I'm curious to see bloggers posting about shaving: here's Alex, Merlin Mann and Euan. Shaving is something I was never taught to do — and I can't think of anyone my age or younger who was.
Years ago (when I was teaching at a school in Devon), a German student, new to the school and in the sixth form, went around for a few days with a good growth of facial hair. Asked about it, it turned out he, too, had never been taught to shave — but then it emerged he didn't seem to know anything at all about shaving. Anything. At all.
Given a brand new razor and sent away, he soon came back, clean shaven and wanting to return the razor. 'No, keep it: you can use it tomorrow — or the next day.' Blank incomprehension, turning to disbelief and then alarm.
Somehow we stumble along, discovering that shaving against the grain of the beard upsets the skin and working out for ourselves whether manual (wet) or electric is best. Like both Merlin and Euan, and for some time now, I'm a fan of Taylor's shaving creams. Like Alex, I now use an M3, but still go back to the Mach3. (I don't think the Fusion has appeared in the UK yet, has it? How expensive will that be?)
And I got what knowledge I have via The Gentleman's Shop at Hungerford: lying between the M4 and my home town, Marlborough, it's a barber-shop I passed several times before I decided to stop and check it out. Glad I did, for Robert's a fine barber and he and Charlotte run a mini-emporium of all that's best in 'gentlemen's shaving & grooming products': American Crew, The Art of Shaving, Edwin Jagger, Trumper and many other famous names, including the legendary Simpson badger shaving brushes — browse the range here (I have one of the … cheaper ones).
There's an amusing Economist article on a Moore's Law for manual razors:
Can we take this shaving business far, far too seriously? You bet. But Robert's Guide to the Art of Wet Shaving is definitely one thing well worth reading.
Meanwhile, head-shavers should look no further than HeadBlade (or so I'm told).
Technorati tags: shaving, Alex Barnett, Merlin Mann, Euan Semple
