CONSUMERS : Gillette’s Cartridge Shaving System Gets Up Close and Personal
Gillette has hit the market with Sensor, a high-tech razor the company calls “the world’s first and only personalized shaving system.”
Its cartridge has two platinum-hardened, chromium blades mounted on tiny springs so the razor automatically adjusts to individual faces. It also has a newly designed, flow-through cartridge that permits easy rinsing and cleaning.
Gillette, which invented the first safety razor in 1895, has spent 10 years and $200 million on the new shaver, introduced nationwide in January. The company plans to market Sensor in 19 countries.
At a suggested retail price of $3.75 for Sensor and three cartridges, the new razor costs more than cheap disposable models. But Gillette is betting consumers will want to trade up from those, simply for a better shave.
Sensor razors are available nationwide in drug and grocery stores and mass merchandise outlets.
Imported Light Bulbs Shine Like the Sun
A Los Angeles company is importing a new light bulb from Finland--Chromalux, which produces a pure white light that duplicates sunlight. The bulbs, developed at the request of the Finnish government, come in various shapes and sizes, frosted or clear, from 25 to 150 watts.
Chromalux spotlights and flood reflectors also are available, as are tubes for fluorescent fixtures.
“They offer a variety of both health and aesthetic benefits,” says Sherry Kahn of Westgate Enterprises, who is importing the bulbs with her partner, Christina Brady-Wokuluk. “A regular incandescent (bulb) has a lot of yellow in the light,” Kahn explained, “while Chromalux is pure white and reveals the total color spectrum. With a 99.6% rating, it has the highest color rendition index in the world (for a bulb). Sunlight is 100%.”
Because the bulb increases black and white contrast, Kahn said, “readability is improved.” The Chromalux is also said to be glare-free.
The bulbs fit standard lamps and, Kahn said, are designed for extended use of 3,000 hours, about one year of daily use. Chromalux bulbs are available from Westgate Enterprises, 11988 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 104, Los Angeles, Calif. 90025; phone (213) 477-7260 or (213) 478-1954. Regular household Chromalux bulbs sell for $7.95; spotlights and flood reflectors, $16.95; 18-inch tubes, $19.95; eight-foot tubes, $29.95. Add $2.75 for shipping and handling.
Moths Turn Up Noses to Herbal Scent
Can’t stand the smell of mothballs? Consider Moth-Away, a new moth-repellent made of natural herbs, not chemicals. It comes in a sachet.
Moth-Away has a fresh herbal scent, so when you take your clothes out of storage, you don’t have to air them out for days or dry clean them to get rid of the mothball odor.
It is the first herbal moth repellent registered by the Environmental Protection Agency, said Robert Freelander, president of Richards Homewares, the product’s manufacturer.
One box--which contains 24 packets--will protect clothing in three standard-size garment bags for up to a year.
Moth-Away will be available nationwide late next month in drug and grocery chains, home centers and mass merchandisers. Or you can order it now from Richards Homewares Inc., P.O. Box 92019, Long Beach, Calif. 90809; phone, (213) 424-8671. A box of 24 packets costs $4.95, plus $2.95 for postage and handling (up to six boxes).
