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Review TL;DR
The Gillette Fusion ProGlide Chill is another iteration in the ProGlide family of products, this time with a cooling lubricant designed to perk your skin up and leave you feeling refreshed. In reality, the shave is fantastic, but the “chill” provided by the razor isn’t anything to write home about. Bottom line: It’s a great shave, but we wouldn’t buy it solely for the cooling sensation.
Meet the Gillette Fusion ProGlide Chill
With its lineup of five-bladed razors — which range from the relatively simple Fusion5 all the way to the battery-powered ProShield — Gillette offers a number of different options for you to choose.
One of those is the ProGlide Chill. This razor takes a number of features from the ProGlide family, including a “FlexBall” in the handle that pivots left and right, and oversized lubrication. We’ve reviewed other razors in the family and came away very impressed.
So what makes this razor different from the others we’ve reviewed? The real difference is supposed to be that “chill” part of its name. This razor is designed with a special cooling lubricant that promises to give your face a refreshed feeling as your shave.
But does it actually work? Or is the “chill” a marketing tool that sounds better than what you actually get? To see for ourselves, we bought our own ProGlide Chill to put it to the test.
What’s in the Box
If you’re expecting that you’re paying more money to get some fancy packaging, that’s not the case here. We bought our test razor on Amazon from Gillette. The package we received was a simple cardboard box (which does get points for being easy to recycle).
Inside was the ProGlide Chill handle, along with four blade cartridges.
If you were buying the piece as a present, it might not have the most memorable presentation. Even so, the packaging is the most insignificant part of buying a new razor, so it shouldn’t be a big issue.
Razor Design
If you’ve seen our review for the traditional ProGlide, you’ll find that many features are the exact same with this razor. In effect, this is another iteration of the ProGlide, with a different type of lubricant for the face.
Handle
One look at the handle for this razor, and you know there must be a lot going on with it. The handle looks almost out of a science fiction movie, with a design that certainly looks different than most other razors out there.
Picking up the handle, it has a nice weight that makes it feel sturdy and high quality. We wouldn’t mind a little more weight to it, but it certainly isn’t anything to fuss about.
Like the traditional ProGlide, the handle is easy to grip, but could stand to be a little thicker. We find that sometimes thinner handles can be a little harder to hold and don’t feel as stable in the hand. Again, this isn’t a major issue. Only if you have extremely large hands will you find the razor handle too narrow.
As for grip, there is plenty. The entire underside of the handle has aggressive rubber grips, except for the metal part near the base of the razor. On the sides are metal bumps built into the handle, and the topside of the handle features a large rubber grip, that includes different textures. Wet or dry, you won’t have an issue with this handle slipping.
Moving up the handle, you’ll find the wide “head” of the handle that pivots left and right about 15-20 degrees each way. This is what Gillette calls the “FlexBall.” There is also a large blue button that releases the razor cartridge.
To add the cartridge, you simply slide it onto the handle until it clicks. Once attached, the connection is secure with absolutely no play.
With the Fusion family of razors, one nice thing is that multiple different cartridges will fit onto this handle. If you want to try another type of five-bladed Gillette razor, it will snap right in.
The ProGlide Chill handle is made in Mexico.
Cartridge
While the handle is the same as others in the ProGlide family, the cartridge is what makes a difference.
The razor includes five blades, as we’ve mentioned. But that’s really the start of the features. Above and below these blades is the big draw.
Here you’ll find two different lubrication areas. The difference with this version is that the blue contains what Gillette calls “Cooling Technology.” Shave with the ProGlide Chill and you’re supposed to get an invigorating feel from the lubricant (more on this in the “Shaving” section below).
Other features on the cartridge include several rubber fins to help pull the skin taught before the razor passes, and a “microcomb” just before the first blade to better position hair for cutting.
The razor head pivots easily, and the pivot point is right in the middle of the blades, which means even pressure is applied across the blades even when the head is pushed all the way back. In total, we’d estimate the head pivots backward about 60 degrees. It moves extremely easy with little pressure and snaps back into place the instant that pressure is released.
Turn the razor around and Gillette has also put a single trimmer blade for those spots where the full razor won’t get.
Shaving with the ProGlide Chill
So does the ProGlide Chill live up to its name? We put it to the test using our regular shaving routine to see if it’s any good and worth the money.
First, let’s talk about the actual shave. If you read our other reviews, you will know that we are fans of Gillette’s five-bladed lineup. In all, we’ve tried dozens of razors and to us it’s hard to beat the performance of the ProGlide series. This razor is included in that group and delivers a shave that we love.
Like the other razors in the family, we found the shave to be comfortable and close. The ProGlide Chill breezed through even several days of beard growth like it was nothing. We never felt any snagging or pulling.
That shave was also smooth, with no nicks or cuts. Thanks to the ease of pivoting and how far back the head will move (as well as left and right with the FlexBall), it actually seems difficult to cut yourself. If too much pressure is applied, the razor head is able to move easily, reducing the chance for cuts.
The handle makes holding the razor during shaving comfortable, and our fingers naturally rested near the head of the handle at the base of the FlexBall. We would like to have some rubber grip on the underside of the head where we put our thumb, but this was a minor complaint.
As for lubrication, there is some, but it’s not at all “slimy” or thick, which can be the case with some razors. It’s just enough to make things a little smoother.
How does the “chill” feel?
What about the “chill” aspect of the razor? After all, that’s the difference between this cartridge and others in the lineup.
We found that the feature wasn’t that big of a deal. We wouldn’t suggest buying this razor simply because of the chill.
On our first shave, the only place we felt anything different was on our upper lip. This is the first spot we shave. While we didn’t notice anything at first, after we were done, we began to feel a tingling sensation above the lip. The rest of the face felt completely normal, with no effects from the chilling lubricant. On subsequent shaves we didn’t feel any effects anywhere on the face.
Bottom line: The razor gives a fantastic shave, but the “chilling technology” wasn’t that impressive to us.
Cleaning
As we’ve mentioned in other reviews of razors with so many blades, they can be more difficult to clean. Due to less spacing between blades, hair can more easily get caught. It did take some more rinsing to get the razor clean. As well, the grooves of the lubrication strip below the blades also caught some hair.
Overall the razor did come clean, but it took a bit of rinsing.
Cost
Our test razor included a handle and four blades, which we bought from Gillette on Amazon. The price we paid was $10.51. That turns out to be a great deal. Currently the same razor and cartridges lists for $23. An eight-pack of new cartridges is around $30, or $3.75 per razor.
To us, that’s a steep price. Again, the shave is fantastic, but paying for the “chill” feature seems unnecessary given that it doesn’t offer much benefit in our tests.
Even so, the price is actually on par with other Fusion cartridges. In other words, these blades are pricey, but not more so than the other five-bladed cartridges in the lineup.
Pros & Cons
Where to Buy
The Gillette ProGlide Chill is widely available, including in grocery stores and online. The easiest place to buy a new handle or cartridge refills is Amazon. We found a handle and four blades for around $10, but that seems to be a special price. Expect to spend $20-25 to get started.
