Recently, my girlfriend and I decided to go to NYC with no plan, thinking we'd figure out what to do when we got there. (We live in Connecticut so this isn't too radical.) Among other things, we ended up roaming around the upper east side, where we stumbled upon a couple gems.
The first one was Tender Buttons, a very vintagey closet of a place that sells fasteners of all sorts, from classical and custom to novel. I was drooling. My girlfriend was drooling for me. It was closed.
Then, just two doors down on 62nd street, we bumped into an equally manly operation: The Art of Shaving. Now, I've since learned that this is a multi-city chain with locations all over NYC that I never even noticed and that they have ads in GQ, Esquire, and so on. At the time, however, all I had to go on was the experience I was having and it was fantastic.
The 62nd Street store is small, about the size of an efficiency apartment. It has an affable manager, Angelo Ramirez, whose inexhaustible knowledge and obvious shaving prowess makes you want to take out a straight razor and shave like your grandfather.
After several weeks of mulling it over, I finally decided to pony up for a starter kit and I'm happy to report that I'm really into it. I love the ritual, the different steps in the process, the pre-shave oil and the after-shave balm. I love the way shaving like this slows down and elongates the part of my day devoted to taking care of myself.
This got me thinking. Women spend all kinds of time on their hair, their make-up, their clothes, their everything. Why do we men cheat ourselves out of the few things we used to take this seriously? It's not as if we give up virility by lathering up with a shaving brush or making our beards look regal. If anything, men were manlier in the days when they did these things as a matter of course. And we can't blame being "too busy" because most women are just as busy as we are and they don't stop doing their hair. So what gives? Why don't we do this very cool, multiple-step shaving ritual thing anymore?
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2 comments:
There should be a return to more effort in man-grooming. Men taking care of themselves. And it doesn't have to be 'metrosexual' in nature.It would seem a lot of the shaving products are geared out there towards people who shaved too fast, aggressively or not correct. Like having gel pads on the razor, multiple razors, flexing heads, etc. It's all to make it easier and more comfortable, but really it can be done correctly with a single sharp blade, just like at the barber.
I personally am against electric razors. No reason other than I like a clean shave from a blade. I hope in this kit they gave you a hot lather dispenser. Brushing that on feels so good.
@quovadis84Hey there, Aaron. I always love it when you contribute. I agree with everything you've said here.
To answer your implicit question, they did not give me a hot lather dispenser. It was a pretty economical kit. They gave me a brush (which *makes* the experience, by the way) and three containers of stuff that squirts out of pumps -- the preshave oil, the shaving cream, and the aftershave balm.
What I've been doing is putting hot water on the brush, dipping it into the shaving cream on my hand and then kind of wagging it around all over my face to get the lather. Is that a substandard way of doing it? I think it might lessen the life of the brush, but I kind of like the feeling of it myself.
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