Shaving … A daily ritual that can be of mind numbing repetitiveness.   We push a button on an aerosol can and outcomes a fluffy cloud of god knows what chemical composition.  We carelessly slather our faces trying to cover all the targeted, bewhiskered areas.  We grab our multi bladed shaving accessories (what are we up to 5, 6 blades?) and begin to hack away as quickly as safety allows.  Once most of the foam is removed, with or without all the available whiskers, we splash on a bit of water, dry and head for the door.  Mission accomplished.  Only to be repeated the following day and again and again all the days of our lives.

Let’s do a little math.  Say a typical shave takes 5 minutes from beginning to end.  You shaved 7 days a week.  You begin regular shaving when you’re what? 16 years old? You live to be, say, 80. Thirty five minutes a week times 3,328 weeks equals 116,480 minutes or 1,940 hours or 80 days.

We will spend nearly three months of our lives shaving.  Surely an investment of that kind of time and effort should be undertaken with more care and have a bit more payout on the back end. No????

That’s what the Symphony of Shaving Accessories is about… The Zen of Shaving… Shaving as a Metaphysical Act…. The Quest for the “Perfect Shave”.

How would one define the “Perfect Shave”?  Hard to say.  I suppose I’d have to paraphrase the famous dictum from Justice Potter Stewart regarding pornography.  In this case … “It’s hard to define but I’ll know it when I feel it”.  Having said that, I believe we can we create a short list of critical features to help us zero in a bit.

• First and foremost, the end result. The shave should end with a smooth, clean face free of any trace of stubble.
  
• In addition, the “Perfect Shave” should be comfortable, nick and pain free.  No razor burns or excessive tugging and pulling.
  
• I believe it should have a comforting quality to it, the same way a warm blanket is comforting on a cold day.
  
• The shaving accessories employed should be “exactly right” for the task: the razor sharp, easy to handle and a lather that softens and lubricates.
• As your first assertive act of the day, the “perfect shave” should leave you invigorated, ready to face all oncoming challenges.

A highly subjective list  I admit, but all necessary to achieve that transcendent experience.  If anyone has any additional thoughts on this subject let’s hear from you.

So that’s the task we have before us.  We’ll explore wet, classic wet (soap, mug and brush) and dry shaving in all its’ manifestations.  Note:  I’ll have to fess up to a certain biases here.  I’ve been a classic wet shaver for 20 plus years.  So don’t be surprised if we focus a good deal of attention in that direction.  We’ll examine at all manner of shaving accessories, accouterments and techniques.  Conduct an exploration of the cultural issues surrounding shaving both now and in the past. Truly, a celebration of all things shaving.

So won’t you come along and join me as we begin….. The Quest for the Perfect Shave.

Technorati Tags: dry shaving, perfect shave, shaving, Wet Shaving

Well here’s one for the books that only the Chinese can write.  An absolute must for the man on the go.  It’s something designed with the multi tasker in mind (I think I’ve run out of inane platitudes for the moment).  What am I talking about? The Shave Mobile Phone of course, what else could it be?

I’m not making this up.  A Chinese firm name Todemoketai (don’t even ask me to pronounce it) came out with this little shaving accessories beauty.  Apparently the idea came from the popular RAZR phone made by and marketed in China by Motorola.  RAZR…Get it?  At any rate with the Shave Mobile you get the best of both worlds an electric shaver and a mobile phone.

What more could you ask for?  Well how about, a 2 megapixel camera and an FM tuner to boot.  For you techies, the phone incorporates a 2.6 inch touch screen, 506 KB of memory and SD card slot for 8GB.  Oh I almost forgot, its’ also got Bluetooth support.

Owning this truly revolutionary, breakthrough  new product means that you can leave you razor,  , camera and radio all behind when you’re on the road, leaving space for that extra pair of socks.  Or it can be used for that quick touch up to rid yourself of the 3 O’clock shadow right before that big meeting.  At the same time making a phone call to let them know you’ll be late.  Yes,  the Save Mobile has it all covered.  You can save tons of time by talking to you friends, family or closing that big deal, all while you save.  I know that that’s something that I’ve been looking for.  Not certain whether or not the noise level of the shaver running would present a problem or not.

Some additional thoughts.

• You could down load and watch a video while you  shave
• You could listen to the radio
• You could even take picture of yourself shaving and send it to all your friends
• Hell, you can do all of the above at the same time

This little beauty retails for only a hundred bucks.  An investment that will surely pay rich dividends as it saves you more and more time and makes traveling less and less of a hassle.

This one gets classified under “Silly Shaving Accessories”

Technorati Tags: electric razor, mobile phone, razr, shaving accessoires

Well here is something quite out of the ordinary for a blog on, all things shaving accessories.  But to keep one’s perspective it’s important, once in a while, to look on the other side of the street and pay a bit of attention to our bearded brethren.  With that in mind I’d like to draw your attention to the First Annual National Beard and Moustache Championship scheduled to take place between June 3 and June 5, 2010 in Bend Oregon.

The competition is sponsored by the Beard Team USA, a group dedicated to the appreciation and promotion of all facial hair.  By definition facial hair includes beards, mustaches, sideburns or goatees.  From the looks of what I assume to be member photos on their web site, they are truly dedicated to their craft. It’s unlikely that anyone who has not nurtured their facial hair for decades will be able to effectively compete in the Championship.

Categories

The competition will be in five separate categories each with a cash price of $1000 awarded to the winner.  The categories are: the best moustache, the best partial beard which includes goatees, van dykes, sideburns and musketeers (?), the best full beard, a freestyle category and finally a random selection from all the contestants.

