On a whim we decided to see if they still sold the Flowbee, the vacuum-powered hair cutter made infamous in the late ’80s. They do—Flowbee even has its own web site. More surprising, though, were the reviews, which were almost uniformly positive on both Amazon and the dubiously-named but seemingly legit InfomercialRatings.com.
Ray of Florida, USA, writes on Informercial Ratings:
I bought mine about 15-20 years ago and loved it from the first day I used it. I can’t understand why this product doesn’t catch on.
Well, Ray of Florida, it’s because they look fucking goofy. But we don’t doubt that they might actually work, although we are loathe to spend $65 to try one out when our local Puerto Rican stylist is happy to settle for $10 plus tip.
Thus, our question: Are these people all nutjob shills or is the Flowbee actually sort of awesome?
Bonus Link: RoboCut, the Flowbee’s arch-enemy.
My father has been using a flowbee he got on eBay for at least 5 years now. His cut looks fine. Mom trims up the neck line and it looks like a regulat haircut. Nothing special, but hey, dad’s happily married and over 50 - no real need to drop any serious dosh on a haircut when this works as well as it does.
I don’t use the flowbee myself.
My hair as been doing the wave (as in waving goodbye) for quite awhile now. Not much I can do with it except cut it as short as possible. I bought a RoboCut five years ago and haven’t paid for a haircut since. It’s easy to use and convenient and there’s no mess — much better than when I used to shave my head with an electric razor and leave hair all over the bathroom.
The thing arrived on my doorstep in a giant pink box with pictures of some very dated people. One of their selling points was that it’s great for pets, too. The flip side of the box had a big picture of a happy collie. Hilarious.
Whatever. I love it. It’s better than awesome.
Flobee great.
This gal just used a Flowbee!
My hair is a 2 inch spikey style, tapered in the back. I cut it myself which is tricky and takes a long time. I thought the Flowbee would be better. I just got my new Flowbee this morning and used it. LOVE IT. I’ve had young guys and even older women telling me they love my hairstyle. Now, I can keep it perfectly trimmed myself. It cost me $60 plus $10 shipping. WELL WORTH THE MONEY. Quick, easy, perfectly even. I will probably keep this a secret since the flowbee seems to cause people to roar with laughter. Actually it isn’t much different then men that use an electric razor on their face, nobody laughs at them. Well I laugh at them but for different reasons. A Flowbee just cuts longer lengths and there isn’t any mess.
I purchased my Flowbee, gosh.. years ago when it first came out. I love it! I haven’t paid for a hair cut in… gosh YEARS. I have cut my hair, my husband’s hair, and any one else that has asked with the Flowbee. Long hair, Short hair, Medium hair, Thick hair, Think Hair, and barely any hair. Everyone loves the cut I give them.
You ask “Why hasn’t it caught on?” So many other products that you buy from those infomercials are basically garbage and I think so many people including me have been ripped off one to many times to try again by purchasing Flowbee. But let me tell you. I have never changed the blades on my old Flowbee and it has been giving me Great hair cuts from the first. You figure it out. At $40.00 to much much more per hair cut for a woman. Over lets just say 15years, at least6 haircuts per year. How much did I save using Flowbee?
In closing I would like to say, woman come up to me all the time and tell me, “OH I Love your haircut, where did you get it?” When I tell them they say, “What’s a Flowbee?” I send them to the website. and tell them, get one. It is so worth it.
I’m off to the website to finally purchase a new one since mine is finally getting a little tired. Not the blades, the motor is slowing down.