Philips HS 8020 Moisturizing /COOL SKIN

Author's product rating:   

Durability	Satisfactory
Quality of shave	Excellent
Value for money	Excellent

Advantages:	Improved Conditioning System, Gliding Heads & Easy to Use
Disadvantages:	Battery Regularly needs recharging .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

The Philips HS8020 Nivea For Men Based - COOL SKIN.

INTRODUCTION

My names Gavin, I'm 23yrs young and enjoy going out with friends when not looking after my 3yr old daughter. I have many reasons for owning an a Electric Shaver and I rely on my Shaver everyday, even whilst being so young, but here's just a few reasons.

Firstly, my daughter Tia is a little princess and she always hates Daddy kissing and hugging her when my stubble comes up. "Daddy, urgh... Get off me!".

Secondly, appearance. I'm not Mr Vain nor do I carry a mirror in my pocket, but appearance to me matters. When I was 12 I started to shave my first facial hair, I continued in hope I would one day soon have that clean dark shaven look on my face.
However, my mother is naturally... Ginger haired. So when my stubble turned into a beard, I saw a transformation I didn't like, black to orange. In the Summer this is terrible, I get paranoid that in public people are blinded by the bright sheen that glows from my chin, so I had to buy razors regularly.

Finally, I had enough! Experimenting with razors is both dangerous and expensive. I tried cheaper brand razor to expensive brand razors. Dry shaving and Wet Shaving, no razors really got as close to my face as my girlfriend. I wanted to see my beautiful flush face again, and I wanted something that could fix it quick.

I decided to shop for an Electric Shaver.

CHOOSING MY ELECTRIC SHAVER

At first, I didn't know what I was looking for other than a shaver with an electric connection.
I looked in Argos at first but found the descriptions and info given on each product was limited which wouldn't help me to find the best product for me.

So I looked online and started looking at manufactures sites to see what products was suggested. I stumbled up Philips own website - www.Philips.com
There I found a catalogue of different models for hair care, my first thought was to find a shaver which worked well with wet shaving even whilst being electric powered.

I knew then that I had to find specific features that would allow me to continue to wet shave whilst finding features that would improve the closeness of a wet shave and care for my skin as water dries out our facial skin.

I CHOSE THE PHILIPS HS8020...

I looked through the catalogue online at Philips home site and this particular product got my attention firstly because of its style and design.
The Design is a regular design to most other electric shavers. The bottom half is small and well sized to fit in your hand. The top half is much larger to allow support for the 3 round razor heads which look very hi-tech and neat. But the curves and sleek shape overall benefit the user as it allows me to shave my rusty beard with ease.
The chosen colors of this product is a combination of light ocean blue on the back & night sky blue on the front with a flat silver between the two blues.
We all recognize the color blue with water, the ocean blue even more. So when I saw this for the first time I thought of Wet Shaving and this was what made me look into this product in more detail.

PRODUCT DETAILS & MY THOUGHTS

FEATURES:

Shave in or out - The Philips HS8020 made it clear straight away that this specific product was designed to enable both dry shaving and wet shaving. You can either shave in the kitchen while waiting for the toast - not recommended, or you can shave in the shower - recommended.

Conditioner - The next feature I looked into was the Conditioning System because I wanted to see what this product would do to care for my skin as shaving in the shower means more water and dryer skin. When you use this shaver, simply press down on the upper blue button and a very light conditioning gel comes from the heads. This means that whilst shaving your facial hair, your skin is being reconditioned to leave moisturizer skin. Philips also state that this gel contains essential vitamins and chamomile that supports healthy skin because of the conditioning.
It is simple to refill the conditioner, simply put the Conditioner bottle to the hole and press on the nozzle until the compartment is full. You will see when it is full.

Flex Tracker - This isn't something out of Star Wars. The Flex Tracker system is designed to give myself and any user the best possible shave in comfort tracking the curves in your skin and adjusting accordingly. The 3 razor heads are attached by maneuverable pivots which allow the heads to move to fit the shape and curves of your face. Remember that electric shavers can be used up, down, left, right and sideways, compared to manual razors which go up or down.
The unfavorable heads means that you shave against your skin but, with your skin. This reduces skin irritation for those with sensitive skin, but as for myself, I do not get irritated skin by using this product but then nor do I have sensitive skin.

