Greetings! I'm Geofatboy, I make shaving videos and self shaving supplies. Visit
ShaveNation.com for all your shaving needs. Have A Great Shave, Have A Great
Day!
Greetings Gents I'm Geofatboy for ShaveNation.com. Today we're going to
have some fun. I'll be reviewing this razor, which is the QShave adjustable
safety razor and this is actually a clone of the Merkur Futur which we have
right here. The Merkur Futur is made in Germany has been for ever and this is
the clone which is made in China. What happened was the patent expired on
the Merkur futur, and so other companies are jumping into the game. The
comparisons between the two, I'll start with the boxes. This is the box that
the Merkur Futur comes in. It's a nice-looking box you open it up and take
out the razor and here's what it looks like inside of a little sleeve. It's a
decent looking box, it comes with one Merkur blade as well and an
instruction sheet. And then this is the Q shave box.
It's a sleeve type box, you pull this out and there's a couple of instruction
sheets here and there's the razor inside and it comes with a five pack of Personna
Apache blades. It also comes with a little cleaning brush which is in here
somewhere, if I can get it out - there it is! It comes with this little cleaning brush
and here's the picture of the blades these are Personna Apache
blades right here, and then this is what the razor looks like in the package so I
think I would give the edge to the QShave on the packaging, I think it's
pretty slick. I like black of course, and you know the
way it slides in and out like that it's pretty sweet!
But that's probably where the comparisons end. Because the actual Futur
razor I would say that if you can afford to spend a little bit of extra money you
want to go with this made in Germany quality engineering, as opposed to this
made in China. Here's the deal, this razor weighs it at 4.3
ounces or 120 grams this is the Merkur Futur and it's four and a quarter
inches long or 108 millimeters long. Then you have this which is a little bit
smaller the handle is not as thick, not as
substantial for sure. It weighs in at 3.1 ounces or 88 grams and it is the exact
same size in length it's also four and a quarter inches or 108 millimeters so
they are the same size in length but just picking it up the difference you
can feel right away. This is a Cadillac and this might be I don't know if I
want to... a Toyota or you know something like that. And the difference is some
people like to drive Cadillacs and some people like to drive Toyotas there's not
a problem with it. Everybody's got different opinions and different values
and different budgets so you just go with whatever pleases you.
that's what you want to go with. But this is much more substantial the blade
loading mechanism right here snaps on it's very solid putting it back on
removing it on the Merkur Futur. Let me show you this, I was playing around with
it. The balance on the Merkur Futur like this is where you put your thumb and your
finger when you hold it, is on this little indentation here. Well watch this:
I'm going to put it on my finger you can see the balance point is right there.
It's right there in the indentation where you hold it. Now if I were to try
that with this QShave razor, it falls right off my finger there's no balance
point where you hold it. So it doesn't really have that good stability when
it's in your hand, it's top-heavy is what it is. I have to go all the way up here
towards the top to get it to balance properly like that, and even up there
it's a little difficult, but that's the difference. And just all around much more
substantial this is when you turn the adjustment knob this is a little harder
to turn on the Futur but - that's because I think the gearing is much sturdier and
it's just a professional piece of equipment. And this one, it turns very
easily it's almost like it feels like it's just not as sturdy.
But - If you're on a budget and you know for under $20 you can pick this razor up
and we have it in stock at Shave Nation we have both of these. You can get
whichever one you want. This one actually comes with a stand if you want to get a
stand you can buy the razor separately or you can buy it in this nice little
stand, and it fits in there perfectly. You can see there's pretty close tolerances
it fits nicely in the stand, and the finish matches perfectly. We also sell the
Futur and it comes just the razor, and you can buy the stand as well, we have a
Shave Nation stand that fits it properly as you can see fits right in there a
nice tight tolerance, so either way if you're if you have the additional money
to spend I would go with the Merkur Futur, if you are on a budget you want to
go with you can go with the QShave. Here's a look at both in their stands.
