Beard trimming and shaving

Cut hair well before disposable blades

The British Museum keeps an Egyptian bronze razor, an ancient witness to the manufacture of tools for shaving. Instruments evolved long before the appearance of cartridges and electric motors.

Between the barber and shaving at home

The straight razor, or straight razor, uses a blade that is maintained and guided directly. It allows precise work, but requires practice to master the edge. The safety razor adds a protective device around the blade.

Replaceable blade changes tool maintenance

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Gillette system, patented in 1904, helped spread shaving with replaceable blades. The user no longer has to maintain the edge of a large blade in the same way as with a straight razor. The handle remains, while the cutting element is replaced: a logic that current safety razors retain.

Electricity offers another gesture

The Smithsonian dates back to 1930 a patent by Jacob Schick for his electric razor, presented as a dry shaving device. The motor moves the cutting elements behind a guard. The preparation and handling change: the user directs a head on the face instead of directly adjusting the angle of a bare blade.

Today, clippers, foil shavers, rotary heads and blades coexist because they serve different uses. Keeping a few millimeters, drawing an outline or looking for clean-shaven skin does not require the same tool. Choosing according to the result and the tolerance of the skin is more useful than simply opposing an old method to a modern method.