The result is that within seconds of being turned on, the foil chills to near zero, ‘reducing irritation’. Possibly the real killer feature of the Braun for me is that using it actually feels like shaving. The rotary motion of the Philips is more like rubbing your face. Send me exclusive offers, unique gift ideas, and personalized tips for shopping and selling on Etsy. Sign up here to receive the BestReviews weekly newsletter for useful advice on new products and noteworthy deals.
If you’re looking for an affordable rotary shaver under $100 that can tackle just about any hair, you’re in luck. Philips The 3800 will grasp hairs in hard-to-reach areas (like your neck) and take on hairs of different lengths. We spend a lot of time reviewing the best electric shaver, so when it comes to recommending what shaver to buy, you can be safe in the knowledge that we’ll recommend the best options for you. There are a lot of different versions of the Braun and philips shavers, as you can see. It would take too long to run down the difference between all of them – there are different model numbers for ones with and without cleaning stations, and with and without various accessories such as trimmers and carry cases.
EVEN THOUGH my grooming routine is extensive, I’m a minimalist at heart. I like nothing more than an easy-to-use, no-fuss-no-muss product that can cut down my grooming time. I was still stuck on the pre-shave, shaving cream, razor, aftershave hamster wheel and couldn’t seem to get off. No matter what I did, and no matter what product I tried, I couldn’t seem to get rid of them. In some Prestige packages there’s also a rotating brush that you can use to deep cleanse your face.
The foil’s perforations guide the whiskers into the block, where a pair of opposing blades slice them off. The action is more like what you’d get from a pair of scissors than from a knife. Rotary shavers use similar perforated surfaces to guide whiskers toward their cutters, but instead of snipping, hundreds of tiny blades slice hairs with a circular motion. Imagine the horizontal spinning blade on a power lawn mower—but with teeth—and you’ll get the idea. Some Braun razors work best on dry skin, while others work well on wet skin.
Now, while this technology is really amazing, I am not sure it really leads to the shave being any better, but if you suffer very bad skin irritation as a result of heat, it could be worth a try. Overall performance is perfectly acceptable, although not on par with the more premium shavers. Thanks to a new blade design and more generously sized foil holes, the philips electric razor Series 9000 Prestige can tackle thick stubble – up to a week’s worth, even. Where other electrics force you to hack away over and over if you’ve missed a few days, you can pretty much just run this over once, and then look for only a few minor spots that might need a second go.
You can use shavers in the shower, but a dry face is generally recommended to get the smoothest electric shave. We found that using shaving cream made for a foil-clogging, extra-gooey experience. Using shaving philips razor cream is likely to increase the amount of time you spend shaving, if you want to reach the closeness you’d get going dry. For most people, foil-style electric razors typically provide a closer shave.