Fusion Test Shave

A while back I wrote about the buzz over the soon to be released Fusion 5-bladed razor, along with some thoughts about shaving in general. Well, the Fusion has been out for a few weeks now and I finally had a chance to give it a try.

First of all, the Fusion is not cheap. The unit I bought at a local drugstore was on sale for $9.99 and included two cartridges. Replacement cartridges cost between $2.50 each if you buy the 16-pack at Costco, and about $4.00 each at the grocery store.

The razor itself has a nice, solid feel, typical of the better-quality razors being sold today. As you can imagine, with five blades, the head itself is somewhat large and very steeply raked. Because of the surface area of the blades, any fine trimming, such as the bottom of sideburns, is impossible, so Gillette has put a single blade at the top of the array, aligned in the opposite direction. In point of fact, the Fusion is a six-bladed razor.

The primary marketing angle of the razor is this: because of the five blades, pressure on the skin is better distributed (ie, lessened), resulting in a closer, smoother shave. The shaving experience more or less bears that out. The razor felt very light on my skin, although I detected a slight bit of pulling and sticking. The end result, however, was an extremely smooth shave with very little irritation. Indeed, my skin felt almost babysoft afterwards, and even now, several hours later, it feels like I just shaved.

Is the Fusion worth the 20-30% premium over such popular razors as the Schick Quattro and the Gillette Mach3? Personally, I'm not so sure. I'm a big fan of the Mach 3, but the Fusion truly did result in a better shave. I'll use the Fusion for a couple weeks and give you a follow-up report. I'm thinking, however, that the Fusion will be a huge success with women, where ultimate smoothness is perhaps more important. Watch for a directed marketing campaign to start shortly. In the meantime, ladies, feel free to buy the men's Fusion--it may not be pink or baby blue, but it'll work pretty much the same.