And the stands match the handles the finish on the razor as well. I'm
going to perform of shave with this razor. I've already shaved with the Merkur
Futur you can check that one out I'll put a link under the video you could
watch that video if you want. But right now we'll concentrate on this one. These
just came in stock and if you click the link under the video you can pick one up
or you can pick up the Merkur Futur, and I'm going to perform a three pass shave
I'm going to warm up my face most important start with a nice warm beard
and per request I will be using - I have 3 requests here: somebody requested the
fine snakebite I'll be using this shaving soap, and I believe was Michael
Peterson requested this shaving bowl which my daughter made for me and by the
way today's Father's Day and I want to get this video in and done real quick so I
can go back and enjoy the festivities. This she made this for me there's a date
on the bottom 2007 so this is what it looks like it's a nice heavy ceramic
bowl and this is actually what we patterned the Shave Nation bowl after. We
made some changes and put the indentation in the bottom
for lathering so this is where it came from. And I'll use this original bowl and I
will also use this brush which somebody made for me maybe five years ago, this is
just a nice tight little custom-made brush that has a nice short loft which
is what I like. It's not real floppy and it doesn't splay out all over the place
it's just a perfect size actually one of my favorite brushes I think somebody
named Matt made this for me about five years ago. I can't remember the last name
but if it's you contact me let me know and I'll put a note underneath the video
and give you a mention there. And actually if you're making these I'd be
happy to stock some and sell them at ShaveNation.com I'm going to mix up my
lather and as I said I will be using this fine snakebite shaving soap so
let's take it out of the package here it is. It actually has a snake imprinted on
the soap it might be difficult to make that out but it's on there. Looks like
maybe a cobra, yeah looks like aCobra. And I have to say when these came in
months ago I opened one of the packages and oh my God if you ever want to clean
out your sinuses just have a whiff of this it'll definitely do it. And
it's a really strong mentholated scent and its really concentrated I'm not sure
how the shaving soap is, but we're going to give it a shot and see how
it works out. I'm just going to press it down right into my bowl and I'm
going to lather it up that way. So I've had my brush soaking in a marble cup
this cup of water I'll spill out the water and just shake out the bulk of the
water from the bristles on the brush. I'm going to put a little bit
of hot water on top of the soap.
Just to bloom it a little bit. There it is and I'll just start mixing, and we'll
see how this works.
Drain off that excess water and it seems to be making a lather pretty quickly. Nice -
very nice! The lather is actually coming up around the puck. I got the puck
spinning a little bit inside that happens, but after you finish your
shave and you let the puck dry down into the bowl it will fasten itself in there
and won't spin around anymore. I've got the brush loaded nicely I'm going to
take the puck out of the bowl and just set it off to the side for now and then
I'll commence to mixing my lather. I can smell the menthol it's taking over the
room. Not too bad but it's a nice strong menthol scent. What it really
reminds me of is the I think it's the Luden's or the Smith Brothers cough
drops they used to have a menthol one I don't know if they still have it
but that's what this smells like that's what it reminds me of. Just a heavy
menthol scent. There we go, very nice, I'll set that down, I'm going to warm up my
face real quick. A couple of applications of the face cloth, and then we'll get to
the shave.
Now I'll splash a little water on my face and I will dry off my fingers. As I said it's
very important to warm your beard make sure it's properly hydrated it's best to
shave after a shower if you can but if not, warm it up with the face cloth and
some hot water and you'll be good to go. All right let's lather up! Mmm - nice!
smells wonderful my sinuses are already clearing up. It's got a very nice lather
it goes on easily you can see it's covering nicely and it lathered up
quickly.
The figure eight - smooth everything out.
Very nice, oh nice and cool, it's very cool on the skin, refreshing it's a
wake-up call! Between the scent and the tingle, it's wonderful! Very nice, okay
we'll set the brush down. Swipe the lips, and clean up the neck a little bit. "Clear
the Runways" so you can see the sideburns.
