Razor Wars

[straycat]

Wandering roung Sainsburies a couple of days ago, I realised that the next round of Razor Wars was upon us - there was a display for the brand-spanking-new, all-singing, all-dancing Gillette Fusion. It all seems to be about the number of blades now - Gillette started that one when they went to three - then Wilkinson Sword upped the stakes with the Quattro... and now Gillette have trumped them again - and given us no less than five blades plus a sneaky extra one on the back to handle the more fiddly areas...

As an aside, I have never forgiven Wilkinson Sword for coming out with the Protector - guaranteed to cut your face to ribbons with every single stroke, thanks to its patented safety strips. Go figure.

I look at this new innovation from Gillette in a very cynical light - this is quite simply the latest attempt to get us complete suckers to part with yet more money in a desparate attempt to have a luxurious comfortable trouble-free shave in the morning - even though we know fine well that such a thing just can't be achieved.

So obviously I bought one.
And, of course, it's magical. A truly wonderful, comfortable shaving experience.... distinctly better than even my trusty Mach3....
But a little voice in my head is pointing out that this has happened before - with the Mach3, for example - which oddly enough no longer seems quite as nice a shave as it once did...

Would it be at all cynical of me to wonder whether the quality drops significantly the older a product gets, so the next new latest greatest will always seem better? (although god help Protector users if that's the case) Or is it just that I get too used to things? Or is my stubble growing tougher and harder to cope with the older I get? If so, how long before I have to start planing it off?

Whatever the case is, how long before my magical new shaving gadget loses its shine, and becomes ... diminished ... just like the others?

And another part of me wonders about the ecological implications, and whether it wouldn't be a whole lot better to learn to use a cutthroat razor, and stop polluting the world with discarded Gillette cartridges...

Stray

[Beowulf]

I use an M3 turbo.. and I was pretty dubious about that (got it as a birthday present from an aunt.. and had ran out of blades on my normal razor)

It's a pretty good shave but I cannot be doing with all this nonsense about 3 blades, 4 blades, 5 blades..

Monty Python Life of Brian Quote anyone?

"...For the demon shall bear a nine-bladed sword. Nine-bladed! Not two or five or seven, but nine, which he will wield on all wretched sinners, sinners just like you, sir, there, and the horns shall be on the head, with which he will..."

[Warwick]

Originally Posted by straycat264

... and now Gillette have trumped them again - and given us no less than five blades.

Stray

You mean like this?

[Cruella]

Originally Posted by straycat264

But a little voice in my head is pointing out that this has happened before - with the Mach3, for example - which oddly enough no longer seems quite as nice a shave as it once did...

Would it be at all cynical of me to wonder whether the quality drops significantly the older a product gets, so the next new latest greatest will always seem better?

You know, you have to put in new blades every now and then!

[SilverFox]

Originally Posted by Cruella

You know, you have to put in new blades every now and then!

Do you need 5 blades?

[SilverFox]

Did you opt for the 'Fusion Power' Stray, or the regular 'Fusion'?

[straycat]

Originally Posted by SilverFox

Did you opt for the 'Fusion Power' Stray, or the regular 'Fusion'?

drumroll The Extra Gimmicky Even More Costly Supplied With Even Less (ie no) Spare Cartridges POWER FUSION!!!

[killingtime]

Entirely reminds me of this article (it's got some swearing in as a warning for people who are bothered by such things).

[SilverFox]

Originally Posted by straycat264

drumroll The Extra Gimmicky Even More Costly Supplied With Even Less (ie no) Spare Cartridges POWER FUSION!!!

Does the 'Power' thing work?

I just can't bring myself to buy it until I'm completely convinced it actually makes a difference. If I just rushed out and bought a new product after hearing a bit of 'science' on the commercial, I'd be a ...

...oh yeah, a woman!

Q10, ceramides, lipids, fruit proteins......

[Barry Shnikov]

I'm thinking of copying this thread to the Marketing and Advertising trade magazines so they can use it to assure their employers that they do sell things nobody really needs.

"How can we sell more stuff?"

"Why don't we split the liquid into 'shampoo' and 'conditioner', and tell people that they must have both? They put on twice as much liquid, so we double our market!"

"Amazing!"

"Right. And in 20 years from now, when they've all forgotten about traditional shampoo, we'll sell it as a revolutionary new product - we could call it "2-in-1"

"Brilliant."

"Hey! We could do the same thing in washing powder!"

"How so?"

