Would you like to save $7.99 every three months? No big savings here, but I have discovered that buying shaving gel is a complete waste of money. I first figured this out a few months ago, when before boarding a flight on a business trip, the TSA deemed my can of shaving gel to be a danger to the flight and confiscated it (much to the relief of my fellow travelers and humanity at large). Since my flight arrived very late that night and my meetings started first thing the next morning, I had no choice but to shave using... wait for it... ordinary bath soap, instead of high-tech, top of the line, $7.99 per can Gillette shaving gel.
As I pulled the razor across my skin I cringed, fully expecting horrible pain or at the very least bloody gashes on my face. To my amazement, shaving using soap felt exactly the same as shaving with my fancy shaving gel. No blood, no pain, no rash, no stubble. Since then I have stopped using shaving gel on business trips. For one thing I think I am making America's airliners that much safer by leaving my potentially explosive toiletries at home (my god, the TSA are complete morons). For another I decided that I don't need shaving gel on business trips. I am still using shaving gel at home. I am not exactly sure why. Inertia?
I wonder how many other products I am buying because I completely bought into a fictitious marketing pitch. Should I start brushing my teeth with $1 tooth brushes instead of my fancy electric one? Should we start using just any ol' washing liquid on our clothes, or is there something inherently better about Tide? How about a home made deodorant? Will that work? OK, I am kidding about the last one. Until a few months ago it wouldn't even cross my mind to shave without gel, I am guessing there are many other items that we are buying and that are probably superfluous. Finding out which could be a little tricky though.
1 comment:
I find my skin gets awfully dry and a bit irritated from shaving, so I'm reluctant to go the soap route since it has a reputation for drying your skin. Of course, the shaving gel may be just as bad!
As to where else you may be spending needlessly, look at your cleaning supplies. You may have a zillion products when you might need much less.
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