Gillette Fusion Razor Review

Once upon a time, Gillette introduced the first twin razor, a disposable blade system which combined two blades in one cartridge. The famous commercial showed us how the first blade would pull the hair away from the face, then the second blade would crop it close. Sounds good, right? But it also sounds a little like pseudo-science. So much so that a then-young comedy show called Saturday Night did a sharp satire of the razor with a commercial parody introducing a 3-blade razor.

Yes, we thought it was pretty funny. I haven't been able to look at a twin blade razor since without thinking about that ad, even though I had to admit the twin blade razors were more comfortable to use. It's now 30 years later, and Gillette has introduced the 5-blade Fusion. At this point, I'm starting to think they're pulling the wool over our eyes - or more accurately, the beards off our chins. I got a sample of the Fusion in the mail and had to try it. Though mockery was my first instinct, I have a thick beard and I'm always willing togive something a shot if I think it might give a better shave. Plus, I usually use an electric shaver, so I can't really laugh at just five blades when the rotors hold a lot more.

Using a foaming gel and hot water I found the Fusion to be a bit more comfortable on my skin as the twin blade model, and gave me just as close a shave. So far so good. But when I tried it a second time a couple days later, it was a completely different story. Snagging one blade on your whiskers is painful, but the blades on the Fusion wear out so quickly that it meant five times the pain. ( I can only imagine the danger in the battery operated Fusion model.)

You don't expect premium quality steel from a disposable razor, but the Fusion makes it necessary to buy five new blades with every shave in order to avoid pain and bloodshed. At that rate, sticking to a twin blade doesn't sound like such a bad deal.