King of Shaves going strong

Still baldly going where no razor has gone before….

Looking and feeling good is important. I wouldn’t have said this a year ago – but I hadn’t met Will King back then. After meeting him I started to get into male grooming products. I can safely say that I feel better in myself now for the extra care I take shaving.

Some people just think shaving is something that gets in the way and is just done as quick as possible in whatever way is cheapest or available…. well I used to be that way too until I slowed down and now use my shower/shave time to slow down and clear my head (mentally and physically!!!!).

What has happened since I started using KoS and taking a bit more pride and time over myself? Well…. I got myself a new job… executive level and £7,000 more a year…. Will King’s positivity and drive may have rubbed off on me a bit, but feeling better in myself made me feel a lot more confident. I know it sounds crazy, but the proof is there.

Want to feel better? Just take time out to enjoy your shave rather than just enduring it. Make it a bit of “you time“.

King of Shaves (KMI) is still going strong in our house – infact it is going stronger now than before. KMI have baby products now, and alongside the Azor (the superb Gillette and Wilkinson Sword beating razor) there is now the Azure for ladies.

There is no way I’ll go back to the more expensive brands when the KoS Azor is more cost effective, lasts over 4 times longer and gives a far better shave!

After about 8 months using Azors I can safely say that my initial findings were not fluke. I can shave my face and head more times with the Azor than I could just shave my face with a Gillette! That shows not only does the Azor cost less up front, but once you factor in how long the blades last the Azor is cheaper than a dodgy chemist chuck-away razor! This is what you need in this credit crunch era.

The gels and creams are also amazing quality and cost. The smallest pea size portion of gel does my entire head! Sure, the initial cost may be close to the competition products, but once more it lasts far longer – more savings!

What is the downside though? Well… before the Azure came out the downside was that Chris nicked my Azor – but that’s all fixed now!

It gets better though… I have always had sensitive skin and had to be very careful how I shave. A year ago I would never have shaved my head for fear it would rash up – but the Azor is so darned good I can shave my scalp daily (ooooh and it feels good!). Even better still I have a technique that should really be frowned upon… a technique that would cause me great trouble with anything other than an Azor….

I place the Azor on my scalp and do not lift it up for the whole shave… I just glide it back and forth all over… with the hair growth, against the haor growth… no problem whatsoever! Heck, I can do my entire head in less than two minutes!

Using the Azor after anything else is like using a Mac after using a PC…. a real eye opener of how it should be done.

So… What are you waiting for? Grab an Azor for a shave that is better for you and your pocket.

King of Shaves is the Brawn F1 team of the shave world… McLaren and Ferrari are the Wilkinson Sword and Gillette. WS & G have tried to stay ahead with flashy things but with a poorly judged complacency, whilst all the time KoS gets stronger and bigger with the simple ideals of a good product, good infrastructure and an item that works without the whistles and bells.

Congratulations to Jenson Button and all at Brawn and Virgin for another wonderful race victory.

If you want you can follow Will King and KMI on Twitter at: KingOfShaves

Note: Although I admin on the ShaveForum I am independent to KMI and KoS. If Gillette or Wilkinson Sword made a product that bettered the Azor, then I would use it. So far though they don’t. Not even close.

Eco Less-Unfriendly Cars

Jumping on the electric bandwagon….

I love cars. I am a petrol head and love big gas guzzling motors and the sounds they give off…. but I also like the idea of greener vehicles. We are seeing some high performance green vehicles now, so I’m not worried about all new eco-cars being slow city-cars. I’ll miss the sound and look of a V8 engine – but at least the performance will still be available in “eco” cars, where as a while a go that was not an option.

Being a throbbing engine with great sounds isn’t all important in a car really – The performance that comes from it is the important thing – the rest is just window dressing.

For performance the electric motor is like an on switch – Internal combustion won’t stand up to what electricity offers. No matter how fast you are going, you can pretty much put your foot down and accelerate as quickly from 30mph to 60mph or 70mph to 100mph  as you did 0mph to 30mph.

Electrical power is evenly distributed – there is no power band compared to a petrol or diesel engine. Sure… a chromed up V8 looks and sounds great and raw, but there are better performance options.

What gets me is the question of “Why are we trying to develop so many different alternate fuels for cars now?”

