I have this curse. It’s the curse of the half-Asian man. I have an average white-man’s build but almost no body hair. I have just enough facial hair where if I let it grow it would turn into a fu manchu. The kind you see in Korean historical dramas. It looks odd to have this kind of facial hair on someone that looks racially ambiguous. So I shave it. I don’t know if there are many others are like me. I’m the only half-breed I know on a personal level, other than my older brother who is my exact opposite (he grows hair like an ape).
I’ve been blessed with skin that hates to be shaved. I can’t use a traditional blade because it cuts the living daylights out of my face. Don’t try to sell me on straight razors, old fashioned razor blades, Harry’s, or any other type of non-electric razor. None of them work. I’ve tried all of them and all the techniques to prevent myself from looking like I was just cast in the latest slasher movie. Electric razors are the only thing that works for me and even those cut me from time to time.
I’ve been using electric razors for at least 34 years. I understand why electric razors came with their own wall wart to charge the device back in 1987. But it’s 2021 and everything… virtually everything recharges via USB. Everyone has USB chargers for their phones, laptops, tablets, and Bluetooth speakers. USB is ubiquitous in the battery charging world. So why don’t major brand electric shavers charge via USB and ditch the wall wart? That thing takes up extra space and you can’t lose it because they’re all proprietary. When travelling with the shaver you could reduce the amount of space by almost 50%. Who needs to travel with an extra wall wart when you most likely already travel with USB cables and USB chargers for your phone?
Now, you can get an electric razor that charges via USB. I have one. I use it for travel. But it’s a cheap Chinese brand I’ve never heard of. But at $25.00 it was worth a shot.
It works good enough for travel but not for daily use. I can find others on Amazon but they are ALL cheap Chinese brands as well. Do I really want to shave with a MANLI?
The reason all this comes up is that my current shaver’s foil broke and I almost shredded my face with it. A replacement for my current Panasonic shaver costs almost $100.00 and the replacement foil and blade costs almost $50.00. I can buy multiple cheap Chinese shavers and if they last a couple years I’m still ahead of the game. I don’t want to buy something that pisses me off.
Here’s my plea. To the major brands that manufacture electric razors. DITCH THE WALL WART AND SWITCH TO USB CHARGING. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!!!!
End of rant.
Image by Sammy-Williams from Pixabay