Removing unwanted body hair has been a part of human hygiene since the dawn of history. Over the centuries, this practice has served to denote everything from high-ranking social status to acts of contrition. And as the tradition of shaving has evolved in step with global culture, so too have the tools of the trade.
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Whether you think shaving is relaxing, an art form for you to master, or a miserable time sink, you probably still have to do it, and anything worth doing is worth doing well. Hopefully some of our favorite products get put to good use making your face a bit smoother, and we can’t wait to hear your recommendations in the comments.
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If you’re taking your first steps out into that brave new world of electric razors, with all the various features and price points, it can all be a bit bewildering. The Philips Norelco Click & Style is for newbies, with everything you could need to start, and nothing more confusing than that. More »
Sure, shaving accessories like self-cleaning stands, high-RPM heads, and gaggles of trimmer attachments are cool and all, but not everybody needs or wants all that. For anyone that’s just looking for a solid shave without a bunch of bells and whistles, check out the Remington F5800. More »
Electric razors have always had a bit of a bum rap, derided for being louder and less efficient than a “real” blade. But today, electric razors look more like Jetsons props than mid-century mechanizations. We collected and tested four of the best shavers on the market. Here’s what made the cut. More »
The Bonsai is gadget with a soul, one that hopes to make a global difference by changing the way we go about an activity many do on a daily basis. It’s a shaving accessory, and it’s being funded via Indiegogo right now, with creator Craig Battin and his team looking for $125,000 to turn their final prototype into a production shipping device.
The Bonsai is a razor rinsing device, one that can save up to 99 percent of the water the average person uses rinsing out their blade under a running tap. It’s essentially a cup, one that you fill with a set amount of water at the beginning of your shave, which then creates a spray via high-pressure circulation of water. It also filters out hair and other debris, which you can then dump when you’re done.
Battin explained via email that growing up in Las Vegas, the need to conserve water was ever-present, hence his fascination with this problem in particular.
“I can remember driving over Hoover Dam with my family on the way to Arizona and seeing the “bathtub ring” of Lake Mead grow and grow, and it was very alarming to me,” he explained. ” At the most severe point in the ongoing drought, I believe the lake level had dropped by 120 feet. When I joined the workforce after college, I was forced to shave frequently, and I was always bothered by how much water I wasted each day. That was the genesis.”
While the water conservation aspect drove the Bonsai’s initial development, Battin and his team quickly turned their attention to other areas of concern. These prompted the design of the filter to get rid of gunk that can clog drains, especially with daily shaving, and also the way the Bonsai actually blends your shaving cream with the rinse water as you go to create a solution that’s easier on your face since it’s oiling your razor as you go. The project will also offer an oil that you can use in combination with the Bonzai to enhance that effect. Battin explained that too much attention has been focused on razors, hence the lack of forward movement in terms of changes to the way we actually shave.
“It seems like we’ve been riding this trajectory where the only feasible innovations involve the physical razor or the blades, so you end up with things like vibrating handles and lethal 6-blade cartridges,” he said. “I think the lack of disruption has everything to do with where the focus has been, and the fact that consumers really don’t have many alternatives.”
Of course, the Bonzai also saves money by saving water, and Battin claims, by extending the life of your razor blades. It’s powered by a rechargeable battery and works both in and out of the shower. The gadget is available during the Indiegogo campaign for a pledge starting at $79, and the team estimates they’ll begin shipping devices by July 2013. If you’re a slave to the shave, as most of us likely are, you could do worse than to back this project and its aspirational goal of cutting down on the environmental toll it takes for us to clean up our ape-like faces and bodies.
Just when I think that I could find no more weird gadgets from Japan, along comes yet another ridiculous invention that’s designed to solve a single, decidedly first-world problem – unruly men’s eyebrows.
Just place the Men’s Eyebrown Shaving Guide over the bridge of your nose, and let it grip onto your face like a headcrab. Once in place, you brush any excess eyebrow hairs to the outside of the guide and then trim them.
I had no idea that this was really a problem that was in need of a solution, but if you’re obsessed with manscaping and having perfectly symmetrical, dainty eyebrows, then whip out your credit cards and head over to the Japan Trend Shop, where you can grab the Men’s Eyebrow Shaving Guide for $33(USD).
They say sometimes the cure is worse than the disease, so maybe just living with bushy out of control eyebrows is a better alternative than this trimming guide face mask? It claims to give you perfectly shaped eyebrows, but at what cost? More »
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
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