Kai 4 Razor Review

Kai 4

Brand: Kai
Model: Kai 4
Bought at: Mustafa’s
Cost: S$9 for one handle and one razor. Replacement blades not available.

Ratings:
Closeness: 9
Quality: 9
Look: either 1 or 10 depending on your tastes
Value: 4

If a 1959 Cadillac Coupe de Ville made sweet beautiful love to a xenomorph from the movie “Aliens”, then their lovechild would have been the Kai 4 razor. This is a funky looking razor, with hammerhead front and an elongated head, fully chromed body, and spiny rubber black belly that is like holding a prehistoric rubber lizard. I am presuming that this is a made-for-Japan product as almost of the text on the packaging was in Japanese, except for “Kai Razor” and “Kai4”.  I shook my head as I popped this out of the packaging. “Oh, Japan, you so crazy”.

I lathered up, gripped this alien love baby, and took the first stroke.

Oh. My. God.

The shave was great. The four blades were super sharp, barely even making a sound as they whipped through my thick facial hair. And the shave was close, leaving the best shave that I have had in years. Most razors claim to have a lubricating strip, which few of us can really tell is making any difference or not given the sea of shaving cream. But Kai 4 has a no-doubt-about-it lubricating strip that leaves a snail trail of slippery smooth lubrication ahead of it.

I used this razor for several weeks and found it was especially good for shaving against the grain of the hair. Normally, this is a no-no, but found that it gave me the extra close shave without burn or ingrown hairs. And as the quality of the shave degraded after the first week, I really had to resort to shaving against the grain to replicate the amazing close shave that I got the first time.

The handle had a satisfying amount of weight to it, so it felt like I was wielding a razor rather than rubbing a plastic spoon on my face. And the swivel mount on the head was smooth, but firm enough to keep a close
shave around tight corners like chins and jawlines.  

The blades are close together and thin, which theoretically should give a smoother shave, which the Kai 4 gave. But the drawback is that it is easier to get clogged up and harder to rinse.

Now the bad news.

Unfortunately, there are several problems that prevent me from wholeheartedly recommending this razor. The lubricating strip lays down such a thick, awesome layer that it is clearly wearing away at a fairly fast pace. Sure enough, the lube volume dropped off significantly after the first few days and is now more of a "normal" strip in the second week. I am not sure if it due to the reduction in lube or razor durability, but the quality of the shave went from awesome to average in the second week.

Another negative is replacing blades. The push-button releases the tension so a cartridge will pop out, but there is no mechanism to quickly mount new blades. I had to manually mount the side pins into the cartridge, rather than the usual press-and-go types of most system razors.

Thirdly, I am concerned about supply constraints.  I have only seen this razor at Mustafa’s and it’s not like they had tons of supplies on hand. I have made a few visits to Mustafa's and they have not had the replacement blades for the razor. Mustafa's often stocks handles without replacement blades and visa-versa (don't ask me why, they just do). I don't want to jump to conclusions, but I am worried about ever getting replacements.

And the cost is not fantastic. Based upon the handle alone, it is about 15-20% cheaper than Gillette Mach 3.

The bottom line is that this razor is great for those who like close shaves and replace their blades pretty often (eg, every week) in those regions where you can get supplies. But until a reliable source can be found in Singapore, this is not a viable option.  Write a memo below if you happen to run into replacement blades in Singapore.

Personna X5 Razor Review

Personna X5

Brand: American Shave Company
Model: X5/M5
Bought at: Mustafa's
Cost: S$5.90 for handle and one razor

Rating: (out of 10)
Closeness: 6
Quality: 3
Look: 8
Value: 5

Personna is a subsidiary of Energizer Corp, the same company that owns Schick and Wilkinson Sword. Schick and Wilkinson Swords are essentially the same products, but different brands. Personna is the private label razor manufacturer for retail chains.

Like its sister companies' products, the Personna X5 looks slick with smooth lines, understated elegance, and easy-to-exchange cartridges.

