Journal: News & Comment

Face time

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Exactly when I started shaving has slipped my mind, but it was in my early teens, so I've been doing it for close to a quarter century.

I've always used electric razors, except on those few occasions when I've needed a traditional blade to remove a beard. Sure, I could do so more often—just as I could write with a pen and paper. But I don't, and prefer the electrics (which I think, in the long run, are cheaper to use anyway), so please avoid trying to convince me of the merits of your sextuple-bladed wonder.

I've had but three shavers in my life, all Philips triple-head rotary models: my dad's hand-me-down corded white one, and two I've owned, one silver and one black. The latter one is so old that the last time I bought replacement blades for it was at Eaton's, which shut down in the 1990s.

Yesterday, a failing battery and motor finally forced me to get a replacement—the radical departure of a Braun foil-head shaver. So far it is a tad noisier and produces a closer shave, but also hurts a bit while my skin grows accustomed to it. Like the Philishave, the Braun has some trouble with the stubble behind the back of my jaw.

If it lasts as long as its predecessor, I could be a grandfather before I need another new one.

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