USAGE:

Battery Charging & Life - It is recommend you charge for a FULL 8 hours when your battery has ran dry. I stick to recommendations when it comes to electronics so I would advise you to do this when needing to recharge your battery.
The a FULLY charged battery lasts me for about 3 mornings most, depending on the length and time of your shave obviously. But it must be remembered that this product is so easy to use that day to day use should take you no longer than 10-15 minutes.
There are also indicator lights to let you know when either the battery is being charged or when the battery is running low.

Grip - So I'm in the shower, we all know how slippery the shower can be. The HS8020 has been made with 2 large silver hand grips down the sides of the shaver. The grips are made of rubber to give maximum grip in a wet environment such as a steamy bathroom or in the shower. I have small hands so if it wasn't for the grips, I'd find it much harder to use this shaver because of the limited grip area I have in my palms.

Instruction - I have had a little problem at first with refilling the conditioner. But luckily the product came packaged including a Quick Start Guide and 28ml of Shaving Conditioner so I was able to get started by instruction which meant I was able to deal with my problem without contacting the manufacturer.

MOVEMENT & HANDLING

I enjoy using this shaver day after day. Whilst the product offers many features, I forget some of the features I use day to day and take the high standard of shaving using this product for granted.

The shaver constantly feels as close as ever to my skin, each of the heads move independently so when shaving my jaw line the close feeling doesn't disappear. The shaver seems to grab at your skin but instead it connects to skin like a magnet. You could expect your skin to feel irritated but the glide parts in the heads give smooth and soft traction to your skin when shaving.

The pivots that the heads sit on swivels when I shave which means you can push and maneuver the heads to the hardest to reach areas of your face and neck. I usually shave very quickly, although when in front of a mirror you can spend a little extra time getting into these difficult areas leaving you with a complete hair free result.

Considering the battery lifespan from full charge to empty does make me question the reliability over a long length of time. I have had my shaver now since May 2008. I would feel more satisfied if I did not have to worry about recharging the battery after every few days but then maybe that's asking for the impossible. The durability given from the battery lifespan doesn't affect the results this product gives, but if improved would leave me even more satisfied as a Philips Consumer.

Nivea For Men must of had some influence, as this really is a product for a man with rapid growth of facial hair along with men with lots of facial hair. Since using this, I have had very little stubble even when not shaving a few days, I believe this is solely down to the closeness of the shave.

THE MANUFACTURER

Philips are right there at the top when it comes to Electronics. It worries me sometimes when manufacturers offer many different models on many different ranges. I wander how much focus and attention they have when creating a product for a specific type of person. But Philips website took away my fears. They have a very accessible website that will direct you to what your looking for and then give detailed information on the feel of use to the features and specs.

You will be given Instructions, 1 Year warranty and Customer Support with this product from the manufacturer. They are easy to approach, by email or by phone and you can always look to the many of thousands of their other consumers to seek help or advice.

You can go to there website to get more info on Customer Support & the Terms and Conditions to their warranty and products.

MY CONCLUSION

The Cool Skin Nivea For Men based product by Philips has much improved the product. They have enhanced the Conditioning system and made it integrated so that it fits and is easy to use and refill.

I enjoy shaving, because this shaver takes away my fears of shaving in the shower. It also takes away all the dangers and irritations of using non electric razors. The product is easy to manage, designed to minimize the length of time needed to shave and gives satisfying results. My skin always looks very clear and my skin pores never seem to be damaged. Have I cut or broken my skin with this shaver? No.

Could this product be improved? possibly. I would like to see the battery improved to help maximize my time out of the bathroom in the mornings. Then again, it isn't hard to plug in the adaptor to recharge.
But please do remember, as with any shaver cleaning is difficult but important. I suggest you rinse the heads under warm water and pad dry using a toilet tissue. Avoid using the cleaning accessories as they are not sufficent in getting scrap hair out from under the razor heads.

This is my most favourite shaving tool yet, I have had it since may 2008 and there have been very few mornings I haven't used this. I am a very satisfied customer and believe strongly that if something should go wrong, I will easily get a resolution. That is solely down to the accessibility of FAQ's and Customer Service both OFFLINE & ONLINE.

I paid £56.99 which is usually more expensive than many other shavers offered, but its £50 very happily spent. Remember that you are not just buying into a ready made product, you are buying into the Technology and Manufactures customer service also.

You have the option of buying it now for yourself or as a gift directly from Ciao for as little as £27.25 !

.... Thank You for reading my review. Please Rate my review, feel free to post a comment or question and I will answer you.

Gavin Fowkes.