The quest for smoothness, or In which saph spends money she doesn't really have...

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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…on something she definitely doesn’t really need.

In keeping with the recent shaving theme (thanks, think, MSK!) I thought I would share my own razor blade saga.

Okay. You’ve seen the commercials. The beautiful women with their long legs all lying on the beach, toes tapping to some ridiculous music…

Well, I bought into the machine yesterday. After forking over EIGHT DOLLARS [sub](I’m a poor college student, so yeah, it’s a lot of money)[/sub] for the new Venus razor that will change my life forever, I am experiencing serious buyer’s remorse. But, like a little kid on Christmas morning, I have already ripped the package open and played around with the nifty case and the blade changer. So, returning it is out of the question.

But back to the blade changer…the package claims that it is “quick and easy- even in the shower.” Well, perhaps I am just terribly inept, but I swear it took me at least ten minutes to figure the damn thing out. Yeah, I know, just push the button, and the blade pops off. Not so, my friends. The amount of pressure I had to put on this button was ridiculous. And I was dry and not standing with my leg precariously balanced in the soap dish! Just imagine the disaster had I discovered this stubborn button then!

Bleh. And then imagine my disbelief when I opened the neat little “shower storage system” and found only ONE cartridge. So not only did I spend tons of money (that I don’t have) on this ridiculous hunk of sculpted plastic, I only get two razors out of it. And the razors have this wonderful “indicator strip” feature which tells you when it is time to spend more rent money on new cartridges. How kind of the folks at Gillette.

I haven’t used it yet, mostly because I am afraid it will prove to be just as effective as any old cheap disposable razor, thereby proving that I wasted eight bucks that could have helped pay for my phone bill. Oh well.
And I would like to say for the record I am not normally so receptive to advertising…well, okay. I do have more makeup than any woman might possibly need in a lifetime (most of it bought in times of crisis - what does that say about me?!). But I don’t wanna be like this! I gotta get the ad monkey off my back. Why are so many people willing to believe a new life can be found in a shiny new package, or the newest sparkly eyeshadow? Also for the record, I returned the sparkly eyeshadow. I doubt I could have pulled it off. :slight_smile:

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Oh, buyer’s remorse, shmuyer’s remorse, I always say…don’t believe in the stuff, myself.

And who CARES if it doesn’t shave as well as Lady Bics? It’s technology, dammit! (Oh, wait, you’re not a guy. Hmm. I’ll have to get back to you on that part.) And how many times should you need to change the blades WHILE IN THE SHOWER? Doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me; change them beforehand.

Seriously, though (yeah, right…me?), advertising is a problem, although with me, it’s usually about food. Not so much a problem as in “I can’t afford to eat out” or “I can’t eat that; I’ll gain weight” as it is “I just ate–I’m stuffed. But that pizza/burger/fried chicken/etc. looks so good!” I’m clinical when it comes to food, I know. Advertising is evil (and my sister works in advertising! Yech.). Resist, Sapphire Bullet, resist!!

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I really don’t understand the deal with the adverts for women’s razors. Someone please explain it to me. I mean -

women (on average) have smaller hands than men, right? So they give you razors specially made for women with large flat handles. Huh? What is the deal with that?

They’re in “girly” colours - yeah, that so is gonna make them shave better!

They cost three times as much - what you pay for is what you get? No, you’re paying for girly colours & the ridiculous ad campaign.

They’re so wonderful at shaving legs that are mostly smooth surfaces anyway that we designed them specially for you!. yeah, I’d rather have a razor that’s designed for coping with lumps & bumps without lopping off too much skin, thanks.

Yeah, guess what type of razor I use? If it can cope with being dragged over a man’s face/throat/adam’s apple without causing major plastic surgery every day, that’s good enough for me (and they have refill cartridges of 5 blades, double or triple blades with alleged safetly wires & and a nice easy narrow handle and a quick fit blade change.). Don’t even get me started on how crappy the disposable razors are.
saph, sorry if this was a hijack, but it’s been building up for a while. I hate those adverts & really can’t see why women need a different razor than men. Are the other ones so much easier to use? Does the imac green make them easier to see while you’re shaving or something? Sorry if I sound sarcastic, but I genuinely don’t understand this. I’d love some comments.

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My sis used my Mach 3 once when she broke her large ugly pastel flat handled razor… she’s never gone back. Loves the Mach 3. I’m pretty fond of it myself.

((I did have to be funny older brother and tell her that just because it’s called a Mach 3, doesn’t mean you have to shave that fast.))

From what I could gather, that Venus razor is supposed to be the pastel colored, flat-handled female version of the Mach 3…

[sub]G-d, now I sound like an advertisement… sorry.[/sub]

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Silly girl, everyone knows that new packaging or a new eyeshadow won’t change your life. For that you need to buy the newest shade of lipstick. At least that’s what every old woman says. “just put on some new lipstick and everything will be better”

FTR I have about 63 tubes of lipstick and I’m still waiting.

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James Gillette

Bill Gates

Jus’ Lookin’

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don’t worry, fierra, if ever there was a thread to hijack, this is it! I know exactly what you mean about the pastel colors and flat handles. Simply ridiculous. [sub]and yet, I seem to have bought into it![/sub] I guess the color scheme is suppsed to make women feel like it is a product just for us, which should endear us to the manufacturer. :rolleyes: I don’t know why it never occurred to me to use a man’s razor. True, if it can handle a man’s bumpy face, it should manage legs pretty well. Hmm.

That would be my guess too- except it isn’t flat handled. It’s got this weird sculpting and rubber grips on the bottom- which is good, because I know I am unable to hold onto a regular razor.
But in the interest of full disclosure, I used the darn thing earlier, and it is pretty cool. Though I have to admit the shave isn’t any closer than my cheapo disposables, the “triple blade pivot head action” was kind of impressive. But not eight dollars worth of impressive. :slight_smile:

LOL. Well, I moved onto eyeshadow when the lipstick didn’t seem to be cutting it. Next I will stock up on mascara. Plump, long lashes make a rainy day better! :wink:

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only if it’s waterproof mascara :wink:

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The sad thing is that despite having read this thread - as soon as I run out of blades for the Sensor Excel (which I paid for after having bought the Sensor… it’s Excel it must be better!) I’m buying one.

And new life is not found in new eyeshadow- it is found in a new makeup/skincare system. If you only get the eyeshadow, you only get part of your new life, and if that’s incompatible with your old life, then who knows what damage you could cause.

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I thought it was in new nailpolish? 150 bottles and I’m still waiting. I think I’ll move on to eyeshadow.