Vanity Wars: Him A Close Shave By "Ambrose" I have a heavy beard. How heavy? So heavy that I’m only a cocker spaniel and a criminal conspiracy away from being Richard Nixon. The approach I’d always taken to shaving was to attack my face like it was the enemy: scalding hot water, shaving soap or shaving cream, and aggressive strokes with the razor. The result was what you’d expect a battlefield to look like: red, ravaged, with dabs of wet toilet paper signaling surrender. First things first: unless you are drinking coffee, hot water shouldn’t be anywhere near your face. You want to soften the whiskers, not boil them off. I’ve determined that soap is also not something to use on my face—remember the commercials about the soap that “is one quarter cleansing cream”? Incredibly, that wasn’t all jive. Soap really does dry your skin. The combination of soap’s drying effect and the assault with a blade is pretty rough on the part of your body that’s the most important part of your look. Give yourself a break. Anyone writing about men’s grooming issues must take on shaving. Perhaps this has something to do with the rite of passage that shaving represents; perhaps it relates to the father-son pedagogy associated with the ablutions of adult manhood. We’ve established that grownup men should shave. Now the question becomes, “How shall we shave?” I was a skeptic for a long time, but there really are products out there that make the experience less miserable, even mildly pleasurable at times, and these products work better than what you’ve probably been using.Caring about how you look means abandoning that can of Edge that has been a side-of-the-sink mainstay. Five minutes of making your face feel nice and look better is hardly the sort of decadence that brought about the fall of Rome. Be indulgent. If your morning shave is nicer, the rest of your day is set up to be nicer, too. I am impressed by Sharps Kid Glove Shave Gel, a product that works quite differently from regular old shaving cream. It goes on clear, and feels tingly. The fact that it is clear means that you can see where you are shaving, which is unique—and critical. When you think about it, shaving is like shoveling snow. Just because you have cleared away the white stuff doesn’t mean you have really cleared the path. Seeing what you are about to shave really helps. Plus, unlike soap-based products, Kid Glove is actually moisturizing. The end result is a smoother, closer shave than I’ve had from any other single product. I had a hard time finding the Sharps around here, however, so I did a little shopping and emerged from a metrosexual retail outlet with product from The Art of Shaving. This is a little fussier than I’m used to, but I’m a sucker for things that describe themselves as “systems,” so the Sandalwood Preshave Oil and the companion shaving cream are just the sort of thing I’m prone to purchase. The oil sets up the beard, and makes the razor glide more smoothly; the shaving cream is a lot thicker than anything else I’ve used, and is less drying than soap. I think the end result is better if I apply the shaving cream with a brush, but that is probably because my beard has more time to soak up the lather. It is tempting to see if I can get the same results with a three dollar bottle of mineral oil and a can of Barbasol, but I am not after science here—I like the fact that the Art of Shaving product smelled nice, and I am fine with improving the aesthetic quality of my morning. I would rate the quality of the shave as almost equal to the Sharps, but it is less convenient (involving a two-step “system” and all). Better than drugstore Product? Sure. Better than the Sharps? Well, I took a scissor to the empty tube of Sharps in order to extract the last of it for one more shave, ordered more on line, and sent an email to its customer service department suggesting several local retail outlets that they might approach so I can buy it locally (including the metrosexual shop where I bought the Art of Shaving stuff). I think this nicely illustrates just how superior I believe this product is—superior enough to drive me to mildly extreme behavior. Plus, I can use the Sharps in the shower. I recommend this: your beard is at its wettest in the shower; you are probably not going to use water that is too hot; and multi-tasking like this lets me tell myself that I am efficient, and not just having a spa day when everyone else in the house wants a turn in the bathroom. Ambrose’ face is as smooth as a putting green. He lives in Buffalo. Vanity Wars: Her Beauty Below the Knees SUBSCRIBE NOW Back to the Table of Contents Back to Top