Does anyone besides me think that shaving products and shaving advertising has risen to the level of idiotic in this country?  Now that football season is here and of course sports advertising in general, I am noticing the Gillette and Schick commercials all over the place.  Make no mistake about it, this blog is about shaving, it is not about being unshaven.  But I mean, how many ways can you serve up a razor?  How successful can a company be trying to separate me from my hard earned money for things like:

• Electric razor with 3 cutter bars instead of 2 cutter bars or 1 cutter bar.
• Electric water-proof razors that dispense soap. 
• Hot lather  or  Vibrating razors  or  4 bladed razors

To me the greatest shaving improvement in our lifetimes was 1) the electric razor and 2) the disposable safety razor.  The electric razor, it just saves me time and it doesn't cut me.  HOW MUCH MORE CAN YOU ASK FOR ? !  The disposable safety razor (thank you BIC),  IT IS CHEAP AND IT WORKS !  And if I have forgotten to pack my electric razor, I can buy a pack of 5 for $1.19.  Less than a cup of coffee !!  And the truth is, I can use a single disposable razor for about a month!! 

Multi-bladed razors. 1 blade or 4, every place on my face still gets stroked about 3 times, no more no less.  Does anyone really believe that the first blade pulls the hair outward and the second blade then gives the closer cut?  My Braun has one cutter bar, it works great !  

Electric vs. Blade.  I just prefer electrics but I can use either equally well.  I guess some folks faces do better with one than the other.  How about you?

Rotary Head vs. Cutter Bar.  I tried a Norelco Rotary and I thought my face was being ripped off.  My brother loves it.  (One day I will re-gift it to him.)  My 18 year old Braun electric cutter bar is ‘the love of my life'.  I have only replaced two screens and two internal blade sets on that thing in 18 years!!  I also need to say that the side burn trimmer on that razor is the full width, about 2 inches.  It really helps get those stray hairs all around the neck.  One of Braun's later versions only had a tiny sideburn trimmer, I refused to buy it.  That is how I met the repair shop folks in Virginia.

• I know when I mail my Braun off to the repair shop in Virginia that guy has got to think I am nuts. 
• I always ask him, "Can you repair it still?" 
• He says "Yes". 
• Then I say, "You know, I will die without it, I love that razor, it does such a great job." 
• He says. "We can fix it." 
• And I say, "Even if the duma-hicky-thing-a-ma-floppey is broken?" 
• He says, "We can still get every part for that razor, we could build one from scratch it we had to." 
• And then I say, "Maybe I should have you build me and extra one now, that way I can get through most of the rest of my usable life with a razor I like." 
• He says, "Just give me the word, we'll build it."
• And so it goes.  God forbid that anything ever happens to my Braun electric. 

Vibrating razors.  When I am shaving all I want to do is get done.  Sorry, I am not gonna spend extra money for a vibrating razor and a damn battery to boot!  An electric carving knife is a pretty nifty electrically operated blade but on my face, I am trying to avoid carving it!

Canned soap.  And then there is shaving cream / lather.  Hot, cold, scented, mint flavored, with baby lotion, WHO CARES!  Guess what, the bar of soap I use  for my hands and face works just as good!  Soap dispensing razors, I am in the shower, I HAVE SOAP IN MY HAND, for goodness sakes!

SHAVING LEGS.  How can I segue into shaving legs.  NOT MY LEGS,  I know you were all thinking that.  NOT !  How about this.  Many years ago my fiancé would use my safety razor to shave her legs, usually while I was at work.  The next morning when I would use that razor, it usually took about two strokes and would ask her, "Did you use my razor to shave your legs?"  She would give me that look, ‘How could you tell'.  I do not know if it was legs or armpits, but the hair on her body was not near as tough as the hair on my face.  But two strokes with that razor and I could tell she had used it.  So I would break out a new one, no big deal.  Can your husbands tell when you use their razor?

MARKETING TO WOMEN.  Now in the last 10 years I noticed that the shaving companies have tried to push all this goofy marketing onto the ladies.  Different shapes, different colors, special after shave lotions, on and on.  EVERYTHING BUT ELECTRIC RAZORS.  God forbid anyone would buy something that would last for 18 years.  So if you are shaving your legs, LADIES ONLY, chime in on the conversation and let me know what you think.  And if you are not using an electric razor, you may want to try it.

Back to the original question, ‘Have shaving products and shaving advertising has risen to the level of idiotic in this country?'