"Well, we'll tell people they need 'fabric conditioner', to keep their clothes soft after they've washed them at high temperatures in hard water. That'll double the amount of stuff they have to buy for the weekly wash!"

"Plus, we tell them it's hard for the washing powder to dissolve, so they should buy it in liquid form! We can bamboozle them for years with innovative new shapes for the ball thingy they'll need to use to get the liquid 'right into the centre of the wash'.

"Speaking of new shapes, we could fool them into thinking the shape of tea bags has something to do with anything, and sell them round tea bags!"

"Outstanding! Now we're cooking with gas."

"Ooo! I know! Let's make governments deregulate the gas industry - we can dress it up like an important economic breakthrough - free market economics, that sort of stuff - then we can start trading it like pork bellies and orange juice, and we can make profit on the trades. Of course consumers will have to pay more, eventually, else where would our profits come from? But we'll be rich!"

"I have the best idea of the lot! Sell people razors with dual blades!"

Silence.

"What would be the point of that?"

"I don't know. We'll tell them it gives a smoother shave or some such *****. But if we can hook them on it, they'll pay more for something that isn't actually any better. And after two blades - three!"

"OK, well put it to the design boys, and see what they say."

"Nice meeting you guys. OK, I'm off to find a way to get people to pay 10 times more than they do now for a television..."

[straycat]

Originally Posted by killingtime

Entirely reminds me of this article (it's got some swearing in as a warning for people who are bothered by such things).

That's kind of scary, considering when it was written...

[straycat]

Originally Posted by Barry Shnikov

I'm thinking of copying this thread to the Marketing and Advertising trade magazines so they can use it to assure their employers that they do sell things nobody really needs.

Trust me. They've known that for decades...

[killingtime]

Originally Posted by straycat264

That's kind of scary, considering when it was written...

It is. They guessed it well though.

It's a really funny article, well it made me laugh anyway.

[El Salsero Gringo]

Originally Posted by Barry Shnikov

I'm thinking of copying this thread to the Marketing and Advertising trade magazines so they can use it to assure their employers that they do sell things nobody really needs.

"How can we sell more stuff?"

"Why don't we split the liquid into 'shampoo' and 'conditioner', and tell people that they must have both? They put on twice as much liquid, so we double our market!"

"Amazing!"

"Right. And in 20 years from now, when they've all forgotten about traditional shampoo, we'll sell it as a revolutionary new product - we could call it "2-in-1"

Sorry to ***** on the parade, but conditioners have different ingredients and do a different job to shampoos. The 2-in-1 products were introduced after the invention of polydimethylsiloxanes (dimethicones). They have markedly different ingredients to simple detergent shampoos, and in fact are quite a revolutionary product.

If you prefer though, you can wash your hair in soap, despite the fact that the (strongly alkaline) pH balance is totally wrong and it leaves hair feeling like a dish-cloth.

[bigdjiver]

When all we need is one razor and one blade, and redeposit a nice new whiskery edge on it by electrolysis between shaves ....
(Whiskers as in metallic whiskers, which is how electrodeposited metal tends to grow. It makes a nice sharp sawtooth edge.)

[El Salsero Gringo]

Originally Posted by bigdjiver

When all we need is one razor and one blade, and redeposit a nice new whiskery edge on it by electrolysis between shaves ....
(Whiskers as in metallic whiskers, which is how electrodeposited metal tends to grow. It makes a nice sharp sawtooth edge.)

I'm surprised since I would guess that even an microscopically fine saw-tooth edge would rip the hair and leave it jagged and sharp.

[straycat]

Originally Posted by El Salsero Gringo

If you prefer though, you can wash your hair in soap, despite the fact that the (strongly alkaline) pH balance is totally wrong and it leaves hair feeling like a dish-cloth.

Although that's still better than the way Head'n'Shoulders 2-in-1 leaves your hair feeling

"I didn't know you had dandruff..."
"I don't! AND you can use my head as an industrial sander..."

[El Salsero Gringo]

Originally Posted by straycat264

Although that's still better than the way Head'n'Shoulders 2-in-1 leaves your hair feeling

I like the stuff. And not just me either - it is (was?) the best selling shampoo ever, year after year.

[straycat]

Originally Posted by El Salsero Gringo

I like the stuff. And not just me either - it is (was?) the best selling shampoo ever, year after year.

Good marketing. Remind me to borrow you next time my sander breaks down

Nowadays I use shampoo that seems to be available only from some salons, or online. Costs a fortune per bottle, but seems to last far far longer & saves money in the long term. And my hair feels great (what's left of it )