The Same Technology That Cools Your Laptop Can Smooth Your Shave

This post is sponsored by Braun CoolTec. As a promotional post, it reflects the views of the sponsor, not ReadWrite’s editors.

If you’re a guy—unless you’re Chuck Norris or a member of ZZ Top—chances are you shave on a regular basis.

Electric shavers can often be quicker and easier than shaving with a disposable razor. Other advantages of dry shaving include virtually no nicks or cuts, less skin irritation, and fewer ingrown hairs.

However, while an estimated 400 million men worldwide shave primarily with an electric shaver, half of those men switch between wet and dry shaving methods. The reason is simple: Some electric shavers cause rough, dry, flaky, red, sensitive skin that no lotion or manscaping product can prevent.

This is a global issue. In a recent survey of men who groom with electric shavers, 20 percent of German men and 40 percent of Japanese men said they are currently not satisfied with the “gentleness” of their shavers. Maybe you’re not German or Japanese, but odds are if you have sensitive skin, you end up overcompensating in a few areas. You may use preshave products to improve how the shaver glides and make the skin feel smooth. You often soothe your skin with cold water after shaving. You also may use alcohol-free skincare products after shaving. Some of you even skip shaving altogether for a day or two to give the skin a break.

For more than 60 years, teams of Braun’s scientists and experts have been studying the problem and are introducing new technologies to vastly improve the electric shaving experience.

Their findings helped create a high-tech electric shaver called the Braun CoolTec. It’s the world’s first dry shaver that automatically cools down the skin while shaving. And it works at the push of a button without needing any additional products like gels or lotions. The cooling technology basically consists of three main components: a heat sink, a heat pump, and a cooling bar.

Coolness Inspired By Everyday Tech

The CoolTec’s heat sink works very much like your laptop or cell phone, which can get very hot after prolonged use. The insulated handle traps heat inside the shaver and away from the skin.

The solid-state heat pump (a thermoelectric cooler, or TEC) transfers heat from one side of the device to the other, so that one side cools down while the other warms up. This also reduces the temperature of the part of the CoolTec that gets close to the face.

Finally, the cooling bar is part of the shaver head, located between the shaving foils and next to the center trimmer. It touches the skin during shaving, keeping it refreshed and removing heat.

When switching on the shaver, the temperature of the cooling bar drops by 36 degrees Fahrenheit within 2 minutes (without skin contact). For example if the shaver is stored in a bathroom at 77°F, after 2 minutes of operation it reaches a chilly 41°F. The skin temperature itself can drop by a few degrees during the shave, when measured directly after a pass of the electric razor.

Dermatologists at the Charité Institute in Berlin have noted cooling during shaving slows down the amount of irritation caused by shaving in general. Studies using the CoolTec device have shown a statistically significant decrease in the visible signs of skin irritation.

The new Braun shaver is also endorsed by the Skin Health Alliance (SHA), an independent not-for-profit organization working with international dermatologists.

Whatever your preference for facial hair removal, it’s exciting to see more of the tech we use in computing devices making our everyday lives better.

This post is sponsored by Braun CoolTec. As a promotional post, it reflects the views of the sponsor, not ReadWrite’s editors.