Beards...And All That They Entail

I've made it no secret that I am unable to grow a beard. I can't grow a mustache or a man bun either, but this post is about beards.

Beards are all the rage nowadays. Athletes have them, actors, when not needing them for a part, grow them like flowers in a flower bed. We can blame the Richardson men, or some other icon that's influenced modern society. But, really, what's the point? They are popular now and are here to stay, at least, for the foreseeable future.

I'm in no way anti-beard. I've always thought, when it comes to men's grooming trends, that if it were possible, I would most likely experiment with facial hair options. I think a goatee might look good on me. I can always imagine because that's pretty much all I can do--imagine.

I think having a beard would be cool. 

That is, until I go shopping at Costco.

Have you been to Costco lately? I don't know about all Costcos and this is definitely not a Costco-specific thing. But when I'm at my local Costco, they have several employees that prepare food, employees visible to the shopping public. And of those food-preparing employees, many of them have beards. And because they have beards, they are required to don beard nets.

I don't know about you, but there's just something about beard nets that look a little strange. I guess hair nets look weird, too, even though their concept and purpose are the same. Maybe wearing beard nets are cool--a type of status symbol among workers. Since they have awesome beards, they get to wear awesome beard covers. I don't know.

Yes, the facial hair revolution is alive and strong and I, like billions of women, watch the parade from the sidelines. On the bright side, if I ever work in food production, I'll save money on hair nets, mustache nets, and beard nets. That's a win-win-win right there.

New Razors--It's Been A Long Time...

A few of my co-workers were talking today about what a pain in the...face...it is to shave. I've heard it before and I am thankful that I really don't need to shave more than once a week. They then talked about how pricey the replacement blades are for some types of razors and that the blades for those razors wear out extremely quickly which causes razor burn.

Their little conversation got me thinking...how long has it been since I replaced the blades in my razor?

Answer--a long time.

According to the internet (which never lies...) the Gillette Fusion shaving system was invented in 2005. I remember getting a free Gillette Fusion razor in the mail around Christmas time of that year. A few months later I bought another one because buying the replacement blades cost too darn much.

So, I'm thinking the beginning of the year in 2006 was the last time I bought either a new razor or replacement blades for a razor. Which means, I've used the same one for over SEVEN YEARS! For seven years I've shaved, at least once a week, my beard and/or mustache (that won't grow...) and my head. Seven years...

Tonight I bought two new razors for just under $8. I've apparently saved a lot of money in razors over the years. However, this pales in comparison to the money I've saved in haircuts.