AdAge: U.S. Consumers Cut Down on Razor Use

Here's an interesting article from AdAge about the decline in razor sales.

[...] the real factors behind the slowing of the $3 billion-plus shaving business are an aging population, a decline in men shaving and better products that last longer, according to a recently released report by market-research firm Mintel.

I know all you conspiracy theorists are having a problem with that last one. Better shaving products that last longer? My foot! But apparently the latest Fusion and Quattro really last longer.

Another reason for the decline in sales is that young men are shaving less of their face, or shaving less period. It's more acceptable to have a "stubbled look", or to shave every few days. I'm in the latter camp. I rarely shave every day. Thanks more tolerant society!

And what about older men?

Older men and women need to shave less because of hormonal changes. And older people, particularly men, prefer electric razors because they're easier to handle, said Kat Fay, editor-senior analyst on the Mintel project.

My recent anecdotal evidence suggests this might be true. Got my father-in-law a Pulsonic and he loves it.

More good reading with some hard numbers from AdAge here.

Get Paid to Shave in Andover, MA

I gotta admit this looks a little sketchy, but sometimes these things are legit. We received this email from a marketing specialist today about Shave4Cash.com, a site looking for male shaving test subjects. "Hey guys, you have to shave anyway. Why not get paid for it?" Looks like you can earn between $100 and $250. Not a bad haul. The deal is you have to get yourself to Andover, Massachusetts.

If you're interested, you can take the mini survey on the site, but in the end you'll need to call their toll free number 1-800-874-7550. That's all the info we've got.

Who knows? Maybe you'll test shave the latest mutliblade high velocity razor from Gillette. World Shaving Headquarters is only a few miles south on 93.

A Cyclist's Gude To Shaving Your Legs

If you're into cycling, and you've got hairy legs, here's a useful video and article from CoachLevi.com, "Official Website of Coach Levi, Cycling Coach". (Hmm, sounds like I'm supposed to know who that is.)

Anyway, coach (I like to all him "coach") walks you through the basics of shaving your legs, from getting over the initial mental block, prepping your legs with some clippers, lather, shave, moisturize. Lots of sage advice for the avid cyclist, such as:

So grab your razor and some shaving cream, and take a seat on the side of your bath tub. The shower works, too, but it's much easier to shave your legs while seated! (Shaving your legs in the shower is like juggling knives while standing on a stability ball - it takes practice and balance.)

We'll learn how to shave while standing on a stability ball tomorrow. Today, your assignment is to read coach Levi's how-to and then report back on your own stream-lined legs. Now drop and give me 20!

Cooking Tip: Peel Carrots With A Disposable Single-Blade Razor

Do I need to start a cooking category on this website? Here's a cute little tip from chef Graham Elliot Bowles courtesy of Food and Wine magazine.

"I use drugstore razors for peeling delicate vegetables, like baby carrots, because they waste less," explains Graham Elliot Bowles, who will be opening Graham Elliot in Chicago this summer.

I just looked at the menu for Graham Elliot restaurant, and aside from the mildly annoying music, I'm hungry! "Spring pea bisque: carrot marshmallows, pea tendril salad, pickles carrots, lavender yogurt drizzle." Mmm mmm mmm. I can just taste the disposable razor.

June 2008 Wrap Up for Shaving Stuff

Kind of crazy to think we're midway through the year, but today is July 1st. We're looking forward to shaving with products from Peter Thomas Roth this month, but first, let's look back and see what we learned.

Reviews

Most of June was spent revisiting John Allan's products, which continue to be rock solid. If you missed any of our reviews, we've got five of them. Shave shaving cream, Splash after shave, Scrub exfoliant, Face replenishment moisturizer, and Matte styling pomade. All first rate products. All highly recommended.

We also had a couple of reader reviews - the first of the
MANGROOMER Do-It-Yourself Electric Back Hair Shaver, and the second of Barbasol Ultra Sensitive Skin Shaving Cream and Balm. Don't take my word for it. Seriously, I didn't write these.

