Gillette Fusion5 Sensitive Shave Gel with Almond Oil 75ml, UK

Product Overview

Gillette Fusion5 Sensitive Shave Gel in a 75ml UK tube. It uses Gillette’s Ultra Comfort Complex, which cools on contact to calm the skin and helps protect it through the shave. Almond oil is in the formula to reduce drag.

75ml is the travel size — small enough for hand luggage, and useful for keeping in a bag rather than as your everyday can.

Gel or Foam – Which to Choose

Worth knowing, because they are not the same product in different packaging:

• Gel goes on clear or translucent, so you can see the line you are shaving. That is a real advantage around a beard edge, a moustache or sideburns.
• Gel is more cushioning and stays wet longer, which suits a slow shave.
• Foam is faster and lighter, and rinses off the blade more easily.

For precision work, gel. For a quick everyday shave, foam.

How to Shave Without Wrecking Your Face

1. Soften the beard first. Shave after a shower, or hold a warm damp towel to your face for a minute. Dry hair is about as tough as copper wire of the same thickness; wet hair is far easier to cut.
2. Apply the cream, foam or gel and give it a minute to work before you start. Most people start too soon.
3. Shave with the grain, in the direction the hair grows, using short light strokes. Let the blade do the work.
4. Do not press. Pressure is what causes nicks and irritation, not a blunt blade.
5. Rinse the blade every few strokes so it does not clog.
6. Rinse your face with cool water at the end to close things down, and pat dry — do not rub.
7. Moisturise or apply a balm while the skin is still slightly damp.

Change the blade often. A blunt blade drags and tears rather than cutting, and that is what leaves you sore. Most people get five to seven comfortable shaves from a cartridge.

Razor Bumps and Ingrown Hairs

Those small red, sometimes painful bumps after shaving are ingrown hairs — a hair that has curled back and grown into the skin instead of out of it. They are not an infection and they are not dirt.

Coarse or curly beard hair is far more prone to it, which is why this is such a common complaint here and much rarer for men with fine straight hair. What actually helps:

• Stop shaving against the grain. Going against the grain cuts the hair below the skin surface, which is exactly how it ends up trapped. A slightly less close shave with no bumps is a better shave.
• Do not stretch the skin tight while shaving, for the same reason.
• Use a fresh blade, and fewer passes.
• Exfoliate gently a couple of times a week to keep the hair from being trapped under dead skin.
• Never dig a hair out with a needle or tweezers. That is how a bump becomes an infection and then a scar.
• Give the skin a rest. A few days of not shaving lets trapped hairs work their way out.

If bumps are widespread, painful, filled with pus or leaving dark marks, see a doctor — there are treatments for it, and it is worth not living with.

Patch Test First

Before the first full use, put a small amount on the inside of your forearm or behind the ear and leave it for 24 hours. If there is redness, itching, burning or a rash, do not use it on your face.

This matters more than it sounds for grooming products. Freshly shaved skin has had its top layer scraped off, and a fragranced product that is fine on an arm can sting badly on a face that was shaved five minutes ago.

Keep it out of your eyes. If it gets in, rinse with plenty of cool water.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does it need a Fusion5 razor?

No. Gillette recommends the pairing, but any razor works — the gel is not doing anything cartridge-specific.

Is it really better for sensitive skin?

It is formulated to be: more cushioning, cooling agents, and almond oil to reduce drag. If your skin still reacts, the likelier culprits are a blunt blade and shaving against the grain rather than the product.

How long does 75ml last?

Roughly a month of daily shaving. It is the travel size; the standard cans are 200ml.

I have sensitive skin. Is it suitable?

Patch test it first and see. Fragrance and alcohol are the two most common causes of a reaction in grooming products, so check the ingredient list for both if your skin is reactive.

How should I store it?

Cool, dry, closed and out of direct sunlight. Not on a sunny windowsill and not in the hottest corner of the bathroom — heat degrades fragrance and active ingredients faster than anything else.