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The future of shaving?

Given that we here at B&B think of shaving far, far more often than anyone outside of Gillette employees, i figured i’d pose this question: What do you think will be the future of shaving? I ask because throughout modern shaving history, innovation has been near constant. From the straights of old to the modern cart, innovation and change have been the norm. But i’m probably not alone in thinking we may have hit a point where there can be no improvement in design using current blade technology. I.E. i think wet shaving has hit its absolute limit. One more blade, lubristrip or the “roller ball” is not going to make people buy a new system and i think that’s becoming apparent. Gillette is even going backward now with the “skinguard” and to me that’s evidence that it’s over innovation-wise. So assuming blades have gone as far as they can, what’s the future? My personal take is near flawless electric razors. I think that area has the biggest potential for improvement. What do you all think?
 

FarmerTan

"Self appointed king of Arkoland"
My own son uses a double edge razor I gave him. So.... his generation is strange. He's 19. I am amazed at how many of his buddies don't shave, or rarely do. But if they are the future market drivers of shaving gear, I have no idea where shaving is headed. As a rule, they don't have any concept of money. Everything goes on a debit card. We help my son very little financially. He has a roof over his head and eats here when he is here. He works hard and gives a tenth of his income away. Buys a lot of junk food meals. Goes to concerts. Has a girl I won't be surprised to see him marry. But I say all this to say this: their life is self centered and how they dress and groom themselves seems to be an after thought.
Be afraid. Be very afraid, lol.
 
If technology and money were no issue we wouldn't even be using blades. How about some other method of cutting like a laser cutting system for example. In the interim metal technology and the ability for it to hold an edge could improve to the point that we could get a quick efficient perfect shave from an electric razor as well.

What they should be focusing on now is better skin care products before, during, and after the shave. I mean everything I'm currently using is better that what I can pick up at the local Walmart and it doesn't have to be. There's a completely untapped market there and they are behind.

When the folks at Gillette sit around the table discussing new products I suspect it's much more about profitability than bettering our shaves.

Gillette is Art of Shaving so you see their innovation with the $200 plastic heated razors and what not. They don't have a clue.
 

FarmerTan

"Self appointed king of Arkoland"
If technology and money were no issue we wouldn't even be using blades. How about some other method of cutting like a laser cutting system for example. In the interim metal technology and the ability for it to hold an edge could improve to the point that we could get a quick efficient perfect shave from an electric razor as well.

What they should be focusing on now is better skin care products before, during, and after the shave. I mean everything I'm currently using is better that what I can pick up at the local Walmart and it doesn't have to be. There's a completely untapped market there and they are behind.

When the folks at Gillette sit around the table discussing new products I suspect it's much more about profitability than bettering our shaves.
Nailed it!
 
If technology and money were no issue we wouldn't even be using blades. How about some other method of cutting like a laser cutting system for example. In the interim metal technology and the ability for it to hold an edge could improve to the point that we could get a quick efficient perfect shave from an electric razor as well.

What they should be focusing on now is better skin care products before, during, and after the shave. I mean everything I'm currently using is better that what I can pick up at the local Walmart and it doesn't have to be. There's a completely untapped market there and they are behind.

When the folks at Gillette sit around the table discussing new products I suspect it's much more about profitability than bettering our shaves.

Gillette is Art of Shaving so you see their innovation with the $200 plastic heated razors and what not. They don't have a clue.

I think you’re 100% right about Gillette. But do you think that eventually gimmicks like the heated razor and roller ball will eventually fail to produce profits and force them to look into things like laser shaving tech? Personally i feel it’s inevitable that something like this will happen. You can only profit on something gimmicky for so long until people stop paying for the novelty. I feel like that’s already happening. The heated razor, roller ball and personalization options by all accounts have been a bomb for Gillette.
 
I think you’re 100% right about Gillette. But do you think that eventually gimmicks like the heated razor and roller ball will eventually fail to produce profits and force them to look into things like laser shaving tech? Personally i feel it’s inevitable that something like this will happen. You can only profit on something gimmicky for so long until people stop paying for the novelty. I feel like that’s already happening. The heated razor, roller ball and personalization options by all accounts have been a bomb for Gillette.

The people that buy that stuff are the Trust Fund Yuppies that haven't found sites like this and have more money than common sense. We all know it but they don't have to sell a lot of an item that they can make for $3 and sell for $300 to be profitable. With Gillette if they sell enough to be profitable then they'll keep it in their lineup, if not then it's gone. What surprises me is that any of it makes it to market in the first place. Someone must thing this is a good idea and some people actually buy this stuff.

