With the launch last month of the Azor, the “first British-designed, -engineered and -manufactured razor in a century”, the men's grooming brand King of Shaves has moved from the “software” of lotions into the “hardware” of razors. The Azor (￡4.99/$8) has, says King of Shaves, a “bonding technology”, complete with four blades (one better than Gillette's macho-titled Mach 3), that allows pressure against the skin to be more evenly applied.

BaByliss boasts that its new I-Trim “face management tool” (￡50/$82) (pictured) has 30 stubble length settings and an LED display that reveals just how much you are cutting off. Philips' latest beard trimmer comes with an in-built vacuum cleaner, to keep that metrosexual bathroom spic and span. And next month Wahl, developers of grooming tools for NASA astronauts, will launch a lithium ion “grooming station” (￡39/$65), using rechargeable battery technology borrowed from the mobile phone industry.

“Men are vain, and a few bells and whistles and good looks on a product do help sales,” says Ian Nuttall, managing director of Conair UK, owners of BaByliss. “Some brands have given a superficial gloss to make a product look new, but more are now pushing innovation.”