Harry's

I normally shave with a Mach 3 and Kiss My Face Moisture Shave lotion. The Harry's starter kit arrived in the mail, and opening the box proved a pleasant aesthetic experience. The packaging and design are certainly easy on the eyes, and just looking at the contents of the box put me in a positive frame of mind to try them out.

After a nice hot shower I settled in in front of the mirror to shave. I thought I'd use the included Harry's shaving gel for the full Harry's experience. As soon as I put it on the chemical fragrance reminded me why I don't normally use that kind of shaving gel. I also thought that to really evaluate the blade I should use the same shaving lotion I normally use, but I forged ahead with the Harry's gel anyway. The Harry's shaving cartridge has 5 blades, which seems silly to me, but if it gets the job done for less than I spend on Mach 3 cartridges, I can put up with silly.

Shaving around my upper lip worked well, but along my jaw, up by my cheek bones, and particularly down on my neck I had a hard time finding the right angle at which to hold the handle to put the blades in proper contact with my face. It seemed like the moisture strip and rubber bumper protruded and kept the blades from making contact with my skin at most angles. By the end my neck was simultaneously bloody AND prickly. There were also patches of whiskers under my jaw. Even though my neck was raw and irritated, I broke out my usual shaving gear and cleaned up after the Harry's shave.

It could be that I would find the sweet spot with the Harry's shaver if I stuck with it, but I don't see any reason to do that. I might go back to the Harry's shaver when my current pack of Mach 3 blades run out, but I see no reason so subject my skin to another ordeal unnecessarily.

BTW, I'm 47 years old. I'm not new to shaving.

Update 13 Feb 2016

The day I posted this review I also posted a link to it to Twitter and tagged Harry's. I got the following response:

---------------------------

Sorry to hear that. It can in fact take a few shaves to get used to the system, though, so hopefully future shaves show improvement.

---------------------------

That was just under a month ago. I've continued to use the Harry's razor. I'm still on my first blade cartridge, and the shaves have gotten better over time. I like the feel of the handle better than I like the Mach 3 I was using before. The Harry's shave isn't revolutionary or anything, but it has grown on me over time, so I'm changing the review from 2 to 3 stars.

I was skeptical about ordering my shaving supplies (and eventually other mancare products) from an online merchant. I figured I would receive products that smell more like old man than those on the shelves of {instert retail pharmacy name, any]. I was tired of smelling like an old man - I know that's right. I wanted to smell like a dude in his late(r than he would like to admit) 30's. I just celebrated my first 39th birthday. I don't want to smell like it was my 79th. (No offense to old men who love their scents, but the barbasol of old simply won't do for me.) Harry's products all have an awesome scent to them, specially the soaps (I'm mad that the candles were all sold out by the time I saw them!)

I had a problem with a previous order (through no fault of harry's really, but they fixed it so fast I couldn't finish shaving my face!) I had ordered my future brother-in-law a harry's kit which included a metal handle that I wanted engraved. The holiday gift set that I chose didn't give the option to have the handle monogrammed, so I quickly emailed customer service to see if they could add it--they did, but by sending me a second handle with the monogram so I could just switch them out. I didn't have to $#*! and moan about it, I barely had to mention it, before Mr(s). Post(hu)man was knocking on the door. Awesome work, Katie! (I think that was the reps name.)

Finally, the quality of these products is far beyond what I have found on the aforementioned shelving systems of your local retail pharmacy. For example, the soaps have lasted 2-3 times longer than any I've found in the pharmacy, The razors are precision, and I mean PRECISION so I don't have to shave for a couple of days before I start to feel super stubbly, but they don't last quite as long as cheap steel, but they do a much better job. QUALITY OVER QUANTITY will always win my patronage. And see section one, on scents. No men of a more mature vintage smells on this dude celebrating his first 39th birthday.

Anyway, I hope that has convinced everyone to not only buy the shaving supplies, but the soaps, deodorants, hair products, etc -- you got to play to win.

Now, where did I put those reading glasses...