<-- Ford's "Cruel Joke" | Main | Pata de Mulo -->
June 16, 2006
Five Blades Are Better...
...or maybe it's the vibrating.
Taking an engineering tip from The Onion Gillette actually did bring out a five-blade razor: Fusion. And like a sucker (a sucker who hates shaving) I recently bought one.
First, let me tell you about my man hairs. I have a five o'clock shadow by 8:30 in the morning. There's a scene in the Simpsons where Homer shaves down to a "baby face" smooth, and while he is looking in the mirror his five o'clock shadow returns. That's me. I guess I just can't help my god-given virility. Or I'm closer to ape than most on the evolutionary scale. You be the judge.
I was a little skeptical about the whole five-blade thing. I was even more skeptical about the vibration. Yeah, that's right--this razor has a battery and vibrates. Now, if you're like me, the idea of placing five sharp vibrating blades on your face isn't the most sensible thing you've heard. Oh, but vanity, thy name is Dave! Debating the purchase of this new razor, I asked my wife what she thought. The conversation went something like this:
"What do you think of this? Five blades... and it vibrates."
"I think it looks interesting. I'll bet it does a good job."
"But you always fall for marketing ploys. Besides, what do you know about shaving?"
"I shave far more sensitive places than you do."
"Good point."
So I bought it. And this week, I tried it. I have to admit, five blades are pretty good. And the vibrating thing works pretty well, too. It is a little weird at first, but I've found that overall, the razor does, in fact, shave closer than my old, three-blade dull hatchet. And it seems to irritate my skin far less, too. But Gillette is really missing out. The glory of this new razor is, in fact, the sixth blade.
You heard me. This razor actually sports a sixth blade, they call it the "precision trimmer blade" and it's mounted along the top edge, facing the opposite direction of the other five main blades. This little ingenious feature allows you to get a close shave on your upper lip without doing nose yoga. Finally, no more pulling and tugging on my nose and lips only to cut myself a million times trying to shave those pesky whiskers just under my nostrils! Amazing. That feature alone is worth the price of the whole razor.
So there you have it... it's not just marketing hype. Five blades do, in fact, rock. Key the music and the chorus girls.
Posted by Dave!
4 Comments
What men need to do is use products like women do to slow hair regrowth. They even have it in prescription strength, although I don't know if I know any guy who would go to his doctor and ask for Vaniqa. I won't even go in and ask for it, but I'm really lazy. Well, and I don't have a 1700 shadow at 0500.
I laughed so hard when I saw the "5 blades" commercial for the first time. I thought it was pure one-upsmanship and predicted that in another 5 years, we'd have 14-blade razors that would take up half your face.
Glad to hear it's actually effective though!
It does work, but seriously the best feature is that little "sixth" blade on top... that thing is pure genius.
I tried the 3-blade vibrating razor, not a big fan. Everyone was predicting the five blade, even making jokes. Gillette said screw you, we're going straight to six, but not like you think. Insane. I use an electric, which takes getting used to, but doesn't irritate and does the job well enough for me, and I'm in the military, so you know a clean shave is important to me!