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Looking at the history of shaving, I just realized that modern shaving with razors, safety razors, double-blade safety razors, triple-blade safety razors, ... are all very recent. Which got me questioning, what advances have been made for shaving by the 24th century.

So, the question is, in the Star Trek universe, how do people shave? Is there any mention of how such personal grooming in done? I do remember Tuvok shaving with a futuristic looking straight-edge razor in "Year of Hell: Part I" when he has been blinded. But how do people normally shave?

In-universe answer or an out-of-universe explanation is fine.

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    They either use the blue cube or a flat razor; memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Razor
    – Valorum
    Commented Sep 19, 2016 at 18:37
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    I don't know, but whatever they use, it makes your chin as smooth as an android's bottom (or not).
    – Rand al'Thor
    Commented Sep 19, 2016 at 18:37
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    I'd like the answer to be "with a phaser and a mirror." But I don't think it is.
    – Deacon
    Commented Sep 19, 2016 at 19:15
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    @DougR. I'd like the answer to be, "Transporter Room 3, transport my excess facial hair 300 meters off the starboard bow" but I don't think it is, either.
    – user11521
    Commented Sep 19, 2016 at 23:00
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    Warp speed doesn't apply to facial hair. It just gets left behind every time they travel.
    – sanpaco
    Commented Sep 19, 2016 at 23:28

2 Answers 2

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With a (futuristic) razor

We see both Geordi LaForge and Ben Sisko using a similar-looking device to shave their beards and (in Sisko's case) heads:

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The technology behind this device isn't explored on the show, but it doesn't appear to be bladed; presumably it uses sonic technology, or something similarly high-tech.

Though more traditional razors may also be employed

We do see Tuvok using a more traditional-looking straight razor, but given his character that may be more of a Vulcan tradition:

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We also see Troi and Riker using an old-fashioned straight razor, suggesting that (as with many other aspects of 24th-century life) nostalgia for the 20th century is alive and well and living in Starfleet:

enter image description here

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    I'd bet that prop is a pencil sharpener. As such it does have blade, although not very helpful for shaving. ;)
    – Helmar
    Commented Sep 19, 2016 at 19:18
  • Totally looks like a pencil sharpener. Nice catch!
    – coblr
    Commented Sep 19, 2016 at 20:22
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    @Helmar "I'm so cool, I use a pencil sharpener to shave with."
    – Rand al'Thor
    Commented Sep 19, 2016 at 22:58
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    If you're looking for more pics, you might also check the episode with Mot the Barber, where members of the Enterprise-D recall repressed memories after seeing, among other things, a pair of barber's scissors. The episode is Schisms. memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Schisms_(episode)
    – Kingrames
    Commented Sep 20, 2016 at 2:04
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    "(in Sisko's case) heads:"... Sisko has more than one head? I think I would have noticed that... Commented Sep 20, 2016 at 6:30
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In some novels, beard repressors/suppressors prevent the need to shave at all

Several Star Trek novels (which the TV shows generally consider non-canon) include "beard repressor/suppressor", which is a substance that, if applied regularly, prevents the need to shave at all.

At that point [McCoy] noticed, to his disgust, that the brand of beard repressor he used had worn off: he had not kept track of the reapplication schedule. While the whiskers had not yet grown so long that they made him look even more dissolute, the stubble was scratchy and irritating. […]

McCoy washed, shaved, applied more whisker repressor, and put on clean clothes.

The Entropy Effect, by Vonda N. McIntyre

Kirk frowned, not because of the fact that he took the coffee black, but because filtered sunlight was glinting off golden-brown bristles on Riley's cheek. "Good Lord, man. Did you run out of beard suppressor?"

The Lost Years, by J.M. Dillard

Someone who applies this substance regularly may never have to shave for the rest of their life, thus making the question of how they shave a moot point.

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