Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Shaving is an example of how consumer products extract more money

johnwhiles.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 982 posts

Re: Shaving is an example of how consumer products extract more money

#71

Post by kstenerud »

jl6 wrote: post #63
kstenerud wrote: post #49

Yes, modern razors are a scam; they have AMAZING marketing teams. You still can buy old-style razors and blades cheap from Amazon because there's still a healthy demand. As for the rest of the article: > Cooking equipment: essentially indestructible Cast Iron skillets transition into teflon pans. The newer pans perform worse, and must be replaced on a shockingly regular basis. They also seem to be poisonous. No, no,…

> not poisonous unless you're eating the flakes from your scratched up pans If you do happen to scratch the pan, surely the resulting flake is very likely to go into the food, and you’re then very likely to eat it?

Maybe I'm an outlier, but I have never ever ever ever ever scratched a teflon pan.

But then again I use wooden and silicone utensils.

Re: Shaving is an example of how consumer products extract more money

#73

Post by turtledove »

kstenerud wrote: post #49

Yes, modern razors are a scam; they have AMAZING marketing teams. You still can buy old-style razors and blades cheap from Amazon because there's still a healthy demand. As for the rest of the article: > Cooking equipment: essentially indestructible Cast Iron skillets transition into teflon pans. The newer pans perform worse, and must be replaced on a shockingly regular basis. They also seem to be poisonous. No, no,…

Teflon pans are awful. I've moved back to cast iron and steel pans and life has gotten so much better.

Re: Shaving is an example of how consumer products extract more money

#74

Post by ascar »

CoastalCoder wrote: post #48
motohagiography wrote: post #11

I've used a straight razor for almost 20 years. Vindicating to read that the price of a Dovo pays for itself. I think my bar of shaving soap is probably the better part of decade old as well. In the interim, a whole peculiar subculture around shaving has developed, but you don't have to be a part of it to just use a razor. Makes you unreachable by corporate marketing as well, which is itself its own reward.

Aside from differences in cost, do you find anything about a straight razor compellingly better than e.g. a Gillette Mach 3? I go through Mach 3 cartridges pretty slowly, so price isn't a big concern. And I don't notice anything deficient about the quality of my shaves. But one thing I really like about safety razors is that there's zero risk of serious injury.

Safety razors are much better at making a neckline, if you only shave clean partially and trim the remaining beard. Personally I also get less skin irritation from the safety razor compared to the Mach3 I used before. Given I use it correctly. If you move "against" the hair instead of "with" the hair it caused a lot of irritation for me. But that was essentially user error.

In total I would never go back to a Mach3. The safety razor is just the all around superior product at a fraction of the price once you use it correctly.

Re: Shaving is an example of how consumer products extract more money

#75

Post by eckesicle »

My dad never taught me how to shave, and for the longest time I just used these disposable Gillette style blades, and got terrible results. Missed spots, cuts and skin infections.

At some point I decided to do some research and settled on double edge disposable blades.

I've never been happier, and feel much better about my skin too. These are the products I use:

* A wooden synthetic shaving brush (I felt bad about the beavers)

* Taylor of Old Bond St shaving cream. It lasts forever.

* A ceramic lathering bowl

* Floris after shave. Also lasts forever

* Jagen David B40 (make sure to get a butterfly version, they're much more convenient)

* Derby blades (I bought a bulk of 500 blades for like £30 quid, and I'm only halfway through using them after many years).

Now I probably spend less than £40 per year replacing shaving cream and after shave, having had to spend that amount monthly on disposable blades, and that terrible canned cream, and I hardly ever get any cuts anymore. And my shave is much closer.

Besides these products look great in the bathroom.

Re: Shaving is an example of how consumer products extract more money

#76

Post by _fat_santa »

dsco wrote: post #37

I’ve never understood shaving. Why not just buy a trimmer and trim it down to 1mm? Much more convenient, faster and cheaper. Also there’s very little visual difference - especially now that everything is remote.

> Why not just buy a trimmer and trim it down to 1mm

That works for the most part. The razor is for all the spots where you want no hair at all. I've got a beard and I can shave my neck down with a trimmer and get it really close, but if I want to actually have clean neck I've gotta reach for the razor.

Re: Shaving is an example of how consumer products extract more money

#77

Post by beowulfey »

kvakvs wrote: post #41

Hair trimmer set to shortest length will make your face like shaven 2 days ago. Costs nothing. Needs no foam, no aftershave gel, creates no irritation or red skin, just splash of water and optional facial creme. My condolences to those who must have a clean shave every day of their life.

My beard hair is light colored, so I also do this. But my buddy has jet black hair, and his 5 o’clock shadow is appropriately named.

Re: Shaving is an example of how consumer products extract more money

#79

Post by kstenerud »

dragonwriter wrote: post #68
kstenerud wrote: post #49

Yes, modern razors are a scam; they have AMAZING marketing teams. You still can buy old-style razors and blades cheap from Amazon because there's still a healthy demand. As for the rest of the article: > Cooking equipment: essentially indestructible Cast Iron skillets transition into teflon pans. The newer pans perform worse, and must be replaced on a shockingly regular basis. They also seem to be poisonous. No, no,…

> Their lifespan is unchanged. No, even aside from the smart thing, modern panels don't last nearly as long as CRTs. They are so much better in every other way, though.

I'm still using a 15 year old Philips panel TV in the bedroom. Works as well as the day I bought it. I've had CRTs go out of alignment faster than that (RCA and Panasonic were particularly bad with that).

Re: Shaving is an example of how consumer products extract more money

#80

Post by tempest_ »

CoastalCoder wrote: post #48
motohagiography wrote: post #11

I've used a straight razor for almost 20 years. Vindicating to read that the price of a Dovo pays for itself. I think my bar of shaving soap is probably the better part of decade old as well. In the interim, a whole peculiar subculture around shaving has developed, but you don't have to be a part of it to just use a razor. Makes you unreachable by corporate marketing as well, which is itself its own reward.

Aside from differences in cost, do you find anything about a straight razor compellingly better than e.g. a Gillette Mach 3? I go through Mach 3 cartridges pretty slowly, so price isn't a big concern. And I don't notice anything deficient about the quality of my shaves. But one thing I really like about safety razors is that there's zero risk of serious injury.

Aha you can totally cut yourself with a safety razor (unless you mean the Mach 3 and not what this article is calling a double edged razor which has historically been called a "Safety razor" )
Post reply on HN