On the face of it, Colonel Jacob Schick’s invention of the electric razor in 1928 was to shaving what the invention of the remote control was to television: a win-win innovation that suddenly obviated the need for a tedious, hitherto inescapable chore.
Yet, just as remotes make it easier to grow fatter and duller watching television for longer without stirring from the sofa, electric razors have their downsides, too. They never shave as close as a razor blade. And whether rotary or foil, you will have to pass one over your face a few times to trim every last speck of stubble. In contrast, with careful shaving, a blade needs only one pass to do the job. The major disadvantage of the electric, however, is that it traumatises your skin by wrenching the hairs upwards before slicing them.
Despite the inferior shave, the razor burn and the ingrown hairs, men still love electric razors – they make it almost impossible to cut yourself and there’s no need for the rigmarole of sink and foam. And an electric can come in very handy if you’re pushed for time, or away from home for a night or two. To serve this market, top-of-the-line models cost well over £100 and boast the satisfyingly overblown aesthetics of a Star Trek phaser-cum-sex-toy – although a simple, single-foil razor such as the Braun Pocket Go P60, a trifling £14.99 at Boots, works just as well for what it is. Personally, though? I reckon your face would be much better served by a cheap, disposable Bic and a careful, with-the-grain technique in front of the bathroom mirror.