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4.0/5
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Gillette Venus Embrace Razor and Razor Heads Reviews
#1 in Razors

Description

Embrace Disposable razors are the first disposable razors to have 5 blades instead of the typical 3. Plus get 5 times more glide enhancers for an irresistibly close, smooth shave in just one stroke.

    3.5/5
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    Recommended? You Betcha!
    April 07, 2013

    I received this razor in the Product Review Club. I've used this on in the past because I've received it in sample packages before. I like it for the first shave, but after that, I don't find it as effective. The blades seem to get duller earlier than some of the other razor heads. Also, I don't like the feel of the handle in my hand that much. But overall, it is a decent razor, just one that I wouldn't go out and buy for myself, unless it was on sale.

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    4.7/5
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    Recommended? You Betcha!
    April 06, 2013

    I received these products free as part of ChickAdvisor's Product Review Club. Thanks!

    Venus razors are very good quality. There are several to choose from -- from the basic 3-bladed original Venus, to ones with shave cream bars included, and even ones that help moisturize your legs.

    I adore the Venus razors that have the built-in shave cream bars (Venus & Olay, Embrace, Pro-Skin). I don't like using typical shave cream because I find I always end up with half of it falling off my legs and ending up in the drain. These razors offer a simple, effective solution to that problem and leave my legs feeling smooth and soft. The Venus & Olay ones have five blades (the other ones have three), which I find makes shaving faster.

    I also really like the Embrace razor, which offers five blades and moisturizing strips. The handle has soft ridges and is very easy to grip, and the cartridge is wider than the 3-bladed razors, which helps cover a wider area. I have used this without shaving cream and still experience soft skin without nicks or razor burns, though I'd still recommend using cream or gel for extra softness.

    The original Venus and Venus Divine are good, though I like the extra perks the other razors offer. These ones are 3-bladed, and while they do a good job, I find I have to go over areas an extra time just to make sure all the hair has been removed. They also do not have the grips like the Embrace and Olay ones do. I would recommend them to someone looking for a simple, effective razor, and the Divine is nicely moisturizing.

    Aesthetically, I love the colours and designs of these razors, and the fact that they are interchangeable. In my opinion, they're the best-looking razors on the market.

    I don't think you can go wrong with these razors! I would especially recommend the Embrace and Venus & Olay, though they are all very good and most people will be able to find one that fits their needs.

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    3.5/5
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    Recommended? You Betcha!
    April 05, 2013

    I first of all want to say a big thank you to chick adviser and Venus for sending me these razors, in no way shape or form has this impacted my review.

    The first razor I tried was the Venus & Olay sugarberry razor. I found that this razor did an amazing job removing the hair as well as keeping my legs soft and smooth. Plus I really love the scent! I will definitely be repurchasing this one!

    After that I tried the Venus Pro-skin razor, which I also liked. The reason for this being that I found I didn't cut myself with the razor as often, Sometimes when going too fast with the razor I end up getting little cuts and such.

    The Venus divine razor i found a little lack luster. I vastly prefer a razor with shave gel bars, I just find that you get a closer and smoother shave. So this one was decent, but no where near my favorite.

    The Venus Breeze is an old favorite of mine, mostly due to the lovely scent of the shave gel bars. I found that the bars melted far to quickly with me though, leaving my razor a gooey mess after each use. Making this razor terrible to travel with. Other then that I really like this one too.

    The Venus Spa Breeze Razor also had a very nice scent and my beloved shave gel bars. I found that the shave gel bars didn't disintegrate the way the Venus Breeze did. So all in a good razor but not the best.

    The Venus & Olay razor was the razor I had been using for a few months prior to this review opportunity, and I can honestly say that I love it. It has left my skin smooth with little to no cuts. I would purchase this razor on my own.

    The Venus Embrace was really great because it has 5 blades, but no shave gel bars means that it wasn't my favorite. I always found my skin to be parched after I used this razor so i had to moisturize like nobody's business. This razor was a no go for me. Although I must say this would most likely be my pick for a good travel razor that didn't create mess.

