Tag Archives: Grooming

Beard comb round up

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Over the last few years my collection of beard combs have grown, and at some point I mean to do a review of each one… but for now, here is four sentences about my four beard combs:

This comb from Big Red was my first comb just for beards, and gives good control despite feeling a little flimsy.

The BullDog beard comb is okay, but feels more like a re-purposed hair comb than a dedicated beard comb to me.

The metal multi-tool beard comb from Pereira Shavery has become part of my daily carry at work, used two or three times a day.

The boomerang style from Periera felt a little odd in my hand the first couple of times, but it’s my favourite beard comb now – the 90° handle gives great control without having to twist my wrist!

Female armpit shaving – or “the art of body shaming the ladies”

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Ever wonder why society as a whole expect the ladies to shave their pits?

It’s all down to body shaming – even if the term wasn’t invented back in 1915 when an advert appered in Harper’s Bazaar:

I found a short story over at the Metro about it, linking me to a short YouTube video… fairly informative if short.

So remember; guys started shaving because of wide spread military service during the Great War (and the requirement to use respirators), women started because society body shamed them into it….

Review of Pereira Shaving Shavette

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Let me preface this by pointing out that I had never before used a shavette before I was lucky enough to receive one from Pereira Shaving. My frame of reference is therefore a bit… wobbly, at best, when it comes to reviewing one.

Getting the blade in is easy. Getting the blade lined up so it’s even is a little trickier, but if you’re used to putting a blade in a DE razor you should manage easily enough. Once in it’s held quite securely, and I’ve yet to have a blade slip on me.
The one thing I find somewhat awkward is holding the shavette as I manoeuvre it around my face, however I’m informed by people who know how to use straights that it should be easy to learn if I devote time to it.
Overall I do enjoy the shavette, even if I so far havn’t worked out how to get it around my jawline. It works great on my cheeks and lower neck, and it’s near perfect for defining the edge of my goatee.
If you want a ring style shavette that wont break the bank, you could do a lot worse than looking at what Pereira have to offer.
If you contact Pereira by email before the 31th May this year and use the code WW10% you should receive a discount on this shavette and their other items, more details on that in another post.

Male facial shaving – or “how not to be asphyxiated by poison gas”

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Today is VE day, so even if the story originated in the Great War and not the Second it’s oddly suitable.
World War One, known at the time as the Great War or the War to end all Wars (yeah, right…) was the first war when clean shaved faces were required. The reason was twofold; personal hygiene in the trenches, and ensuring a proper gas tight seal on the respirators. Up until chemical warfare became an issue, facial hair was often encouraged and sometimes required since follicular fashion statement was all about virility and aggression,* which was seen as good military qualities.  British regulations from 1860 to 1916 stated that:

The hair of the head will be kept short. The chin and the under lip will be shaved, but not the upper lip…

So yeah.. shame on you if you couldn’t grow a decent moustache I guess.
Anyhow, I digress… so such was the state of affairs up until the first couple of years into the Great War. On 22 April 1915 the Germans released a huge cloud of chlorine near Yrpes. Cue a rapid development of respirators – starting with simple pads tied in front of the mouth and ending with models that almost be mistaken for modern ones – and the end of facial hair. When the US got ready to get involved in the tussle, the US Army regulations stated that beards were not permitted, and the maximum allowable hair length was one inch. King Gillette got the job of making sure every member of the American Expeditionary Forces was clean shaven.. and the rest is history.

To summarize: This:

means you have to use these:

and that means you’ll need something like this:

which in turns leads to this:

which lead to a whole generation of young men learning to shave themselves and getting used to being clean shaven every day. And that is where we are today… beards come and go, but shaving is here to stay.

*) Same reason men in many non-western parts of the world is expected to have a full beard as soon as they are of age – they are quite literally seen as less manly without it.

Every man remembers his first shave…

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This is a repost from Thursday, 10 September 2015, for the enjoyment of readers new and old.

Every man remembers his first shave, according to the internet…

I don’t.

