After receiving a Schick Hydro Silk in my August Birchbox, I wanted to test it out against the Venus Embrace I’ve been using. I had tried Schick’s Quattro razor before, as well as their Intuition, and wasn’t particularly impressed. But I’ve been into the moisturizing razor blades lately, so I was really interested in checking this one out.
It's time for a throw-down!
In order to pit the new Schick against the incumbent Venus, I decided to shave one leg and one underarm with each of them, for a full week. This turned out to be kind of a pain in the ass, but I stuck with it, because the world needs to know.
The handle of the Schick Hydro is bulbous and a little rubbery, like many lady-razors these days. It’s also blue in a way that might make you mistake it for the original Venus, unless you really know your razors. Sometimes I wonder why lady-razors can’t be sleek and silvery like man-razors, but then I remember the reason we buy girly-looking umbrellas: So the man in your life doesn’t steal it! I guess with the razors it's also because we shave in the shower more than men do, and it's slippery in there. Anyway, the Schick handle and the Venus handle are almost exactly the same, so this round is a tie.
Both razors have five blades, but the head of the Schick is about ¼” smaller. I have often thought the head of the Venus Embrace was unnecessarily large, with a lot of wasted space, so Schick wins there. Even though it has a smaller head, the Schick is way more moisturizing than the Venus Embrace. The serum comes from two rows of little gel dots, which are water-activated, whereas Venus’ water-activated “moisturizing ribbon” starts out as a hard solid. (Venus does make other blades that are said to be so moisturizing, you don’t even need shave gel, but the heads are GIGANTIC. Like shaving your legs with a spatula!)
The neck of the razor seems insignificant, but it isn't. Venus takes the point for a more elegant angle and extra flexibility. Schick has a bit of a gooseneck thing going on.
As far as performance goes, it’s another tie. Schick’s smaller size made it easier to maneuver in some areas, while Venus’ flexibility excelled in others. Both razors provided an equally close shave. It took the same number of passes to get all the hair. Regrowth happened at the same speed. Comfort level was equal. They even both seem to be wearing out at the same rate.
I thought the tie-breaker might be the price, since last time I checked Schick was a little cheaper. No luck though. According to drugstore.com, both the razors and the refills are the same exact price.
Two blades enter, one blade leaves.
It almost doesn’t even matter which one though.
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