    Finally my least favorite razor of all was the Original Venus. It had nothing on it to help moisturize my legs, so I ended up with lots of little cuts. I will not repurchase this razor.

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    4.2/5
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    Recommended? You Betcha!
    April 04, 2013

    I got these razors to test for free, courtesy of ChickAdvisor and Venus.

    I’ve never tried any Venus razors before, so I was really excited when I got these razors. For each razor that I tried, I gave it a score from 1 to 10, with 5 being average. Since I got them for free, these scores only reflect my perception of their overall quality – price excluded.

    The first razor I tried was the Olay & Venus razor in Sugarberry. It says that it does not require any shave gel, so I decided to test that claim out. Surprisingly, I found that the moisture bars provided more than enough lather for the blades to glide smoothly without fearing that I’d nick myself because of too much friction – just add some water, and you’re good to go! (Although if you’re going sans shave gel, it might be a bit hard to see which parts you’ve gone over already.) The moisture bars are pretty thick - a good thing, because I feel like they would be used up pretty quickly - and even though they also pivot up-and-down like the entire blade head, I found that I needed to press a bit when shaving in order to get the same close shave I’d get with a regular razor. Also, I found the scent pleasant, although unnecessary. Overall, I’d say that this razor is best suited for touch-ups – those spots that you found you’ve missed when you’ve finished showering but would rather not go back and reach for the shave gel and normal razor. I’d give this razor a 9/10.

    Next, I tried the Embrace razor, but after the luxurious (I’m serious) Olay & Venus razor, this razor seemed so… normal. I can actually feel the blades as I glide the razor along, which is a bit unsettling, and I just felt like this didn’t live to its hype, especially the “ribbon of moisture” claim – what IS the “ribbon”? I wasn’t sure if it was the blue or green part because when wet, they both feel slippery – but only because of the foam. I didn’t feel like either the blue or green parts would be particularly moisturizing on their own. I’m also not sure about its “Venus’ closest shave” claim any razor can be made to get the same “close” shave, if you just press a bit harder. The 5 blades also didn’t make that much of the difference, so overall, I’d give this a 6/10.

    The Divine razor felt even more primitive than the Embrace razor, since this one only has 3 blades. I was actually quite scared that I would nick myself when I was going over the back of my knees (so much so that my leg started shaking, haha) but thankfully, there were no casualties. There’s really nothing more that I can say about this razor, except that it’s absolutely average. Don’t bother with this one as there are so many other cheaper razors of the same quality out there! This one is a solid 5/10.

    My thoughts on the Spa Breeze and ProSkin razors are that they are pretty similar to the Olay & Venus razor, except that they didn’t feel NEARLY as nice. (Or I might have been biased towards the Olay & Venus razor since it was the first of the huge moisture bar variety that I tried, and I was blown away by it.) These two razors only have 3 blades (compared to Olay & Venus’ 5 blades), but I didn’t feel the difference. Maybe it was more the quality of the moisture bar – the ProSkin razor felt more lubricated and foamy before the Spa Breeze razor, but the Olay & Venus razor triumphs them both. Regardless, all 3 went over my underarms smoothly after they were foamy enough - there wasn’t even any tugging or pulling, which I’d normally get with shave gel and a razor! Although the design for the Spa Breeze and ProSkin razors look pretty much identical, the moisture bar on the Spa Breeze looked (and felt) more jelly-like, and hence it began gliding smoothly a bit later, than the Proskin one. Also, the scent of the Spa Breeze was a bit irritating – it smelt too much like chemicals and I could only stand in small doses. Thus, I’d give the Spa Breeze razor a 7.5/10 and the ProSkin one a 8.5/10. (The Spa Breeze would have been a 8/10 had it been unscented, which is probably what the Breeze razor is.)

