This spring, why not upgrade your stylish stubble or clean shave for a close-cropped beard that highlights your cheekbones, strengthens your jaw, and conceals a second (or third) chin? Grow your beard for three to four weeks, but shave below the line where your jaw meets your neck. Trim up the edges of your beard on your cheeks to create a clean, natural-looking line, for a polished look.

The Braun Mobile Shave is just the right tool to get this look on the go. It’s a small, battery-operated shaver that’s a must-have for overnight flights, quick touch-ups between meetings, or at the gym.

Both the clean-shaven and the hirsute will enjoy the convenience of this pocket shaver, and an added precision trimmer allows you to shave hard-to-reach places and shape up your facial hair.

(Originally published in British Airways High Life, March 2010)

I have always been a purist when it comes to shaving. Electric razors never toppled the tried-and-true shave gel and Mach 3 razor combination because they never cut as closely, always missed patches, were a pain to clean, caused irritation, and were just all around annoying. That is, until the Braun Pulsonic changed everything.

Launching in September, the Braun Pulsonic offers a number of innovations that narrow the divide between wet and dry razors. While you will still get a closer shave with your Mach 3 or Fusion, the Pulsonic is a great razor for anyone who is sensitive to wet shaving methods and prone to razor bumps, ingrown hairs and bumps.

Here’s a quick list of what makes the Braun Pulsonic a shaving dream:

Pulsonic technology: Imagine if your Sonicare toothbrush and your Gillette Fusion Power razor had a baby. Well, that’s basically the Braun Pulsonic in a nutshell. It produces 10,000 vibrations per minute and ossilates to the right and left to expose and shave more hair while reducing friction between the blade and your skin.

Adaptive design: The razor’s head flexes and pivots to adjust to the landscape of your face..

Three-stage cutting system: Between the two foils of the razor, you’ll find a trimmer. Here’s how it works: The first foil shaves the short whiskers, then the trimmer slices longer whiskers to a shorter length that will get shaved clean by the second foil. This prevents passing over the same area repeatedly, which often causes irritation.

The Clean & Renew System: Braun’s Pulsonic razor comes with a dock that helps to charge, clean, disinfect and keep your razor acting like a well-oiled machine. The 9595 model even includes a Fast Clean mode that can sanitize and clean your razor in just 25 seconds in case you can’t wait for the whole process. . One of the best features is the razor’s meter that shows how much battery life is left and when the razor needs to be cleaned.

Additional Trimmer: The razor includes a small trimmer on the backside for shaping your facial hair or or touching up your sideburns, too.

Smart Plug: The charger automatically adjusts between 110 and 240volts for international travelers.

Energy Star Qualified: Braun’s Pulsonic is the first battery charger that is Energy Star compliant. Saving the planet is good.

The Braun Pulsonic hits stores in September and will sell for $239–$269.

Photo courtesy of Braun.

Sonic brushes are fantastic at loosening up and removing plaque thanks to the sonic vibrations and super-speed brush strokes. Now use all of that saved money to buy dental floss!