Customer Reviews

Gillette Fusion Manual Razor

5 star:		(62)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(23)

 

 

I don't have Gillette stock or work for the company. I hate shaving. I have a tough beard and sensitive skin. A bad combination. I bought the Fusion on a whim. I didn't expect it to be signficantly better than the previous generation Mach 3 but hope springs eternal. After two weeks and 7-8 shaves with the same cartridge(!), I can wholeheartedly say that this is a very noticeable improvement over the Mach 3. The cartridges have an astounding life. The Mach 3 would give me about 3-4 shaves before the blades dulled enough to result in razor rash. The Fusion has at least doubled that and is still going strong. Amazing. The conspiracy theorist in me wonders if Gillette is using a higher quality steel in the blades for the product launch. Time will tell. Secondly, I get far less razor burn from the Fusion. Almost none actually. Lastly, it's more difficult to cut myself in the nose/lip area which was something I had to watch carefully with the Mach 3. I'd guess this has to do with a larger blade surface area. In short, the Fusion really is an improvement over the Mach 3. As long as the cartridges continue to last for 8-10 shaves each, I will be a loyal customer.

I bought the Gillette Fusion Manual Razor and shaved with the blades it came with and the shave was okay, no better then an Mach3. Then I tried the other Fusion blades, what a revelation.

The best shave comes from using the Gillette Power Fusion blades(orange color) with the Manual Razor. When I did this the shave was phenomenal, baby butt smooth. There was no irritation, no razor burn, simply a great shave.

Try this combination, you won't be disappointed.

This razor was a huge disappointment for me. Ironically, the Fusion is particularly bad at the two things it is advertised as being particularly good at: close, comfortable shaving, and shaving hard-to-reach places.

The blades are terrible. Right out of the box, the blades caught on my beard and made it painful to shave. It felt as if the razor was very dull. I switched blades after two shaves and the replacement was just as bad. Comparitively, the Mach 3 blades feel great for as many as 10 uses for me. Not comfortable at all, and because of the pain, I couldn't shave as close.

As for using this razor to shave hard to reach areas, they must be kidding! Compare the size of the Mach 3 with the Fusion. If the Mach 3 is a tight-cornering sports car, the Fusion is a school bus. To accomodate the five blades the razor pad is so large it's difficult to share accurately. And the "trim" blade on the back is simply dangerous - the placement makes it much more likely to cut your fiinger, but the plastic on either end of the blade itself makes it unlikely to shave your beard.

Not worth the money. The blades arms race should end now and these guys should focus on sharper, harder, razor blades and simpler razor design.

Let's face it. Guys usually don't get excited about new shaving products. Shaving's about as pleasurable as a molten lava enema. Fortunately, the right products can make it a little more bearable. I've never anticipated the release of a shaving product of any kind before, but this razor got me really intrigued. Could this be the razor that conquers my impossible face (and wallet) once and for all?

Gillette have been the masters of shaving comfort for several years now. Their introduction of the Mach 3 razor was a breakthrough, just like they said. A lot of you likely still use the Mach 3, but it's a good bet the Fusion will make you want to upgrade.
I'll admit, I was a little wary about using a five-bladed razor. I felt the same way about the Mach 3; I envisioned pressing too hard and slicing into my jugular, or worse, going to work with an entire roll of toilet paper on my face. Thankfully, the opposite happened, and I used the Mach 3 and M3 Turbo for years. I even bought into the M3 Power when it came out, but found there wasn't much difference in closeness or comfort (which is why I chose the manual Fusion over the Fusion Power). Still a really good shave, though.
Anyway, about the Fusion. First off, don't be intimidated by the five blades. They're close enough together that you really have to try to cut yourself. In fact, that's one of the beauties of this razor. Even a face like mine, which is very susceptible to cuts, accepted the Fusion's blades with very little irritation. The first couple of times I used it, I had to watch out for pressing too hard and suffered a couple minor nicks, but I quickly got the hang of it. The blades really do all the work. The head of the razor is bigger than the M3 as well, which actually does cut down on shaving time.
I've always liked the "indicator" strip on the top of the M3 blade that lets me know when it's time to change the blade, and it's here on the Fusion as well. It's made with aloe, if you're interested in that sort of thing, which supposedly aids in shaving comfort. You'll get about a week's worth of good shaves before the blade wears out, which works out to a pack of cartridges a month (about the same as the M3). It's best to pick these up in bulk (packs of 8); if and when you switch to this razor, you'll need them anyway, and you'll save a little dough in the process.
The extra blade on the back of the razor is rather neat indeed. It does help even out your sideburns and touches up those tricky spots right under your nose and above your chin. I wouldn't use it for beard sculpting or anything, but for tough areas it does a good job. Just be mindful of that blade when you're shaving near your ears. I accidentally nicked my earlobe shaving my jawline the first time I used it. Yeowch!
Changing the blade out is just as easy as the M3 also. Just pop, slide, and click a new blade in.
The "comfort guard" under the main blades is a slight improvement from the M3, but it's not really a "wow" factor. The "ergonomic" handle is pure gimmick; it does little more than make the Fusion look like a phaser from Star Trek. I would rather just buy the blades and have them fit on my Mach 3, but what kind of marketing savvy would that be? Oh well; the razor itself isn't exactly a bank-breaker, and you only have to buy it once.

