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March 2006
Can New-Fangled Technology Give an
Old-Fashioned Shave?
Can you still find an old-fashioned shave? asks the
Daytona Beach News-Journal. Well, yes, apparently so, though one
old-timer admitted that the new technology is also pretty good:
Arden Shaw has been in the barbering biz for 55 years.
His shop on Woodland Boulevard in downtown DeLand is less of a shop, and
more of an institution.
When he first opened, Shaw said it was quite common for men to come in
seeking a shave.
These days, not so much.
Most men don't have the time for a straight shave -- a process that lasts
about 20 minutes.
On a recent visit, an ever-modest Shaw insisted that you can get a pretty
good shave at home, thanks to those newfangled razors like the "Fusion."
March 29th, 2006
No-One Talks to the Bald Man
Fun story in the
Asbury Park Press about Howard Brauner and how "embracing his
baldness" led him to launch the Bald Guyz line of line of men's grooming
products.
Quote:
"No one talks to the bald man except to tell him how to grow hair,"
Brauner said.
About $1.7 billion is spent annually on various hair-regrowth products,
Brauner said, and about 35 million American men sport the classic
horseshoe-shaped male-pattern baldness, while perhaps another 3 million to 5
million shave their heads voluntarily as a matter of style.
"We created a category that didn't exist," said Brauner, a veteran of
consumer-product development. "We have a huge consumer base that no one's
been speaking to."
March 24th, 2006
Start Exercising Your Shaving Arms
Even The Economist can't resist a dash of cynicism over the five
blades of the
Gillette Fusion Shaving System, under the headline - yawn - "The Cutting
Edge":
Shavers are going to get more blades whether they need them or not.
However, just like Moore's law—the observation that computer chips double in
power every 18 months or so—it seems that technology as well as marketing
determines the rate at which new blades are introduced.
It is simply not possible to add a new blade whenever the marketing
department wants one. Every additional blade, explains Michele Szynal, a
spokeswoman at Gillette, adds weight and size to a razor. Firms must
therefore find ways of making both razor and blades lighter, which means
thinner blades, more closely spaced, made of special materials, with new
coatings.
So what does the future hold? With only five data-points, it is hard to be
sure exactly which mathematical curve is being followed. If it is what is
known as a power law, then the 14-bladed razor should arrive in 2100. The
spate of recent innovation, however, suggests it may be a hyperbola. In that
case, blade hyperdrive will be reached in the next few years and those who
choose not to sport beards might be advised to start exercising their
shaving arms now.
March 18th, 2006
The Electric Razor - 75 Years and Counting
I thought everyone - given the choice
- would prefer a hand razor over an electric one. Not so, according to the
Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, which celebrates the
75th anniversary of the electric razor with interviews with men about
their shaving preferences.
March 18th, 2006
Gillette Fusion - Lopping Lawyers
Fun quote from
TV Guide:
You have to say this about the Gillette Fusion razor: It sure is
efficient, swiftly lopping two lawyers from the ranks of NBC's "The
Apprentice", as Stacy Schneider and project manager Jose "Pepi" Diaz got
sent packing last week.
Background: contestants on "The Apprentice" had to devise innovative ways to
publicize the Fusion razor.
March 14th, 2006
Now the Nine-Blade Razor
NetNewsAsia introduces the revolutionary new
Nuke9 nine-blade razor.
March 13th, 2006
Fusion a Hit
The Gillette Fusion shaving system was apparently responsible for 55% of all
new razor purchasers in just the four weeks after its launch. According to
the
MSN Money website:
Gillette expects Fusion to be a $1bn brand within three years. [Its
predecessor] Mach3 has generated retail sales since launch in 1998 of $16bn
– equivalent to the entire gross domestic product of Uruguay.
