In the beginning the manufacturing God made the Safety Razor and he was well pleased. Plastics and the disposable age soon came upon us and we were provided with the disposable razor and the manufacturing God was well pleased. Before too long, we could choose to have the disposable razor with two blades. This was cutting edge technology. We were amazed and the manufacturing God was well pleased.Before too long, we could have the disposable razor with two blades and a moveable head. It provided the hardest of men with the smoothest of shaves and the manufacturing God was well pleased.
When we came to the stage of having three blades on the one razor I laughed at what on earth could be next. But there was more to come and we now have four blades being advertised as "Quattro". In beginning to write this piece I went off to find a few photos and did some research only to have my mouth completely smacked (gob-smacked is the term but I'm talking about jaw dropping surprise here).
There is a new breed of razor out there with six blades. Five on the front and one on the back. With this little invention we have jumped from the four blade directly to six with the novelty of a single blade on the back? Can this be an early April Fool's day? I just can't wait to see what the advertising message is to be but I am sure the manufacturing God will be well pleased.
Naturally men's razors are all macho and black or blue packaging and have names like: Turbo; Mach; Extreme; M3; Comfort and Blue. Women's, which are mainly the same product, have pink or lilac packaging with names like: Venus; Venus Divine; Agilite; Intuition and Comfort. And we even have disposable razors that vibrate. Now what is that about .... does it give an added dimesion to the Brazilian?
PS. This mental abherration of a post was brought on by reading a very old post: Try the new pachyderm size by a very old blogger! ;-)
Original Comments:
good post - michele says welcome back !
Saturday, May 13, 2006 4:35:00 PM
And every brand and every model has a different connection between blade and handle so you can't interchange.
Then theres the ones with the moisturising gel strips etc.
And STILL there are men out there who carve their razor around like they thing their face is perfectly square, and end up taking chunks out of themselves.
I don't know why they don't just give up and quietly resort to facial immac/nair.
Hey maybe that'll be next - except twice the price in a nice black tube with a hint of sage in the scent.
Saturday, May 13, 2006 4:37:00 PM
Its all about confusing the buyers, so that you spend an extra half an hour in the store trying to figure out what you want. Then you are so confused you end up spending more money. LOL
Good post...
Take care xx
Saturday, May 13, 2006 5:39:00 PM
And this is why I wear a beard. That and the fact I look about 16 without one (apparently)!
Saturday, May 13, 2006 6:32:00 PM
Ugh, six razor blades?! Isn't that overkill?
I am just glad we stopped using those old straight-razors that could seroiusly cut your neck. I'd hate to even try to use one of those. ;p
At any rate, I just buy the cheap disposable ones anyways that have 2-3 blades. I rarely shave, so that works fine for me!
Saturday, May 13, 2006 9:43:00 PM
You just knew that you'd get lots of chaps commenting didn't you!
I found myself nodding as I was reading your entry. I also have wondered just how many blades they can fit onto a safety razor. I think that three blades are more that sufficient. I find a just as important factor is the foam used to lubricate ones beard. I'm a dense gel/foam man myself.
On a slight aside, my friend who's wedding I shot recently has not shaved since! He is the wolfman!
Mmm... I feel the need for a photo session!
Sunday, May 14, 2006 9:03:00 AM
I always thought the escalating number of blades was a tool to market to men...the razor equivalent of bigger, better, faster, more horsepower.
Sunday, May 14, 2006 9:42:00 AM
Impertinent child, what d'you mean, very old blogger? I suppose at your age anyone of voting age seems ANCIENT.
Sunday, May 14, 2006 6:46:00 PM
P.S. Actually, I was only 25 when i wrote that piece (in 1956).
Sunday, May 14, 2006 6:55:00 PM
LOL Did I say old blogger? I meant you had been blogging a long time! ;-)
Anyway, platitudes do not seem to suit you and I wanted to play. Thanks!
And now you have commented again - seems you were just a babe when you wrote that piece. And yet it could have been written in our times now. We are talking about the sizes article? Gosh. Even in my lifetime which is a tad or two shorter than yours so far I have noticed a growth in packaging. At least the soap powder boxes have retracted in sizing. They were getting ridiculous.
And some big supermarkets put a pence per gramme (or whatever measurement) on their price tags but I notcie they play around with similar items and put one in a per gramme price and another in per kg and you have to do the mental maths to get an equivalent figure to compare.
Sunday, May 14, 2006 7:05:00 PM
I think the more blades there are the more likely it is I'm going to cut myself!
Manufacturers just try to find more ways of getting the public to spend their hard earned cash!
Anyway, take care. Here via Michele's :)
Sunday, May 14, 2006 10:09:00 PM
That's so funny! My poor husband is deprived and I'll have to tell him so. He still shaves with a single bladed disposable safety razor! Two blades would boggle his mind ... and six would leave him stupefied!
Monday, May 15, 2006 4:53:00 AM
I don't care about making the "manufacturing God" happy I just want one of them there vibrating razors...
Monday, May 15, 2006 8:41:00 AM
I think I've tried the lot over the years. I'm a sucker for advertising. I'm currently using the Wilkinson Sword Quattro, which is very good. I don't have full feeling in my lower legs so I have to be really careful. Facial hair (yes, I confess to it - very dark hair and very pale skin) gets the cream remover treatment. I tried the sticky strips but they took my skin off too!
Why would anyone want a vibrating razor.....?
P.S. Off topic I know, but Big Brother 7 starts tonight (18th). I've given it a separate category on my blog, but whether I watch it will depend on the contestants.
Thursday, May 18, 2006 8:54:00 AM
LOL Annie - us BB diehards always say that and each time we get sucked in!
My current blade is the venus with 3 blades and like Ghone use a dense gel which is a fascination in itself (that's if we are talking the same stuff). It starts to sort of foam slightly when it comes into contact with water rather than air. Quite a nice combo and real treat for me as I usually hack myself with the single blades.
Thursday, May 18, 2006 9:13:00 AM