Contests

A big thanks again to our partner Philips Norelco for the ShavingStuff/arcitec contest where we gave away five razors. Congrats again to our two mailing list winners and our three write-in winners who had the guts to bare all and share their shaving stories. Read the winning first, second, and third stories here.

Misc

While the early part of the month was dominated by Fathers Day gift suggestions, we did have a few articles worthy of note. One astute Shaving Stuff reader wrote in that Proraso products are now at Bath and Body Works under the C.O. Bigelow Name. We also were lit up by NXT Light Shave Gel, which literally has a light in the bottom to give the packaging that other-worldly glow. Shaving with future? Why yes!

Finally, we restarted Celebrity Facial Hair Friday with Mike Myers. Hmm... Looks like he's lost his mojo again. Someone call Austin Powers.

Third Arcitec Winner

A big ShavingStuff congratulations to Jared, who has won himself an arcitec razor. Jared's story is, how do I say this, south of the border. And while he's won himself a Philips Norelco arcitec, perhaps he'd be better served with a BodyGroom:

I was about 16, had started shaving maybe a year earlier, and was starting to understand that one's face isn't necessarily the only area of the body that can be shaved. Being ... curious ... i decided that I should shave my um, euphemisms. So i took my Mach 3 downtown and got to work. Naturally, I got nicked. It wasn't particularly more painful than any other area, but it just WOULDN'T stop bleeding! I washed off and dried off and sat in the bathroom for what seemed like hours waiting for it to stop bleeding. Being a kind of nervous 16 year old, i got more and more worried, until i reached the point of full-on freaking out. So, I did the only thing i could think of doing... i started yelling for my dad. He came to the bathroom door and yelled "What?" and i told him what happened. He stood outside the door, totally silent for a few seconds. Then just yelled back "Well why the hell did you do that?" I responded "Well i didn't try to cut myself!" to which he replied, "I wasn't talking about cutting yourself, you peckerhead!" Anyways, he told me what in hindsight was the obvious solution--hold some toilet paper on the cut until it stops bleeding, which occurred shortly thereafter. I couldn't look my dad in the face for at least a full day, I was so embarrassed!

Oof. Harsh father. If shaving didn't scar you for life, his words might have. Hope you two have made up.

Well, that about sums up our contest. A big thanks to Philips Norelco for providing us and our winners with arcitec razors, and thanks to everyone who wrote in or signed up to our mailing list. There's nothing like a good, mildly embarrassing shaving story. We'll have to do this again sometime.

Second Arcitec Winner Announced! One Day Left To Win Your Own!

A big congratulations to Buck, our second ShavingStuff arcitec winner! Buck wrote in with a sweet romantic story which one can only imagine had a Harlequin ending.

When I was dating my future wife, we were about to celebrate our first Valentine's Day together. I thought I would surprise my fiancee by shaving a heart into the top of my head. I had a buzz cut at the time. Everything went well. The heart was centered on top of my head, and had the proper shape. There was also a nice contrast between my dark hair and the pale white of my bare scalp. Anyway, On Valentine's Day I arrive at my gal's apartment wearing my usual ballcap. I present her with a card, flowers, and a small gift. Then I removed my hat and said, "Happy Valentine's Day honey" She smiled and laughed, then said: "Is that what I think it is?" "Yes" I replied "I have a Heart-On for you!"

Oh visual puns. It takes a tough man to pull one off. And in the end, Buck gets the girl. Well played sir. Hope you enjoy your new arcitec razor.

There's still one day left and three razors to go! Send in your shaving story or sign up for our mailing list. Full details are here.

First Arcitec Winner Announced! Still Time To Win Your Own.

A big congratulations to John, our first ShavingStuff arcitec winner! John's shaving story is an instant classic - a tale of modest beginnings, mistaken identity, and comedic outcome. I think we can all relate.

