For many years, I shaves with a Norelco electric and felt I worked well. It was a rechargeable and I routinely got ten or eleven shaves from a full charge. So, as I headed to a five-day professional conference in San Jose, California with some colleagues, I fully-charged my razor and put it in my suitcase leaving its grapefruit-sized charger at home. When we arrived at our hotel, we agreed to meet back in the lobby in 30 minutes to go to this great store that I had been to in the past, Fry's. (This was long ago and so we were heading to the original Fry's in San Jose complete with produce section and gas pumps in front.)
As I unpacked, I realized that somehow my razor had gotten switched on in my suitcase and the battery was completely depleted. I faced a week at a professional conference without shaving.
The razor had no markings about AC or DC or voltage or polarity (remember, I am an electrical engineer). But, I noted the razor model number and sketched the proprietary connector. At Fry's, I found the toiletries aisle, but the few Norelco chargers they had did not match my sketch and they did not have my model such that I might be able to find out the voltage, etc. and cobble some alternative together (we were at Fry's after all). I was just stuck looking at shelling out $100 for a new razor I didn't need.
Then, I saw it: a Gillette Sensor "starter pack," a razor and a few blade cartridges, for something like $5. Add a can of foam for $2 and I would be set... if only I could figure this thing out.
The next day, I discovered two things: First, why they call it a "safety razor." I had no problem with it at all. And, second, the best shave I had ever experienced; I didn't know a shave could be that good! I don't think I ever did recharge that Norelco. I have no recollection on what happened to it.
Five years ago, I stopped at the grocery store on the way home one day. I needed eggs and some butter... oh, and don't forget Sensor cartridges. I really needed the cartridges. I got to the checkout and gave the cashier a twenty awaiting my change. She held out her hand waiting for more money. "What? $34.95?"
"Well, sir, the razor blades at $29.95 alone."
"Oh my goodness. Ok. Here's another $20."
On the way home, I was fuming. $30 for a package of five razor cartridges, six dollars each! And I typically got six good shaves from each. I was paying a-dollar-a-day just for razor blades! It was as if I got up each morning and faced one of those bill slots where I had to insert a dollar bill just to get my day started.
I resolved that that would be the last package of Sensor cartridges I would buy. I would switch to a straight razor. I had seen them at knife shows. I knew that they were expensive, but, once purchased, could last a lifetime. They make economic sense.
In researching that, I discovered two things:
First, straight razor shaving harkens back to a day when a man did not shave himself. An upper-class gentleman was shaved by his valet who also took care of the razor. A working-class bloke was shaved by his wife (or one of his daughters as part of her training in the domestic arts in preparation for marriage) who also took care of the razor. And a middle-class man dropped a penny every few days at the neighborhood barber where he also got caught up on the latest gossip. A man who, today, undertakes the straight razor undertakes something he was never intended to do by himself and that had to be motivated by more than the persuit of an economical shave.
Second, this thing called "DE Shaving." Some people think it's "old fashioned." But this is like saying that the latest Dell Server with it's multi-core, multi-gigahertz processor and DDR3 memory system is old-fashioned because the plug that plugs it into the wall outlet dates back to the 1800s. Yes, the blade is shaped the same as great-grand-dad's. But I doubt that he ever had a blade that was Platimum and Teflon coated and made in an ISO9000-registered factory from modern steel. Today's DE shaving is quite modern.
So, I made the investment and the switch and I discovered two things: first, why they call it a safety razor. And, second, the closest and best shave I have ever experienced. I haven't seen that Sensor razor handle around here in a long time either.