Saturday, February 17, 2007

Regression

Remember then the two bladed razors with "suspension" came out (like the sensor excel)? I watched the commercials and distinctly remember seeing a close-up of a few whiskers being cut. From the close-up, it was clear that the first blade missed the whole bottom part of the whisker. But, thankfully, the second one came along and got it all.

Whew! Good thing it had the second blade, I thought. I better get one.

I used one of these for a long time. Sure, one stroke wasn't quite enough... I would usually end up shaving a few times with the grain and then a few more against, but I like a really close shave. It worked pretty well. Sure the blades are $2 each, but sometimes that's just the price you need to pay.

Then they came out with one with three blades. And right in time, it seems. New animation technology made it possible to determine that while it had seemed that the second blade in fact got the whole whisker, it left some, too. The good news was that they introduced a new razor with three blades. Talk about timing it right for the market - amazing!

When I tried one of these, I noticed there were some drawbacks, though. These blades were even more expensive, but didn't seem to last any longer. And, while you would think it would reduce the number of passes need by a third, it didn't seem to quite work out that way. And it was starting to feel a little more like shaving with someone else holding the razor... not much precision, since it was so wide. In fact, I couldn't even shave properly under my nose. So yeah, I tried it, but stuck to the two-bladed ones.

And it's gone on since then. Four blades, batteries... I think there's a new one that includes an ape who will sign obscenities at you when you cut yourself. And I just saw an add for the Gillette Fusion which has, as far as I can tell from the commercial, 11 blades. It's about 8 inches wide. In the animation, it's at least clear that (finally!) we have the technology to get the last of that whisker in one stroke. Or at least that what I assume... it takes about 3 minutes to get to the end, so I've actually never finished watching. And since it's about the same size as a tennis racket, they've actually added another blade on the back so you can fit it to shave under your nose. Word on the street is if having an additional blade on the back does not prove to be dangerous enough, they have a plan in the works to be able to ship it with blades actually in the handle. Of course, the blades are $27 each, and you have to know the secret handshake to get them unlocked from behind the counter at the store.

Whatever. I'm growing a beard. I'll post picture in August so you can see how it's coming.

6 comments:

troyhead said...

A beard was my answer to the fact that I hate shaving. Actually, it was Shara's. My answer was to look really scruffy and then just use a bear trimmer to reduce the scruff from time to time. But Shara's solution was a bit of a compromise, as I still have to shave around the edges to keep things neat.

As you can tell, I hate shaving. Doing it even once a week, whether I need it or not (usually I'm past due after 3 days), angers me. So any new breakthrough in shaving technology that will make it more comforable is welcome by me.

I had the two-blade Sensor, and then went to three. It turns out, one of the best things about the Mach3 is not that it has three blades, but that you can rinse the blades from the front and back because of the way the handle attaches to the blade. (this becomes a concern when you are whacking off a week's worth of scruff). And I don't know what sort of special coating goes on the Mach3 Turbo blades, but I think I have only cut myself once or twice in the years I have been using it.

When the 11-bladed Fusion came out, I had to try it. Could shaving be less-bad? I had to see.

As it turns out, it isn't less bad, it's more bad. When they say "five times the closeness" they forget to mention "five times the irritaion." I think a disposable Bic razor feels better.

Darryl said...

I've gone kind of the same route, in terms of equipment: I use disposable bic or gillette reazors with the little aloe strip built in - then I can shave in the shower, don't need to use shaving cream, can travel with them easily and they cost less and last longer than the sensor excel blades. I don't know why the price difference is so big, honestly...

troyhead said...

I tried the shaving in the shower thing, but when you're as blind as I am (and you can't wear glasses in the shower), some spots end up getting missed. =P

Michelle2 said...

& how's the beard coming along, Darryl?? :) Do we have to wait until august to see...?

Michelle2 said...

p.s. I don't speak / read german, and for some reason the instructions I see on my screen are in German. SO no idea if I have posted the comment correctly. hmmm...

Darryl said...

Michelle - so nice to see your name showing up here! And for the beard, you didn't see it last night? I'm shocked and slightly offended... I figured I was more or less looking like a mountain man already. Maybe one more week. Or month. *sigh*

To get your display in English, you have a couple of options. To change it globally, go into the control panel, click on regional and language options, and then select your location to be the US and apply. To just change it for the blogger site, go to www.blogspot.com, and you should get a page in German. Look for "sprache" and then you'll be able to choose to have it displayed in the language of your choice.