I started using a shaving cream that came in a short wide top container,you put a small amount in your palm and then used a brush to lather it up and apply it. I used this method for some time and it always worked great, however my wife used a product called hemp body lotion that came in a similar container and placed it near my product in the cabinet. I soon began to notice that my cream would not lather up and my morning shave was not getting the job done, I finally put on my reading glasses and realized that I had been trying to lather up and apply her body lotion for 3 or 4 days, it's hell getting old!

It certainly is. Luckily the arcitec looks nothing like a short wide top container of hemp.

Hey ShavingStuff readers! Want your own arcitec? There's still time, and there are still four left. Submit your own shaving story or sign up for our mailing list by Friday. Full details are here.

One Week Left To Win An Arcitec!

Want a present for Fathers Day, even if you're not a father? Yeah you do. Want a new electric razor? Yes, yes indeed. You've come to the right place.

Send us your funniest or most embarrassing shaving story and we'll make it happen. We've got five arcitec razors from Philips Norelco, and one of them has your name on it. So make Friday the 13th your lucky day and send in your story or sign up for our mailing list. Then sit back and let the loot roll in. Full details of the contest are here. We'll start announcing winners next week.

May 2008 Wrap Up for Shaving Stuff

We're already a couple days into June, but let's take a moment to recap our accomplishments from May.

Reviews

We took a good, hard look at products from Ritual, which has all the basics to get you through your morning shave, shower and sh!t. Shower with Trifecta Body, Hair, and Face Wash; sterilize your razor with Razor Rinse; shave with The Whip; heal with The Balm Post-Shave Gel; and finally cover up your foggy bottom with Nature Calls. Buy them individually, or all in one with "The Kit". Would make a great father's day gift.

Father's Day

Speaking of Father's Day, John Allan's Roll Up might just be the coolest shaving-related gift on the market. Indiana Jones would carry one of these if they had been invented back in the day. Also, the aMENity Limited Edition Gift Set makes a great gift if you're looking for the more traditional leather dopp bag. We had a couple ideas for dads in the Military from Best4Men, and Baxter of California came through if your dad just happens to want to rule the galaxy with the dark side of the force.

Contests

Lots of shaving-related contests going on these days. Schick and YouTube picked a Winner. The window for entering Gillette's Search for the Next Phenom has closed, but voting is about to begin. MenScience's Father's Day 'Dad that Shines the Brightest Award' Contest is accepting submissions up until Father's Day. And then there's our very own Funny Shaving Story contest from Philips Norelco. You've got plenty of time to submit your funny shaving story and win one of five arcitec razors. Start typin'!

Send Us a Funny Shaving Story - Win $169 Philips Arcitec Razor

Have a Funny Shaving Story You'd Like to Share? - The best stories will win a new Philips Norelco arcitec shaver just in time for Father's Day!

Philips has given us five - count them five! - Philips Norelco arcitec electric shavers (a ShavingStuff.com favorite), and we're giving them away to our faithful readers. The Philips Norelco arcitec shaver is something you can use every day and it features unique technology that makes shaving easier and more convenient. It retails for $169.99.

You can win by one of TWO ways:

1. Submit a Funny Shaving Story - Have you ever had a funny or embarrassing shaving moment? Do you remember the first shaving disaster you ever had? Send it to us and we'll post it if you're one of the lucky 3 winners. Pictures are always a PLUS! Send your story to:

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2. Sign Up for our Mailing List - We'll pick two winners from our mailing list randomly. Sign up is below.

We'll be giving away 3 arcitecs to story tellers and 2 to newsletter subscribers.

Enter your Email to Win!

Whichever method you decide, you have a double chance of winning if you sign up for our mailing list and also send in a shaving story. Thanks again to Philips Norelco for sending us the Philips Norelco arcitec to give away. Contest ends June 13th, so we can have time to send out the razors to the lucky winners.