By the way you could see my beard growth I had several three or four days worth of
a decent beard growth. I really want to see what this razor can do. Here's the
razor here's how you load it, you just pull the top cap off directly like that,
and you can place the blade down inside right over these two pins and then snap
the cap back on. It's very simple it's the same way the Futur loads, snap it
back on and that's it. Then you have your adjustment dial, there's a line here. Wow!
as I'm speaking to you my face is getting more tingly and more tingly and
cooler! That shaving cream is something else. Okay so you spin this knob at the
bottom, the handle and you find your setting. I'm going to start full blast
I'll start on 6. I'll do a three pass shave I'll go 6 - 3 - and then all the
way down to 1. And finish up that way we'll see how this works. Now let's check
the blade reveal sometimes with these razors that cost less you got to be
careful that it lines up evenly on both sides it actually looks good so if you
can make that out the reveal here is even on both sides. So we'll start at the
6 and I will just start perpendicular like this tilt up slightly to find the
angle and we'll see how this works out. It's my first time with the razor so
we'll both experience this together here we go!
Huh! Very nice! It's actually pretty good taking it off nicely one side filled up
I'll flip to the other side. Pretty aggressive on the six and you can see it
removed it really nicely. I'm pretty impressed - not bad at all. I'll rinse that
off now we'll go to this side same thing - perpendicular. Find the angle, tilt up
slightly and down and just let the razor do the work you don't need to apply any
pressure and flip it over. Actually pretty sweet! It's a good shave!
Now we'll hit the chin area.
Bullfrog that cleft.
Rinse off. Now we'll go down the chin line...
and the other side, neckline
now we'll hit the lip area. I want to see how it is under the nose, typically these
are a little difficult with this big head to get underneath. Well it gets pretty
close. Almost all the way up, it's not bad at all!
Okay now rinse this off... Interesting - actually a damn fine first pass, really
not bad at all. Pretty smooth. I'm going to lather up I
expect that it might get a little more tingle because I have less hair on my
face now so let's try this...
It feels awesome! This shaving cream - mmm! Really nice cushion the scent is
unbelievable. I mean if you like tingles some people don't like it but I love it!
I mean I love the Proraso with the menthol and eucalyptus,
that's an excellent shaving cream. Mmm- this actually has more sting to it, more
scent to it, more BAM to it if you want to call it that! All right a little figure
eight feels really good and I'm sure it's not 6:00 in the morning but if it
was this would feel good going on!
Clear The Runways! I will dry the fingers. I don't like to grip any razor
with wet fingers so all right here we go. I had it on six now we will go down to a
3. 5 - 4 - 3 okay we're right on the three right
there and now I will go across the grain. I'll go from the ear towards the nose
like this. Oh definitely not as much audible feedback, So this at 3 would
be a setting if you just have normal beard growth, yeah if you have normal
beard growth you probably want to go with the 3. Not as aggressive as the
6 definitely.
And I go against the grain on my neck...
Okay, pretty sweet now across the mustache
area from ear to nose. This is where it's a little tricky because the block head
protrudes beyond the blade, so it's difficult to get under your nose on an
angle like this.
Okay nice, let's rinse off. Very sweet little shave! Second pass - I'm super
smooth right now. I could quit for sure but as I said we're going to do a three
pass just so you can see it all the way through with all the different
directions: with the grain, across the grain, against the grain.
I'll lather up again. Mmm - now it really feels cool, on a freshly shaven face.
This shaving cream feels totally refreshing. You almost want to not stop
lathering it! Maybe I can stay here all day and just lather? No - I don't think so.
Oh it feels great.
Last time - clear the runways, and dry the fingers once again. Okay now we will dial
it down all the way to the bottom. If you're just starting out with this razor
and you just want to see how it goes you may want to start off on a 1. Let me
say this too. When you make your adjustments on this you want to make
sure that your hands are dry. If you have slippery hands this could spin around
and you can cut your finger, so you need to be careful with that. That's why I
recommend drying your hands whenever you pick up a razor. It's a good policy, just
for safety's sake. I've got it set on 1, and I'm going to go against the grain
here. Very little audible feedback you can tell, this will just give me a final
glass-like finish. This will give me the baby smooth, if you like to call it, or
the BBS or the BSS just a super smooth finish.
