Gillette Guard Review

[gutsygirl]

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!!!!

This Gillette Guard cut my shaving time down by several minutes! With the Mach 3 it took so many passes and re-checking for missed spots that it often took 15 min to shave WTG even when I was using a can of goop (rhymes with Barbasol). Now I can even lather some shaving soap and shave in under 10 min because two passes is a piece of cake!!!  This razor missed very little, probably in part because I could make long strokes as opposed to the short choppy strokes required by the Mach 3. Oh I'm so happy!

I do now possess a Wilkinson Sword DE razor with matching DE blades, but for the moment I'm so content and happy using my Gillette Guard I think my Wilkinson Sword DE razor will have to wait its turn.   

[Lynchy]

Nice review Gutsy!

Now you just need to moist some pics of all your awesome New gear!

[-Doug-]

Great review Gutsy!  Where did you get it from?

[gutsygirl]

I bought mine from italianbarber.com as part of the ultimate headshave kit. To save $ on shipping in the future I may order from ebay for the Guard.  :-)

[Gary~]

A very good and interesting review Gutsy. I'm going to do a bit of research on this on the web. It's especially good to see something cheaper that is good too.

[gutsygirl]

Update on Gillette Guard

I still LOVE my Gillette Guard and I'm tempted to stockpile/hoard them because I love them that much!   

I really do think its ridiculous what I put myself through with the Mach 3, Sensor, and other razors before I tried the G. Guard and experienced my very first irritation-free shave.  Now I'm hooked.

I did figure out one trick with the Gillette Guard, however.  Being that I'm BBC and my hair is so crazy-thick, I dull razors in one shave.  So my second shave with my G. Guard single-blade razor definitely didn't have that new-razor feel.  Still good, but not as awesome. 

So I tried that "stropping on jeans" trick and it WORKED like a charm.  http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-extend-the-life-of-your-Razor-Blade-keeping/

Shaves 3, 4, and 5 have been buttery smooth since I started "jean stropping" my G. Guard with just 5 jean-passes in each direction prior to my shave.  Especially given that this is a single-blade contraption (don't you just love the word "contraption"?? I need to find more opportunities to use that word because I can...), I think the jean stropping thing is important. 

So has anyone else out there newly tried the G. Guard?  And what do you think of it? 

[Tbone99]

Great Post! Big, big fan of the Gillette Guard.  Combines the best of DE shaving (one blade), with the easy-to-use-ness of a Mach3/Fusion (pivoting head).  I've gotten my best head shaves with the Guard.  For the best results I recommend RazoRock's Shave Gel.  It's easily the slickest and most protective shaving product I've found.  Great for face shaving, but it really shines on head shaves.  I've tried both RazoRock's Shave Lube, and Shave Gel.  Not a big fan of the lube, but the shave gel is in a class of it's own.  To try this combination (Gillette Guard + RazoRock Shave Gel), check out italianbarber.com.  If you have questions, I'm sure Joe from I.B. could help you out as he is a head shaver as well. 

Rereading this, it sounds like I may be affiliated with I.B.  I can assure you, that is not the case.  Just a big fan of the site and the RazoRock products. 

[gutsygirl]

Tbone,
I still LOVE LOVE LOVE my Guard.  It's kinda funny cause I also bought a Wilkinson Sword DE but it's STILL IN THE PACKAGING!!!  That's how much I love my Guard!   

I even prefer the RR Shaving Gel that you recommend to lathering almost any day.  I like lathering but often don't feel I have the time/energy.  So the RR Shaving Gel really has become my Old Faithful. 

[greatnessinc]

I just ordered some off eBay, I'll update after trying them.

[frangi]

Hey Gutsy Girl, just got my gillette guard, will use it tomorrow and give an update.
how often do you do the jean trick and any last minute tips with g.guard

thanks

[super max]

Haven't posted here in awhile but came over to write a review on the Gillette Guard. Obviously I'm not the only one to appreciate this razor.

I've had a Guard in my travel kit for years but never wanted to shave with it. Had to head shave yesterday with a weeks growth, which always clogs and destroys a Mach3 blade. I tried the Guard thinking of it as disposable anyway. Much to my surprise it gave the quickest and smoothest shave I can ever recall. Being a single blade it doesn't clog like a multi-blade razor, and a single pass was usually enough, again unlike a multi.

Don't know how many shaves the Guard is good for, but I'm very impressed regardless.