best razor? womens razors better?

Hair Removal Methods Shaving/Trimming
#21

BTW, can you buy the Philips “bodyshaver” in the US? I’ve looked for it in shops here but it’s nowhere to be found. I recall in some other forum that someone said that they “weren’t planning to launch it in the US” till next year or possibly not at all. That’s really strange–is the UK so much more progressive when it comes to shaving than the US???

The Philips Bodygroomer is not available in the US. There is no word on whether it will be available in the US or not. A Philips rep told me it may be available here eventually if enough Americans request it. I would suggest e-mailing them and giving your opinion. Is the UK more progressive with regard to body shaving? Possibly, but I don’t know much about the UK. A much smaller percentage of American men use electric shavers compared to the European men so that could be a factor in their marketing. That doesn’t mean their strategy is a good one though. The Bodygroomer may do very well if offered here.

Braun’s top of the line electric razor, the Activator, was available in Europe for quite some time before it came to the US. Now they have a new model called the 360 Complete, and while it’s available in Europe, it is not available in the US. And usually there is no major announcement when these products come to the US. They just show up on the store shelves.

BTW, Remington also has a body hair trimmer. Here are a few links you may find interesting:

Remington Body Hair Trimmer

Philips Bodygroom

Have you seen any ads recently showing smooth men or advocating body shaving?

Any time you see a shirtless male athlete on TV, his chest is hairless. Most WWF pro wrestlers have little or no body hair.

I’m really surprised that the media hasn’t done more to promote body shaving in the US. It seem like that it would catch on if a few athletes or actors appeared with smooth legs or chests and then things like Philips bodyshaver would become more popular.

I think it will catch on eventually. A lot of pro athletes remove their body hair. My practitioner has pro football players as clients, and they go for both laser and electrolysis. And some NBA players are known to shave their armpits.

RJC2001

#22

RJC, I’m considering getting a Braun Activator. But let me ask; it takes me twenty minutes to do my shaving routine with the Vibrance, regarding everyone is a little different, what does it take you to shave both full legs and abdomen with it? Does it get most hair on the first pass? Does it irritate your skin? Does the smoothness last? Ingrowns? And what’s the noise level on it? If you don’t mind I would just like the rundown on it. Do you prefer the blade shave of the M3 Power/Vibrance, or would you rather use the Activator? Thanks as always!

Mantaray

#23

The Activator is the best electric I have used to date. Rotaries like the Norelco don’t work as well for me. Stuart uses a Norelco and it works very well for him. The Norelco is the quietest shaver around. Some of that is probably due to the fact that the motor speed is not as fast. It is a quality shaver though.

The Activator is the quietest of all the foil shavers and the noise level has never been a problem for me. It will get most of the hair in one pass and I usually make two passes to make sure I get everything. I am very picky about getting all of the hair when I shave so it usually takes me about 20 minutes. If I am not so picky I can still get pretty good results in 10 minutes. I only shave my abs once a week because there is not enough hair there to shave every day, just a little bit of fuzz is left. And when I do shave my abs it takes about 5 minutes. I’m thinking about a few more laser or IPL treatments, or maybe electrolysis, to see if I can permanently get rid of the remaining fuzz. It is annoying in the hot weather.

Irritation is not an issue at all with the Activator. I can even use it the day after a laser treatment on my beard with no irritation. And I get very almost no ingrowns with the Activator.

The Braun is very convenient, and after 2 laser treatments (and 2 on the upper legs with the Aurora) it provides a very smooth result that lasts for about a day. Three weeks ago I had a Harmony treatment on my upper legs, above the tan line, and it worked surprisingly well! There is almost no hair left in that area right now and I may quit shaving that area to see what grows out. I almost wish my legs were lighter in color so I could have done the entire legs with it. The Harmony left a lot of scabbing on the test spots that were done on the darker areas.

