Lectric Shave Review: Does The Williams Lectric Shave Work?

One of the most popular and well-known pre-shave products on the market is Williams Lectric Shave. In fact, the product has been on the market since the 1950s. Since it has been around for such a long time, you probably have seen Williams Lectric Shave on the shelves at the pharmacy next to your favorite shaving products. What is it, and how does it work?

What Is Williams Lectric Shave? 

Any sort of pre-shave product is designed to reduce the amount of time necessary to get a good shave and to increase closeness while decreasing the amount of irritation experienced. The purpose of a pre-shave product is to remove oils from the skin. This will make the hairs stand out straighter and result in a closer shave with less effort. It will also reduce razor burn and make the shave more comfortable.

If you’re a man who would like to have a closer shave and less pain while dry shaving, then trying a pre-shave product like Williams Lectric Shave may indeed make the experience more pleasurable for you with a better result.

What Is in Williams Lectric Shave? 

To put it simply, Williams Lectric Shave is an alcohol-based pre-shave lotion. So if you have very sensitive skin or an allergy to alcohol-based products, you probably should not use Williams Lectric Shave.

This is the ingredient list of Williams Lectric Shave:

• SD Alcohol 40-B
• Isopropyl Myristate
• Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract
• Fragrance
• Benzophenone-1
• Trisodium HEDTA
• Colorants: Green 5, Yellow 10, Orange 4
• Water

Overall, it’s a pretty simple product that doesn’t include many ingredients. Most of this list is comprised of preservatives so that the product has a long life on your sink next to your razor. However, even if you generally have sensitive skin, you may want to give Williams Lectric Shave a try. It’s not too expensive, and many men who otherwise have very sensitive skin don’t react negatively to Williams Lectric Shave.

Does Williams Lectric Shave Work?

Well, this is the ultimate question, right? You want to make sure that the product works before you buy it. Again, a prerequisite to a successful dry shave is to have the skin and the hair as dry as possible. This is where Williams Lectric Shave is supposed to assist.

Using Williams Lectric Shave is pretty simple overall. Basically, all you need to do is put a dime-size amount in your hand and massage it on your beard. Once you do this, let it sit for about 15 seconds or so to dry out and work its magic.

Many users are pretty shocked at the consistency of Williams Lectric Shave: most expect that it will leave the skin feeling dry, as the point of Williams Lectric Shave is to dry out the skin and the hair for shaving. However, you’ll likely find that Williams Lectric Shave is slick and oily-feeling, almost like shaving oil. Once Williams Lectric Shave absorbs into your skin, your face is likely to feel smooth and plump, rather than dried out and leathery. This should make your overall experience more pleasant.

The plump feeling of your skin will contribute to the closeness of the shave that Williams Lectric Shave provides. If you find that your electric razor sometimes hops or drags around on your skin, you may find that the Williams Lectric Shave provides a lot of improvement to your shaving experience.

 As to how well it will work for you, this does largely depend on your current shaving setup and also the sensitivity of your skin. Williams Lectric Shave does have alcohol as its prime ingredient, so some men may find that Williams Lectric Shave interacts negatively with their skin composition.

However, if Williams Lectric Shave doesn’t irritate your skin, you likely will see improvement if you use it for a dry shave. Most men report that while using Williams Lectric Shave with a dry shave wasn’t as close as a wet shave, it did make the dry shaving experience better and it improved the closeness of the dry shave.

Many users also reported that using Williams Lectric Shave made shaving a bit quicker, as the formula helped the hairs on the chin stand up straighter and thus fewer strokes were required to get the hairs off. We all could use a few extra minutes in the morning while heading out the door, and Williams Lectric Shave was able to provide that for many testers.

Particularly if you have a cheaper electric razor or if you are the sort who constantly gets razor burn, it’s definitely worth a try to see if Williams Lectric Shave will improve your experience. 

However, many testers reported that Williams Lectric Shave did leave their skin feeling a bit noticeably oily after use. Some found this unpleasant, but others weren’t too bothered by this. Also, some testers didn’t really care for the smell (which is reasonably strong and will definitely leave a boozy whiff in the air when you first apply it), but others were reminded fondly of a barbershop.

 Another plus of the Williams Lectric Shave is that it won’t clog up your razor, so you won’t have to spend a lot of time cleaning it out. Again, a few extra moments in the morning can make all the difference in the world.

Where Can I Buy Lectic Shave?

You can get Williams Lectric Shave at most pharmacies or grocery stores that sell beauty products: it’s a pretty commonly-available pre-shave treatment. You can get it in either 3 ounce or 7 ounce bottles; as with most products, purchasing the 7 ounce bottle generally results in a better price.