Events

Along with various recreational activities, largely dominated by brewery tours are float trips and dances.  There will be various styling clinics, a press conference, a contestant processions and of course the contest itself.  The preliminary judging to begin at 2pm on the 5^th with the finals and award ceremonies at 7pm.

While I don’t anticipate the art and practice of shaving and shaving accessories to be much in evidence, if you find yourself in central Oregon in early June, it might be worthwhile to check out the First Annual Beard and Moustache Championships and see what you’ve been missing.

Technorati Tags: beard, moustache, shaving, Shaving Accessories

I recently came across this study and thought that it might be of interest to many of you who experience irritation and/or discomfort when shaving.  A kind of How to Shave. While I had a couple of problems with how the study was conducted (more on that later), the overall conclusions about shaving accessories are certainly worth noting.  The study was conducted by a dermatologist at Wake Forest University, financed by Gillette (ne Proctor and Gamble).

The Study

The study was composed of 40 men who reported that they suffered from sensitive skin and irritation when shaving.  Two shaving regiments were designed.  The first was composed of regular bar soap to clean the face, canned shaving cream for beard prep and a popular razor.  The second was composed of a proprietary pre shave cleanser, a gel type shaving cream, a high end razor and a post shave balm.  The study participants shaved half their face with each shaving regiment for a period of 14 days.  The results of the study showed that the second regiment produced a significantly more comfortable shave.    They based it on three measures: the participant’s reports of less irritation, their skin was more hydrated and when skin samples were examined under a microscope, less flaking was in evidence.

Although I’m neither a demonologist nor a researcher there do appear to be a couple of things about the study that give you pause.  Fact that P&G financed the study.  Different razors were used in the regiments.  The same razor was used throughout the 14 days.  But in spite of these issues the results do pass the basic logic test.  If you prepare you face by cleansing it properly, use  high quality beard softening/ lubrication soap, cream or gel, use a hydrating post shave balm and you employ a high quality, sharp razor you will get a more comfortable shave, guaranteed.

Conclusions

The result of the study clearly demonstrates the following:

• Cleansing the skin prior to shaving removes all the dirt, oils and dead skin cells from around the hair follicle.  This improves the  hair water absorptions properties, i.e. fatting  and softening it up, enabling the razor to cut the hair closer to the skin without excessive tugging and pulling.
• Using a high quality lubricant (cream, soap or gel) will minimize tugging and pulling and will help hold moisture in hair during the shave.
• Along with the beard, skin cells and moisture is removed during the shaving process which can lead to dry irritated skin.  A quality moisturizing balm will assist and re-moisturizing and protecting the skin.

Although significantly increasing the time spent and the expense of your daily shave.  Paying attention to these extra steps will surely ensure that you get the closest most comfortable shave possible.

Technorati Tags: pre shave cleanser, razor, Shaving Accessories, shaving balm, Shaving Cream, shaving gel

Where did the idea of shaving come from?  After all a shaved face is not man’s natural state is it?  Unfortunately the guy who first thought it up hasn’t been around for about 100,000 years or so.  We can only guess, but it may have had something to do with hygiene or, more likely, a request from a charming Neanderthal lady that started the whole process.  With the why lost in the fog of history, we can trace shaving accessories and trends well back in time. 

The first shaving devise was a couple of clam shells used as tweezers to literally pluck each hair.  Not a good way to go IMHO and was eventually replaced with flint blades.  The oldest date back to about 30,000BC. Depending on where you live you might also use a sharks tooth or volcanic obsidian glass to perform the task.  The first major breakthrough happened in and around 3,000 BC with the development of metalworking.  Copper razors were frequently found in India and Egypt around this time period.

Greece

The guy who really gave shaving its’ first real shot in the arm was Alexander the Great and it wasn’t at the request of a charming lady, Neanderthal or otherwise.  He did believe that shaving gave one a tidier appearance but the real motivation was likely a deadly one.  He strongly recommended that his troops shave before combat to eliminate the enemy’s ability to “beard grab” during battle.  Alexander’s subjects use a novacila (see picture), to get that smooth clean shave.

Rome

Around 300BC Publicus Ticinius Maenas, a wealthy Greek businessman brought professional barbers from Sicily to Rome.  This introduced a whole new Roman craze for shaving.  Soon the wealthy had a skilled live-in servant to shave them.  The less well-off visited the tonsor, or barber.  They use thin-bladed iron razors, which are sharpened with water and a whetstone.   This type of shaver corrodes quickly and becomes blunt, so customers often got cut.   The tonsor fixed this by applying the world’s first styptic stick, a plaster made from a perfumed ointment and spider webs soaked in oil and vinegar. Even then the barbershop was the preferred meeting spot of the day, with Rome’s men flocking there daily to get the latest updates in gossip and news.  Young men about age twenty-one were required to have their first shave as part of an elaborate party-like ritual where the young man’s bead shavings were offered to the gods.   Scipio Africanus and Julius Caesar both preferred the hairless face look, although Caesar reverted to the old fashion plucking routine.  Julius’s army, unfortunately, had to rub theirs off with a pumice stone.   As shaving spread throughout most of the world, men of unshaven societies became known as “barbarians,” meaning the “unbarbered.”  The positive shaving trend endures until the days of Emperor Hadrain (76-138 A.D.); who would revive the fad for beards to hide some nasty skin problems.

Through the following centuries shaving goes in and out of style with some noted improvement in shaving accessories and materials.  The next big mile stone was the development of the precursors of the safety razor in the 1700 but that’s a story for another day.

Technorati Tags: Alexander the Great, barber, Ceasar, razor, shaving, Shaving Accessories