Tag Archives: Personal Hygiene

Innovative Product Designs to kickstart your morning with a flawlessly clean bathroom experience!

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We may not pay attention to our bathrooms very often, but the truth is they’re the little alcoves we spend a substantial amount of our time in, carrying out our personal activities. It’s probably the only time we’re ever truly alone, and bathrooms are like our own personal zones. Hence amping up our bathroom with essential accessories and handy product designs is quite important. These little products can make a huge difference in our everyday bathroom experience. They not only help us carry out our personal and grooming activities even more easily, but they also help us take care of ourselves a little better! From an electric flosser that flawlessly cleans your teeth in 30 seconds to a mold-proof and water-tight rolling shower screen – we’ve curated a whole collection of innovative and functional bathroom accessories for you!

The Everloop Toothbrush from NOS uses a recycled plastic handle and disposable bamboo bristles. Taking on a unique cradle-to-cradle approach, the brush comes with a plastic handle that is, in fact, made from recycled toothbrushes. At the very end is a clamping mechanism that allows you to attach 100% natural bamboo bristles to the toothbrush’s head. The idea is to retain the plastic handle and periodically replace the bamboo bristles every few months. The bamboo bristles have absolutely no plastic in them, allowing them to easily be disposed of, or composted in a way that doesn’t harm the environment.

JoyFous takes the existing shower curtain and gives it a much-needed design upgrade. Made for 3-walled bathtubs (where the 4th wall is usually occupied by a curtain), JoyFous is a nifty, slim, retractable screen that’s easy to pull out and retract before and after your bath. It’s a much more convenient alternative to the shower curtain that’s clumsy and doesn’t stop water from leaking out onto the bathroom floor… and it’s a whole lot cheaper than those frosted glass partitions, and it isn’t breakable or fragile too! Working much like retractable blinds that you pull downward, JoyFous operates sideways, creating a neat privacy-partition while you bathe or just laze in your bath-salts solution with some candles and bubbly… and its unique water-dam feature keeps the water inside your bathtub, so you don’t step out onto a soaking wet and slippery bathroom floor.

Designed to be the world’s first eco-friendly electric flosser, Flaüs is a hand-held toothbrush-shaped device with a replaceable flossing head. When powered on, Flaüs gently vibrates at 12,000 sonic vibrations per minute – it’s enough to safely remove all the food and plaque stuck between your teeth without hurting the most sensitive gums. Given that it’s about as easy to use as an electric toothbrush, Flaüs makes flossing your teeth quick, easy, and effective. Moreover, each replaceable floss-head is designed out of biodegradable materials and can even be composted after use… leaving your teeth and the planet as clean as they can be!

Kohler seems to have taken a massive liking to bathroom singers with its new showerhead. With a halo-shaped design, the Kohler Moxie Showerhead allows you to fit a wireless speaker into its negative cavity, giving you a luxurious Kohler-worthy shower with handpicked (or rather voice-picked) tunes to accompany you as you bathe. Now the Moxie isn’t a new product. Kohler released the quirky showerhead+speaker combination in as early as 2012, but the new update (to be showcased at CES2020 next week) allows Moxie to communicate with Amazon’s Alexa voice AI, allowing you to ask it to play songs (or karaokes), brief you on the news, or order you some more shampoo. The Moxie speaker is detachable and docks right into the torus-shaped showerhead using magnetic action.

Lucere mimics that perfect vanity-lighting experience without racking up an electricity bill. It features a pair of portable lights that attach directly to your bathroom mirror to give you bright, bi-directional light without casting sharp shadows. The Lucere comes with a mount that adheres to your mirror, allowing you to magnetically snap the lights on or off whenever you need them. Both the lights come with touch-sensitive on-off switches and the ability to set them at your desired brightness using simple +/- controls. The lights charge via a standard MicroUSB cable and last for 3 hours on medium brightness.

