How long does a razor really last? Gillette comes clean - Fortune Management
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When I read that all I could think was lies, lies, lies. First it was about a week, then it's 5 weeks? And common sense dictates how long those cartidges last is going to be different for everyone, depending on beard, skin, and how often one shaves. I am glad to hear about straight razor and safety razors rising popularity. I didn't even read about it in a magazine. I was just fed up with gilettes expensive, unimpressive, disposable crap filling up our planets landfills.
I don't know how I started looking about them, but was tired of paying so much for something that hurt.
Being disabled, retired and on a fixed income forced me to come up with an alternative method of shaving. A buck a cartridge average that lasted 3-4 shaves was more than enough for me to make a change. Went from 35 years with a Gillette TracII to 6 months with Gillette DEs to the past 4 1/2 years with a str8. I think I'll stay where I am now, its a lot more fun, interesting and rewarding.
It wouldn't surprise me at all if
Gillette wouldn't lobby (bribe)
Congress into putting a ban on
the importation of DE blades into
the US. The ban would be because
of "safety concerns" and the average
American wouldn't even notice or care.
Terry
Interesting reading. One of the comments pointed out that if you tally all members in all forums it is only about 100,000 people. Gillette and the like market to the western world, it's a huge market, with massive profits, but i doubt you are going to find a Vietnamese villager with a Gillette fusion in his bathroom, four carts is probably a weeks wage. Alot of DE blades are made in Russia, so i would guess most men there use them still. I wonder what the predominant method of shaving is worldwide.
My guess would be cartridge in the US,
Canada,Western Europe, Australia, NZ
and Japan. If I'm leaving out anyone
please forgive me.
For the rest...DE??? so I would say world
wide it would be DE.
Terry
I was down in Macedonia this past Saturday I saw very inexpensive DE razors in the Bazaar they were no frills either plastic or metal. I did not get one or check the price but if I get down that way again I will. I found a 1965 Gillette Aristocrat DE in a antique store I purchased that for a good price. I bought a 5 pack of SuperMax Super Stainless DE blades from the place in the Bazaar where I saw the cheap DE razors for 20 Macedonian Denar or about .42¢ US. I went to one supermarket and a pharmacy they both had some Gillette razor handles and cartridges to be had. I would guess that the common man in this part of the world especially the older ones use DE's.
I could never pay for the blades again. the prices in Canada are insane!!! Would way rather spend it on a straight that i can hand down through my life and generation!
My beard ALWAYS killed Fusion 3/4 in the way of my first shaving. Second shaving.... impossible to use as I would have in grown hair instantly. When I switch to SR the only problem I have is RAD and low budget on PayPal :-)
i used to never shave my face ( except if i had a goatee) , just use hair trimmers with no guard .. but i used to shave my head with them once-twice a month , id get about one head shave per fusion blade , and 2-3 face shaves ... really i could care less if i ever shaved before not cause i hated shaving , just hated a clean face ... now with the straights i shave just to shave , i still hate a shaved face but the fun of thee straight razor far out weighs not liking a clean mug !!
I have to wonder what new "shaving system"
Gillette will be introducing to us ten years from
now??
No doubt as always it will be presented on a
gilded platter as " the best ever ". To prove it
they will pay an enormous amount of money for
an NFL endorsement ( or NASCAR ) and lets not
forget those pretty boy celebrities.
The cartridges will be even more expensive as
they phase out Mach3's and by then even the
Fusion as well.
Terry
Hmmm five weeks? Wonder if i can get my straight to last that long lol. Out odd curiosity i looked up on Amazon, about 30 dollars for an eight pack of fusion blades wow, i haven't even bothered to look at prices in many years. About two and a half our three years ago i got 100 feather blades for about much, glad i made the switch.
-dan-
I used to get 2 comfy shaves out of a cartidge and the 10 lousy tugging ones. When i switched to DEs, my wife told me 'this the first time i see you with a proper shave'. I have a friend who claims that it lasts him 4 weeks and another who claims 8. I never seen them ever, ever clean shaved. So i guess it boils down to the definition of a shave.
The whole reason I got the straight is to stop having to buy cartridges for my mach 3. I just couldn't get a good shave with it. I nicked myself at the edge of my nose nearly every shave trying not to have a moustache, & it always bled for an age. I also more often than not seemed to find an unshaved bit about half an hour after shaving once my skin had dried & settled.