I do remember my first shave with a traditional safety razor though, and how my face looked afterwards… was hooked right away, despite several nicks. Thinking about it, I do believe my first shaves as a pimply teen was with an unremarkable electric razor… a no-brand rotary.

First experiments with carts and canned goo came a little later as I was gearing up for boot camp – I believe my logic was that you can’t find an outlet while on exercise in the deep forests. The main takeaway from the first few years was that I dislike canned goo; left my face feeling dry and funky.

Enter stage right; a cheap brush and cream from BodyShop. Much better, even if ingrown hairs and shaving rash still plagued me.. at the time I though that was just how it was.

Over the next couple of decades I waffled between carts (Sensor and Sensor Excel), various electrics, and growing beards… until I was pointed in the direction of traditional wetshaving while I was gearing up for a one year Tour of Duty as a UN Military Observer in Africa – the logic at the time being that you can’t always find an electrical outlet nor reliable buy carts while in a third world country… seems to be a common theme with why I switched to a cart years before.

The anticipation when I slid the Feather blade into my Parker R22 and slowly twisted it closed was palatable… and I promptly opened and closed it a few times to make 100% absolutely sure I had put it in right. I was happy with the lather I had made with my brand new Omega boar brush and my just as new tube of Proraso Green… even if looking back it was frankly not particularly good. And the less I say about my pre-shave, the better… because there is not much to say about splashing some warm water on ones face.

The feeling of sliding a traditional safety razor over my cheeks for the first time? Unforgettable. The actual sound of stubble being sliced through by a piece of wicked sharp steel? Simply wonderful.

Yes, there was several nicks. Blood was drawn – the Feathers is, in hindsight, way to sharp for an aggressive razor like the R22. My lather was too watery and provided little cushion. But despite all that I knew one thing for sure when I rinsed the bright red remains of watery lather of my face:

I wanted more. Much more.

To summarise:
I think my first shave was forgotten because it wasn’t anything special.
I do remember my first traditional shave because it was quite simply unforgettable.

The alpha and omega of a good shave

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The one major lesson I learned after taking up traditional wetshaving is that good prep-work is alpha and omega. A great shave is built on a good prep, just like a good house is built on solid fundations, and to me prep-work includes everything you do up until the blade touches the skin.

  • I wash my face vigorously, preferable with Dr Bronner Soap. Some days – if I notice unclean skin or hints of razor burn – I use my Clarisonic face brush thingy.
  • I rinse off all the soap. Absolutely all, since soap left on the skin can ruin the lather for me.
  • I build my lather, using my choosen brush and shave soap. Some soaps requires light loading, some heavy.. some like a dryish brush, others needs it soaking wet.
  • I rinse my face again.
  • I apply the lather… getting good coverage over every part of my stubble with at least a centimeter over-coverage.
  • Then, and only then, do I reach for my razor.

You don’t build your house on sandy ground if you want it to remain standing, and you don’t shave without doing your prep if you want a damn fine shave. Simple as that.

Clarisonic face brush thingy – sort of a review

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I’ll come clean; after borrowing my Better Half’s Clarisonic face brush for a long while – so long she got me my own brushes for it – I went and bought my own Clarisonic Mia 2… in part so I can bring it with me when I travel without being spotted with a bright pink thing in my toiletry bag (and without my Better Half getting annoyed at me for abducting her Clarisonic).

First things first; I did consider getting the Alpha Fit, however reading reviews online indicates issues with the battery in that model, so I picked up a white Mia 2.
That aside, lets get on with it. The Clarisonic Mia is waterproof with no holes water can in through – this is a great thing for something meant to be used in the shower. It sits nicely in my hand, however it might be a bit bulky for someone with smaller hands. The battery last for a long time, and takes a few hours to charge when empty.

Unlike cheaper electric face brushes the Clarisonic range uses what they refer to as “micro massage”, in other words the head don’t spin around but jiggles back and forth. It might sound gimmicky, but it works rather well. Ingrown hairs and clogged pores clean right up.
It has a timer on it too, to make sure you spend enough time in each area of your T-sone… it may sound like a bit of wankery, but again it works.

