Dorco Pace4 Razor - FRA1000 product reviews

As part of my Missionary duties, I have been away for 3 years travelling around the world trying to help those less fortunate. When you are walking the African desert with only what you can carry on your back, shaving your beard is not a priority. God made hair to grow, so it grew. Infrequent stops in local villages allowed for some time to trim the forest, but now that I have come back home to further my studies, I must maintain a clean shave. When I saw that there were shavers available to review, I took it as a sign and requested one.

I found this shaver to be very comfortable in my hand, and I liked that I had two blades in the basic pack to start with, because it meant that I could try it and so could my flatmate. We each had our own blade, and just grabbed the handle off the shelf when we each needed to shave. We both agreed that the handle was nice to hold and easy to use, and the blades did a wonderful job of keeping our skin smooth and free from razor cuts.

Seeing the blades on sale at the supermarket, they were very affordable. More so than the larger brands, who I would have thought would have been cheaper due to economy of scale in production. Either they are dropping huge mark-ups onto the blades to get big profits, or this company is being more real about the costs. I suspect it will be the latter, because big companies have big advertising budgets. I have never heard of Dorco before now but I will be making sure to spread this good word to the masses as well.

I feel very fortunate to have had this opportunity to try a new brand, and will be buying them from here on. My flatmate has already bought his own pack so we no longer need to share a handle, and he noticed that the other heads on the shelf appeared to have the same fittings so he bought a 5-blade head for himself. I am fine with the 4-blade head so will stick with that one for now, but may examine the benefits of the other options available. They certainly are affordable.

When it comes to facial hair I generally grow my beard out to the point where it is unbearable annoying and then I completely shave it off to clean-shaven which normally gives my wife and kids a shock as I become almost unrecognizable. I typically always use the Gillette Proglide power shaver as I have found it works best with my uncontrollable thick beard hairs and I haven't really branched away to try other brands. The Dorco Pace4 razor FRA1000 is cheaper than the run of the mill brands of shavers I have come across and the design looks very eloquent and sleek but will it cut the mustard or in this case facial hair.

I opened up the packaging and took the shaver out of its nifty little holder and into my hand to hold for it and to get a feel for its design which I found no matter how I tried to position it or grip it, it didn't feel comfortable as I have pretty big hands and the razor handle juts feels too short. I shaved my face and the razor did a pretty good job really but I only really had short stubble and don't think it would cope too well with how long I usually grow my beard out to which the Gillette ProGlide ploughs through without a problem. The other disadvantage the Dorco has is it doesn't contain a single blade on the top side of the razor which is always handy having the tighter to access spots as in close under the nose.

All in All the Dorco razor isn't a bad razor it's just not suited for me and for someone who may keep their face fairly clean-shaven and shaves more frequently this would be a great razor for that task. It is good value for money as compared to most shavers they are fairly expensive and some refills cost more than this set alone. For its cost you can't go wrong for giving this razor a try and who knows it may turn out to be perfect for you.

I requested this razor for my husband to try as a real pet peeve of his is the amount that razors and their refill cartridges cost to buy. I asked my husband once why he did not shave with an electric one, and he gave me the same sort of answer I would give for the female version - that a manual razor does work better and get closer.

My husband has a short beard and moustache, so the razor is used mostly for around his neck but some places on his face too, he tells me. I was initially worried that the lubricating/moisturizing strip would irritate my husbands sensitive skin, but had absolutely no issues at all, which is great.

When I asked my husband to give me a bit of information as to what he liked or disliked about the razor he said it has a great solid handle that does not slip and gave a nice close shave. He said that it did not pull on the hairs, but glided over them and sliced through them gently. He was very impressed when I told him the price too!

All in all he really liked this razor, and the only downside is, like with the women's version that I can only get it online, so would really need to remind hubby or check and make sure he has refill cartridges, but honestly - with that being the only downfall, can whole heartedly say I (husband) recommends it and we would absolutely buy this razor again.

I'm generally a bearded man. Like a full bushy beard. So I generally have limited use for a razor. As my facial hair can be excessive, I usually use a razor to clean the scruff off of the neck and away from the eyes so that I don't look like a wolfman. In my 31 years of life, I have still had two decades of shaving (yes, puberty hit early) so I have tried my fair share of razors over the years. I have come to find that a Gillette Mach 3 Turbo has fulfilled my needs for 15 of those years, still using the original handle.

Because I don't like buying unnecessary products, I don't use shaving cream, balms, or aftershave. I simply shave directly after having a hot shower, when the bristles on my face have been sufficiently softened by the steaming hot water. This places a lot of extra pressure and higher expectation on any shaving products as the lubricating strip needs to be top-notch, and the blades must be strong and sharp, but also not cause irritation or cause cuts. My Gillette manages all of these components well, with the only issue being the handle, which has become "sticky" as the handle has started to deteriorate.

Now Dorco is not a brand that I am familiar with, but the product looked reasonable quality so I was willing to give it a try. I was pleased to see that the plastic packing was perforated to keep the product secure in the store, but isn't a pain to open (no scissors required to gain access). The razor comes with a cartridge attached to the handle already and an extra cartridge in the usual 4-pack holder. The holder for the extra cartridges fits well into the razor holder for a reasonably compact set. While it is clearly advertised that the product only comes with 2 cartridges, I really hate seeing wasted spots in the cartridge holder.