BASE is a conceptual sterilizer that is aimed at providing the maximum level of oral hygiene and safety to you. Toothbrushes hold more than 10 million bacteria which is more than a toilet seat so it needs more than a plastic cap to stay clean and protected. UV rays at 253.7 nm wavelength are used as a bactericidal and within 5 seconds BASE kills 100% of the commonly found germs. In a complete 40 second cycle, it also kills 90% of spore-forming bacteria and it is recommended to sterilize the toothbrush for a full 2 minutes for the highest level of hygiene. The device encloses the toothbrush just enough to contain the UVC radiation to the area required (bristles, head, and neck of the toothbrush) while also allowing the right amount of convective airflow to help dry the toothbrush.

Designer Geraldine Tong wanted to change our perception of toilet cleaning tools while also solving related issues like its environmental impact and the clutter it creates in our bathrooms. Her goal was to create a brush that didn’t cause more landfill waste, took minimal space, reached the narrow areas, and of course, look visually appealing – so she designed BrushPro in collaboration with Lam Soon Singapore, and the mission was accomplished. This redesigned toilet brush lets you switch out brushes while reusing the main body which reduces a lot of toxic waste. BrushPro is extremely convenient to use compared to its forerunners. The extendable handle allows you to reach narrow spaces without having to perform advanced yoga poses on the floor and minimizes your direct contact with the dirty brush.

Designed as a two-part stool, the stuul occupies a fraction of its intended space when not in use, and transforms into two foot-stools when you’re on the John. Using stuul helps elevate your legs in a way that resembles the squatting posture that’s clinically proven to make the job easier. stuul’s design helps position the legs at the desired angle to help promote a healthy bathroom routine and prevent diseases like IBS. With a design-conscious approach, the stuul is styled less like a clinical product and more as something fitting of being in your well-decorated bathroom. The two tripod-stools fit together into each other, becoming a single form that’s easy to stash somewhere for later, while its faceted design gives it a decidedly premium feel.

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Why shouldn’t your bathroom scale do more than just tell you your weight? The PEBBLE was designed with this question in mind and provides an innovative solution that might just make you wonder why this doesn’t already exist! After showering, you can step on the scale and it will air-dry your feet and sanitize with infrared light. The upward-facing fans help you dry off faster and ensure you don’t carry excess moisture which can result in a number of unwanted health scenarios. Synced with the PEBBLE app on your smartphone, it will automatically upload and track your weight stats and give you daily, weekly, and monthly status updates to maintain a healthy BMI.

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Imagined for the OXO brand, the Chrome Bath Suite aims to elevate the average person’s washroom with an easy-to-use, seamlessly integrated collection of bath items. Consisting of a soap holder, wall mirror, shower shelf, and towel hook, the set has everything one needs to keep things tidy and organized. Better yet, none of the units require any tools to install. Instead, a thoughtfully designed suction cup mechanism grips onto vertical surfaces before the various elements are attached. An elegant chrome finish rounds out the look and brings each unit together in one cohesive collection.

This biodegradable razor let’s lead a ‘cleaner’ & more sustainable lifestyle!

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Disposable razors are made of plastic and contribute heavily to waste and pollution. In fact, as per the report Award Catalogue 2020 of BEYOND PLASTIC, about 5,000 billion disposable razors are used per year globally – can you imagine that many razors in front of you for a second? That is an island-worth of waste and we are constantly looking for designs that remake sustainable versions of daily objects so that we are a step closer to solving this problem. Oquari is a biodegradable razor with comes with interchangeable heads that aim to provide a sustainable alternative that can help reduce the burden on the environment.