They should really look into making a better shaving razor like the OneBlade for the $200 price tag. It's almost brainless to shave with. The problem now is that they've geared their business toward making a convenience item that you smash into your face to shave with. Now they're stuck with that. Something that does a better job would likely require some skill to shave with. So they've screwed it up already as producing anything other than a cart or something totally brainless to shave with could have negative results when the products are used incorrectly, and you know that it would be. So now customer skill, or should I say lack of skill is a problem.

Another problem is that Gillette really doesn't have any competition and that they're very good at marketing. They will make money regardless. But I suspect that things like Harry's and Dollar Shave Club are likely getting their attention at this point, much more so than the resurgence of wet shaving. If I were Gillette I'd likely offer some kind of lower cost monthly service to compete with these other vendors and run them out of business. A new cheaper mail order only smash in your face to shave with cart razor that could be sold cheaper or as cheap as the competition. This coupled with a "Why settle for less than the very best a man can get" campaign could be effective at getting back that market share. I'd still keep the much nicer stuff in the stores and sell it there as most will take convenience route over proactively ordering something ahead of time.
 
If technology and money were no issue we wouldn't even be using blades. How about some other method of cutting like a laser cutting system for example. In the interim metal technology and the ability for it to hold an edge could improve to the point that we could get a quick efficient perfect shave from an electric razor as well.

What they should be focusing on now is better skin care products before, during, and after the shave. I mean everything I'm currently using is better that what I can pick up at the local Walmart and it doesn't have to be. There's a completely untapped market there and they are behind.

When the folks at Gillette sit around the table discussing new products I suspect it's much more about profitability than bettering our shaves.

Gillette is Art of Shaving so you see their innovation with the $200 plastic heated razors and what not. They don't have a clue.
The SKARP Laser Razor was an interesting project, even if it never got released.
 
The SKARP Laser Razor was an interesting project, even if it never got released.

I remember hearing something a while back about a laser razor. I thought is was astronomically expensive at the time. Like 10K or 100K for a razor or something like that. Way more expensive than I'd want to do.
 
There is Laser Razor. Skarp Technologies - Wikipedia

Beards have been a trend too long now not to be a cultural shift, so it will be high prices for less value in shaving products. (Guys with short beards: please do keep shaving your necks. )

Beards have been a trend for some time, as you say. But that just means that the "new" trend will be a cleaner look, because trends always swing to the opposite of the previous one. That's just how marketing works.

I would not be surprised if, instead of the "perfect shaver", what comes to market is a cream or some such that does away with your hair, but w/o the burning and irritation that current products inflict on your skin.
 
Beards have been a trend for some time, as you say. But that just means that the "new" trend will be a cleaner look, because trends always swing to the opposite of the previous one. That's just how marketing works.

I would not be surprised if, instead of the "perfect shaver", what comes to market is a cream or some such that does away with your hair, but w/o the burning and irritation that current products inflict on your skin.

That’s a very interesting idea! If someone ever invents it they’re going to make a fortune.
 
My knee jerk reaction is that shaving hardware has gone about as far as it can go for average Joe Six Pack, given 21st century knowledge and resources.

And Joe Six Pack is where the serious money and profits primarily come from, not from the less than 1% of the shaving community who is on a handful of shaving forums.

Maybe future profits lie in developing shaving software, but there again, the market it filled with blades, soaps, cremes and after shaves.

And if society takes a sharp turn to beards and long hair again, as it did in the 1970's, all bets for the profitability of shaving products are off the table for the foreseeable future.

I don't see a promising future for shaving. I do see an uncertain future.

Thanks to brother Macduff for introducing a provocative and interesting subject.

Post script: There is no such thing as a "flawless electric razor," if a close shave is our goal.
 
But i’m probably not alone in thinking we may have hit a point where there can be no improvement in design using current blade technology. I.E. i think wet shaving has hit its absolute limit.

DNA manipulation is the next big thing. You will able to have a male child that will not grow any facial hair. Wet shaving will be a thing of the past. :a16:
 
Another problem is that Gillette really doesn't have any competition

I think they would strongly disagree with you about that. :)

If I were Gillette I'd likely offer some kind of lower cost monthly service to compete with these other vendors and run them out of business.

They are. You can subscribe to the Mach 3. Or you can subscribe to disposable razors, of all the crazy things. I don't know how competitive it really is against DSC or Harry's. But people like DSC and Harry's, and I don't think anyone is going to get run out of business, especially now that both the upstarts have big resources backing them.
 
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