Okay, just some ongoing opinions I have here on the two razors after about a week of use.
The Vibrance. I absolutely love this thing. And better yet, I can get four or five uses out of one cartridge. The big thing as mentioned above, is to take advantage of the ball at the end of the handle. Once I started using the ball at the end, rather than clutching the entire handle, things got a lot easier and quicker.
The M3 Power. You know RJC, I agree with about 99% of what you say. Unfortunately, the M3 is the 1% I beg to differ. Me and this razor didn’t agree from the start. I shave my face in the shower so the handle is always wet. I think this razor is very hard to keep a grip on. The whole back inch and a half is just slick metal. With all the grippy rubber things high up on the neck, I have to choke-up on it to get a good grip when it’s wet. I feel my hand start cramping on the black metal end just to make sure it won’t drop and ruin a $2.50 cartridge.
I used it for face twice and the color strip has already faded. The blades still work fine though. I do nick less, and I do get no irritation, that alone is actually pretty good. And actually is a deal breaker in favor of using a powered razor. Getting nicked drastically gets in the way of my getting dressed for work quickly as I don’t want any blood on my collar, and it always manages to find its way on there.
The weight of the handle is good, and I’m glad I don’t throw away as much plastic. I wish it had come in a wall mountable case like the Vibrance, but it’s just a little resting stand. I would like having it at quick reach. Actually I think the best thing is to get another Vibrance handle and use M3 cartridges. That’s probably what I’ll do. But it does look pretty machismo sitting in the bathroom. My Girlfriend (who I just gave her own Vibrance [astute students will recall Mantaray and his girlfriend also used matching Braun epilators as well]) said, 'ooh, what a manly razor!
On a side note, the inclusion of Gillette having the razor come with three little tubes of shaving gel, wash, and skin conditioner was a good move. The gel works a lot better than the Colgate foam I was using. I never would have tried it without getting this sample tube. And the skin conditioner really helps with taking the dry edge off the skin. Here in San Diego we have pretty dry weather and it can kill your skin if the dryness is just ignored. The wash was useless, takes too much time to use a different soap for face.
There you have it. My two-penny opinion. And thanks again.
Mantaray