Electric v. Normal Razor

[californla]

Hi,

 

I am thinking of getting an electric razor and wanted some viewpoints. I have heard both good and bad but thought I would take it here.

 

I currently use the Mach III turbo and grow a beard quickly (and thickly). I was going to get a Braun electric.

 

Thoughts?

[mnkyboy]

no electric razor is gonna be in the same ballpark with a normal razor so if you like a close shave you won't be happy with an electric.

 

a few years ago i went out and paid almost $200 for some fancy razor,i ended up taking it back because when i was done with it i usually ended up reshaving with a normal razor.

 

The only use i can find for an electric is to preshave after i havent shaved in a while,I have a cheap electric that i sometimes use just to knock everything down then i pull out the trusty old school razor.

[Harper]

A couple years ago, when I was driving an 18 wheeler, I bought a Braun just for the convenience. Like mnkyboy said, it's not as close.....actually you can almost get as close a shave, but ya darned near rub your face raw to do it.. But man, I bought a 5-pack of Gillette Mach 3 Turbo Plus (or whatever name the Madison Ave types came up with) last week, and I tell ya, I'm ready to find a different solution. Over $20 bucks for 5 blades is ridiculous! :fs1:

[kastein]

electric, been trying to switch to regular because the battery is dying on my electric but I am pretty sure I'm allergic to something in most shaving creams, I look like someone pointed a shotgun at me for about week every time :headpop:

[terrawombat]

If you have thick, coarse facial hair and you need to be clean-shaven for your job (or the ladies :brows: ) then don't even consider an electric razor. Believe me, I spent big bucks on the top-of-the-line electric razor when I first got my job because using a normal razor was taking up to 10 minutes. Even with a normal razor, I need to shave with the grain first and then reshave against the grain if I don't want to look like a neanderthal by the time I leave work. The electric razor always left stubble and I looked like I had a five o'clock shadow the minute I walked into the office. Luckily it had a 30 days no-questions-asked return policy so I was able to get my money back. I've stuck with the Gillette Mach-series for the last several years and couldn't be happier. The blades are expensive, but you need to look out for sales at pharmacies or large wholesale clubs like BJs or Sam's. I bought a 100-pack from Sam's club before I went to college seven years ago for a little over 100 bucks and I just used the last replacement blade a couple months ago.

[Geonovast]

When I started shaving (15ish), I used my dad's electric, until I bought my own. Because... well.. dad used one.

 

(&$^ing hate it.

 

$60 Norelco, and brand new it didn't do squat. I still keep it around, I use the beard trimmer on it for a pre-shave if I let it get too long. I now use a Shick Quattro. Works great. Blades are usually 4 or 5 for ~$9. Recently picked up a clearanced 8 pack for $10, sitting above the 4 pack for $9..

[californla]

Terra Wombat - 10 minutes to shave every morning!?! That's worse than me and I thought I was cursed by the beard gods. I seriously had to start shaving at 13 which was a big deal back in the day - now who cares. Though I too must be clean shaven for work every day which means this is a one to times a day process for me.

 

Anyway, sounds like no (at least thus far) to the Electric razor idea. A co-worker also told me they suck for doing your neck and i go pretty far down there too.

 

It just seemed so convenient!

[terrawombat]

Electric razors are awful for your neck, unless you enjoy it being red and irritated for the first couple of hours in the day.

 

I used to shave at my bathroom sink and it would take me about 10 minutes every morning because I'm essentially shaving twice - once with the grain and once against. I've got some tricky areas too, like right under my lower lip and above my chin...always some hard to reach hairs in there. My neck is probably what takes me the longest. I could skimp out and leave some stubble, but I try to get as smooth as I can because if I do it right, I can sometimes skip a day of shaving - depending on how much sleep I get the night before. When I don't sleep much, my facial hair doesn't grow as much.

[californla]

the problem with the neck for me is a.) not comfortable and b.) kind of connects with the top of chest hairs and i don't know where to stop.

 

a day break from shaving is always nice though. weekends are amazing.

[terrawombat]

a day break from shaving is always nice though. weekends are amazing.

 

Agreed. Love when the boss is out of town, too. I can't really go any more than a couple of days, though as it just gets too uncomfortable with me, especially in the summer. When I come home, I'm always outside doing work and sweating. Facial sweat + beard = gross.

[Harper]

a day break from shaving is always nice though. weekends are amazing.

 

 

Well young man, you're gonna LOVE retirement (if there is still such a thing in 40 years, [not meant to be funny]). As you get older, your skin gets a lot thinner......so for that reason and to save money on those Mach3 blades, I shave maybe twice a week, on Sunday for church, then maybe Wednesday, and only then if I feel lke it.... :yes:

[californla]

haha - when is retirement again?

 

yes - well, i think i am going to stick with the Mach 3 for now even though its hella expensive.

 

we are just lucky we only have to shave ours faces. not bad in the grand scheme.