Very nice I'll go against the grain on my cheeks here.
My skin is a little bit slippery, I will just take my Shave Nation
alum block and I'm going to run it under cold water, just rub my fingers on that
like so, just so I can get a little bit of a better grip on my neck here. It gives you a
super grip, you can work your way up then. So I start at the bottom so I can work
my way up, it's clean here. Now we'll go this way.
Super smooth no feedback now. This area is just glass. Cleaned up really nice. Let me
rinse this off. Now we'll go on the left-hand side and
you can do it like this hold it upside down or you can hold it kind of like
with your fingertips just dangling like this. We'll try it that way. Again I will
wet my fingers - and then hold my skin and stretch it.
Nice! Alright let's rinse that off. Let's hit the chin area now.
Nice, very good. Okay, a little rinse. Now I'll hit the mustache area. If you can't
go against the grain with this, then just go from nose to ear like that.
The opposite of what you did the previous pass, but we'll try to go up
like this.
And this will get you up close to your nose, upside down like this.
Just be careful with the blade that you don't hit your nose.
Okay, let's rinse that off. I'll take the alum block and wet it again under the
cold water and just run that all about my face all the areas I've shaved, it's a
nice finish to your shave. It feels really good, and then we'll let that soak in for
about thirty seconds and we'll rinse that off - Pat the face dry.
And what aftershave do you think we should use? Okay! Let's use the Fine
Snake Bite, Layer it up right on top of the Fine
shaving soap. So I'll crack this is a new bottle,we'll crack this open, and then
It's going to regulator on there, which is good so it doesn't
supply you with too much. Just a few drops like that and activate the
ingredients, and then BAM let's see... Oh Man!
That's strong and that scent - very strong. I can see why they call it Snake Bite. Hmm
I don't know how long this scent will linger on and stay on but woo it's really
strong and it stings you'll probably feel this sting for quite a while. Let's close
that back up. Wow! All the way from here all the way down.
Immense stinging right now! If you like the sting and slap this will be the
excellent aftershave for you. If not you can go with a different Fine, you can
go with the American aftershave or the Platinum the Platinum is awesome as well.
So here we go. This feels really good. I got a super smooth
shave. I'm actually quite surprised with this razor. I used an Astra blade the
Astras to me are a step below the Feathers - I get really good results from
them. They're sharp, smooth, inexpensive. A great all-around blade. Here's a
final look at the razor - and actually for under 20 bucks you can't go wrong. Seriously!
if you do have the extra money and you want to get the Cadillac of the
industry then you want to go with the Merkur Futur. If you're on a bit of a
budget, then you can go with this one for under twenty bucks you could even get it with the
stand and still save yourself a bundle over the Merkur Futur. And I got to say-
you saw it! I had a heavy beard growth - it took it down - removed it no
problem whatsoever. Nice and smooth. I actually give this razor a thumbs up! It did
a good job, I wasn't expecting that. And I did the 6 - 3- 1 you may want to go
backwards. Some people like to go 1 - 3 - 6 but I like
to remove the bulk of it with the 6 and then go to the 3 and then go to the 1
for that glass like finishing pass. That's the way I like to do it with the
adjustable but everybody's different if you have a different method you like
leave a comment below. Thanks very much for watching the video. We'll put a link
to this right under the video, if you want to pick one of these up just check
that out or go to ShaveNation.com Again I thank you very much for watching and
please click that subscribe button and subscribe to my YouTube channel and
click the bell so you'll be notified. It's in the upper right hand corner.
Click that Bell whenever I put out a new video which will be at least once a week
you'll be notified of the video so you can check it out.
Visit ShaveNation.com for all your shaving supplies. I'm Geofatboy - Still
Tingling! Have A Great Shave, Have A Great Day!
No comments:
Post a Comment