Electric shavers

If you seek to be truly clean shaven, there is no alternative to:

* A good English shaving cream such as Trumpers or Taylors.

* A pure (or better yet super) badger brush.

* A fine double edged razor (such as Merkur).

Sorry, but anything else is second rate.

A Gilette Mach 3 does it for me, the only electric shavers I have ever used have been rubbish.

quote:

fits the bill

......Maybe shaving your bill is the problem!

Tony

Mike

There was an "electric razors" thread on here a few months back.

G

quote:

There was an "electric razors" thread on here a few months back.

There was and I think I started it! After comments from there and other places I ended up with this philips one. At the time it was thier top of the line, but I see now there are some newer ones above it including one with an auto cleaning base unit.

Overall I'm very happy with it, it gives about 70 minutes good shaving time, the batteries are still going, but you can hear the motor isn't spinning as fast. For me it takes about 2 minutes for a shave in the morning.

I usually shave 5 times a week and quite often skip shaving at the weekend and it handles monday morning ok, although it takes an extra couple of minutes.

Cleaning it is very easy, just flip open the top (the three heads flip up) and rinse under the tap. When I purchased I was also looking at Braun and remmingtons auto cleaning base units and in the end I'm glad I stayed away from them. This philips one is a breeze to wash under the tap and there is no mucking about with replacement cleaning fluid units etc. Also I noted the length of time between replaceing the heads is a lot longer on the Philips.

For shaving performace it's not as close as a wet shave (I used to use a gillette 2 blade thing), but only to the touch (you can't tell the difference by looking). I stick with it because it is so much quicker.

Where I bought (in Canada) the one I got (and all the higher end Braun, Remminton's) come with a 30 or 60 day money back guarantee so I bought and if I wasn't happy I was going to return and try a Braun, but I kept it.

Nothing to beat a long, slow, extremely hot, twice or thrice over wet shave with a fresh blade. Frankly though I can't be bothered now. Amazing what you find isn't that important once kids arrive. Saturday morning used to be devoted to a long shave, long shit and long soak or shower but now it's a Philips 3 head rotary for me. It beats my previous Remington and Braun shavers hands down and easily handles a weekend's growth in a couple of minutes. It's also as close to a normal wet shave as I need (and I've got a very thick, coarse dark growth).

Tom K said:

quote:

It beats my previous Remington and Braun shavers hands down and easily handles a weekend's growth in a couple of minutes. It's also as close to a normal wet shave as I need (and I've got a very thick, coarse dark growth).

As a wet blade shaver, every now and again I figure I must be missing something by not using an electric razor, and have recurring thoughts about trying them.

I'm interested in either the top current Braun, or Phillishave. Obviously, if you've used say an old Braun, and then moved on to say a new Phillips it's likely to be better.

Has anyone compared the current top Braun to the current top Phillishave?

I'm mostly interested in comfort, and closeness of shave/results.

Does the adjustable height of the rotary trimming heads on the Phillips have any real world effect?

Many thanks

John..

John,
One of the problems I found with both the Remington and Braun was that the microscreen was very fragile and liable to develop holes which can make a real mess of the skin if you don't notice before shaving. The cutting heads also needed replacing on a regular basis. I've never had to replace a single part in the 6 or so years I've had the Philips as it's a fundamentally more robust system. I think it's no coincidence that Remington have now started making 3 head rotary shavers.

The reason the micro screen can get holes is because they are very thin (hence close shave). They do tend to last serveral years though before replacements are needed.

I found the phillips sytem not to my likeing at all, and not giving a close shave. it may depend on the thinkness/consistency of your growth though.

If possible I would try a phillips before you commit to big bucks.

I prefer the Phillips over the Brauns, I too have a fairly light beard and a bony face. The Phillips did cause bad razor burn to begin with but, as I was warned about it plus the razor was expensive, I persevered and after 6months was getting a reasonable shave. But I now as I also shave my head [hair?]prefer a Gillette Mach3, as RB, suggests, with King of Shaves gel or Nokzema when I can find it.

quote:

Originally posted by greeny:
The reason the micro screen can get holes is because they are very thin (hence close shave). They do tend to last serveral years though before replacements are needed.

I was having to replace the screens every few months, the cutting heads every year or so. I've got a fairly coarse growth and perhaps the shavers just weren't up to handling it but as I said the Philips shaves me much closer, more quickly, has lasted much longer than either of my previous shavers, and requires much less maintenance - only regular cleaning. It also charges much more quickly, and requires charging much less frequently.
No comparison as far as I'm concerned. I'd be interested to hear if anybody has tried Remington's new rotary system as it's obviously a complete rip off of Philips.

Personally, I'd go with Richard Brown's suggestion of a Gillette Mach 3 wet shaver. But if you want a bit more "bling" over the standard Gillette, get yourself to Penhaligon (v upmarket with royal warrants for Phil the Greek and the Jug-Eared Loon, as I recall), who do a nickel plated handle, which uses the Gillette blades, for a mere £30 or so. Nicely heavy in the hand and shaving couldn't be quicker or simpler.

Graham

Okay, I probably need to explain that I originally used a Braun shaver until it became slightly tedious and time-consuming. I shifted to blades but after 5 years and various blades, creams, foams etc. I'll be damned if I can find one that can shave me as closely or smoothly as my old Braun especially above my top lip and in front of my ears. Indeed I tried it the other day and had the best shave I'd had in years. Unfortunately, they don't make replacement parts for it nowadays so... I really won't be going down the wet shave route as I have simply had enough of occasional cuts and the relative expense.

Any more suggestions?

Mike

FWIW I had tried various Brauns and other electric shavers, and found them all to be rubbish. They only seemed to work if my beard was at just the right length, and even then seemed to miss the odd hair altogether.

Then I bought a Philips in a half-price sale, and it really works, nuff said.

I still prefer a Mach 3 blade on an Edwin Jagger handle with Somersets oil, and I'm not convinced that a dry shave is even any faster - but I keep the Philips around for those hungover or 'running late and shaving whilst making the toast' moments.

Hmm

So is this kind of like one shaver (Braun) might suit one type of face/beard, and (Phillips)another, or is their a general consensus as to one of the two being 'better' OVERALL than the other?

Again, apples with apples if possible please, i.e. current Braun v's current Phillips - and top of the line models if poss as well...

Heheh, the machinations of an undecided consumer...lol

Best regards

John...

I've just bought a Braun 4735 from Argos for £33.25

It seems to work well and be good v.f.m.

John.