The razor itself works well. I had already removed the beard the day earlier with an electric trimmer so the remaining hair was short and after my hot shower, the Dorco razor carved through the hair with absolute easy. The lubricating strip is okay, allowing smooth movement of the razor along the face, but it does little to ease the friction, with a reasonably abrasive feel to it. The head of the razor is also much larger than my Gillette model (in part due to the extra blade), which helps it work well on straight flatter pulls but makes it noticeably more difficult to navigate around the lips, nose, and ears.

The product is really sturdy, and unlike the Schick hydro--where the lubricating strip tore off on its first use--the Dorco razor held together really well and showed no signs of being fragile or made with substandard materials. As it stands, it's a reasonable price and it does a good job, but the lubricating strip isn't up to the standard that I currently have. Great for a beginner shaver, someone on a budget, or someone that needs to shave larger areas like arms, chest, back, or legs, but it's not sufficient enough to make me throw away my sticky Gillette handle.

I've always liked having facial hair, from the day my moustache started to grow in at age 13 I have maintained some form of hairy facial accessory, barring a few notable patches of bare-facedness thanks to charity fundraising activities. What I don't like, is hair on my neck, so I have tried many versions of shavers from many brands, ranging from the cheap 6-pack of disposables to high-priced electrics. They all have their pros and cons.

Most recently, I decided to throw my hat into the ring and give the Dorco brand a try. I was intrigued to discover their ethos includes things like "not trying to maximise profit over quality" and "a focus on innovation and expansion, over a focus on marketing and money" - these sort of things speak to me on a level that very few other products bother even trying to do these days. So... I literally put my neck on the line, and gave one of these blades a whirl.

First impressions were fairly positive actually, my only original niggle being that getting the shaver out of it's holder was a little awkward until I realised that the bottom of the handle doesn't sit in the holder, it fits into a loop in the holder to keep it secure. Not a negative thing, just unexpected and something I didn't even notice when removing it from the outer plastic bubble. (I was very pleased to note that the outer packaging was entirely recyclable too, so huge kudos there!)

I have usually found that on the first shave with a new blade, I have to be very gentle or risk letting the blood flow, but the design of this blade cartridge made that a breeze. I can't pinpoint the exact design element that made it an effortless shave without any razor burn, but I found it to be highly effective without being at all dangerous. I have thin skin on my neck so it's very sensitive and prone to bleeding if the blade is super-sharp (cuts) or super-blunt (tearing).

I have now shaved with this blade at least a dozen times, and find it to be still quite able to do the job safely, smoothly and cleanly. With some blades pitched at a similar price-point, I find I need to go over the whole patch twice, sometimes even three times, before I am satisfied with the result, but a single pass with this blade gave me the perfect smooth finish I would have expected from a much more expensive brand.

The fact that all Dorco brand razors use the same attachment design means that any blade fits every handle, so you can easily mix-&-match to find the right combination for you, even if that means exploring the Ladies ranges for suitable handles and blades. Because they have gone for quality over profit, this process of exploration is also quite affordable, especially when they do a discount sale at your local supermarket. It's also worth noting that Dorco blades are the ones you get as part of that 'discount shaver subscription' service that's around. (Because there's no connection between that programme and this site, I won't mention the name of the programme, but if you google you'll find it pretty quick.)

Overall, I'm super chuffed with these blades, and have already bought some other heads to try, on the basis that it's a small investment and if I time things right I can get 2-3 sets of replacement heads for the same price as a single pack of another, bigger brand. So glad I took the gamble, as it has paid off! I'm a convert, and sure to be sticking with this brand in the long run.

My hubby is constantly stealing my razors, he always has a 3 blade and I 4 or higher so thought this razor would stop him taking my ones. He doesnt like shaving all the time and can get hairy with thick hair so to try a razor that states that not all hair needs a high blade, and he uses my 4 blade so this for him being a 4 blade was perfect to try. To start with the packet is nice, it's clear what's in the packet and comes with 2 cartridges. The packet was the easiest we have seen to get into, just pull the back down and out it all pops. The razor is nice with good grip handle and has a nice pivot head which my razors don't have or a razor he has used before so this was good to see since faces need to pivot.

The shaving itself he said was nice and smooth, the blades very sharp which he was cut twice by, never gets cut normally so this was a first. He carried on with the shave saying the handle was nice to hold, the head of the razor was nice going across and around the chin, neck. Sadly it couldn't do his whole face with one cartridge as it went blunt from doing both sides of the face. He did finish the shave with the one cartridge but had to go over places a few times. Face was nice a smooth from the strip on the cartridge with the lovely oils.

Hubby said the razor is nice, its decent but probably for someone who shaves more often than a few weeks maybe every 3rd 4th day a stretch a week. The price for a basic set seems to be on par with other brands, but because of the razor not meeting his shaving needs it wont ge one we buy again, but happily would recommend it to others.