Intuition (Wilkinson Sword Intuition Razor Normal Skin)

Member Name: cerysm

Product:	Wilkinson Sword Intuition Razor Normal Skin
Date:	21/09/05 (1024 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Convenient

Disadvantages: Poor value for money, poor design

When the Intuition razor launched in the UK last year, I felt no desire to try it, because I was really happy with my Venus razor. However, lots of people seemed to give it great reviews, and when I saw it being sold (in Boots) really cheaply a while ago, I couldn't resist giving it a try.

Intuition is different from all other razors. The idea is that you don't need to use a separate shaving gel with it, as the blade has a built-in 'skin conditioning solid' (very convenient!). This block acts as a shaving gel when wet, as it melts and lathers on wet skin, allowing the triple blade razor to glide along your skin with ease, and give a close shave, while soothing the skin.

The razor itself is quite bulky, compared to other razors, although it is lightweight. The handle has rubber grips on it; however I find that these aren't very effective when my hands are wet, as I often find myself losing grip on the razor. I have to stick a finger in the hole near the top of the handle to try to keep a good grip on it: you get a plastic shower hanger with suction caps included with the razor, and the hole in the razor is to allow you to hang it up on this. I bought the razor for sensitive skin (the normal version looks the same though, and I bought the 'normal' replacement blades to try), and the handle on this is mainly white, with cornflower blue rubber grips. You get a plastic cap which you can place over the blade when you travel with the razor.

The triple blade shaving heads which fit onto the handle are also very bulky, because the blades are surrounded by the 'skin conditioning solid', which lathers up on your skin. You get two of these with the razor, and you can also buy refill packs of 3 or 6 replacement blades (I got a couple of packs because they were so cheap). The blades come in three different varieties: Sensitive (these are unfragranced, and contain cocoa butter, aloe vera and vitamin E), Normal (these have a light fragrance, and also contain cocoa butter, aloe vera and vitamin E), and Melon (these have a melon fragrance and contain aloe vera).The replacement blades are easy to fit onto the handle: there is a blue button on each side of the razor, and you press these in to release the used blade, and simply press a new blade onto the handle (it will snap on). Each blade comes in its own protective plastic case. The blades are designed to pivot, to follow your contours, and they are also supposed to adjust to the level of the soap block (so when the soap block wears down, the blade will lower itself).

The Intuition razor can be used in the bath or shower. It is very convenient to use, because you don't need to mess around with using a separate shaving gel. To use it, you wet your skin and the blade (to soften the 'skin conditioning solid', so it will lather on your skin). You need to keep both your skin and the razor wet for it to work effectively. You then shave as you would with a normal razor, gliding it lightly over the skin, and rinsing the razor frequently (to keep it clean and also to keep it wet). The soap block hardly lathers at all, but it does the job of helping the razor to glide over the skin. I wouldn't say that the 'skin conditioning solid' is soothing, but it doesn't irritate my skin in any way, and my skin feels comfortable after using it. All three varieties are pleasant to use (the fragranced ones aren't too strongly fragranced).

Sounds great? Well, I thought it was at first, but I soon came across a number of problems when using it:
* I find that the blade sometimes disappears into the soap block, meaning that I will stroke the razor over my skin, only to discover that nothing has been shaved off. I now have to keep an eye on the blade before every stroke, which is annoying, and if it has disappeared into the soap block, then I have to shake it back out, which is a pain.
* On top of struggling with the blade, I also have to make an effort to keep a grip on the handle (as mentioned above), because the rubber grips don't seem to be very effective in my opinion (maybe it's because I have small hands).
* The soap block wears away very quickly. I find that the blade only lasts for 4 shaves because of this, which is pretty poor because I can get at least 5 - 7 great shaves from my Venus razor. The blade itself might not have worn out, but because the soap block has worn away, you can't use it any longer. The blades aren't cheap either.
* The shave isn't as close as I get with my Venus razor.
* On the fourth shave, the blade sometimes decides to stick out above the soap block for some reason - ouch! For this reason, I now only use the blades for three shaves - not great value for money. The blades are supposed to adjust to the level of the soap block, but obviously this isn't the case all of the time.
* I cut myself around the ankles every time I use this razor (I don't think the blades pivot to follow my contours as well as they should)! I never cut myself when using my Venus razor with shaving gel.

Once I have used up all of my replacement blades, I won't be buying any more. Although in theory the Intuition razor should be less hassle than a normal razor, as you don't need a separate shaving gel, it isn't. I much prefer using a razor with shaving gel, because you can easily see where you have shaved, and you get a closer shave with less hassle (and cuts!). On a two week holiday, I would get through 5 of the replacement Intuition blades if I shaved everyday, and as these are bulky and expensive, I think I'll stick to taking a normal razor and a small can of shaving gel.

At full price, the Intuition razor with 2 blades costs around £6.29. Replacement packs of 3 blades cost around £6.29, and packs of 6 blades cost around £11.99. They can be bought in Boots, Superdrug and most chemists.

Summary: A great idea in theory, but not great in reality.