Gillette Fusion Review

I got a sample Gillette Fusion razor a few years ago and was highly impressed with it. Then, after a dozen or more close and comfortable shaves, I looked for replacement blades and was astonished by the high cost -- I think the price worked out to more than $3 per blade.

That's  lot of money but it just might be worth it.

What it is

The Gillette Fusion is a razor that uses an easily replaceable blade cartridge. What makes the Fusion distinctive is that the blade cartridge has five (yes, five!) actual blades in it. The theory is that dragging five blades across your skin lets subsequent blades shave off what the first blade missed.

At the top of the blade cartridge is a lubricating strip that helps make the shave go a little easier. The blade cartridges come in clips of four cartridges. Walmart sells an eight-count package of Gillette Fusion blades for about $26, which works out to about $3.25 per blade. That's a lot of money.

Using it

The Gillette Fusion takes a good firm pull to drag it across my face. The lubricating strip helps, but my preference is to use the razor with some shaving gel. The Gillette Fusion leaves behind a wonderfully smooth shave and it almost never nicks. Like the somewhat similar Gillette Mach 3 razor (which has three blades instead of five), the rear of the shaving cartridge is open, which makes it easy to rinse out soap and hair. There's no question in my mind that I get the closest shave I've ever gotten with the Gillette Fusion.

The handle for the Gillette Fusion has rubbery silicone grip that is easy to hold when wet. The only problem -- and this is true of the Gillette Mach 3 also -- is that the Fusion is not the easiest for shaving the mustache area. I find that an old-fashioned Trak-II razor works better in the mustache area.

As for long-lasting, I use each blade about 25 times. Once the lubricating strip wears out, I use the razor with shaving gel and it works great. With all those blades, I still get a close shave after 25 uses.

The biggest downside to th e Gillette Fusion is the cost of the refills -- they are expensive.

Summary

I like the Gillette Fusion razor a lot and have used it occasionally for several years. I hesitated to buy the expensive refills but just got some recently and resumed using the razor. The Gillette Fusion gives a great shave if you can live with the cost. I recommend it.