All told, this is the Porsche 911 of razors. It's a smooth ride, it's comfortable, it's fast, and yes, even though the blades are pricey, it's worth it to me. If I had my druthers, of course, I'd use an electric (they're much less expensive in the long run), but they're just not compatible with my face and Rocky Mountain-ish peaks and valleys of my neck. (Believe me; I've tried five different kinds.) The Fusion's the closest shave I've gotten with a blade yet. If you really saw the difference between the M3 and M3 Power on your face, you'll probably notice it with the Fusion Power as well, but I figure I'm paying enough for the one without the motor.
I'm glad I made the switch, and after comparing with the Mach 3, I won't go back. Try it and see for yourself.

I began using Gillette's Mach 3 razor when it first came on the market, and was very happy with it (until recently...) The original Mach 3 would give consistently good, smooth shaves, and worked well for about six or seven times until it dulled and began to give rough shaves. That was an excellent product. However, with the introduction of the new Fusion razor, the Mach 3 suddenly became much less effective and the shaves I was getting were much rougher.

I had heard about the Fusion and decided to try it instead, figuring may that Gillette was trying to "migrate" its users towards the Fusion by downgrading their reliable old product, putting all their new design juice behind the newer model. I was shocked by what a shoddy, difficult product the Fusion razor turned out to be. I went from getting several good shaves per razor to, well... none. I'm lucky with the Fusion to get two decent shaves per cartridge -- usually it roughs my skin up on the very first pass, and it doesn't cut my beard back right to the skin the way the Mach 3 used to.

What's the deal? Did Gillette decide they no longer wanted to provide a quality product? That they'd rather have customers have to buy a new razor right away, rather than have us use the same cartridge a few times before needing to buy another one? If so, that marks a huge change in their corporate policy, from giving us a quality product to basically shoving customers around and trying to rip us off. I know they *can* make a great razor -- they used to -- but if Gillette has decided to stop doing a good job, then forget it. So much for my customer loyalty. I'll either switch brands or stop shaving until there's another razor on the market that provides comparable quality to the old Mach 3.

I have been using Gillette's Fusion Razor for a few weeks now and it's a nice razor with some pros and cons compared to Gillette's other blades. Gillette has some of the nicest products on the market, and I expected the Fusion to blow me away, but unlike the jump that was made when the Mach3 came out, I was not as excited after my shave as I was for the hype beforehand.

The Good

- The 5 blades are very smooth and glides across the face easily.

- Shaving time IS reduced with this new razor.

The Bad

- With so many blades, I felt like I was shaving off layers of skin. I feel there is a limit to how many blades are realistic, and this felt like it was too big for my face and I could seriously cut myself if I wasn't careful.

- Shave isn't much better than the Mach3 Turbo. While shaving my skin felt really smooth, but my hairs grew back just as quickly as they did with the Mach3 Turbo (no noticeable improvement).

- This razor is SO big I found it hard to get around facial areas like I could with the Mach3.

- The lotion strips on the M3 Power feel better and seem to last longer than on the Fusion razor.

- Design and look of the Fusion isn't as slick or nice as the M3 Power.

- Blades are no longer interchangeable. They went with a new interface for putting blades in that seems to take a step back, and having to buy the new razor to work with the new blades was a sneaky move in my opinion.

