followed with a XTG pass. That's right just two passes is what I have been doing with a DE (I formerly did one N-S pass with the Mach 3, without regard for direction of growth).
Here is what I found:
(1) I noticed right away how much drag there is with the cartridge. Like pulling sandpaper across the face resistance-wise, although not nearly so abrasive. Definitely a different feel.
(2) the razor did not remove the lather. Instead it pulled through it and left kind of a slime trail behind. Not really a dealbreaker, but I found it annoying. Of course, this was my first time ever with a Fusion.
(3) The shave took the same amount of time. It was no faster nor slower than the DE. However, formerly I only did one pass and took longer sweeping strokes, whereas this time I really tried to emulate the action of the DE with short deliberate strokes. I am sure a quicker sloppier shave could be acheived with a cartridge and perhaps even with equivalent results.
(4) although the first pass seemed fairly effective, I did not find the second pass to result in additional beard reduction. Not sure why this is, perhaps it has to so with the inability to vary blade angle or some other inherent drawback of the system.
(5) the kicker: after rinsing and applying an aftershave, I felt around my face and although in some places the closeness was comparable, in others it was a much less close shave. Granted, I was unable to do any real touch up due to the aforementioned problem of the "slime trail" which I couldn't see through. Also, I am sure that my technique could be modified to maximize the effectiveness of the cartridge system rather than using DE techniques.
However, I feel vindicated and I am definitely happy with my DE experience. I may try once more with my old Mach 3 to see if that is better than the Fusion, but I don't think I will be going back to cartridges. I do feel I need to find a better travel system as both times I have flown since taking up DE there has been major hassle and I had to end up using something else. A good disposable may be in order (Bic sensitive?)
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