But Personna does not use the same designs as Schick/Wilkinson Sword. This is not a good thing.
I characterize the X5 as a markedly inferior shave than Gillette or Schick, with more tugging from seemingly duller blade. The worst feature is that the hinge is exceptionally loose and mounted at the very bottom of the razor cartridge, which makes it difficult to put the right amount of pressure on sharp curve like my jawline. So perhaps it needs more pressure? Repeat tries with this razor resulted in the same things, unacceptably long stubble on my neck. So perhaps the floppy head is better used when it was dragged upward? Ugh. No razor burn. And the handle is a bit light, lacking a bit of heft so that one can steer it around your face.

I wanted so badly for the X5 to be good because it was inexpensive at S$2.47/cartridge. For me, this razor gets a failing grade because it simply failed at the basic task of shaving me without hurting me. So cheap or not, it is not for me.

I have an extra razor, which I am going to give away to a friend of mine.  I suspect that this razor will be ok for people with thin hair, non-sensitive skin, and who want to spend less on a razor but could not be bothered to use a DE safety razor. So perhaps I will update this after my friend's review.

And trust me; there are worse out there. An unremarkable shave is certain better than a bad shave.  The razor can be bought at Watson's as the house brand, online at www.americanshaveco.com, or Mustafa’s. Mustafa's is the cheapest. 

Super Max SMX3 Razor Review

Super Max's SMX3
Location: Mustafa's
Price: S$3.90
Date: 22 June 2014
Manufacturing plant: India
1 handle, 11 razors

Rating:
Closeness: 4
Quality:  6
Look:  3
Value:  8

Right out of the box, the SMX3 blades and handle look and feel cheap. It is light and is no-frills. There are no silicon grips or any other bells or whistles. This looks like it cheapo disposable razor you get in a hotel. 

The design and manufacturing is not well done. When I tried to clip a razor in, the manufacturing tolerances were off so that the buttons that you pinched to move the brackets inward were slightly blocked by the handle casing. When I popped those free, I noted that one of the brackets to hold a razor on was slightly misshaped because of bad manufacturing tolerances. So I tried to pinch the buttons on the side of the razor in and out to see if something was caught. The buttons kind of mushed in and the brackets moved a little. Again, bad manufacturing. And the blades are mounted at a slight angle in the packaging, which makes the bottom one quite difficult to remove. 

The cartridges were plain with no lubricating strips, no silicon fins, no anything. And the blades seemed alarmingly far apart. The head pivot was not smooth, which I will attribute to the poor tolerances in manufacturing. 

So now it came time to shave with it.  I foresaw blood everywhere. And I was scared. I shaved and, frankly, it surprised me. SMX3 did not give a great shave; it was not close and left a noticeable shadow of my stubble behind. But the blades cut aggressively without much tug or drag. I suffered no cuts/nicks, no missed spots, and no burn. I really expected to hate this razor, but I don't. 

I have used this razor numerous times.  I even used it dry just to see how it would perform. It performed fine, if only because its blades are not that close to the skin. I shaved against the grain of my hair and I did suffer some nicks and burns, which is not surprising - but is something that I do as part of my testing.   

The post of the handle mounts in the back, so it doesn't wash up incredibly easy; however, the blades are so far apart that hair does not easily clog up the blades. 

I later read up on this brand, which I hadn't heard about before. It is an Indian company that caters to the mass-market in emerging markets. And everything on their website tried to hide the fact that they were Indian (Japanese steel! UK registered company! We are worldwide!). At S$3.90+GST at Mustafa's and a whopping 11 razors, SMX3 has a very low unit-cost of S$0.38/each. Only double-edged safety razors are cheaper. 

The razors do not last that long and, thus far, are the only razors that I have used that have shown rust after a month of ownership. This indicates that the razors' steel is almost not as high quality as those of other leading brands. Thus, these should be used promptly, kept in a dry box, the fridge, or a room that is air conditioned for part of the day (eg, master bedroom) to keep them fresh. 

So while this is not a great razor, it will suit those that prefer a shave that is NOT close. And the wide-set razors means that this razor cuts aggressively, which means hair removal is fast and quick, but at the expense of a smooth shave. I myself do not like baby smooth cheeks as they come with skin problems that I'd rather not have. It will suit those that do not need to impress anyone at the office and do not feeling like spending a lot. And I imagine that this blade would be good for those who want to back-shave or manscape the tall grass around the postbox, but I wouldn't trust it to shave on the postbox.