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Reviews
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NEWS
Conquer Your Neck, Conquer the World
I live in Australia, so can't enter. But this "Conquer
your neck and conquer the world" contest looks great. It's sponsored by
Philips Norelco to promote their new arcitec shavers. First prize: a trip
for two to Alaska, Belize, or the Galápagos, including guided tours with a
National Geographic expert and "exciting adventures on land and sea".
December 7th, 2007
Second Puberty
Philips Norelco has launched its nose and ear hair trimmer, still so new that no reviews have yet been posted at Amazon.com.
You can watch at YouTube an amusing video about the product, titled "Second
Puberty, Every Man Goes Through It".
December 2nd, 2007
The Great Unspoken Truth about Men's
Toiletries
A journalist for
The Scotsman
discovers that the tide of manhood is turning:
Ironically, though, the great unspoken truth about men's toiletries is
that women are often the ones who buy them. Over 60 per cent of British men
don't even buy their own soap, never mind indulge in the delights of scrub.
Also, if they're in a relationship, they can easily develop a secret beauty
routine without ever having to venture out of the house. For many men,
grooming products have long replaced condoms as their worst chemist shop
nightmare, so why risk public humiliation when there is a never-ending
supply of everything you could possibly need in a bathroom cabinet near you?
Not long ago, I reached for my trusty apricot facial scrub (which I firmly
believe is the only thing preventing me turning into a rhino) only to find
the jar in disarray, as if a large bear had scooped out a pawful and made
off with it. The telltale detritus of used scrub was all over the basin and
most of the walls. When I confronted the nearest thing to a bear in my
household, he showed no remorse, which proves to me beyond all doubt that
the tide of manhood is turning.
September 12th, 2007
Create a Buzz for Braun
A PR release from
Braun:
Braun is challenging the country's brightest business school students to
create a buzz for the billion dollar brand. Known throughout the world for
its superbly designed and engineered electric shavers and household
products, Braun is seeking marketing plans for its electric shaver business
from students currently enrolled in some of the nation's highest-ranked
business schools. The winning marketing plan will be awarded $40,000 - to
help toward business school tuition.
September 11th, 2007
You Have the Rolex - But What about the
Nose-Hair Clipper?
Essentials for the male medicine cabinet, says the headline over a
photo-essay in Forbes magazine:
You have the Rolex Submariner, the summer home in the Hamptons and a
Porsche Boxter to get you there. Your degree from Harvard Business School
sits next to your latest plasma, digital whatever.
But do you have a pair of sleek nose-hair clippers?
"Some of the most business-savvy men tend to forget about health and
grooming essentials," says Vic Sosikian, owner and founder of the Los
Angeles men's day spa Mark Matthew. "Items like a good facial cleanser, a
pair of nail clippers or pain medication are an afterthought, but very
important [nonetheless]."
July 31st, 2007
Teaser
It's called a teaser ad, and that's exactly what it is - a 35-second
YouTube video for
"the new face of male shaving". Frankly, I haven't a clue what's being
promoted, though I assume it's a new shaver.
July 19th, 2007
Looking to Clean Up In Japan
The Boston Globe carries a fascinating report on
Gillette's attempts to sell the Fusion razor to the highly
discriminating Japanese.
June 25th, 2007
Esquire's Best
Esquire magazine features a
mini-survey of
shavers:
* Best Design - Axis Air
* Easiest Shave - Philips Norelco Arcitec
* Fastest Charge - Sanyo SV-RX10
* Editors Pick - Braun 360° Complete
June 20th, 2007
Exciting, But Not Messianic
I didn't know Popular Mechanics did shaver reviews. They've just
looked at the
new Braun Pulsonic, and they like it. A lot.
The arrival of Braun's new Pulsonic shaver is an exciting moment for
grooming, if not a messianic one.
June 12th, 2007
Japanese Men Want More Hair
Increasing numbers of Japanese are
growing facial hair, according to the Mainichi Daily News.
"In particular, a large number of baby-boomers (who have recently
retired) say they want to grow mustaches and beards. I guess they feel like
doing so after becoming free from their company life-styles," says Nori
Takeuchi, a spokesman for Kamisori Club, a shaving goods shop in the
Minami-Aoyama district of downtown Tokyo.
...In response to the trend, Tobu Department Store's Ikebukuro outlet opened
a space for shaving goods and combs for mustaches and beards, each priced at
about 10,000 yen [$83]. At Takashimaya Department Store's outlet in Tokyo's
Nihonbashi district, sets costing 100,000 yen [$830], made up of shavers and
devices to care for mustaches and beards, are selling well.
Propia, a wig manufacturer, put on sale 0.02-millimeter-thick false beards
and mustaches in summer last year. They are selling well and at some of its
outlets 200 or more are sold a month.
June 8th, 2007
How Neck Hairs Led to the Remaking of an
Icon:
Business Week previews the
forthcoming Arcitec electric shaver from Philips.
June 1st, 2007
Damn Close
The closest electric shave ever? asks Gizmodo about the
Braun Pulsonic:
I'm still a wet-shave kinda guy. The Pulsonic comes damn close, but
there's just no comparison. Where the Pulsonic wins is convenience. In less
than five minutes I can get a nice, close shave and not have to worry about
cuts. That alone would make me drop $200.
May 26th, 2007
Men's Grooming Quote of the Week
A press release from
CEO Poker:
"Executive poker players are the perfect target audience for men's
grooming products," says William Peraza, Jr., CEO of CEO poker. "We are
taking poker sponsorships to another level by integrating a men's fragrance
and skin care line through out the CEO poker series, which has never been
done before. We are expanding consumer product sponsorships for poker."