    I didn’t get a chance to try the Original, Breeze, or (unscented) Olay & Venus razors due to time constraints on the review, but I hope to update this review later on to add my thoughts on those! (Although I believe that the Breeze and Olay & Venus are exactly the same as the Spa Breeze and Olay & Venus in Sugarberry, respectively, just unscented.)

    And since all the handles seem the same, I have to say that my favorite pairing would be the Olay & Venus in Sugarberry blades the Spa Breeze handle (go pink!).

    I would definitely recommend the Olay & Venus, Spa Breeze, and ProSkin razors to a friend, although I’d perhaps suggest the ProSkin razors a bit more because of its price (compared to Olay & Venus). All of the razors that I tested were very easy to use, but these three would especially be great for beginnings since it has the built-in moisture bar that would make accidentally cutting yourself very difficult. (Just remember that normal, no moisture bar razors don’t require as hard of a “press” when you’re shaving.) As for the Divine, but especially the Embrace, razors, I don’t think they’re worth it since they really aren’t that special and yet they aren’t that cheap. So I’d say either go with the huge moisture bar razors if you want to stick with Venus, or opt for a cheaper alternative (of a different brand).

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    5.0/5
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    Anonymous
    April 04, 2013

    Thank you to Gillette and Chickadvisor for selecting me to try out these razors! I was very surprised at the variety provided and excited to find one best for me.

    I started my shaving journey with the pink disposables that gave me really bad razor burn because I tried to use them more then once. I ended up buying a teen pack that came with a Venus Divine and I've been using Venus razors ever since. I tried out a Schick Intuition razor and it was horrible!

    I love the handle shape that the Venus line has because it's perfect for shaving the legs, I particularly like the ones that have the rubber grip to them. It's also nice to get a shower hanger, my previous razors never came with them.

    My favourite previous to the testing was the Venus Embrace. The five blades left a nice smooth shave with no irritation. I also felt I got more shaves out of the five blades then my previous 3 bladed cartridges.

    My new favourite after testing are the Venus and Olay razors, specifically in the Sugarberry Scent but they both performed the same so I liked them both! I don't like clutter in my shower (I know I'm probably part of a few females that don't have bottles of various products lining my tub) so I share shaving gel with my partner and as a result my legs smell quite manly. Sometimes if I'm in a rush I shave with the water running over my legs which allows the razor to glide a bit better and it's a lot faster. By using the Venus and Olay I liked that it gave me the moisture like I had used a shave gel and I could still shave under running water. I wasn't sure about the razors with the moisture bars attached since my experience with the Schick razor but I was surprised at how evenly the bars wore down and how moisturising they were. Oh also the smell! It was so nice to smell like fruity awesomeness than generic man smell.

    The Proskin, Spa Breeze, and Breeze also performed quite similarly with each other. I found the bars gave a much more of a gel like feel kind of like personal lubricant when it got wet. I like these razors a lot too, they got beat out by the Olay ones because these only had 3 blades.

    The Venus Embrace, what I've been using for the past year or so. I still like this razor a lot and it's cute that it came with a shower pod. I still have some of my older cartridges that I will most definitely go back to once I use up the 6 razors I opened to test.

    The Venus Divine and Original I didn't notice much difference between them even though the Divine has more moisture strips. These are still great razors and I would probably still be using the 3 blade cartridges had I not got to try the Embrace from a sample package. The handles for these aren't as nice and rubbery as the others but the shape is still the same which is nice.

    I like how all the blades come individually wrapped and you can mix and match handles and cartridges. Allows you to try out the different types of razors without having to buy a new handle each time.

    I also tried out my partner's Gillette Fusion razor thinking it would be like my Embrace but it wasn't. The handle was the major difference for me and also how far the head pivoted. Ergonomically it just wasn't for legs so I'll stick to my lady razors.

    I think the Gillette Venus line is a great selection of razors that cater to sensitive skin and close shaving. I've been a loyal user since the first time I tried out that Venus Divine and any foray into other brands have been a disappointment. My partner is also a steadfast Gillette user (he actually suggested I stop using those disposables and buy a Gillette) who also transitioned from a Mach 3 to a Fusion after getting one in a sample box.