[75sv1]

I use a Mach3 blade. I do have fairly sensitive skin. I don't have a thick beard. my chin hair is fairly wirery though. I have used a few electric razors. They were cheaper ones. One was a Braun, but a lower end model. As others have said, they don't get as close of a shave. I have heard a few good coments about the Panasonic wet/dry. I haven't used it though.

I now shave in the shower. This seems to help quite a bit, to get a good shave. I also use a natural shaving cream. I use 'Kiss My Face' brand. It comes in a pump bottle. I wash my face in the shower, then lather and then shave.

Tom

[Sir Sam]

I get less irritation when shaving with an electric razor, ya I gotta make more passes but I don't get wicked razor burn at the base of neck like I do with a razor.

 

I've also been shaving since I was 13, think I was probable the youngest in my 7th grade class needing to shave. I used razors back then, but along about christmas my freshman year of highschool(9th grade) I got an electric razor, the same one I use today. I think I've just gotten more used to the electric razor.

 

For me the electric is a closer, better, quicker shave.

[jpnjim]

I have a cheap, plug in (non-battery) electric shaver.

I shave twice a week & put up with a little neck burn when I start to sweat later in the day.

(I'm an Electrician, so no one on the construction site really cares if I'm looking scraggly :chillin: )

[johnnyc]

I use a Schick XTreme III to shave my face and head every morning. When I first started shaving my head 15 years ago, I thought it would quicker and easier with an electric razor. Nope. I use the Schicks because they pivot AND flex to follow the contours of my skull.

 

And why do people say that you get a closer shave when you go WITH the hair and not AGAINST it? There is no way I can get a close shave unless I do go against the grain.

[californla]

I will have to try that Schick razor. I just want something that will keep a close shave all day long. As it stands now, by 3p or so I have a full beard so if I have a meeting at 5p, I have to reshave. Sucks to be a man in that regard.

 

Also, similarly, the girl friend wants me to shave or wax my chest for an upcoming trip to the beach. I am not sure what to do... I always try to do what she wants in that regard but I am also a pretty hairy guy so that could be a painful process. Anyone ever shaved, ehrm, elsewhere?

[mnkyboy]

years ago my brothers wife talked him into waxing his chest,it was funny to watch.

 

afterwards he broke out real bad and had red bumps all over his chest for a week or two.

[streetjeep2.5]

I have had an Atra (or Atra plus) razor that uses the dual blades that clip on the the head. I have had this for about 40 years, and I buy the Walmart version of the blade that is about 3 bucks for 10 blades. Never had a problem with them. I have bought the name brand blades at times, but they actually pulled more than the Walmart. I tried electric one time, and went back to my old Atra. I don't have a heavy beard, but I do have very thick hair shafts, so thick that when my wife cuts my hair and uses scissors my hair flies off like when you cut small wire with cutters.

[mike87mj]

i have a crappy electric that really just pulls more hair than cuts and i think I'm allergic to something in those strips they put on razors everytime i use them i break out bad. so i went and bought a straight razor(mainly cause they are cool as sh**) but i had a friend at work tell me to try them iv had it for a week and gotten pretty comfortable with it now and its startin to take just as much time as a mach lll would. i got the razor at some salon store for like 5 bucks and the replacement blades are 4 bucks for a 5 pack pretty smokin deal. and so far i like the shave better than anything iv used before.

[johnnyc]

Just watch "The 40-Year Old Virgin" and you won't want to get your chest waxed.

 

[wyk]

I haven't shaved my face close in 15 years. I use a pair of adjustable shears for management of the perma beard and touch up with a blade here and there to keep it 'neat'.

 

[NWPhotog]

Real men shave with a Bowie knife! :rotfl2: I must not have the beard some here do because a decent electric works good for me. The idea of taking a blade to my face every morning would drive me to grow a beard. Unfortunately I look much better clean shaven.

[Automan2164]

Also, similarly, the girl friend wants me to shave or wax my chest for an upcoming trip to the beach. I am not sure what to do... I always try to do what she wants in that regard but I am also a pretty hairy guy so that could be a painful process. Anyone ever shaved, ehrm, elsewhere?

 

Hate to say it, but I have a sweater vest I can never take off. ;) When I started dating my girlfriend, I used to shave and man-scape the ol' chest, but then just let it go... Shaving leaves a close "look" but after a day, it looks like your chest has a five-o-clock shadow... Few years ago, we had to stay at a hotel/water park, and rather than look like a yeti (I now have some good thatch on the back and shoulders :ack: ) I went and got the upper body wax on my chest, back and shoulders... It really wasn't painful at all. 40 Year old virgin plays it up a bit. Got it all off, but boy does it feel weird when your shirt actually "lays" on skin rather than on the sweater vest. I did break out in some little red bumps, but they went away in a week or so. Haven't been under the hot wax since though.

 

Now that I have been with my GF for 5 years, I could care less about what she thinks... If we were ever to go on vaca again, I might just do the back and shoulders again, but eh...

 

If your fearing the pain, don't it ain't that bad...

Rob L. 8)