The razor is made with PBS Bionelle as well as stainless steel blades as part of a regenerative approach and it degrades in aquatic environments. Its design is specifically geared at reducing manufacturing processes and facilitate the separation of its elements at the end of its life so that it becomes an accessible, attractive, and economical product without being recognized as “disposable” which the team refers to as  ‘monstrous hybrid’ – a term coined by Michael Braungart and William McDonough for a product, component, or material that combines both technical and organic nutrients in a way that cannot be easily separated, thereby rendering it unable to be recycled or reused be either system. Most monstrous hybrids can only be thrown out and contribute to the waste stream and cannot be reused and therefore it is important to not view Oquari as a ‘disposable’ razor but rather as a sustainable alternative to the disposable razors.

“This is why we wanted to focus on a product that most people use while creating a dramatic environmental impact on our planet. Disposable razors, this kind of product has specifically a combination of plastics and elastomers. Which is rarely restore or recycled because of how difficult and expensive is. As part of our brief, we establish sustainable objectives that follow 7 of the 11 Rs of the R-Ladder: refuse the combination of monstrous hybrids, redesign better detachable pieces, rethink the concept of a disposable razor, reduce the use of plastic, reuse the razor for a long time, remanufacture materials for its use in other industries and recycle the package when disposed,” says the team,

Oquari creates a positive social-environmental impact because of the reusable handle that spreads awareness about the plastic waste problem. It encourages you to apply waste recollection strategies while generating more active learning and participation. Fairtrade is also ensured for users from socioeconomic sectors C and D because Oquari is made to be affordable. In addition, the constant consumption of blades ensures fixed income to the company. “Because our handle is reusable, raw material production and manufacturing costs are reduced. Likewise, waste decreases and benefits other industries by recycling discarded blades,” the trio elaborates. A sustainable lifestyle shouldn’t e a status symbol but rather an accessible choice so we can create a larger impact much faster.

Designer: Karla Valencia, Guillermo Miranda, and Erik Rodríguez

World’s first adaptive deodorant – Meet the Degree Inclusive designed for the physically disabled

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Life for blind, disabled people or ones who’ve unfortunately lost a limb is not easy. Everyday tasks are a struggle – even something we take for granted, like maintaining personal hygiene. For example, applying a deodorant – opening the cap, then holding it in place, and using with one hand only. While most take this easy routine for granted, Degree Inclusive deodorant is considerate of this problem, addressing the flaws of typical deodorant sticks. The Unilever-owned brand has created this world’s first adaptive deodorant to have a better grip for application along with the magnetic closure to put the cap back in place for easy application.

Tailored for blind people and those with upper limb disability, this newly designed deodorant’s cap has a hook that can be hanged while it’s lower body can be pulled down. The applicator is larger than on the usual deodorant stick to facilitate application with just one swipe. Degree has designed the package to have a braille label to make it visually impaired friendly, making it easier to locate on a stuffed retail store shelf. The deodorant design includes inputs from Christina Mallon, Wunderman Thompson’s head of inclusive design. Christina understands this challenge as she was diagnosed with a rare form of ALS, also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or flail arm syndrome, causing her arms to become paralyzed slowly. In collaboration with Unilever, the creative agency has developed the prototype of Inclusive deodorant, which will be brought to the masses under the Rexona brand, one of the leaders in this market space.

As a matter of fact, simple tasks like applying a deodorant are also a struggle for older adults with limited dexterity. They can also benefit from using the Degree Inclusive Deodorant without a semblance of doubt. As per World Health Organization, every individual on the planet will experience some kind of temporary or permanent disability at some point in their life. This fact makes for an even more pressing reason to appreciate the inclusive design of the Degree’s deodorant.

Bas Korsten, the global chief creative officer at Wunderman Thompson, said, “It is a mundane and almost trivial thing, deodorant, but when you can’t use it, it becomes very important.” To this end, both Degree and Wunderman Thompson got in close quarters with people from the disabled community to tweak the package down to the best possible design. The final product might see even more fine-tuning, making it suitable for people who’ll eventually relish using the deodorant more than ever. As mindful designs like this continue aiding the community, we need to understand that it’s the small things that matter. After all, we all want the world to be a better and fairer place for everyone, isn’t that right?

Designer: Degree Deodorant