Sunday, March 30, 2014

Recover your Face: Dollar Shave Club vs. Gillette Fusion vs. Dorco

Yeah, I know this is not really running related, but I have been using Gillette razors for years. I had been using the Gillette Fusion system for years and had been happy with it except that the blades are so expensive! For months I had been seeing ads for the Dollar Shave Club. My son has been using their services and had recommended them to me, but I wasn't too sure about switching and signing up for a monthly subscription program. It would however, save me money, so I was intrigued.

Finally, I decided to look a bit more closer into the trying Dollar Shave Club and decided to read some reviews. I came upon this Lifehacker post about the Dollar Shave Club. The Dollar Shave Club is essentially selling you a monthly subscription service and it is quite successful at it, but the exact same razors and blades that they sell can be bought for a lot cheaper than through their club. The blades and razors they do sell are from a company called Dorco (not the greatest name I admit). You can also buy these Dorco razors at Amazon. They sell a Dorco six Blade Razor with Trimmer, a Dorco Four Blade Razor, and a Dorco Three Razor Blade . So rather than get monthly deliveries, you can buy the razors in bulk for about 1/3 the price of the Dollar Shave Club prices, which are again cheaper than Gillette prices. It sounded like a good deal to me, so I ordered the 6 blade model from Amazon, not sure of what to expect of the quality. After using them awhile now, I have replaced my Gillette with the Dorco. It feels and works just as well and I get the same amount of time between blade changes. Why not save a bunch of money?

To keep this post somewhat running related,you may have noticed that nowadays some male runners/triathletes shave their legs. I don't, but I did a long time ago. If you go back to the mid 1980s, that was another thing I was in way on before it became (somewhat) acceptable.  I admit to doing this while racing Ironman distance triathlons between 1983-1987. Here I am racing the Cape Cod Endurance Triathlon in 1987 with freshly shaved legs. And to top if off, I ran the full marathon leg in a Speedo!















2 comments:

Unshod Ashish said...

I also use Dorco, and their stuff works great.

What wears out blades is rust. The trick is to (1) shake water off the blade after you shave and (2) dunk the razor head in a jar of rubbing alcohol you keep by the sink and (3) store the razor away from bathroom humidity.

Jim Hansen said...

Yes, I had heard something like that. I may have to give it a try. Thanks!