Shavers frustrated with traditional razors may soon be able to shave using a "laser razor", which promises to benefit users' skin and wallets, and the environment.
While traditional razors blades make contact with the user's skin as well as their hair, often causing cuts or irritation, the Skarp laser razor uses specialised light waves to target the user's hair without affecting their skin.
The Skarp laser targets a specific chromophore - the part of a molecule responsible for its colour - which is found in all human hair, irrespective of race, hair colour, age, or gender. Built to resemble a traditional razor but outfitted with a laser beam instead of a set of metal blades, the razor melts the user's hair shafts on contact when dragged along the skin, promising a close, clean shave without skin irritation.
Economical and green
In addition to solving skin irritation, the Skarp razor aims to conserve natural resources and limit plastic waste. Two billion disposable razors are thrown away each year in the USA alone, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency. Because the razor blades attached to these pose a safety hazard to recycling plants, the majority of discarded razors cannot be recycled and are sent straight to landfills, leading to an enormous amount of plastic waste.
Because the Skarp laser boasts a lifespan of 50 000 hours, it is not technically disposable: using these figures, even if it is used for an hour every day, the razor will last 136 years. This could also make up for the razor's hefty price tag: Kickstarter pledgers paid a minimum of $89 (about R1 200) to claim one of the first Skarp razors.
Yet the razor's battery requirements diminish the impressiveness of its savings on plastic waste: "normal use" of the razor requires an AAA battery per month, according to Skarp's Kickstarter, which also means there are ongoing costs involved in its use. A rechargeable AAA battery could make these costs negligible and curb battery waste, however.
The Skarp razor also offers a saving grace to users for whom water supply is low or unreliable, or who would like to help conserve water, as while the razor is waterproof, it can also be used without water.
The Skarp laser razor is projected for availability by March 2016. Skarp Technologies has raised almost $3.5 million via Kickstarter at the time of writing: well over their initial goal of $160 000.
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