Dabbling in the dark side

A fair number of fellow shavers over on my favourite shave forum thinks that the BiC Sensitive is pretty good razors for being plastic disposables… so when I spotted a bag over at our local tools / work clothes / household goods store for a little more than a bottle of soda, I had to pick it up.

Having used one for a week, I’m somewhat on the fence about them. They are not horrible in the way that carts are for me, in other words no shave bumps and rashes, but they feel fairly flimsy and way too light… probably to be expected from disposables costing next to nothing, but it does mean I can’t find a space for them in my den.

I’ll give another one a go next time I’m travelling. If I don’t like them for that use, I have free razors to hand out to the conscripts that shows up unshaven on mondays and claims to have forgotten their razors at home…

Shave of the day 27th March

Pre-shave: Dr Bronner’s Liquid Peppermint Soap
Lather: Rise brushless Shave Gel
Brush: N/A
Razor: BiC Sensitive SE disposable razor
Post-shave: Cool water rinse, alum, and Krampert’s Finest Bay Rum
Beard care: Big Red Beard Oil (Factory) and Big Red No7 Beard Comb

Device for razor and toothbrush containing shaving cream dispensers therein

Are you too tired in the morning to remember to use both your razor and your toothbrush? Is travelling with two things too much, not to mention having to remember to bring both shaving cream and tooth paste? Worry not, even the terminally lazy can shave (and brush their teeth) with this wonderful 1987 invention by Mr Kyu H. Kwak!

A razor and toothbrush assembly comprises a body member having chambers disposed therein and handles slidably disposed thereon, the chambers containing shaving cream and toothpaste dispensers disposed therein whereby shaving cream and toothpaste disposed in the shaving cream and toothpaste dispensers are dispensed from the shaving cream and toothpaste dispensers by pressing the handles against the shaving cream and toothpaste dispensers, respectively.

If that legalese from the patent was a little hard to understand, let me put it in simpler words:

A handle, with a razor head on one end and a tooth brush on the other. In said handle, room for two tubes of shave cream and tooth paste respectively. Internal passages that let you squeeze tooth paste into the tooth brush, and shave cream out of the razor head. And that’s about it.

To me it seems more like a novelty item, or possible something the airline gives you when they loose your luggage, but it might have a niche as a travel product for people who love to travel light. Not sure how good of a shave you would get by applying shave cream directly to the razor though.

Just make sure you don’t mix up the tubes… tooth paste probably gives lousy shaves, and shave cream is not tasty. Speaking of mixing things up, you better make sure you’re awake when using it as well; while I joke about taking the fur of my teeth from time to time, I’m fairly sure I don’t want to jab a razor in my mouth.

Shave of the day 25th March

Pre-shave: Dr Bronner’s Liquid Peppermint Soap
Lather: Mama Bear’s Awakening
Brush: Vie-Long #12705B  pure natural white horse
Razor: BiC Sensitive SE disposable razor
Post-shave: Cool water rinse, alum, and Krampert’s Finest Bay Rum
Beard care: Big Red Beard Oil (Factory) and Big Red No7 Beard Comb

Shave of the day 23rd March

Pre-shave: Dr Bronner’s Liquid Peppermint Soap
Lather: Krampert’s Finest Bay Rum Soap
Brush: Vie-Long #12705B  pure natural white horse
Razor: BiC Sensitive SE disposable razor
Post-shave: Cool water rinse, alum, and Krampert’s Finest Bay Rum
Beard care: Big Red Beard Oil (Factory) and Big Red No7 Beard Comb

Shave of the day 20th March

Pre-shave: Dr Bronner’s Liquid Eucalyptus Soap
Lather: Mike’s Natural Pine & Cedarwood Soap
Brush: Vie-Long #12705N  pure natural white horse
Razor: BiC Sensitive SE disposable razor
Post-shave: Cool water rinse, alum, and Krampert’s Finest Bay Rum
Beard care: Big Red Beard Oil (Factory) and Big Red No7 Beard Comb

Shaving cream can with mirror

Some of the patents I run across can best be categorised as “bleeding obvious” – to the point where I have to wonder how they could be granted… such as this one from 2004:

The present invention provides in two embodiments a cap for use with a shaving cream container. The cap has a top portion and a sidewall which defines an interior space. A mirror having a reflective side is positioned in the cap so that the reflective surface may be viewed from either the top or the bottom of the cap. In addition, the shaving cream container may have a mirror surface located thereon.

Or in short; let’s glue a mirror to the cap and/or bottom of the can of goo…

The patent application makes a couple of valid points and one I can’t wrap my head around though:

It has been long known that people often shave in the shower using a hand held mirror as an aid. However, there is competing need to economize the number of items used in the shaving process. For example, when traveling it is often difficult to carry a mirror or to store a mirror in the shower area. Further, using a glass mirror in the shower presents a safety concern.

Economizing the number of items used for shaving is pretty much the opposite of what I like to do… well, each to their own.