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Philips Norelco 8240XL Men's
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Philips Norelco 9160XL Men's
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Philips Norelco Arcitec
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Philips Norelco BG2020
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Philips Norelco
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Philips Norelco NT9110 Nose and
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Philips Norelco Speed-XL
     8140XL Men's Shaver
Remington Men's Shavers
Wahl Beard and Mustache Trimmers
Wahl Hair Kits and
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Archives

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