MACH(O) MAN (Gillette Mach3 Razor)

Member Name: fooyoo

Product:	Gillette Mach3 Razor
Date:	19/02/03 (291 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Close shave, Reliability, Durability

Disadvantages: My wife is a thief

I try to shave as little as possible. It is a task I hate doing, and if my wife would accept me complete with bushy beard then I would be happy, but she won't, and I am frequently nagged to have a shave. I have tried electric shavers and most disposables, but I never seemed to get a close shave, and the shaving rash I used to get made my face look sore. Last year after a shopping trip, my wife brought home a promotion pack of a new razor made by Gillette, which has cost her a reasonable £3.19 as I recall. Not one for media advertising, the publicity campaign had passed me by, but I thought I would give this razor a try anyway. That razor was the Mach 3, and I have never looked back since. I only wish I had found this razor when it was released 5 years ago.

The pack consisted of the razor and 4 replacement heads, along with a holder which I use to stop the blades coming into contact with anything which may damage them, and also to keep them dry. The rubber gripped handle is moulded for a more comfortable grip, and also I suspect to stop it slipping through your hands. Each head pivots and has 3 blades (which at the time of release was something new) and a lubricating strip which are responsible for getting a closer shave. There is also a spring action in the head which stops you from putting too much pressure on the area that you are shaving, again minimising the chance of cutting yourself, and also this flexibility allows you to shave at different angles, which is a help seeing as we don't all have the same shaped faces. The blades tend to stay sharp for a decent number of shaves, and even when my wife managed to get her thieving little mitts on them, the blades were still sharp, whereas in the past she would have left me with a razor that cut my skin to ribbons.

Cleaning of the razor is a pretty simple affair. The blades are not crammed together which gives you the advantage of being able to rinse between them and get rid of any residue.
If you decide that the blade has seen better days or the lubrication strip indicates that you need to change the blade, then it is very simple to remove and attach a new one as the head has a click in/click out feature for the blades.

I hide the blades for my Mach 3, as my wife decided that if it was so good, she wanted a piece of the action for her legs and various other crevices. Well if she wants it, she will have to buy her own. This is mine.....all mine, and they are certainly not cheap so why should I share them? A pack of 3 replacement blades currently retails for around £4, so sometimes it works out much better value to purchase the starter pack, especially if there is a promotion running, and it just means that you have a spare head.

Mach 3 lives up to all of the promises it makes. I have never had a closer wet shave from any other razor, and the dry shave with an electric razor does not even come close. My skin felt smooth and not irritated at all, as the 3 blades make sure that no stray hairs are overlooked, and I can confidently say that in nearly 18 months worth of use, I have never cut myself when shaving with the Mach 3, which considering how sharp the blades are is no mean feat.

Gillette spent 10 years and over $750 million researching and developing this razor, coupled with an advertising and marketing spend of $250 million, and it is worth every penny, which I am confident they will have recouped in the worldwide sales of the product. There are now many similar models on the market, but for efficiency and reliability they just cannot compete.

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