I'm still having to use the Mach 3 to finish off as I'm still in the early stages of my straight training, but even this gives a better shave once I've been over with the straight. I suspect shaving soap intead of foam & a better routine helps quite a lot as well.
Unfortunately, we're still going to be buying mach 3 blades as the missus uses them at a rate of knots. I swear I'd take the first blade out of a pack of 8, & when I went back for a new blade a month later there'd be 2 left.
I'm looking forward to the day when I don't need to use my old Mach 3 at all, but that's some ways off for me yet.
Eventually I think it's going to be like a wash board with blades. Hold the board still and rub your face up it. Does more blades really make for a better shave? How many is too many?
I like the gels they do to complement their new razors too. It's all a big lie but there are a few choices on shaving now to get the best shave for you.
Cartridges and disposables actually put me off shaving the same way the price of hair product put me off growing hair on my head :D
I found your idea of a washboard razor humorous, and the fact that I actually imagined gillette advertising it with the "gillette man" rubbing his face against it in the motion you described, while looking at the camera added to the humor.
I would not mind at all purchasing shaving products from gillette if they made ones that were decent for their intended purposes. How about a Mach3 style shavette with a lubricating/styptic film near the edge? They could sell the film along with blade holders (like a Dovo shavette), I don't know if I am coming quite clear but the point is simple, if it is comfortable and worth it then why not?
That is right, I have no problem agreeing with you there. In fact, I myself strongly agree. But let's take a look at how many men have and still consider shaving a chore. I believe if gillette provides a much more comfortable method it would strongly benefit it in the long term if not the short term. More men would consider the gillete equipment. Surely a DE blade would be sold for less, but so is the cost of making one compared to the cost of all the plastic and extra blades in addition to the assembly of these multi-blades. I also read that the new fusion is intended to "decrease" razor burn, the irony.
I also just realized the other side of the picture, would these satisfied consumers stick to gillete and let gillete flourish into a well reputed shavette company that allows its consumers a proper shave? Or move on to straights? That I fear, is not so crystal to me. Obviously gillete won't stop production of it's current products, rather introduce a new line of razors. A simple market research should do the trick.
Apologies if all you read was blabber, my mind is not in it's best shape at the moment.
I started with cartridges back when i was 15, and they gave me this raw sensitive feeling. As my hair grew denser, i got pimples and ingrown hairs. at 17 my dad got me an electric, i used that until about two three years ago when i got a DE. and just about a year ago started straights. All this was not to save money, but for comfort. DE treated my skin well, no ingrown hairs ever but i always ended up with nicks. Even after a year, i could not shave my head and have zero nicks. the only way i could get a head shave and have no nicks was WTG. My skin is very sensitive, so i have to be very gentile even with DE/straights.
If i go WTG on both DE/Straight, i get an equal shave to my oster 76 with a 0000 blade. It's good, but not what i want. for my 30th bday (three weeks ago) i wanted a special super tight shave, but could not have cuts or stinging as sweat from cutting up the dance floor. for some crazy reason i googled "top five cartridge blades for headshave" fusion kept coming up as a result. I went bought a proglide, it's incredible. I mean i feel conflicted, but it's amazing. NO cuts, no nicks, no irritation, my scalp has really never felt so supple and smooth with no cringing when i shower. I don't think it's entirely the fusion, i think it's the past two years of learning about prepping, angles, pressure, and post shave treatment that did it in combination with "five blades sharper than your doctors scalpel".
It's been three weeks now, two cartridges down and i still have no irritation or one cut. The blades do diminish at a ridiculous rate compared to my DE blades, but no cuts, irritation, or in-growns. Now that all the excitement of my new look is gone, i'm thinking why the heck can't i duplicate this with a DE or Straight? could it still be my technique after two years of practice? I feel the difference. I do one stroke ATG on my first pass with the fusion, and with de/straigts i have to go wtg/xtg/atg. I don't think my skin can handle three passes. what i think happens is my skin swells with blood, hair goes under the skin, and can't make it's way out when my skin goes back to normal. That causes irritation and ingrown hairs. i once valiantly tried atg on my first pass with a DE, after having a run with my oster at 0000. Insane cuts, nothing bled, but the shower was like needles in my scalp. That was one of the smoothest head shaves i ever had prior to the fusion, but not worth the pins and needles from sweat or soap.
can you guys give me your thoughts on my experience, has anyone else had this experience and overcome it?