You can also buy Williams Lectric Shave in bulk online through Amazon, and this may get you a better price. With the bulk pricing the average price of Williams Lectric Shave is a bit variable, but assuming that you want the 7 ounce bottle you’ll pay between $6-$9 for it. Williams Lectric Shave also lasts for a reasonably long time as you don’t need too much to complete your shave.

How Does Williams Lectric Shave Compare to Other Options on the Market? 

Of course, Williams Lectric Shave isn’t the only option out there when it comes to pre-shave treatments for your skin. We’ve done some research on other pre-shave gels for the sake of comparison.

Afta Pre-Electric Shave

This is probably the most famous competitor of Williams Lectric Shave, and one of its major pluses is that it comes in a lotion form rather than a liquid, so it’s a bit easier to apply. It’s also a cheaper option than Williams Lectric Shave, so those who are on a very tight budget may want to check it out. Plus, Afta isn’t as oily feeling as Williams Lectric Shave, so if the oily feeling is off-putting for you, this is also a reasonable alternative.

However, Afta does get more negative reviews on its scent than Williams Lectric Shave’s fragrance so if you have a sensitive nose this may not be the best option for you. Plus, most reviewers say that Williams Lectric Shave works better at getting a closer shave than Afta does. Again, this is going to depend on your skin composition.

Lab Series Pre-Electric Shave

If you are a man with extremely sensitive skin, or if you are very sensitive to scents, then Lab Series Pre-Electric Shave may be a better option for you. Unlike both Afta and Williams Lectric Shave, Lab Series Pre-Electric Shave has no fragrance. This is also a major plus for men who may live with significant others with sensitive noses. Most reviewers report that the Lab Series Pre-Electric Shave has no off-putting scent.

However, Lab Series Pre-Electric Shave is also more expensive than any other option on the market because its ingredients are more expensive. While Lab Series Pre-Electric Shave works well and the ingredients list may be more desirable than that of other alternatives, you may find the price a bit too high for your liking.

Remington Face Save Powder

If you can’t use any sort of product on your face that contains alcohol, you may want to take a look at Remington Face Saver Powder. This is essentially compressed talcum powder in a stick, which makes it a lot easier to apply to your face. Like the alcohol-based pre-shave solutions, the Remington Face Saver Powder makes the hair stick out more and makes it easier to get a closer shave.

The main negative to the Remington Face Saver Powder is that it’s messier than many other pre-electric shave solutions. The powder tends to accumulate inside the razor, which makes removing it a bit of a mess (it will poof up into the air and get all over the floor). To avoid this, users often recommend letting it accumulate inside the razor for a bit and then emptying it outside. Plus, it’s important to use the brush that came with your electric shaver to brush out the hair and powder from the blades. Otherwise your blades will dull a lot quicker.

Pros and Cons of Williams Lectric Shave

One of the biggest pros of Williams Lectric Shave is that most reviewers report that it actually does work. The majority of people who use Williams Lectric Shave say that it makes shaving go by a lot faster and it reduces razor burn. A product that does what is advertised is generally a good product, right?

Plus, Williams Lectric Shave is pretty affordable. It’s not the cheapest pre-electric shave product on the market (that award generally goes to Afta), but it’s also not one of the most expensive options either. It’s also less messy than powders. Most men like the way it makes their faces feel, unless they have a specific dislike for the oily or plump sensation that Williams Lectric Shave gives.

The main negative is probably the scent. Again, most users reported that Williams Lectric Shave is far less offensive to the olfactory system than Afta is, but the fragrance is still pretty noticeably strong. How offensive this is depends on your nose (and the noses of the people that you live with).

Our Verdict on Williams Lectric Shave

Overall, we think that Williams Lectric Shave is a great value for the money and we were pleasantly surprised at how well it works. If you are looking to spend less time on your daily shave and want to get the closest electric shave possible, then we definitely recommend giving Williams Lectric Shave a try. If it doesn’t work for you, you won’t have wasted a lot of money, as it is not incredibly expensive. So we recommend giving it a try.

Incidentally, Williams Lectric Shave has other uses, as well. If you’re out working on the car and end up with grease on your hands, try using a bit of Williams Lectric Shave if you need to get it off quickly. Williams Lectric Shave’s formula is very grease-cutting (again, remember that it’s supposed to be removing the oil from your skin to improve the closeness of your shave) so it will do well in this particular situation.

Overall, it’s a good product, provided that you don’t have a sensitive nose or overly delicate skin. There were some testers who remarked that Williams Lectric Shave was irritating, but this is probably due to the alcohol content of the formula. If this is a problem for you, then we recommend a product like Remington Face Saver for a similar result.

Last update on 2023-12-28 at 05:00 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API