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    4.7/5
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    Recommended? You Betcha!
    April 04, 2013

    I'd like to thank Venus razors and the Chick Advisor team for giving me the opportunity to test these razors for free! I was thrilled with the amount of product I was given to test; it was a great opportunity to try out the whole Venus line and find my favourite.

    Let me start by saying i've been using Venus razors pretty much since i've started shaving. I remember years ago when I got my first one, I was so excited because they were the new ‘cool’ thing to have. But it was more than just a fad! I loved my original Venus because it gave a really close shave that lasted for several days, was very easy to manipulate (especially for a first-time shaver), and I loved the idea of a reusable handle, which would cut down on costs by buying refillable cartridges. Since the original, though, Venus has come out with many new additions to their line, and once again i’m very grateful to ChickAdvisor for giving me the chance to test them all for free!

    My favourite Venus before this trial is still my favourite after: the Venus Embrace. I love this razor because it gives such a clean and close shave; 5 blades hug your skin and the moisture strips let it glide very easily and without irritation. I never have razor burn from this razor, and it gives a cut & nick-free shave. I love the colours on this razor as well - the blue and light green are very cute together, and I like the suction-cup shower pod that comes with it. It’s perfect for housing all my extra cartridges.

    My second favourite is one I had never tried before, and that’s the Venus & Olay Sugarberry Scent. I really love that you don’t need shaving cream or soap with this razor. You simply wet the head, which has two large Olay moisture bars, and go! The bars lather your skin before and after the blades touch it, leaving you with a smooth shave that is completely no-prep! The only downfall to this razor was I found the moisture bars didn’t last very long, and I couldn’t get as close a shave as I wanted because the moisture bars prevented me from pressing into my skin with the my usual firmness. They do move out of the way, but I felt I was lacking that pressure for a really close shave. That being said, the scent of this is truly delicious (close your eyes and sigh good!) and I love that it’s a very quick way to shave - perfect for doing my underarms every day (because I always shave them everyday!), but i’ll save my legs for my Embrace. I liked the shower hook because it was quite inconspicuous while hanging in my shower, but there’s no place to put extra cartridges.

    The Venus & Olay was the exact same experience, just a different scent (vanilla cream) and coloured handle (yellowy gold/white).

The Pro Skin, Breeze, and Spa Breeze were all a very similar shaving experience. All have moisture gel bars so you don’t need shaving cream, but I found them slicker than the creamy lather I experienced with the Olay bars. Again, I felt I couldn’t get as close a shave I wanted because of these moisture bars, and these razors have 3 blades so I think I was underwhelmed when compared to the 5 blades of the Olay heads.

    The Venus Divine and the Venus Original served me well for the first few years of my shaving life, but after experiencing the shave that 5 blades give, I just can’t go back to 3!

    Overall, I will continue to use Venus razors as I always have, as I truly believe they are a great product. Now with such an inventive and full line, everyone is sure to find a favourite! All of them have detachable heads that can be replaced, and you can use any handle with any blade, which makes mixing and matching your favourite colours really easy, and also gives you the opportunity to try out different blades without buying a new handle each time. The handles are all comfortable to grip as they have squishy parts along with hard plastic, so you can get a good firm grasp without it hurting your hand. All the razor heads have great maneuverability to get a close shave even around tough spots like the ankle/knees, and not once did I hear that awful “shreek” of razor on dry skin!

    So for now I think 2 razors will always be in my shower: my Venus Olay Sugarberry for quick touch-ups and everyday underarm shaves, and my Venus Embrace for my legs, or whenever I want a nice close shave. I would definitely recommend Venus to anyone looking for a good, easy-to-use razor, from someone who is just starting to shave to someone who’s been shaving for years.

    Thanks again Chick Advisor, testing these was a blast!

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    4.0/5
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    Anonymous
    April 04, 2013

    First off I’d like to thank the ChickAdvisor team and Gillette Venus razors for choosing me to do this incredible review.

