Gillette Mach 3 Razor Review

Gillette Mach 3 Razor Review

Brand: Gillette
Model: Mach 3
Bought at: Cold Storage
Cost: S$16.05 for a replacement pack of 4, S$14.50 for handle + 2 blades, cheaper at Mustafa's

Gillette's Mach 3 is a very good razor. It is also arguably the benchmark for how a razor should be designed. One really gets to appreciate how well it is designed when you have shaved with as many off-brand razors as I have.

The Positives:

Medium sharpness.  There are a lot of people out there who want to have the *sharpest* razor they can. I am not a fan of extremes. Super sharp razors are unforgiving with nicks and cuts. Conversely, dull razors tug and burn. Thus, I believe a good razor is about a 7 on a 1 to 10 scale so it gives a nice smooth shave without cutting up your face.

Smooth shave. The blade alignment/design often determines how smooth of a shave you will have. There are those shavers that have very wide-set blades that give an aggressive shave to cut through very thick hair but are a bit dangerous to catch skin. Blades that are thinly set apart often give smoother shaves, but are not aggressive enough to quickly remove hair in a single or perhaps two passes. Mach 3 seems to have the right medium-distance spacing to give a smooth, plain vanilla shave. Not too aggressive, not too wimpy.

Solid manufacturing tolerances. A well engineered and manufactured head can withstand you misusing it and still not hurt you. These days, people tend to use their cartridges too long and end up needing to press down to get a satisfactory shave. You can even - in a pinch - dry shave without any water or cream with a Mach 3 and it will do the trick. You can really only do this with a well designed razor.

Easy cartridge replacement. The Gillette Mach 3 is idiot proof for removing and installing new cartridges. It even has a satisfying "click" when you lock a new one in. Even the replacement cartridge boxes are well designed, with slots angled diagonally for easily removal.

Swivel. The Mach 3 comes with a "paintbrush" style mounting, where the swivel is at the bottom of the cartridge. This is the riskiest way to mount a cartridge. Too loose and it will miss big swaths of hair at the jawline. Too loose is even worse as it will miss hair and it will burn as you press on the razor to overcompensate for the swivel's floppiness. The Mach 3 has the perfect tension on the swivel. And it works the same every time.

Best flow-through design.  In the old days, razor designs (eg, Atra II, Excel) did not have an open back to allow back flow. You had to swish the razor through water side to side to try and dislodge clogged hair.  An open back allows for back-flow to easily unplug the razor. Mach 3 has a very open back design and it is one of the easiest razors to clean.

Availability.  This is available everywhere, but who know how much longer this will be in the market before it goes like Excel -- stocked less and less until it is effectively discontinued.

The negatives:

Cost. Gillette is the overwhelmingly dominant leader in market share and shelf space. Gillette also prices their second and third tier razors purposely at a modest discount to their top-line razor, which is currently the Gillette Fusion Power line. The simple Mach 3 (not even the Turbo variety) costs S$16.06 at Cold Storage, a Mach 3 Turbo costs S$18.55, the Fusion costs S$21.95, Fusion Power costs S$26.95. So the Mach 3 is significantly less expensive than the Fusion Power, until you consider that even the "lowly" Mach 3 still costs over S$4 per cartridge. It is no wonder that people are using the razors longer and longer to get the per-use cost down.


Light.  The handles have been engineered to remove lots of material, which makes the handles very light. Presumably this saves on material costs and appeals to those who like light devices. This is up to personal preference. I like a bit of heft, like writing with a Parker pen versus a disposable ball point. It feels like smoother and more satisfying. But in terms of weight scale, Mach 3 is about a 3 on a scale of 1 to 10.

Pace 4 Razor Review

Brand: Dorco
Model: Pace 4
Bought at: shaveclubsg.com
Cost: S$2.40/cartridge

Dorco. Horrible name, decent razor. Dorco is a Korean company, but is perhaps best known for being the manufacturer behind the the US-based "Dollar Shave Club" - a mail-based subscription for razors. The Pace brand comes in 2, 3, 4, and 6 bladed varieties with cartridge interchangeability between versions 3, 4, and 6. Each handle is different, but that is just cosmetic.

The Pace 4 handle comes with a chunky white & black rubber-ribbed handle that is fairly large compared to other brands. It has good ergonomics and feels comfortable to hold. is also slightly heavier, but its weight is well distributed. I like a razor to have some substantive heft.  The cartridge ejection button is solid, smooth, and easily clicks in new cartridges.

If I were to summarize Dorco 4, it is balance. It's blades are not aggressively sharp as to invite nicks & cuts. But they are also not so dull that you don't easily whip through thick stubble. The shave is not extra close, which I prefer so that I don't get razor burn, pimples, and in-grown hairs. But the shave quality is good. The lubricating strip is there, but it doesn't lay down a slippery slick like Schick Hydro series or Kai, but does last a long time. The head is a bit larger than most, so I have to be a bit more careful to get those hairs just under my nose and at the edge of my sideburns. The cartridges also mount in the middle on the back, so it is not as easy to clean out as the Mach 3. The swivel has good firmness to it, so you can shave jaw-lines easily. The blades also seem to keep their sharpness reasonably well (two weeks of good usage without much performance drop-off). Also, the lubricating strip is yellow, not the orange that the picture below would have you think.

But the best part of Dorco 4 is that it can be bought for cheap. The best deal that I found in Singapore is Shaveclubsg.com, where I pay S$60 for a free handle and one blade, plus 24 other blades for a full year of blades mailed four at a time every other month. That's S$2.40/blade, plus a free handle, free shipping, and no automatic re-subscriptions. Best of all, if I decide that I was wrong and that I prefer my old razor, shaveclubsg.com will send the balance of my account in Gilette razors (again, free shipping) at the same retail price I'd be paying at Cold Storage anyways.  Seems like a can't-lose proposition. So I'm signed up.  

If you're an optimist, this is the razor you'd like to pick up in the morning, shave, look good, and think nothing more of your shave. You can press hard, shave fast, and shave against the grain. If you're a pessimist, you'll think "meh, others do better at each element" and you'd be right.

Bottom line is that I wanted to find a razor that would do *almost* as good a job as my beloved Gillette Mach 3 (or at least be good enough where I didn't notice) and be happy with the price. Unless you want to sacrifice some shave quality and go to Super Max 3 or fidget with double-edged razors to go extra cheap, this is the razor for you.   This is now my every day razor.