It's all about facial hair, baby!
Apr 17 '01
The Bottom Line If you have facial hair, go with disposables, but if you HAVE to have an electric, read this article.
**DISCLAIMER**
I am writing this review for facial hair shaving only. I have no experience with shaving anything else. No matter what you heard. Honest.
After years and years of unsuccessfully trying to find the perfect electric razor, I feel like an authority on this subject. For those of you contemplating purchasing an electric razor, let's chat.
First off, forget the ads. I don't care what they say, it's all hype. Triple-bladed action? Shaves as close as a blade? Not even. Electric razors are convenient, and safe to use, but oddly enough, they don't shave very well.
First off, electrics aren't designed to manage shaving hair that grows in at angles other than straight out of your face. If you've seen the Norelco ads, you know what I mean. Most of us have follicles that point hair in different directions, much like the hair on top of our heads. This causes a problem for most electrics, as they can't catch all of the hair on one or two swipes of the razor.
Which brings me to my next point: If you have sensitive skin, an electric razor's going to put you in a world of hurt. There isn't one electric on the market today that you don't have to pass over the same spot on your face at least 6 or 7 times in order to remove all of the hair there. For those of us with sensitive skin, this doesn't leave us with a "nice tingly feeling", any more than razor burn does.
Another point, any of us that grow REAL facial hair :) know that most electrics don't work well with coarser bristles. This can also add up the number of passes over the same area of your face trying to get all of your hair.
At this point, many of you have come to the realization that you could lather up, shave with a straight razor, fix any cuts with a styptic pencil and be out the door with a cleaner shave slightly faster than you can trying to get the same close shave with an electric razor. And for those of you with beards, mustaches, goatees, or any other facial fixtures: An electric razor is not for you. There isn't one on the market that works well around them, and you'll end up having to use a blade to finish leveling off sideburns or cleaning up any "stragglers".
With this aside, there are many somewhat good to very good products on the market. Electrics also have the conveniences of being easy to clean, easy to use, and require a minimum of maintenance, as well as costing less over the long run (compared to disposables). Several of the newer razors are offered in a wet/dry format, which means you can take it into the shower with you (the best place to shave, believe me.) as you need it. I have one of these types myself, but for some reason, I'm leery about taking mine into the shower. Just seems risky...
So, if I haven't scared you off yet, here's a few recommendations. In my opinion, Braun makes the best electric, hands down. They have good designs, and tend to take less passes to get all of your facial hair. Those of you with the thicker beards and such would, barring a blade, be best served with their models.
If you have a softer or patchier beard, Remington works as well. It doesn't get as much hair per pass as the Braun, but it is less expensive, and does get a fairly clean shave with a little effort.
If you don't shave, get a Norelco. It will keep you from shaving. Ever. In your life.
And remember, there's many brands I haven't covered (including the one I have now, a Panasonic), so feel free to sound off!
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Epinions.com ID:
Naughtius
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Location: Perry, UT
Reviews written: 79
Trusted by: 13 members
About Me:
I write, you critique, I ignore. Lather, rinse, repeat.
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