    I have tried a few different Gillette Venus razors in the past, so I had a pretty good idea of what some were like before I even received all of them. There are eight different Gillette Venus razors and blades. So with this many to choose from you’re sure to find one that you’ll fall in love with. The nice thing about the refillable razors is that you can interchange the blades and handles finding a combination that you will love in their refillable line.

    The Venus Breeze, Venus Spay Breeze, Venus Pro Skin Moisture-Rich, the Venus & Olay and the Venus & Olay Sugarberry blades all have top and bottom shave gel bars. Each of their handles is a slight bit different, but each one gives you a nice grip.
    The Venus Breeze razor shave gel bars have rich body butter and a very nice tropical scent to them and it has three blades. The Venus Spay Breeze blades have a nice white tea scent to the shave gel bars and it also has three blades. This one just happened to come with a magnet for your fridge. I’ve already reviewed this one and that full review can be found here, http://www.chickadvisor.com/item/venus-spa-breeze-razor/

    The Pro Skin cartridges have Moisture Rich shave gel bars on the top and bottom of its three blades. I’ve also review the Venus Pro Moisture-Rich razor in the past and that review can be found here, http://www.chickadvisor.com/item/gillette-venus-proskin-moisturerich-razor/

    The Venus & Olay razor and the Venus Olay sugarberry razor both have five blades and top and bottom shave gel bars. The Venus & Olay shave gel bars release skin conditioning moisture to help lock in the moisture on your legs. The Sugarberry blades also moisturizes and exfoliates your legs how ever they have a wonderful sugarberry scent to them. Each one of these razors comes with a suction cup shower hook. This makes them easy to stick up in your shower in a convenient place for you and they’re easily removed when it comes time to clean your bathroom.

    I found each one of these Venus razors handles with the shave gel bars to be comfortable in my hand and easily handled. I had no problems with them slipping out of my hand when wet. Some handles are soft from the top to the bottom and some have harder plastic through out their handles with rubbery grips. Each one of these razors was fine under my arms and the three blade razors did a fair job, but I found the five blade razors to be a bit better. How ever that wasn’t the case with my legs with either of the razor blades that have the shave gel bars on them. I found that I had to go over the same spots a few times to get all of the hair removed from my legs. I also found that the bars on each of these seem to melt down past the blades with in a few shaves, leaving them pretty much useless, even though the blades were still plenty sharp enough to continue using. Some bars also seemed to get gooey witch I didn’t care for. This disappointed me because I feel if you’re going to spend that much on razor blades then I’d expect the bars to at least last as long as the blades stayed sharp. Even though I liked how each of these blades with the shave gel bars worked to a point and how they left my legs feeling smooth and soft, for this reason and this reason alone I wouldn’t buy more refill blades of this type or recommend them.

    The other three I received were the Venus, Venus Divine and the Venus Embrace.

    The Venus razor comes with a comfortable handle that is made up of a harder plastic, but it has a nice nonslip soft grip closer to the bottom of its handle. The Venus cartridges are smaller across and it only has three blades but, it does have protective cushions along the top and bottom of the blades. It comes with a shower compact that has double sided tape on the back of it to hang it in your shower. I didn’t care for this, but it does hold your razor and refill blades all in one nice convenient place. The Venus Divine also has three blades, but the blades have top and bottom moisture strips that have a touch of botanical oils that helps you to get a close smooth shave.

    The blades on these two are a lot smaller across then the blades with the shave gel bars are and I found the Venus Divine’s handle to be pretty much the same as the Venus handle. This one also came with the same type of compact and is attached to your shower wall in the same manor, so you can store your razor and extra blades right in your shower with this one as well.

    These two did a good enough job on both my legs and my under arms. I never received any nicks or cuts, but I didn’t care for their smaller razor blades and the fact that they only have three blades.

