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Shaving can be the absolute worst, especially for people with sensitive skin. Razors can leave behind razor burn, ingrown hairs and cuts, and when you've worn down a razor so that it's no longer usable, it joins the others in landfills to the tune of 2 billion razors per year in the US (PDF).
The makers of a new product called the Skarp Laser Razor want to give you an incredibly close, irritation-free shave using lasers. The prototype is an aluminum razor-shaped gizmo that they say uses a laser to cut (not burn) the hair at skin level for a close shave, and works for all hair colors.
Because the laser is supposed to last about 50,000 hours and be usable without water, it would be good for the environment as well.
http://www.cnet.com/news/forget-blades-the-skarp-laser-razor-wants-you-to-shave-with-lasers/
[Kickstarter Campaign]: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/skarp/the-skarp-laser-razor-21st-century-shaving
(Score: 3, Interesting) by TheRaven on Wednesday September 30 2015, @10:19AM
There are two things to compare it against. Wet shaving consumes shaving gel / foam, which is often shipped in metal pressurised containers (relatively high environmental impact for manufacturing) and either the blades or the entire razor need replacing quite frequently. As TFA says, these typically aren't recycled because of health concerns, so they end up in landfill.
In comparison to an electric razor, it's probably quite similar in terms of power consumption, but will last a lot longer (electric razor blades usually wear out after a few years. Sometimes they're replaceable, sometimes people throw away the entire razor).
sudo mod me up
(Score: 2) by fnj on Wednesday September 30 2015, @07:54PM
Assuming you mean cutters and foil, I'm lucky if mine are any good after one month. The stubble on my chin and upper lip is as tough as hardened steel. Every other place, soft as down, but chin and lip tear up an electric razor really bad. They are also so tough that a blade razor just skips painfully over them or can't be forced through them at all. A rotary electric just yanks them out. It's torture.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Francis on Wednesday September 30 2015, @11:05PM
I was considering backing it, but decided to wait until it's actually in production.
I've got a very thick beard and the modern cartridge razors don't even give me one shave before they're so clogged that I can't use them. The old-school butterfly style allows me to at least rinse out the gunk that collects during the shave. But, even that I have issues with because I've also got these tiny bumps all over the place.
If this razor actually works as well as they expect it to, I'll be more than happy to shell out for it. I'm just a bit concerned that the claims are over-hyped and that they might not get something as good as they're promising. I hope they do and I'll be glad to fork over the money if they succeed, but I've been burned by enough KS campaigns to back one that's already been funded without a pretty substantial benefit.
(Score: 3, Informative) by TheRaven on Thursday October 01 2015, @08:28AM
sudo mod me up
(Score: 1) by Francis on Thursday October 01 2015, @05:48PM
That factored into my decision rather heavily. If I could have gotten one of those first early bird spots, I might have backed it, but at the current price, I'm not willing to take the risk.
I'm sure the technology is coming and this might be it, but I'm not going to risk my hard earned money on a project that's already received more than enough funding to go. I'll just buy one when it comes out.