A Peek at Some of My Grooming Nonsense
As I get older, hair stops growing where I want it and starts growing where I don't. Here's how I deal with it...
Ditching the Unnecessary Cost (and Waste) of Cartridge Razors
When Dollar Shave Club disrupted our costly enslavement to expensive premium blade systems back in 2012, the shaving game was turned on its head. Harry’s followed Dollar Shave Club with its own subscription model, offering premium blades and better looking handles. Then Gillette clumsily copied the cool kids with it’s own subscription model with more multi-blade cartridges and hideous handles, calling it “Shave Club.”
I was an early adopter of Dollar Shave Club. As a man with limited means and the creator of a blog that explored sartorial stealth and effective living on a budget, DSC offered a brilliant and very affordable solution. But even then, I was always bothered by the waste and the plastic. We get a plastic container of plastic blade cartridges, which all get thrown out at the end of the month. It seems small, but the waste adds up. If I could be one less person contributing to the floating continents of plastic in the ocean, I’d be a happier man.
I wanted to see if I could cut the cost (and the waste) even more. And I did.
The Absence of Mastery in the Era of the “Instabrand”
Over the past decade, the internet and social media have enabled many entrepreneurs to start new businesses very quickly and relatively cheaply. Ventures like this used to require much more time and money than they do now, where we have a saturated market of young clothing, grooming and accessory brands. These young companies, however, often sell a product with a very shallow breadth of understanding, knowledge and appreciation of history and how/why things work the way they work.
Effective and Affordable Hair Loss Therapy from Revivogen MD
Looking at the genetics on my mom’s side and combing through my own hair at age 45, I have a low probability of any notable hair loss. For a huge percentage of men, however, the opposite is true. And while I’m a fan of guys who buzz or shave their heads, I also understand that a lot of men just aren’t comfortable with that and don’t feel confident with the shape of their head or any of the social insecurities one might feel by having less than a full head of hair. For those guys, there is a terrific, non-invasive, non-prescription, affordable and effective solution: The scalp therapy treatment, shampoo and conditioner from Revivogen MD.
Barbasol Shaving Tips
I love shaving, and I love barbershops. Here in Manhattan, we have a lot of great shops, including Best Barber, my go-to right here in Hell’s Kitchen. Like all good barbershops, they do cuts and shaves.
As I’ve written before, my preferred shave cream is Barbasol, a venerable old affordable classic made right here in the USA. I found myself on their website the other day confirming the existence of a non-aerosol version of their shave cream (It’s confirmed. It exists.), and I came across this great video they produced in 2014 at a barbershop called Old Familiar Barbershop in Columbus, Ohio. The video features shop owner Kenji Prince highlighting how he goes about giving a shave in the fantastic setting of his Old Town East emporium, which also includes haircuts, beard trims, shampoos, shoe shines, marriages and dirty jokes among their services.
Beards Make Us Look Older
When we were underage in high school, we always got our prematurely hirsute classmates to buy beer because their five o’clock shadows made them look older. Stubble made an 18 year old less likely to get asked for I.D. (or at least made a fake I.D. more believable). Having said that, teens nowadays are getting away with underage drinking much more easily without beards, due to the believability and realistic look of Arizona Fake Id. Despite this, for adults, I think the same beard principle applies.
A New Lathering Shave Cream from Dollar Shave Club
I’ve never been a fan of non-lathering shave creams. I like the old-fashioned lathering experience with my shave. As a fan (and member) of Dollar Shave Club, I was excited when they introduced Dr. Carver’s Shave Butter, but ultimately disappointed when I discovered that it was the non-lathering type. There’s nothing wrong with non-lathering shave creams, but they’re just not my personal preference.
Naturally, when a tube of Pillowy Shave Lather arrived from Dollar Shave Club, I was eager to try it.
New Deodorant from the Bulldog
A nice new entry into the men's grooming circus from Bulldog Skincare for Men.
Barbasol Shave Cream: A Forsaken American Original
After years keeping up with the Joneses with fancy shave creams, I’ve circled back to the American original that never let me down (or cost me very much).
A Truman Shaving Set from Harry’s
Let’s face it: no one is going to reinvent the way we shave. At least on any real scale in our lifetime. Most of us use a cartridge razor with (hopefully) good blades and a soothing shave cream that keeps the whole operation running smoothly. The only real shaving disruption over the past few years has to do with changes in the cost and the delivery system.
When Mike Dubin, founder of Dollar Shave Club, released and starred in what is possibly the most hilarious and virally successful video in product launch history, the revolution began. We were no longer hostages in a dysfunctional model that entailed ugly and over-produced razors, $20 for five cartridges, or wasteful plastic disposables.
Since Dollar Shave Club launched in March of 2012, there have been other contestants in the direct-to-consumer shaving game. Even behemoth Gillette has succumbed to the threat by offering a subscription model with their razors that look like props from Robocop (the 1987 one). But perhaps the most stylish and streamlined player to date is Harry’s.