The Braun gives a very close shave on my legs, especially after the laser and IPL treatments. However, the shave is not as close as with the M3 Power or Vibrance. When I shave with a M3 or Vibrance, the smoothness lasts for about 2 days. I have yet to find a shaver or razor that can equal or better the M3/Vibrance. The Activator is close but still not as good. A lot of times I don’t want to spend 20 minutes in the shower so I go with the Activator. When I shave with the M3 or Vibrance, it takes a minimum of 20 minutes. I am always very careful with them. If I go fast the probability of getting a cut is higher. I get almost zero cuts now when I body shave with the M3 or Vibrance.

I use the Activator almost all the time on my beard. I’m usually in a hurry when I am shaving my beard and using a blade and being in a hurry is a dangerous combination LOL! The M3 outperforms and causes fewer nicks compared to other blades, but the danger is still there when in a hurry.

RJC2001

#24

Thanks for the update RJC! Maybe, we should all flood Philips and other companies that offer body shavers with emails! Maybe, we could bring about a change if they think that the demand is there–let’s start a revolution! LOL!!! You would think that those clever marketing people at Philips would come up with some witty ads to reach out to the public. I bet there are a lot of men that would like to their shave legs, pits or their chest but are too worried about what others would think. Now if Philips and others started marketing this right, then more and more men would feel that it’s mainstream and wouldn’t be so worried about whether it’s accepted by society as a whole and being labelled gay.

Anybody here tried epilating? How long does that leave you smooth and how much time does it take compared to shaving with a manual or an electric razor? Does epilating cause a lot of ingrowns or red bumps? I would think that it’s much longer lasting since it gets to the root–anything like waxing? Cheers!

#25

Thanks RJC, and Smoothlover for your feedback. I was wondering about the activator and it sounds like it might be the way to go not on the body, but on my face. I, too, rush on my face and it just irritates the skin so much more. I’ve actually found now that the cheap plastic razors do just as well on my face as the Power, but like I said before, I get nicked. The activator seems like a good multipurpose tool to keep handy for travel or touch ups. I have a Norelco rotory razor I had initially bought for body usage but it just took so much longer than a blade or creams, and didn’t really do a great job, and that thing can really give me an ugly red rash if I press too hard. They have bettered their technology lately, buy i wonder if rotaries are just by mechanical nature, not as good as foil shavers. Maybe when the stores have their after Thanksgiving sales, I’ll try to scout me an Activator.

I now use a new method I’ve found better, in the shower. I used to use the Softsoap with a muff. I felt this was an inexpensive way that was almost just as good as using any gel or shave cream, and since in the shower, I could use Softsoap without worrying about it being used up due to being rinsed off ever minute. But I found the soap was drying out my skin. Even though they put moisterizers in the soap, it’s just too much soap being on the skin for too long.

Well, then I thought, try using shave cream but spray the shave cream in a muff, then wipe it on whenever an area gets grippy, as I go about shaving. I tried it and it worked decently, and it really didn’t use that much cream, but the cream was a little bulky to be held by the muff.

But then, I thought. What if I used shave gel instead of shave cream? It’s less bulky and probably could work into the muff, and be held by the muff better. So I tried it. it works great. I get the Wal-Mart Envi: for men, I spray it in the muff, and wipe the muff on whatever area I’m shaving. I hang the muff up when I’m not using it.

The Envi gel is actually pretty cheap at Wal-Mart, and works way better than the soap (Duh! Silly me, soap is made for washing, gel is made for shaving). I use a lot less of it than if I sprayed it directly on my hand or skin. Anyway, I can shave much faster, closer, with far less irritation. Knees and ankles are no problem, not a single nick. I also think it keep the lubristrip more intact on the Vibrance cartridges as well. I figure Softsoap would wear them faster than a non-detergent shave gel. Even now less irritation, much less now that I’m using the Vibrance, and it leaves my skin way, way healthier and more moist. It’s a difference that I can not only feel but see as well. It’s funny how technique is improved through all this trial and error I go through. I wish I knew about everything sooner.

