Inside Henson's 2nd Phase of Research

In June of this year, 52 volunteers came into our Kitchener, Ontario office to shave their faces for science.   This kicked off the second phase of our efforts to quantify shaving’s impact on the skin.   The ultimate goal of the research is to be able to give people both the tools and the guidance to achieve a healthier shave.

In order to properly test various interventions, we needed a baseline set of data.  As such, we asked people to shave their entire face, and to have shaved 2 days prior to their data capture day to try to minimize the variability.

"Everyone had to use the same razor and same shaving cream."

We asked the participants some intake questions.  Namely if they would describe themselves as having sensitive skin, if they have any health concerns, etc.  We also recorded the temperature of the water used during shaving, and the bathroom they shaved in.   Everyone had to use the same razor and same shaving cream.   Yes, all the participants used the Henson razor (mild aggression).

Furthermore, a randomized subset of the participants were asked to shave half of their face with a multi-blade razor.

Using the Mimosa Pro, we captured various images of 4 regions of the face: left and right cheek and left and right neck.   The images were taken across 4 time intervals.  

1. First before shaving to establish baseline
2. Immediately post shave
3. Five minutes post shave
4. Ten minutes post shave.

Participant has his face scanned by the MimosaPro.

We’ve observed that different participants respond differently in terms of the intensity of the tissue oximetry.     Comparing a generic multi-blade against the Henson, you can see the difference post shave (figure 1).

This baseline data set is also helping inform a scale of erythema.  There appears to be a subset of the population that don’t generate a response at all.   We call them ‘non-responders’.

Non Responder	Mild Responder
This image represents a non-responder, where there is no visible erythema present.	The image displays a mild erythema response, with a light yellow hue indicative of some level of irritation.

Moderate Responder	Severe Responder
The image depicts a moderate erythema response, where the skin has a more pronounced reddish appearance.	The image displays more severe erythema response, with an intense reddish hue indicating a significant level of irritation.

A non-responder may be less prone to a vascular response as a result of their skin type and/or physiology.   Early data suggests age could also play a role here.   Alternatively, a participant may have a different response based on the type of shave.   For example, the razor they used.  Our next phase will explore various intervention types to quantify the subsequent responses for each.

"..the lower right half of the neck had the most response relative to all other regions of the face and neck."

One interesting (but not surprising) piece of data we observed in this initial phase, was that the lower right half of the neck had the most response relative to all other regions of the face and neck.   The current hypothesis as to why that’s the case is based on the fact that 90% of the participants were right handed.   This makes that region the nearest in proximity to your shave hand.   Which, in turn, makes it the easiest region to inadvertently shave with an increased initial load on the razor.   In plain english, we think people press too hard in that area.

Now that this data is in the bank, we’re excited to build off of it by introducing 8 different scenarios into the shave routine.   The blueprint for the perfect shave is underway.