Too many choices – we’ll end up with so many different cars and a poor infrastructure to support them all. We should settle on one energy and then we can concentrate on.

With one common charge type the the only issue would be where the electricity is produced from. I don’t mean one common electric engine – I mean a common fuel and filling procedure – like we have so many petrol engines, but they all fill up the same way on the same fuel. Some motors may be faster, more economical, higher torque etc… but they are all fuelled and filled the same way. It would be easier to make  supporting infrastructure of “petrol” stations that way.

Before anyone moans about the fact that the power stations to give us the electricity aren’t very green, then I’d point you at the fact that a petrol engine is only about 30% efficient – and diesel is only about 45%. Yeah, big deal if it can do 75mpg… it’s still only 30% efficient, and as such it is still wasting energy. Add to that the wastage and energy used to drill, transport and refine that oil and that is a real waste of resources.

Real “eco-friendliness” should be measured from cradle to grave. From the moment the oil is found to the moment it goes in the car – the production process of the car, the energy used to make the car and refine the components… etc…THAT’S how to measure it.

Due to the very nature of the electric motor they have less moving parts and have higher efficiency – and the more horsepower they put out, the more efficient they are! over 125bhp and a NEME electric motor is over 90% efficient! The electric motor can get more out of the energy provided – at least twice as much more.

The motors are available NOW – so we could switch over… and yes, the ways we produce the electricity still need to be improved, but that’s no big deal because however we produce the electricity, the cars will be able to take it and operate.

As power stations improve – natural energy, solar, wind, wave – whatever – then the already efficient electric cars will get even more efficient (cradle to grave). However the electricity is supplied or produced, the cars would already be on the road to take that electricity.

Changing the way the electricity is produced won’t effect the car – but having different “eco-fuels” in development is pretty much a waste of effort and future resources that would be better spent on figuring out better ways to produce the electricity at the root – at the power stations.

As the motors develop we can even replace the petrol engines in cars that are already on the road. That’s a pretty green option as it wouldn’t need a new car to be built! Brabus has added their touch to the Tesla by adding a sound track! Check it out here! If the Brabus sound track is any good you could have your ’67 Mustang with an electric motor that gives a higher performance than the petrol V8, but still sounds as good!

World travel might be an issue with the different voltage levels – but the cars could be built with adapters and changers to accept whatever is plugged into them. It’s no problem.

Batteries and power storage is the problem at the moment – but people like Tesla are getting around it, so even that isn’t such a problem anymore.

Motor racing is helping out now as well. In Formula 1 there is a kinetic braking system (KERS) that uses braking energy and turns it back into propulsive energy. We need motor sports and recreation to keep pushing and developing these things. Cutting down on motor activities will just take the pressure off of the industries to give us the greener ways!

Remember though, and this was pointed out to me by the great Robert Llewellyn – no car can be called “Eco Friendly“, simply because the act of building one and the infrastructure to support it will effect the environment – BUT we can build “Eco Less-Unfriendly” cars.

For a petrol head, I’m actually looking forward to an electric future.

F1 shock – Button is OUT

Bet you feel a little better now you’ve seen the picture…

Joking aside, I am so pleased that Brawn is winning races. Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello are doing a fine job with a fine car – and kudos indeed go to Branson. This is a dream sponsorship deal for him so far!

The controversial start to the F1 2009 saw Hamilton and McLaren disqualified from the Australian GP. Even after the end of the rain hit Malaysian GP there was confusion as to final placing…. once more by Lewis Hamilton.

I’m really enjoying watching the qualifying laps and races – because Alex is well into the cars too, so it is a shared experience! Just this morning he woke up and said “Clean teeth… Formula One” as his first words uttered!

Whilst talking F1, can I ask if anyone else has noticed the following people could be “Separated at birth” …

Mark Weber and Sam the Eagle

Nico Rosberg and Leanardo D’caprio

Lewis Hamilton’s Dad and Don Cheadle (it looked better from a movie clip I can’t find… pah!)

….and finally… triplets

(thanks http://www.brawngpblog.co.uk/ for the Kelsey look-a-like!)

… Rubens Barrichello, Kelsey Grammer and Robin Williams….

That would make Brawn ‘Orson’ and Button… erm…. ‘Mindy!’

“Mork calling Orson… come in Orson…. rain stops race? Oh Shazbut!“