Saturday, March 2, 2013

DSC Review Part 2 - Forget everything I said before...

STOP THE PRESSES!

In the words of the immortal poet "Weird" Al Yankovic - Everything you know is wrong!
As I mentioned in the first part of my Dollar Shave Club Review, I decided to go ahead and upgrade my subscription from the 4X to the Executive model (6 blades!) before I fully renounced my membership in the Club. The Executive bills at 3 blades/month for $9. To my surprise, I received my new blades (complete with a new handle) in the mail yesterday. At first glance, 6 blades on a single cartridge looks ridiculous. It's a wall of blades. I wondered if I should have a paramedic on standby when I decided to use it. If you cut your head with this baby, forget it - you are going to bleed out. Better invest in a 6-pointed styptic pencil, my friend, and pay your insurance premiums.

Rather than experiment with a new blade on a Sunday Morning, which could be disastrous, I took a late shower today and decided to take it for a test run.

RESULTS:
WOW. This is THE blade, right here. Forget any disparaging remarks I ever made about Dollar Shave Club. I have never had a shaving experience like this. This blade moves so smoothly and quickly, and accomplishes so much more in a single stroke that I was actually done shaving before the hot water ran out (quite a feat at my house). My head looks great, feels great to the touch and doesn't burn in the slightest. Not a single nick or cut, either. When I was using it, it didn't feel like the wall of blades I expected it to. It actually felt like my old Gillette Fusion, only better - more substantial. This blade was doing WORK! I know I said this about the HEB brand in my last review - but THIS is the best shave I've ever had. I seriously considered shaving the beard so I could use it on my face.

CONCLUSIONS:
You should get this blade. Period.
The only concern I have here is cost. At $9/month for 3 blades, we're talking $3 per blade!
The Gillette Fusion runs about $15 for a refill of 4 blades - around $3.75 per blade. The Gillette Mach 3 costs about $15.50 at Walgreens for a refill of 5 blades - around $3.10. In both cases, you still shave with Dollar Shave Club. If you can stretch it out and make your 3 blades last 2 months, you can go to an every-other-month subscription, and get your cost down to $1.50 per. If you think about it - these blades ought to last twice as long as a 3-blade cartridge, because twice as many blades do half the work each time! That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Not to mention the fact that you never have to drive to the store to get them - and you never have to remember to put them on your wife's all-important master grocery list, and then make an extra trip because, "I've told you a thousand times, if it ain't on the list, we ain't gettin' it." But maybe that's just me.

SO, to recap - The best whisker-removal options out there, in order:
1. Dollar Shave Club - the Executive
2. HEB Hill Country Fare disposable 5-blade for ladies
3. Gillette Fusion
4. Gillette Mach 3
5. A piece of broken glass
6. A warm butter knife
7. A homeless guy's pocket knife
8. Wax
9. Literally any other blade out there.
10. Dollar Shave Club - The 4X

If - after these glowing reviews - you are curious and frugal enough to give Dollar Shave Club a try, please USE THIS LINK, which will also serve to hook your buddy J.T. up with some credits toward free months.

No comments: