Sorry for not reading and rating at the moment, I try to pop in when I can.
Sorry for not reading and rating at the moment, I try to pop in when I can.
Member since:02.10.2000
Reviews:104
Members who trust:132
Shaving for many men and woman can be a bit of a darn annoyance and seem like a chore that just has to be carried out or you will end up looking like an ape. This is especially apparent for me and finding the correct razor to do so is fairly important, especially with sharp enough blades to get rid of that unwanted stubble in one cut in the morning so this is why the Gillette Mach 3 razor is essential for me to use.
Feel free to skip the first two sections if you don’t want to know about my shaving and history.
~ My history with the razor~
Well if you are a regular reader to my ops you will know that I am only 18 years old but ever since I was 15 I have had to shave. The razors come later by the way. Then it was basically a once a week job on my side burns and this was like this for about a year, once a week shaving only the side of my face. After this it was becoming a bit more apparent that I needed to shave more often in order to let people see my gorgeous looking face. This is when shaving for me started proper, it came down to twice a week then every other day and to how it is now at least once a day, if not more if I was going out in the evening or something.
~ The razors I have used ~
Wilkinson Sword 3D Protector – This was my first ever razor. I chose to start with this razor as I needed something to clear the small amount of stubble on my face but also as I was new to shaving, something that would not cut my face into shreds. This razor has two blades and 4 or 5 (can’t remember exactly how
many) safety bars across on each of the two attachments provided with the razor and a stand that doubles as an attachment storage base. It cost in the region of £3 to £3.50 at the time, it is still available in new colours as well and has a sleek design, easy to hold. The attachment is east to clip off and on with the sliding release thing.
Gillette Mach 3 – Won’t give the op away here, you will just have read on after this section.
Lynx – Heavily advertised recently. I got this razor for free several months ago of the Lynx website, I was actually surprised this freebie came as it is worth about £3. At this point I was never going to get rid of the Mach 3 razor and I still won’t be, why, because this razor has those bars that I don’t like (more about that later on). It has 3 blades and is black with a turquoise strip to clean any grime away after the blade has passed by that area of the face (I presume).
This is what you really wanted to know.
~ Why the Mach 3 ~
Suffice to say the number of adverts on the TV about this razor led me to buy it and the fact I was needing a new razor without bars this time to get the shave I need for the amount of stubble I have. The adverts made it seem very nice and a very close shave, I had to give it a go. I got it, so did many others, which is why it is the most popular razor to use at the moment without using one of those bleeding electric razors that don’t seem to cut off ant stubble at all.
~ What does it look like and come with ~
It looks quite nice thank you for asking. That’s the abbreviated version of this section; know for the bit that nobody really understands, the actual description without actually seeing it in real life. The price of the thing was about £4.50 from Safeway about a year ago.
It comes packages in a cardboard backed plastic moulded package in the same style as the blade and can hang up on shelves easily.
The actual handle of the razor is a thin round shape with a lowered flat bit where the blade release button thing is and in between it is thin, the rounded part is about 1cm wide and deep. On the top it has three black streaks on the top and the Gillette logo. The black streaks are rubber for grip; on the bottom it is all black rubber for grip with the Mach 3 logo
The actual bit that releases the blade is a slide button connected inside the metal exterior with two plastic bits that come when pushed to push the blade away from the handle part of the razor. This design is common in all the three blades I have come across. There is also another guide piece of springy plastic that helps to get the blade on from the storage compartment (that comes later).
The blades themselves are fairly simple in design compared to the handle. If you didn’t know or hadn’t quite figured it out by know, the head of the razor has three blades in and no bars, spaced out nicely so stubble doesn’t get trapped. I found with previous razors that the blades got clogged easily and you had to spend time cleaning the inside of the head, with this it doesn’t need anything cleaning, just a wash down with water at the end of the shave. The bottom of the razor head is rubber to tighten the skin so you get a better shave as the blades glide over the skin area and a plastic, rubber bit at the top to clean the skin after the blade has passed. The blade is naturally angled at about 60-70 degrees when the razor is held flat. The blade can move up to nearly 0 degrees due to the spring part and the middle spring bit of plastic I was telling you about on the handle of the razor. This enables a nice continued flat shave and even shave throughout.
So I have mentioned the thing itself, so you will ask, how do I store it when it is not in use, what about other spare blades, where do they go, well all will be revealed with little amazement. The razor comes with a stand that can be stood horizontally or vertically as the stand is flat at one of the short ends. The stand is just slightly longer than the razor, a little under 15cm I would imagine. It has a clip in which the razor can be stored securely with the help of the slot at the end for the end of the handle part of the razor. There is also and indent part for you to store the razor with a blade attached to it. Still with the storage of the handle, underneath there is a shiny reflective bit with the Gillette and Mach 3 logos in a white outlined text. Underneath the head there is a gap in the clear plastic bit to let moisture out I presume. So the blades, they are stored underneath the razor on the reverse of the stand with a plastic clip in thing to hold the blades securely without them falling out in clear plastic, originally there are only two blades supplied to that was only half used with only two compartments for the blades, will explain the extra blades next.
Extra blades are available in four and eight blade packs, each set of four comes with a new compartment that replaces the old compartment that can be thrown away if the blades are blunt. The problem comes when like me you want to chop and change razors regularly so only want two more, they provide two on there as far as I know apart from the two pack that is supplied with the razor.
Cost
Blades, 4 pack – Fenwicks £3.55, Boots £3.70 (a few months ago) and Safeway £4.00 Blades, 8 pack – Fenwicks £6.00
These stores are examples of many, the 8 pack I only saw at Fenwicks and can’t exactly remember the exact price of the 8 packs at the time.
They recommend you use Gillette Series shaving foam or gel for best performance, rubbish but I use Gillette anyway because it has nice fragrances. I use Artic Ice but there are other fragrances in foam and gel.
Gillette Series foam - £2.20 Boots and Safeway Gillette Series gel - £3.50 Boots Gillette cheap foam - £1.00 Poundland (where else, but available at this price in other stores but may be hidden, not very nice fragrances thought, smells like carpet cleaner)
~ How does it perform ~
The cut of the razor is splendid, although the razor does not give as smooth a cut as the adverts claim it does give an almost perfect cut, it glides around the contours of your face as good as the advert claims and smoothness is there without a doubt. The cut on the up stroke is good and gives very little razor burn cutting this way.
I would just like to mention here that there is also a new Cool Blue blade on the market and it basically replaces the silver in the places there were silver on the razor.
~ Overall verdict of the razor ~
This is a great razor and I rate it highly, it’s no wonder it’s number onein the UK for numbers sold. They designed this well with everything in mind, set the tone for some of the razors that are around now but they never competed with this champion. 10/10. Can’t be faulted really.
For more information go to:
www.gillette.com
Useful stuff on their products with Flash, also stuff on their annual reports for those with a business and financial mind out there.
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Oct 28th, 2001
very helpful by (100%):
