To set the ground here, I’ve been a double edged wet shaver for the past 5ish years or so. Specifically, I’ve used a variety of Merkur handles with blades from Feather, Gillette, Astra Blades and many others. What that all means is I’m accustomed to a baby smooth shave. Literally no feeling of hair any which way the skin is rubbed. This move into electric shavers is new to me, and kind of off a whim. As time has gone on, I’ve grown lazy, and what I have come to appreciate from wet shaving slowly became a nuisance. Yes, there’s quite literally no other way to get a closer shave. But it’s tedious and time consuming; from prepping the brush, blooming the soap, creating a lather, to completing 4+ passes to achieve the ultimate shave, it’s would take me sometimes near 20-30 minutes. As laziness usually does, it leads to change. So I began searching for the quickest, yet still comparable shaving experience. That lead me to two contenders, this Panasonic Arc 6, and the Braun Series 9 Pro. After a few days of intense research, I still had no clue which one would be better for me. Ultimately, I landed on the Arc 6; mostly because it’s sleeker, sexier design, and smaller footprint of the cleaning station. Since I didn’t really know what I was looking for, that’s simply what it came down to. Once it arrived, I was welcomed by a pretty neat unboxing experience. Although the shaver was completely dead, I stuck it in the charging station and it charged up to 70% in a matter of 35 minutes or so…pretty impressive. After adding the cleaning detergent and water to the cleaning station, I set up for my first shave with this beautiful shaver. I had about a day and a half of stubble, which for me is rather coarse with hair laying in all directions. I went to town dry, no soap or cream which is unusual for me. Expecting it to be rough since I’m used to such a smooth glide, I was pleasantly surprised with how smooth the shaver traveled across my face. Like with wet shaving, I tugged my skin in some areas and did passes in all directions. I was extremely satisfied with how easily I was able to shave my chin area due to the head flexibility, something that I’m very much not used to and has always been a problem area for me. After all was said and done, I was finished in about 5 minutes, which I’m sure could be accelerated once I’m more comfortable with the razor. I was able to touch up my sideburns which was really nice, since I usually have to go to a hair clipper once I’m done wet shaving for that. All in all, I couldn’t believe how smooth my face was. Baby smooth, maybe only 5% less close than with my extremely detailed wet shaving could get. More so, it actually gave me a closer shave than I’ve EVER been able to get on my chin, which I attribute to the head flexibility. I was completely stunned. Blown away with how well this razor performed. Once I was done, I put the razor to sleep in the cleaning station, set it to clean, and walked away. Simple is an understatement.. The price is obviously nothing to scoff at, but I truly couldn’t be happier with this purchase. Get it, use it, enjoy it. As I’ve always said, pay once cry once. I’m hoping this razor lasts for years, and I firmly look forward to all future Arc releases from Panasonic.
