The last thing you want to do in the morning when you’re groggy and trying to shake off sleep is hear the metallic drone of an electric razor. Don’t get me wrong-I like electronic things-my electronic toothbrush gets plenty of use. One of the reasons my toothbrush gets plenty of use is that it doesn’t make noise. You don’t plug it in; it runs by battery. Its operation is virtually silent, about the same decibel level as a buzzing mosquito, but somehow less annoying.
Therefore, my preferred shaving apparati are completely non-electronic and silent. Moreover, both have the advantage of political correctness since they don’t use electric. I’ve bought two manually operated razors: the Schick Quattro Midnight and the Gillette Mach3. They’re both fast, reliable, and have plenty of pickup. Still, one of my razors has a slightly better hold on my heart. Why?
I’ve had the Mach3 Gillette Safety Razor for a longer period of time than I’ve had the Schick Quattro. There was a bit of condition-response in that buying choice. When it comes to household products, consumers tend to copy their parents. My father used Gillette products, including razor, and I was not bold enough to know what my mother used. Marketing specialists know this and put a lot of money into promoting their products in the hope of keeping generations of consumers buying their products.
Another condition-response factor which made my first choice of the Mach3 Gillette product easier was that the advertisers tended to put their product in front of the consumer’s face at macho sporting events like boxing. Yes, I’ll admit it right now. When I use my Gillette Mach3, I become suddenly confident I could beat Vladimir Klitchko for the Heavyweight Championship of the World. I wonder what razor he uses.
Schick is also aware of the complications of the male psyche. The Schick Quattro website ad points out the “smoothness” of the Schick Quattro Midnight and the worry one has about having to beat back female attention:
“Easy ladies, there’s enough of me to go around,” says the ad.
Somehow it’s a lot easier to imagine myself winning the boxing heavyweight championship of the world than saying “Easy ladies, there’s enough of me to go around.”
I’ll tell you where the Schick Quattro Midnight excels. It is smooth operating as the advertising states. It’s four blade titanium head floats on the skin so easily you can barely feel it. It truly baffled me at first and I thought perhaps the blade was upside down. The Gillette Mach3 is also smooth but has a definite “feel” to it. It doesn’t glide the way the Schick Quattro Midnight does, but it doesn’t scratch or cut either.
In examining these tonsorial products from the male standpoint, one must congratulate the product designers and scientists who work together to produce these fine products. Both the Schick and the Gillette are examples of forward thinking design. Both razors fit into the hand as easily as custom-designed golf clubs. The Schick Quattro Midnight has the slight edge because of its curved handle design. The straighter Gillette Mach3 is not uncomfortable to hold, however; its combination of plastic and metal has a keen and ergonomic feel. Even the placement of the Gillette Brand logo is both intuitive and aesthetically pleasing.
There is a slight edge in favor of the Gillette on the purchase price of replacement blades at the place where I shop. The Schick Quattro replacement package of 4 blades costs $9.29 and the Gillette Mach3 package of 4 replacement blades costs $8.49. I’ll rescue you from doing the math (runs for a calculator); there’s an eighty cent difference there. Could that fourth blade be worth it? Easy ladies, there’s enough of me to go around…