The two drawbacks of the Mia 2 I’ve found so far is the amonth of space it takes in my bag when traveling and the fact that it really, really makes my nose tickle… but then I’m much more ticklish than most so don’t take that as a problem for everyone.
Is Clarisonic worth the price? The short answer is yes; it makes cleaning my face easier, and it helps clean up potential skin issues before they turn into problems. It is fairly expensive though, so if you allready have good skin with little to no issues you may not need to splurge.

Slumming it – experiments with various types of soaps and no brush

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Last week I was running a little experiments; lathering soap without the benefit of a brush, as well as trying more common soaps – basically just put soap on face, rub to lather and shave with a BiC disposable. This was in part inspired be a comment someone made a few weeks ago on my favorite shave forum, partly inspired by curiosity (the things I do sometimes…).

First I tried with my trusty Arko Shavestick; result were a very thin layer of lather little less cushioning than when I use it with a brush, but quite acceptable – if you’re used to canned goo at least.

Second out was using Prairie Creations’ Goat Soap hand soap. Results were… okay, if you’re not used to proper shaving. Thin and patchy, didn’t want to stay put on my face. Glide but no cushioning at all. Something like a cream soap might have yielded better results, but I used the bar I had handy.

Last out was my regular shower gel… and I have to admit, the shave was slightly better than the hand soap, and almost on level with one of my brushless creams; glide but no cushion, and no post shave effect at all. I know people who shave in the shower with shower gel, and after giving it a go I pity them.

As to summarise… well, apart from the “what am I doing?”, it shows that you can shave with virtually any soap… it just wont be as good as a proper shave.
If you’re going on an extended hike and can’t find the space to pack a brush, a stick of Arko can suffice to give you a half decent shave while doubling as a general soap – while a general soap likely wont do double duty as a shave soap. But if you’re that hard up for space, why bring a razor?

Zadig & Voltaire – This is him! quick review

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So I have scored a free sample of Zadig & Voltaire “This is him!” EdP, and it passed the Better Half’s nose with flying colours.

It’s a pretty woodsy scent, with a lingering topnote and a sustained base. Grapefruit, black pepper, incense, sandalwood and vanilla might sound like an odd mix – at least it do to me – but it works well. It’s fairly intense – in that a little goes a looong way – and have significant staying power; 8 hours after putting it on it smells no different than when applied.

Some might find the scent aggressive, but according to my Better Half it’s assertive – marking position and presence. For some that might be a turn-off, for others a turn-on.

Fall and winter should suit this EdP fine, I do believe it’s a little heavy for spring and summer. YMMV off course.

Free samples – a great way to try scents

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If your Better Half is halfway serious about make up and related products all is not lost if you go shopping with her, far from it.
Be patient, interested, pay a bit of attention and offer helpful suggestions… and Lo! free samples will come your way from the shop assistants, because they are trilled and overjoyed by a guy who isn’t moping in the corner looking like he hates his life!
If you keep frequenting the same shop on a regular or semi-regular basis, the employees will remember you, and also recall what samples you have gotten already – so you don’t end up with ten of the same – and will also ask your opinion on the samples you received so they can narrow the selection of new samples to offer… or offer you things that matches, like when I received matching Eau de Perfumes to a pair of shower gels I had already gotten.

I’ve built up a modest scent archive of samples so far by the simple expenditure of taking in interest in something my Better Half enjoy. Not only does it mean I get to spend more quality time with her, but so far I’ve also found at least two perfumes I would enjoy receiving for a birthday or Christmas.
And as an added bonus I know I can go to that shop my Better Half prefers, smile at one of the girls working there and know that if I ask for suggestions for a make-up item or scent I can give as a gift to my Better Half, they will hook me up with something that my Better Half will enjoy receiving and using.
It’s a win-win-win all around!