    The Venus Embrace also has a soft non-slip razor handle how ever it has five blades and top and bottom ribbons of moisture giving you a smooth gliding shave. I found the Venus Embrace blades to be much wider then the rest of this line. This can help you to cover more area and remove more hair in one swipe. I’ve used and reviewed this one in the past and if you’d like to read my full review you can do so here on the third page at this link, http://www.chickadvisor.com/item/gillette-venus-embrace-razor/?page=3#reviews

    I liked all of these different Venus Gillette razor handles and found the three blades razors did do a nice job, but the five blade razors did the best job on my legs and under arms.

    My handle pick has to be the one I found to have the softest handle, witch is the Venus & Olay handle and my blade pick is the Venus Embrace. I love how wide the blades are and how it has five blades to cover more area.

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    5.0/5
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    Anonymous
    April 03, 2013

    I will start off by thanking Venus and ChickAdvisor for giving me the opportunity to test these products.

    I was so pleased with the quality of each of the razors in their entirety but also the fact that I can customize them whichever way I like.

    The handles on some of these razors are fantastic! I always have issues with being able to hold on to my razors in the shower (maybe that's just me?) but when I used these each one was fantastic. My favorite was the Venus Embrace and the Venus & Olay handles. The ridges in them and the rubbery material used made it impossible to slip out of my hand which means no nasty nicks!

    I am not a huge fan of the razors loaded with moisture bars for the sole reason that I still need to use shaving cream, I think my skin may be a little sensitive. They are a little bulky and the bars just get a little too soft and mushy. I must say however that it is the best to use when I am traveling so I can just quickly shave my legs and not have to worry about carrying any extra shaving cream so if convenience is a factor I do use these ones.

    I was pleasantly surprised to have rediscovered the original razor, although I didn't love the handle as much, for a razor with 3 blades it was fantastic. It still managed to give me a close shave and its nice and gentle. I did not care for the holding package that you have to stick on the wall as it did not do the job.

    My favorite was the Venus Embrace, the pod was so convenient as it holds razors and the moisture bar was not huge and overbearing like some of them can be so it was just the right compromise. The shave was so close and left my legs really smooth.

    I have always either purchase cheap blades or refill ones that don't seem to be any more special but I have definitely found my new brand of razors as they make my legs extra smooth and I don't cut myself nor does the blade ever slip out of my hand! Venus embrace it is :) I will be recommending this for sure.

    Oh and I must mention that these scents were all very pleasant and not overbearing.

    Updated On: April 03, 2013

    I almost forgot to mention the products were given to me to test at no charge, thanks again!

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    5.0/5
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    Recommended? You Betcha!
    April 03, 2013

    I received these products free to test.
    I was so amazed with what a large variety I got when I opened the package. Thanks so much!!!
    I found my overall experience with this series was amazing!!! I loved how these razors shaved so smoothly and I did not get one nick when trying these out. I love all the handles and found them easy to use. Though each blade was great I did like the ones with the 5 blades the best. I found it gave the best shave and left my legs the smoothest. My favorite blades were the Gillette Venus with the Olay sugar berry scent and Gillette Venus embrace. I really love how the gel strips left my legs feeling so nice. I will purchase these and pass on the product information to friends.

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    5.0/5
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    Recommended? You Betcha!
    April 03, 2013

    I received the Venus razors free to test thanks to Chick Advisor and Venus!

    I must say, I love all these razors because they have a very comfortable handle and the razors with the moisture bars are very efficient because it takes one step out of the process of shaving. I have a confession: I use razors meant for men, because I find that you get a much closer shave than a woman's razor. However, the 5 blades most of these razors have to offer did a perfect job and I can officially say I will no longer be using a man's razor because who wouldn't want what a razor meant for a man can give you, while smelling amazing? :) Out of all the razors I tested, the sugar berry scented Venus and Olay 5 blade razor is the best. The smell is amazing and the handle is very comfortable. I wrote a lengthier review on that razor so if you are interested to see how the razor works, feel free to check that out.

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    These reviews are the subjective opinions of ChickAdvisor members and not of ChickAdvisor Inc.