Mantaray

#26

I found one of the best things for shaving in the shower is to use a bodywash, and it need not be expensive. My favorite is the Suave Bodywash, moisturizing formula. It’s very inexpensive and you can get it at Walmart. Usually if a bodywash says on the label that it can be used for shaving it will work pretty good. The Suave gives a very close shave and it’s not overly slippery when you spill it on the floor. The Aveeno Shave Gel and Moore Hydroglide are way to slippery when spilled on the tile floor in the shower!

I like to use the Activator on my neck because the skin there naturally has more bumps on it, like semi-permanent goose bumps. I had an IPL treatment (Quadra Q4) on my beard today, so hopefully in the future, anything will give me a close shave on my face. The treatment was moderately painful, I could smell some singed hair, and had some post treatment redness for an hour or so. Those are good signs. If there is much beard left, I will have it zapped with a Coolglide or Prowave 770.

RJC2001

#27

Keep us informed on the Quadra Q4 session! That I would like to know about. Thanks.

Mantaray

#28

Keep us informed on the Quadra Q4 session! That I would like to know about. Thanks.

Mantaray

I had the Quadra Q4 treatment yesterday. We decided to do my beard. It went very well. I will give a full report on it tomorrow in the laser/IPL forum. I’m tired and need to get some sleep. It’s supposed to snow tomorrow here in the Midwest and I will probably have to leave early for work to beat the snow!

RJC2001

#29

Hi Everyone!

I thought it was time to revive this thread and ask a few questions! I recently bought a four-pack of Mach 3 Turbo blades and would like to comment on the lubricated strip–it seems “heavier” than the Mach 3 Power strips and due to all the lubrication, it kinda prevented me from getting a close shave. I mean my face got really “gummed up” with this lubrication. Has anyone else noticed this on brand new blades??? The blades look identical to the Mach 3 Power–do you think that’s the case with only a different “lube” strip on top?

Some of you mentioned earlier a model of the Venus which comes in a green/bluish color and the pink one–is there any difference in this handle or is it just aesthetic? Does the electronic vibrating of the Venus Vibrance or Mach 3 Power for the record, really make a difference? I’ve just used the Mach 3 Power blades in the regular Turbo razor without the batteries and wondered if it’s worth investing in the new handle.

Regards,

smoothlover

#30

Hi Everyone!

I’ll try again–if anyone is still reading this thread, I’d like to ask about some more women’s razors. I saw a special offer for the Sensor Excel razors for women in the paper and they cost about half the price as the Venus. Has anybody here tried them and are the blades interchangeable with the men’s Sensor razor???

How close of a shave do they give you and how’s the comfort? I was pretty happy with the Sensor Excel blade for men but it isn’t flexible like the Mach series. Any feedback on the women’s sensor would be great!

Thx,

smoothlover

#31

Hi Everyone!

I thought it was time to revive this thread and ask a few questions! I recently bought a four-pack of Mach 3 Turbo blades and would like to comment on the lubricated strip–it seems “heavier” than the Mach 3 Power strips and due to all the lubrication, it kinda prevented me from getting a close shave. I mean my face got really “gummed up” with this lubrication. Has anyone else noticed this on brand new blades??? The blades look identical to the Mach 3 Power–do you think that’s the case with only a different “lube” strip on top?

Some of you mentioned earlier a model of the Venus which comes in a green/bluish color and the pink one–is there any difference in this handle or is it just aesthetic? Does the electronic vibrating of the Venus Vibrance or Mach 3 Power for the record, really make a difference? I’ve just used the Mach 3 Power blades in the regular Turbo razor without the batteries and wondered if it’s worth investing in the new handle.

Regards,

smoothlover

You might as well get the handle, the blades are the biggest cost. The handle is a one-time expense.

I do think the M3 Power blades are better than the Turbo. The M3 Power blades are thinner and have less friction.
And yes the vibrating handle does make a difference.

I don’t think the lube strip affects the quality of the shave very much. It is just a marketing ploy to make you think your blade is wearing out more quickly than it really is. Usually after 2 or 3 shaves, all the color is gone out of the lube strip.

Before you do anything else, I would try the Fusion. It is Gillette’s best razor yet!

RJC2001