Braun Büffel Activator 8595

I waited a couple of years to get this shaver. I've been shaving for 30 years. To me, it looked like the perfect blend of form and function, at least as far as shaving is concerned.

The price was a little high (hence the delay in buying it), but I believed it would be worth the price. I was wrong.

I've used it for several months now and I have yet to get a clean, close shave.

Over the years I've owned a couple of Braun shavers. Didn't like their battery function, but the foils and blades were good. I always seemed to get a clean shave, very close.

I don't get the same closeness with the Activator. In fact I have to work over an area quite a bit to even get most of the hair. And with that much work I will often get razor burn.

Now, I'm not one who believes the commercials for any product. And that idiot who wrote that it takes three minutes to shave in the morning is someone I never took at face value. But shaving has NEVER taken as long as it does now.

THE FOIL: Appears to be quite thin, and full of all those holes that allow the hair to slip in and get axed by the blades. These work just fine. The foil has not torn or punctured in my several months of use. I wondered if it would be damaged by the cleaning method, but it's held up just fine.

THE BLADES: These appear to be standard fair. They should cut, and maybe they do. But I'm not getting the kind of shave one would expect.

SHAVING INSTRUCTIONS: The instructions are clear. One thing that concerns me is that for decades shaver makers have instructed users to shave in a circular patter. Also, they've said not to press too hard. With the Activator you're told to shave in short, straight strokes and that pressing hard to get a closer shave is fine. Well, if you press too hard you get razor burn.

CLEANING: This is the simplest cleaning method ever. You don't do a thing. The machine takes care of it all. You don't even take off the head and brush out the stubble. Just drop it into the holder and press the button. It takes a while (nearly 30 minutes), and it can be noisy, but it's totally hands free and clean. And it makes the head perfectly clean for the next morning.

COST: This is an expensive unit. Even getting it on discount is expensive. But where they get you is with the cleaning cartridges. It'll cost about $5 to $7 a month just to clean the unit (based on one cartridge per month, as has been my experience).

This is definitely a case of the whole not equaling the sum of its parts. On paper the razor looks great. But it doesn't perform well at all - at least no for me. For whatever reason (the foil holes may be too small, or the blades may not be sharp enough, or positioned correctly) this shaver does not do the job. Hair that should get clipped in the first pass may still be there after the tenth. While hair does not snag in the foil (as has happened with other razors), it doesn't get cut that well either. Also, the pop-up trimmer has a hard time cutting my rather boring and thin sideburns, and cleaning up the stubble the trimming leaves behind.

I end up using a small travel electric (also a Braun, and not a bad unit) to shave between my lip and nose to spare myself a bad burn. And I use a cheap blade razor to get hard to reach areas and to trim at the sideburns.

I don't know what the answer is, what Braun can do to fix this. They've sold a lot, so maybe other people have had better luck with it. But if you're ready to buy the Activator, give it some more thought. This is an expensive razor to buy if you're just going to try it out.

Next time I'll go with a cheaper model, and one I have to clean myself.