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Reviews
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Archives
June-July 2006
Too Short
"Life is
too short to be shaving with a crummy razor" - headline in the
Wichita Eagle, for a column, written by a woman.
July 31st, 2006
My Wished-For Nose Groomer
I
read recently that Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos informed an audience that
"the most-wished-for product" in the company's health and personal care
category is the Philips HeartStart home defibrillator.
Next is the Panasonic nose and ear groomer.
I don't (yet) need a defibrillator, but I am starting to need a nose
trimmer, so recently I invested A$9.95 (about US$7.50) in a "Carrera
Personal Trimmer" from my local Aldi supermarket.
It's a neat little unit, and unlike the beard trimmer (scroll down) that I
recently bought for exactly the same price, it actually appears solid and
well-made (though like the beard trimmer it is of course manufactured in
China).
I felt strange sticking a motorised accessory up my nose, but it did the job
well, and then it trimmed my ears as well. It can be washed under the tap.
I'll see how long it lasts, but my first impressions are that it is an
excellent little device, doing very well the job for which it is intended.
July 24th, 2006
What Did I Expect for $7.50?
I've decided to grow a beard again, and needed a beard trimmer. I found
one at the local Priceline (I live in Australia) for A$9.95 (about US$7.50).
It's actually a set - trimmer, holder, two batteries, brush, comb, scissors
and oil. It's billed as a product of "DaVinci
Team."
The initial problem was opening the container. It was in a display box with
a hard plastic front, and I cut myself on this plastic. Then I found that
several of the items were stuck to the box with a goo that is hard to
remove.
The trimmer unit is incredibly flimsy, but it works. I was able to give my
beard a reasonable trim. Just one problem. After I'd finished I could detect
a distinct oil odor. It seems oil from the trimmer had been applied to my
beard. A thorough wash was needed.
But $7.50? I can't really complain. Let's see how long it lasts.
July 17th, 2006
Gillette Fusion - Raging Success?
Advertising Age
reports:
Only five months into launch, Gillette's Fusion already is outselling
rival Energizer Holdings' entire razor business-women's and men's products
combined-and the company says it's on track to reach its goal of $1 billion
in global sales within two years. For almost any product, that would qualify
as a raging success, but Fusion's got a lot more to prove than most.
Read the report to find out why.
July 4th, 2006
The Romance of Road Travel
I've received an email from
Destination Nation, introducing their line of men's grooming products.
I've not used them myself, but here's what I was told:
Destination was founded on the principal that men needed products that
are technologically advanced with good quality ingredients in a form that is
easy and obvious to use.
We took that thought and created products with gentle aromas and quality
anti-oxidant ingredients. Unlike most grooming products, Destination-Nation
isn't overly regimented. Destination provides a simple, yet highly
effective, means for men to care for their hair, skin and body.
The romance of road travel and the natural diversity of the United States
inspired the Destination range. Every product represents a different area of
the United States.
June 30th, 2006
A Cut Above
Business 2.0 magazine reports on the splendid success of the
Art of Shaving business:
Part barbershop and part pampering spa, the Art of Shaving is pouncing on
the fast-growing men's grooming trend by appealing to consumer nostalgia.
Its 10 retail outlets - five of which have onsite barbers - are dedicated to
making men better shavers by getting them to trade in their Barbasol.
Though several premium shaving brands have emerged during the past few
years, the Art of Shaving is by far the most successful.
Last year the company booked a 15 percent net profit margin on more than $15
million in sales - half of which came from upscale department stores like
Neiman Marcus - pulling past hipper brands like $3 million Sharps Barber &
Shop and traditional lines like Truefitt & Hill.
...Even as the men's grooming market grows at a double-digit clip - sales of
prestige skin-care products rose 14 percent to $70 million in 2005 - the Art
of Shaving has averaged 30 percent annual sales growth throughout its
decade-long existence.
June 23rd, 2006
Neatly Prostrate and Minimally Styled - World
Cup Latest
The World Cup has kicked off, and the New York Times knows what's
important -
David Beckham's hair:
After England's 1-0 victory in its World Cup opener against Paraguay on
Saturday, won by a free kick mistakenly rebounded into the goal by the
opposing captain, the team was exhausted. A bigger disappointment, for
aesthetically minded soccer fans, was that Mr. Beckham's tresses — normally
the beau ideal of the soccer world's array of aggressively directional
haircuts — were just tired. His previous dos have included a frosted
fauxhawk, blond cornrows and a confection of rooster's peaks, but on
Saturday Mr. Beckham's hair was, like his game, neatly prostrate and
minimally styled. Mere gel, in soccer, is a letdown.
June 16th, 2006
Patriotism Is Best Expressed with Bad Skin
Men's moisturizing is coming "out of the closet" in the UK, according to
an amusing report in The Guardian, reprinted online in the Taipei
Times.
But not everyone is convinced:
Even the new, young, leader of the British Conservative Party, David
Cameron, who sports so many signs of modernity -- a pair of Converse on his
feet and an invitation to the Beckhams' pre-World Cup party in his pocket --
is resistant. Other than water, the only thing to touch his face, he says in
reply to our inquiry, is soap.
...For some, rejection of skin care is a matter of national pride. What, for
instance, does the Member of Parliament George Galloway apply to his face to
keep it looking so plump and glistening? "Nothing whatsoever," comes the
reply. "I'm a Scotsman."
The former editor of London's Daily Mirror Piers Morgan is another who
believes that patriotism is best expressed with bad skin: "I'm resolutely
British male about these things," he says. Author and journalist Will Self
goes further. "I don't have skin," he says, "only thick hide covered with
coarse fur."
June 9th, 2006
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