Even on the smoothest-looking face, skin is loose, mobile and gel-like. Beard hairs are hard, wiry and grow in several random directions– especially on the neck area, where hairs are often ‘low lying’, growing out of the skin at a low angle.

Often, your facial skin can be a lot like a deflated balloon: loose, mobile and impossible to shave well. The looseness and movement of your facial skin, combined with the wiry toughness of facial hair follicles, present challenges to the shaving ritual.

In order to help prevent razor burn, it is vital for the skin to be stretched before the blades pass over it. This smoothes out the skin, creating a taut, even surface, and prepares the hairs to be cut.
Gillettte razors have been specifically engineered to even out loose skin, but you may not be familiar with which parts of your razor accomplish this task. Perhaps up until now you thought that the microfins, guard bar and microcomb on your razor cartridges were simply decorative.

Placed directly in front of the blades, microfins are soft, flexible, horizontal fins that gently stretch loose, gel-like facial skin, smoothing its surface and helping razor burn.

Behind the microfins, in front of the blades, is the guard bar. The guard bar further smoothes the skin for the oncoming blades. Imagine it like hands smoothing a crumpled piece of paper – that’s how the guard bar works on your skin.

Gillette’s most advanced blade cartridges, Fusion5 ProGlide and Fusion5 ProShield, feature a Microcomb, a line of ports that help feed the hairs through, and present them in an upright fashion, ready for the blades to do their job.

Gillette’s Mach3, Fusion5, Fusion5 ProGlide and Fusion5 ProShield can each allow you to smooth your way to a better shave and help to prevent razor burn.