Moom Organic Hair Remover for Women

Here's an interesting product reviewed recently by Treehugger. It's MOOM® Organic Hair Removal - basically a wax without the wax. Instead the main ingredient is sugar. In fact, the only ingredients are sugar, chamomile, lemon juice, and tea tree oil. That's it. You could probably whip that up in your kitchen in minutes. Who doesn't have tea tree oil lying around.

Anyway, the review is positive:

I've tried waxing before and never really got the hang of it so I was skeptical when I first tried Moom, but it won me over. I like that its less mess, less stress and less waste when its all said and done. Your legs don't like they're on fire and if you have to stop at any point you can just wash the product off and walk away. The only downside is that I can't find refill jars in stores - so when I run out of product, I have to buy a whole new package. This defeats the beauty of reusable applicator strips if I'm buying new ones each time.

Did you catch that "stop at any point"? Try doing that with wax. Not even peanut butter is going to get that stuff out of your hair. Major plus in my book.

MOOM® Organic Hair Removal is $15.

Computer Languages and Facial Hair

Came across this blog post from my favorite online source for nerd news - Slashdot. Microsoft "Senior software consulter and developer" Tamir Khason wrote this amusing piece on Computer Languages and Facial Hair. As someone who spends his day job coding up a storm, this piece was right up my alley.

His thesis - the more facial hair you've got, the more popular the programming language you invented will be.

And he's got a point. The creators of C - Brian W. Kernighan, Dennis M. Ritchie and Kenneth L. Thompson - facial hair freaks, and their language is still thriving. The creators of Fortran, Ada and Simula - clean shaven, and fathers of dying languages.

Pictured on the right is my man James Gosling, creator of java, and facial hair fanatic. I owe quite a bit of my career to him. So James - please don't shave! I've still got a lot of apps to write.

April 2008 Wrap Up for Shaving Stuff

April has come to an end and the weather is finally getting warmer. Looking forward to getting outside with the spring weather. And more shaving. In the meantime, here's what we learned.

Reviews
Our shaving with Sharps series came to an end with a review of Sharps Kid Glove Oil-Free Pre-Shave Stick, Sharps Kid Glove Shave Gel, Sharps Daily Prep Foaming Scrub, and Sharps Daily Prep Concentrated Foaming Wash. All in all we were somewhat luke warm on the shave, however the scrub and face wash were really good. Currently in the Shaving Stuff shave studios are products from Ritual, so expect a review of them next.

YouTube
Both Gillette and Schick are getting into the YouTube these days, looking for videos of you doing something clever with a razor. Or just being clever. Schick's got its Get Experimental contest, Gillette's got its Trickstars 08 for the Europeans, and The Search for the Next Phenom for those of you who live in North America. If you've got a video camera and some talent, you could win big.

New Stuff
Got some great new products in from eShave and from John Allan's. Can't wait to try those out. Also ZIRH launched their new Platinum line, for the high-end man. Still waiting for them to add a Platinum shaving cream.

Electric Boogie Woogie
Two razors enter. One razor leave. Who run Bartertown? Braun Pulsonic runs Bartertown. (Yes, I did just reference Mad Max, Beyond Thunderdome.) And for the Tina Turners out there, check out the Silk'n Laser Hair-Remover which uses lasers. 'Nuf said.

Celebrities
David Schwimmer joined the growing list of actors-turned-directors who felt the need to show maturity in the form of facial hair. Wesley Snipes joined the list of actors who feel that they are above the IRS. And Charlton Heston left the list of actors. Period. (Sorry, that's probably too harsh. But I liked the symmetry.)

Jokes
And we'll end with the first post of the month, my April Fools story about Gillette attempting a hostile takeover of Schick. Was it funny? I don't know. My story about the eight-bladed Schick Octo from a few years ago got some good reactions. This one fell on deaf ears. OK, I get it. I'll do better next year. Promise.