May 16th, 2007
Half-a-Billion Shavers
Philips Shavers has announced production of its
500 millionth
electric shaver.
In 1939, Philips launched its first electric shaver, ‘The Cigar’, to the
world....In 1959, to keep up with the explosion in consumer demand,
revolutionary new technologies such as floating shaving heads were
introduced and in 1978 the world’s first mains and rechargeable shaver was
launched....The current most popular selling Philips shaver is the HQ 8140
model retailing at $89.99.
May 10th, 2007
Shaving Cream Replaced
Move over ladies - it's time to share the mirror. The Herald Sun
belatedly discovers that
men's grooming is big in Australia.
The men's grooming market is booming, worth A$150-$200 million last
financial year -- excluding shavers -- and is expected to increase a further
40-50 per cent this year. Simple ranges of shaving cream and deodorant have
been replaced with male-specific cleansers, exfoliants, eye creams,
moisturisers and sunscreens.
Even cosmetic products such as concealer, bronzer and eye make-up are
finding their way into man-bags across Melbourne.
May 3rd, 2007
Shiseido Shaving Cream
 Is
this really the best shaving cream? Yes, according to
Men's Health magazine's third annual grooming awards.
April 25th, 2007
Men Like Things with Engines in Them
The Gillette Fusion five-blade razor makes a great target for
newspaper columnists short on material. Now it's the turn of Giles Smith
in The Times of London:
The consequences of fitting a genuine turbocharger to a razor blade do
not bear thinking about. Unsurprisingly, then, Gillette turned out to mean
by “turbo” a small battery-powered buzzer that caused the razor to emit a
dimly audible hum, like the noise of a fly head-butting a window in an
adjacent room.
Apparently the vibrations jiggle the hair follicles into a blade-ready
position, though little anecdotal evidence exists of this happening, leading
one to suspect that modern razors buzz principally because some bright spark
in marketing noticed that men like things with engines in them. See also
recent breakthroughs in toothbrush technology. The company that can patent a
plausible motorised lavatory paper stands to make a killing.
April 12th, 2007
Remington - More Viral Marketing?
I've written (scroll down) of the success enjoyed by Philips Norelco in
its viral marketing campaign for the Bodygroom body shaver. It seems
Remington is trying something similar. Check out its
Shed My Coat website.
March 20th, 2007
The Green Shave
The Green Options website introduces the
green shave:
I have to say that overall, the natural shaving soap didn’t provide quite
as smooth a shave as the conventional stuff. But I’m OK with it. As I said
earlier, it’s been tough for me to give up the trappings of the non-green
world when it comes to bath products, and so taking a step forward with
shaving soap is a big move for me. A little less comfort or smoothness on my
face is worth it to know I’m making a statement with my dollars not to
support the chemical-industrial world.
March 7th, 2007
Short and Succinct
The Seeking Alpha investor website carries a short but succinct guide to
men's grooming, Tips on
Getting a Close Shave. Some excellent links.
February 28th, 2007
Guys Who Say "Product" When They Mean "Stuff
You Put on Your Hair" Are Very Lucrative
Canada's Edmonton Journal carries a lengthy article, "Hello,
Alpha Male," on new trends in men's grooming. Nothing especially new,
but some fun quotes:
Quite simply, guys who say "product" when they mean "stuff you put on
your hair" are very lucrative to companies such as P&G. "The men's grooming
category is exploding," states Julie Marchant-Houle, P&G Canada's director
of beauty care...
Luckily for P&G, alpha males are still males, despite the profusion of shoes
in their closet or a willingness to pay upwards of $50 for a haircut. Males
like gadgets, so forget about those wimpy twin-tracks --how 'bout a razor
with five blades? And stick a battery in it while you're at it.
If the thought of holding a wet, vibrating razor to your throat -- with five
blades no less -- fills you with trepidation, you, my man, are a workboot
wearin' wimp. Alphas aren't afraid of a quintet of sharpened steel or scared
off the by the $16.99 pricetag for the Gillette Fusion Power Phantom
(complete with one cartridge and Duracell AAA battery).
February 19th, 2007
Bodygroom - Viral Marketing at Work
A couple of months ago I was contacted by a PR agency asking if I'd like to
receive a free
Philips Norelco Bodygroom body shaver. I declined, partly for ethical
reasons, partly because it's probably the last thing I need, and partly
because I'm in Australia, which I didn't think the PR guy had realised (so
there were postage and customs implications).
It seems this was the way the product was being promoted - by viral
marketing.
OMMA magazine explains:
Sometimes, the best Web tactic is to convince other people to sell for
you. Marketers for the Philips Norelco Bodygroom, a men's shaver designed to
trim hair all over the body,wanted to move a set volume of product on a
relatively small budget: less than $1 million....
Read on.
February 3rd, 2007
Stick to Blades
Consumer Reports takes a look at men's shavers, even though "none of our
panelists who typically used blades said they would switch to an electric
after trying some from our Ratings". The actual ratings are for subscribers
only, which probably doesn't matter, as the report also noted:
Electric shavers can be expensive to buy and maintain. Most cost at least
$60 and the top models run between $150 and $170. You'll need to replace
heads every six months to two years, at a cost of about $25 to $45. And once
the battery stops holding a charge, typically after a year or two, it's
often cheaper and easier to replace the whole shaver than the rechargeable
batteries. Even the best electric shavers don't shave quite as close as
blades, according to our tests.
January 17th, 2007
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