- The single blade on the back is useless. It's very hard to get the angle correct, and it barely gets anything off. The M3 Power got in tight spots just fine.

In conclusion, I plan to stick with my M3 Power. 3 blades seems to be just the right amount for getting in all areas on the face. While it might take a shave or 2 more to get all the hairs off then it does with the Fusion (on the large surface area portions of my face mind you), the M3 Power just seems safer in general.

This is more like 3 1/2 stars. Yes it's a nice shave, but it's not worth all the hype or additional financial burden this new blade will put you back.

**** RECOMMENDED

I usually use a Gillette Sensor with 2 blades (although my latest pack has 3 blades) and I'm generally happy with it. I visited my friend couple of days ago and I had to borrow his razor, which was the Fusion. The problem with this blade (and also the Quattro, and also to some degree the 3 bladed razors) is that because the blades are so close together, the cut hair gets stuck between the blades more easilly. This requires more time rinsing between strokes, so it overall doesn't save you time shaving.

And these cartridges are rather expensive, so I try to use it as long as possible - which means that it's important to get the hair out of the blades before it dries onto it.

I think that the overall increase in size of the blades (compared to the 2 blade Sensor Excel) helps in shaving large parts of skin, like legs or whatever. But when it's your face with its nooks and crannys, I prefer the smaller blade that can get close to crevasses without exerting too much effort. The 6th blade feature was OK, but didn't feel like it was worth it.

Remember, that with any NEW blade, you will get an awesome shave. People that wrote reviews for this product could have only just recently got it, because it actually came out only a week or so ago - so they're reviewing what is essentially a NEW blade.

edit----
Recently got this as a gift. Same problems as listed before. I'll just use it until I run out of blades.

I bought this razor thinking that it would be better than anything that I ever used before. It turned out that a twin blade disposable still gives me the best shave I ever had and this fusion razor is just a ploy to get you to buy something new. What is next? A twenty blade razor? Ha ha.

I have been using an electric razor for many years and have gotten extreemly poor result for some time now. I finally switched to a manual razor.

PG's Gilette sent me both the Fusion and the Mach 3 free, so I tried them both. I think P&G's Gilette is trying to confuse me. I like the Mach 3 better than the fusion becasue:

1) smaller head makes it easier to get into those small places, true the fusion does have the one rear blade for this prupose but the head was so large that I was not able to get the blade into those hard places. The Mach 3 was able to get the whole head into most of the small places which certainly beats getting just the one blade in there.

2) While the Fusion's handle was well balanced so was the Mach 3's handle and the Mach 3 had better gripping surface then the Fusion did.

3) Lower price on the Mach 3, IMHO, means that the Mach does not need to beat the Fusion just get close to it. In my test the Mach 3 did better than the Fusion.

In terms of the question that I posed in my title, as with everything else in life which is better for you depends on what type of beard you have. Do you have a heavy beard and have to shave multiple times a day
(like Tip O'Niel) or are you a teen, then the Fusion is probably the best thing for you. Do you have a moderate beard? The the Mach 3 is probably more what you need. Or if you have a light one that does not grow very fast, like mine, then the Sensor or the Sensor Excell is more of what you need. I think that I am going to go for the Mach 3.

I stuck with the electric razors for years thinking that the manual razors would nick and irritate my face. The may have been true thirty years ago but not now. Electric razors don't give you anywhere near as close a shave as a manual does.

As for shaving gell goes, save your dollars and buy the Barbasoll brand. Costs less and is much better than the Gillete Fusion gells.

Gillette sent me one as a promo. I tried it. Pros first. It does provide a close shave, with little irritation, even going against the grain. Cons: It is no better than a Sensor Excel, Mach 3, etc. Blades cost a FORTUNE (won't be buying any) and, regarding their claim that it will provide the closest shave ever- after shaving with it I stropped up (that is, sharpened) my straight razor, something I use perhaps once a year for kicks, and shaved with that. AFTER shaving with the fusion. Rather than rinse the lather off the razor, I wiped it on a white cloth. Results? LOTS of little bits of stubble the so called "advanced" Fusion left.

Is it a good razor? Yes. Is it better than competitors? Not really. Is it worth the astronomical cost for replacement blades? No way!