Whoa! I'm totally stoked!!! I tried my first Gillette Guard shave tonight and I'm just amazed at this razor's performance. As I took it out of the package and jiggled the cartridge head on the razor body, I groaned a little because it didn't have any springy action...it reminded me of a cheap Barbie toy or something. And while I immediately loved the texture of the grip, the lack of any real weight to the razor had me disappointed. But I decided I would give it a fair trial anyways and I couldn't be more glad I did!
A smidge of background data. Before I became my own "stylist," I had been to countless stylists for haircuts and no matter how long they had been in the business they ALL said "I have NEVER met anyone with hair as thick as yours!" Then they proceeded to thin my hair by approximately 50% to make it manageable. So shaving my head is like taking a pocket knife into a jungle to clear underbrusch when you should have a machette-toting army of ninjas instead! Uhm...yeah...something like that.
With the Mach 3 razors I had a lot of tugging and pulling. Always. And multiple (5 or 6?) Passes were necessary to get BBS. I had all but given up on ATG shaves due to irritation and the requirement for still more passes. And I'm talking about using a NEW Mach 3.
The Gillette Guard is in a whole other category. Yes, you use a very light touch, very little if any pressure. Much more like I believe DE shaving would be. But because that little cartridge head swivels to contour your head, it gets super close. I kid you not that I had a DFS in ONE pass and a BBS in JUST TWO passes!! And absolutely no tugging - that one blade felt like a "hot knife going through butter" and therefore no irritation.
Mach 3, move out of the way! I've found my new headshaving buddy and he's the bee's knees! My Mach 3 razors will be relegated to the emergency ONLY stash now. My Guard is so much cheaper and I could have gone ATG in the first pass with no irritation! I've never had as close a shave with Mach 3. Dear Mr. Guard, I'm so sorry I underestimated you based on first appearance...would you forgive me? :-)
So that's it fellas. If you are considering trying the Gillette Guard, I give it 10 out of 5 stars and believe you won't be disappointed! Just use a light touch. I was able to make long strokes very comfortably with this razor, no fear of nicks and cuts. Like with any razor, be careful around the ears. I'm just so happy I tried this razor!!!!