Many people have heard of the Venus Snap Razor.  It is a mini-sized razor manufactured by the Gillette company.  It sells for around $10 US. Gillette has promoted it as a “portable, compact razor”.  I used it at home and on travel for over a year.  I have found that it is a great little travel razor, especially after I made modifications for storage.

Gear Review – Venus Snap Razor (with modifications)

The Venus Snap comes with a single razor head, a handle, and a case.

The original Snap razor comes with a single razor head, handle, and carrying case.  One of the nice things about the razor is that it will accept any of the Venus line razor heads.  That means you can bring multiple spare razor heads for a single trip. A small slider button on the side of the razor handle pops the head off.  A new head easily snaps on to the handle. The razor is 3″ by 2″ when assembled (76mm x 50mm). That makes it about half the size of a regular disposable razor.  The TSA considers the razor carry-on friendly.

The original case has air holes to let the razor dry out. It protects the razor while making it available to the user.

A small button lets the razor head disconnect from the razor handle.

I found that the carrying case is nice for gym bags but is too large for travel.  I decided that I needed to repackage the razor for my travel kit. I took the razor apart and stored it in a small plastic pill bag. I punctured the plastic bag with several air holes. I also cut the bottom corners off of the bag. This lets air into the bag so the razor can dry out. The picture below shows that the repackaged razor is significantly smaller and lighter than the original case. I bought some spare razor heads and repacked them too. The razor and spare heads easily fit into my toiletry kit.

I put the disassembled razor into a pill sized plastic bag. it is much smaller than the original case.

I put two spare razor heads into a plastic pill bag. The repackaged razor and heads combined are smaller than the original case.

The ergonomic handle on the razor lets me shave differently than I would with a larger razor.  Most people hold the razor between their finger and thumb.  I found that I had more control when I cupped the small razor in the palm of my hand. My fingers provided better feedback on the location of the razor head. I found that I could shave faster using the new method.

Most people hold the razor in the traditional manner – between the thumb and the fingers.

I felt like I had more control when I cupped the razor in my palm. Three of my fingers are behind the razor, giving it more stability. I found that I’m less likely to nick myself holding the razor in this way.

The major negative of the Venus Snap is the lower quality of the razor blades.  These are clearly drugstore level blades and I have nicked myself a few times.  This usually occurred the first time I used a new blade.  I still think that this razor deserves a good review because of its small size and light weight. Just be careful the first time you use it!

 

Update January 25, 2022:

Someone from Reddit told me that Gillette Mach 3 razor heads fit the Venus Snap. I tried it out and it works wonderfully! The blades are much better than the original Venus blades.