Philips Bodygroom BG2020 Electric Shaver

I had often wondered that while men trim and shave their bodies routinely, no product was made specifically for that purpose. As a result, I had been using a combination of regular men's face razors (both regular and electric), women's shaving razors, and beard/hair clippers to accomplish this, often with mixed results.

I have found from years of experimentation with products that when it comes to body shaving, I am happy with a regular razor in the shower for pubic area, what I can reach of my sides/back, plus the underside of my arms. A regular razor is fine for my shoulders as well. I am also happy to use beard/hair clippers to trim down excess arm, leg, and underarm hair. That leaves me with the area I needed the Philips Norelco Body Groom for: chest and torso where using a regular razor irritates my skin too much to do too frequently. I should point out that if I did not maintain it I would have very thick dark body hair, so any product I use has its work cut out.

The Body Groom's head features trimmers on the top and bottom and in the middle, a thin foil type shaver. There are plastic trim guides that snap on and off for trimming down longer hairs, but I have not tried them as the trimming heads don't look nearly substantial enough to thrive at that and I have good luck with beard/hair clippers when I want to trim hair anyway. The Body Groom can be used wet or dry, but I only have used it dry, after not having great results with any wet electric razor I have ever tried.

In practice, the Body Groom is used by using the lower trimmer to trim the hair initially, then rotating your wrist a bit to also include the foil part of the shaver (actually it's difficult not to use the two simultaneously because of their proximity to one another). As far as I can tell, the top trimmer does absolutely nothing and serves no real purpose other than cosmetic symmetry.

In terms of performance, the Body Groom does a respectable job on my chest and torso with minimal skin irritation when used dry. Being dry is key, since wet or sweaty skin will impair its ability to shave. Dusting with baby powder or using a product like 'Lectric Shave to raise the hairs can help if needed. The Body Groom works pretty quickly and glides smoothly and although it doesn't give remotely as close a shave as a regular razor, it does good enough. I find I have to shave my body every other day to keep the stubble from being too visible.

I did try the Body Groom on the groin area, shoulders, and arms and although it did a passable job, it did not make me want to change to it my current methods. Use extreme caution on the groin because it did scratch me there a little and I can see how it could pull as well. I asked my wife to try to trim my back hair with it but she gave up quickly and reverted to our regular clippers, as she said the Body Groom just wasn't doing the job.

The Body Groom needs to be charged for about 16 hours initially, if I remember the manual's directions correctly. It then holds a charge pretty well- after about my fourth use between charges it seems to be slowing down a bit so I charge it for at least 4 more hours when that happens. There is a light on the plug to show it's plugged in, but it remains on whether the charge is full or not and there is no indicator on the unit itself, which would have been nice.

To clean the Body Groom, I just take the head off and shake and tap the collected hair out of it. It can be rinsed under water, but I don't find that I need to do that frequently for fear that water will become trapped and cause problems. I haven't read any mention of having to keep anything lubricated on it.

I can't speak for the longevity of the product, but as with other electric razors, I would probably be happy with getting a year's worth of use out of it. I don't know if they make replacement parts if you want to change the cutters or foil, but you can seem to get the Body Groom for $35 or less now, so it may not be worth your while in any case.

Overall, I think that since many men have different body hair types that we will experience very different results. As for me, although I wouldn't mind a closer shave that would prevent me from having to use the Body Groom every other day if not more frequently, I am pleased with its performance and the fact that it doesn't irritate my skin as much as other methods I have tried. No, it's not a one stop body shaving solution for me, but I would say it's certainly worth the price and it's a product I will continue to use. Now let's see some other men's body shaving products come to the market- it's about time as there's no longer any shame in being well groomed!