The Razor's Edge

From time to time here, I've talked about various aspects of my grooming regimen. I keep it occasional because I don't want to go overboard, but such things are indeed relevant to men (and women) of style.

A little over a year ago, I visited the topic of shaving, primarily focusing on which razor gave me the best results. I'm pretty consistent with the rest of my shaving habits, but I'm always interested in trying new products. However, I'm not interested in shelling out money to try new products that almost always end up being a letdown. So I approach such decisions carefully.

For quite a while I was a firm adherent of shaving cream applied with a brush. It feels great going on, and the ritual itself is pleasant and masculine. But when I switched to shaving in the shower, the brush thing didn't quite work. Not only was it cumbersome, but the high moisture content of the cream (regardless of which brand I was using) made it too runny to stay put on my face in the shower. I spent a lot of time searching for something thick enough to stay on my face, but still with enough moisture that it wouldn't dry out.

After a lot of trial and error I found Zirh. Their shaving cream is a thick, pale blue paste; a thin layer is all that's needed, and it stayed moist on my face. (They also make a shave gel, but it turns clear when applied to the face, which isn't helpful to someone like me with poor vision; it's meant more for guys who need to work around partial facial hair. I do, however, like their facial cleanser and moisturizer.)

I used Zirh for several years, but I noticed that it was taking a long time to rinse out of my razor, even under the pressure of the shower head, so when I finished my last container, I decided it was time to check out some other products.

I'm a big fan of most things that Kiehl's makes, so it was logical to try their shaving cream, which somehow I'd never done. It's suitably rich, but the shaves were a lot less comfortable than I was used to. With the Zirh cream, I almost never got any nicks or abrasions, but with the Kiehl's they were abundant (and I was using the version formulated for sensitive skin). Chalk it up to the ingredients, I guess.

Burt's Bees started selling a line of men's products a couple of years back. The shaving cream was a huge disappointment, but all the products have a very distinctive, unusual fragrance that I really like. The soap (bar or liquid) is very nice, and there's also a cologne that I will be wearing come spring. You can find the line at Whole Foods, among other places.

Another product I stumbled across on drugstore.com that gave me much better results is something called Cremo Cream. I'd never heard of it before, but a tube was only $8 and it came with a free mirror. It's not much more than a piece of coated cardboard, but that means it's light and I've made good use of it while traveling (it has a suction cup so I can stick it on a hotel bathroom's shower wall). Cremo initially has a cloyingly sweet scent, but it dissipates quickly, and it gave me good shaves.

I had read about a line called Billy Jealousy (a couple of years back Esquire named their Hydroplane shaving cream the best product of its kind), but never saw it for sale anywhere. After reading a couple of other endorsements, my curiosity got the better of me and I ordered some online. It comes in a hard plastic container with a flip cap on the bottom so you can stand it up and open it with one hand.

While not as pastelike as Zirh, it's still very thick and rich. As soon as I spread it on my face the first time, I knew I'd found what I'd been looking for. It's not the absolute closest shave I've ever had (that was courtesy of the old-school Italian brand Proraso, but it also made my face sting something awful), but it's definitely the smoothest.

The before and after phases of shaving are almost as important. I wash my face beforehand with an exfoliating cleanser (the Bigelow brand sold at Bath & Body Works is good, but you can get decent alternatives from Neutrogena or Nivea at the drugstore for less money), then I apply a pre-shave oil. This step isn't necessary for everyone, but I find that it helps keep the razor gliding smoothly. I recommend Em's Place in Oregon for a natural, reasonably-priced oil that can also be used as a massage oil (nudge nudge...). Emily also sells lots of other neat products for men and women.

After shaving, a post-shave soother is a must (for me, anyway). I've tried literally dozens of these, and have almost always been disappointed--too much stinging, not enough soothing. The one product that consistently gives me great results with minimal discomfort is Jack Black's (no connection to the actor) Post-Shave Cooling Gel, which contains aloe, sage, lavender, and other good stuff.

Hopefully my experimenting will be helpful to some of you. And as I've mentioned before, stores like Kiehl's and Sephora (which carries Zirh and Jack Black, among other lines) will provide samples so you can try before you buy. At other stores your mileage may vary, but it never hurts to ask. And if you've used something that you think is really good (or really bad), by all means, sound off in the comments.