Last month I received an email from someone that said,
“I am looking for US based men bloggers to review the following product: www.ONErazor.com”
Yup, yup, yup. I qualify given the fact that I do reside in the US, I am certainly a man, and well…you are reading my blog right now so I guess I am a blogger. You may think based on the timing of this post and the title that it is either about the Red Sox and their #GetBeard phenomenon or Movember, the no-shave mustache growing movement to benefit men’s health that I have participated in before. Both would be great topics to blog about but not this time. (I do encourage you to find your local MoBro and support them, however)
Now let me give you some history about me and shaving. As a boy of Asian descent and thus, possessing black hair, it seemed like I shaved at a much earlier age than my peers. In 6th grade I started seeing what looked like someone had taken a piece of charcoal and smudged it above my lip. It’s not like I had more hair than my friends. Or that it grew in at a higher rate. It’s that it’s contrast on my skin made it stand out. Contrast that to the exposed skin on the rest of my body (namely arms and legs) and it would seem like a total disconnect. It looks like I’m hairless. Not like the scary albino mole rat type of hairless. The type of Mr. Universe, wax your back type of hairless (minus the oil). You know the kids I’m talking about that had a moustache at too early of an age. Every school had one. I was that kid.
My wife can count the number of chest hairs I have….in 2 hands….even if she accidentally blew 3 fingers off in a fireworks accident. She didn’t really blow off fingers I just wanted to make the roundabout point that I am the proud owner of 7 chest hairs.
My dad taught me how to shave like most dads do. But also like most people I was outfitted with the same gear that my dad preferred. This meant cheap disposable razors and smelly after shave cream (Afta). Afta is surprisingly still for sale. Presumably sold to old men like my dad.
When I turned 18 the brilliant marketers at Gillette sent me a Gillette Sensor razor in the mail. I remember it vividly. On my graduation week in the first week of June I received two surprise packages: a state-of the art free razor from Gillette and my Selective Service Card. Little did I know that this gift from Gillette would put me into servitude to their menacing conniving ways. I told you they were brilliant. But Wow! What a nice shave! A pivoting head? twin blades?! I was ballin’. I said goodbye to those cheap single blade plastic razors and hello to a new world of replaceable blades!
That is until I went to college and I had to buy blades for myself. My stockpile of blades really ran out 2 months into my college term but I stretched it out 3 months longer. I told myself that the less-than-close shave was my rugged, college look. I was in art school after all. I could let myself go grooming wise because it was all about the art, man. Until I started noticing little cuts on my face from the rust that formed on the blades I thought I would survive the entire freshman year without buying new blades. I promptly went back to the cheap disposable razors my dad used.
In my first year of college I didn’t change my sheets once. And I used the same bulk bottle of White Rain shampoo. I’m not proud of it, I was a freshman. Ok, I’m sorta proud of it.
When I graduated college and became a working man I started to ease back into the razor blade game. Eventually realizing the power of bulk-buying at wholesale clubs. It still stung but dropping $29 on 20 razor blades WAS a good per/razor deal. I did this for years…dare I say a decade. Then Dollar Shave Club came along and then that questioning of conventions led me to completely re-evaluate my blade purchases. I then realized I could get 3 disposable razors that had triple blades on them from Target for $4! And that brings me to today.
Now I have a confession to make. I now use my wife’s shaving cream. It started earlier this year when I forgot to pack my shaving cream with us on vacation. I tried hers and haven’t gone back. It smells fruity and has a good consistency and if she trusts it for her bikini line it’s good enough for my face right? Don’t I deserve to be Skintimate too?
I received this MicroTouch ONE blade in the mail today and admittedly oohed and ached when I took it out of the box. It was like I jumped into my Delorean and bought my very first razor back in the Great Gatsby era. This thing is the “modern version of the timeless classic safety razor.” What that means is that it looks antique and feels completely foreign in the hands of someone that grew up shaving with the plastic Schicks and Gillette razors of the world.
Now, apparently professional barbers still “prefer” single blade shaves. I have never received a shave from a professional barber before. I have seen too many mob movies to know you never, ever, trust someone enough to put a razor to your neck. Especially someone that rolls as high as I do 😉 This thing feels solid. It is made of solid brass and is chrome plated. And while it felt pretty small in my hands at first, the solidness of it felt stable when I brought it to my face. It is pretty. And it is distinguished looking. It looks like something you would wield when you say words like haberdashery.
Admittedly I had to use the directions to figure out how to put the blade in. Who says men don’t use directions? Ok, I typically don’t use directions but once I read them it was very clear. I hope people don’t tell me “you are an idiot for not knowing how to use one of these razors”. To me, razor blades like this or made to scrape old paint off of windows. Not to put on your face.
The blades are these super sharp platinum razor blades that are super thin and flimsy but crazy sharp. You untwist the handle of the razor and the top opens up to drop the blade into. Twist the other way to close and tighten and you are ready to roll.
So how does it shave? Well, I have never received a professional shave. I have never even had anyone shave my face before. (Not sure if that is good or bad). Many people have said you haven’t experienced anything until you have a barber shave your face. Really? That’s the best you can do as far as experiences go? People also say that about pedicures but I am ok with living my life having someone other than people I know touch my feet thank you very much.
Note: Don’t get excited about the carrying case. It may hold the razor snug and contain a snazzy mirror. But it is cheap and flimsy and when you take the razor out the case falls back on itself. That being said, the razor is of high quality and in the end you are shaving your face with the razor not the carrying case.
The shave was close and tight and while I liked the end result I’m not sure it’s my thing. It felt a little too Crocodile Dundee using a knife to shave his face. I miss the pivot or rather I miss the flexibility of the pivot. I kept on worrying I was going to nick off part of my chin if I wasn’t careful. This ease may come from practice but I am not sure I will force myself into using this regularly.
But if single blade razors are your thing, this may be YOUR thing. At $19.99 for a razor, 12 blades, and a carrying case, it’s a pretty sweet deal.
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Gregory Ng
GOAL: Visit 100 National Parks as a family by 2020. Favorite Parks: Zion National Park, Mt Rainier National Park, Valley Forge National Historical Park
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