March 11th, 2006
Drawing the Line between Metrosexuality and Insufferable Vanity
You can usually rely on the LA Weekly for some fun writing, and I
enjoyed the intro to this (also enjoyable) feature on
men's beauty salons:
 The
line between metrosexuality and insufferable vanity is razor-thin. None of
the guys I know want to identify with a group of product-obsessed
narcissists who don’t like to get their hands dirty, and they’re even less
comfortable with the idea of going to a spa. No wonder these otherwise
style-conscious chaps continue to scrub their faces with Zest.
But guess what? Male skin needs TLC as much as a woman’s does – and four new
salons in town aim to give a guy the royal treatment without making him feel
like a queen. And if he starts feeling too precious as scented lotions are
gently massaged into his temples, he can always ask for another beer.
March 11th, 2006
Fusion Fever Hits UK
What is it about shaving and razors that seems to bring out the novelist in
humble journalists? A month ago Canada's Toronto Star published a
massive story on the new Gillette Fusion shaving system. Now comes
Britain's The Independent with an
equally huge feature.
It's ostensibly all about the planned launch of the Fusion in the UK later
this year, but it also contains a lot for trivia buffs. A sample:
The market for "grooming involved" men, as those fussy about shaving are
called in the industry, is vast. Unless al-Qa'ida takes over the world any
time soon, it will only get bigger. About 1.7 billion men remove facial
hair, 1.3 billion of them with blade and razor. Each of those customers
shaves 20,000 times in a lifetime, spending 139 24-hour days removing 27ft
of facial fuzz. Seventy per cent of those 1.3 billion wet shavers,
furthermore, favour Gillette over its hated rival, Wilkinson Sword, a
company founded in 1801 as George III's preferred bayonet supplier.
March 10th, 2006
One Heavenly Shave
I wrote
a couple of weeks ago about how bloggers seemed to be giving objective
reviews to the new Gillette Fusion shaving system, while the mainstream
media generally mocked. Well, along comes the
Richmond Times-Dispatch to prove me - well, not wrong, but perhaps a
little too sweeping. The article is titled: "5 blades, 2 cheeks, one
heavenly shave," and it is full of praise:
When Gillette announced last September that it would release the Fusion,
it was "shear" excitement. Clever.
The five-blader hit shelves in January, slapping on a comfort guard and "Lubrastrip"
that fades to white when "optimal shave conditions have been reduced."
Fusion's five blades are spaced 30 percent closer together than Mach3
slicers, creating an "inter-blade span" that Gillette says better
distributes shaving force across the trimmers. As a result, users experience
less irritation and more comfort.
....While it makes for good humor to comment on how ridiculous the concept
of a five-blade razor is, the truth is the tool works.
My cheeks have been slightly more sensitive and I find myself using more
after-shave lotion to chill the burn, but the end result is a closer,
smoother shave.
Gillette has taken its single-blade heritage and flipped it to the back of
the pivoting head, making for a great idea that really works to hit
sideburns and maneuver around the schnoz.
But even this writer cannot avoid ending with a note of mockery:
Higher price is the Fusion's main downfall. Does the individual consumer
notice enough difference to keep paying a few bucks more?
It's a serious question that Gillette executives will likely ponder before
any possible rollout of the PlutoniumHawk X-4 Power, the world's first
two-handed, 10-blade razor with four aloe, vitamin E, C and D strips.
And a car battery.
March 7th, 2006
Aging Gracefully
 Sixty-three-year-old
Scottish comedian Billy Connolly (left) jokes about aging disgracefully. But
that's not what they want in
Colorado:
As baby boomers age, there's a ramped-up focus on beauty, looks and
grooming, said Janette Barredo, public relations director for The Art of
Shaving, which opened its first Colorado store at the Cherry Creek Shopping
Center this week.
More men are also increasingly shopping for the products, said Barredo. The
Art of Shaving caters strictly to men, and most sales come from males
between 30 and 60.
"They're getting to a certain age in their lives; aging gracefully is of
great importance," she said.
March 6th, 2006
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