Gillette Venus Embrace Razor Review - Influenster Cosmo VoxBox

I would really like to know how I didn't know about these Gillette Venus Embrace razors sooner! I mean, as I said in my initial thoughts/unboxing of the Cosmo VoxBox from Influenster, I'm usually a disposable razor gal so that's probably how, but really. I feel like had I known just how awesome these razors are I would have made the switch sooner.

Quite possibly one of the best things about the Venus line of razors from Gillette is that all of the blade cartridges are interchangeable on the same handle! That means that if you try one type of blade and decide it's not for you, you don't have to buy a whole new razor system to try out a different one. All you need to do is purchase new blade cartridge refills!

Here's a little information about this particular blade cartridge before we get into all my thoughts:

• 5 blades to get just about every hair
• Approved for the bikini area
• Soft grip handle
• Ribbon of moisture
• Does also come in disposable form
• Retails in the $8 - $9 range (1 handle and 2 blade cartridges) at Walmart and about the same on Amazon
• Original refill packs (4 per pack) retail for $15 - $16 at Walmart and Amazon

I kind of wish I had thought to take before and after pictures but at the same time, I feel the Internet is a better place without pictures of my hairy legs (agree?). At any rate, once the weather cools down, the time between leg shaves tends to increase - much to my husband's dismay. This happens for 2 major reasons:

1. There's no need to show off my legs in any way shape or form once the temperature decides to stay below 60
2. My skin tends to dry out much, much faster in the cooler weather and shaving sometimes exacerbates this problem

So the other day I decided to try this bad boy out. I was given two blade cartridges - an original and one by Olay - to test out. I started with the original.

First, I love, love, LOVE the design of the cartridge. The way it looks, the way the blades are close together and most especially the way it's fairly flat - yet curved at the right spots. I am a notorious knee nicker when I shave and yet somehow, this time, no nicks! The blades just hugged the curves around my knees and gave me an amazingly smooth shave instead of banging things up and making the shower look like a crime scene.

The only thing that went even a little awry were these little tiny red dots that cropped up shortly after I got out of the shower. These little red dots - that were usually little red bumps aka razor burn - were the reason I switched to disposable razors. For some reason I tended not to get them with certain disposable razors, but almost always got them with non-disposable razors. But anyhow, this time they weren't full blown razor burn. The dots didn't hurt or itch and they certainly didn't develop into bumps. They were also gone by morning, which was a great thing.

After using the razor again, I've decided that it may have been the body wash I was using for shaving that may have been the culprit of the red dots. I don't use shaving cream to shave because it's just not practical for shaving in the shower and I've found that I have an allergic reaction of sorts or something when I use many of them. It's almost like they guarantee I'll have razor burn. But anyhow, another use of the razor with a different body wash revealed amazingly smooth legs with no red dots or bumps!

A couple of days after using it to shave my legs, I decided to test out my arm pits. If I'm going to get razor burn from a razor, that's where it will show up for sure. I picked a day when I didn't really have much to do in case I ended up with razor burn and couldn't put on deodorant. However, I really could have picked any old day with a ton to do if I had wanted. Yet again, no razor burn!

Disclaimer: I received this product complimentary for testing purposes from Influenster.