Father's Day : Shaving up!

Now, let's talk shaving stuff.

Why you should be interested
Right now there's a swing away from the handy-dandy disposable razor and shaving-cream-in-a-can. Men of all generations are getting into their morning ritual and looking for better, more luxurious ways of doing things. Women get to pamper themselves all the time, why shouldn't men?

More importantly why should shaving be an every-day ordeal, when there are simple ways to make it much more pleasant? A lot of men find that "old-fashioned" razors irritate their skin less than fancy electric shavers and are cheaper than disposable razors. There are products that had fallen out of fashion that are making a comeback. Why? Because they make shaving more pleasant.

C-M's 1752 fine face care products:
I bring this bunch of products up mostly because you can get the whole range of products in the same scent (very important to some people) and also because it has one really neat product, the preshave oil. It's really good for sensitive skin, helping to prevent ingrown hairs and protect against razor burn. It's a combination of castor oil, olive oil, and sweet almond oil with some other beneficial extracts. Most people hear castor oil and think of swallowing it to, er... "keep things moving." I can see where the thought of rubbing it on your face would be a little strange. What most people don't know is that castor oil is anti-inflammatory when you rub it into the skin, which makes it great for keeping down irritation. (Castor oil is also awesome for sore back muscles. Just rub it in, then lay on a heating pad. The oil will soak in entirely and your back will feel so much better in the morning. Amazing.)

Our C-M 1752 shaving products (preshave oil, shaving cream, shave soaps, aftershave balm) are available in either Sandalwood or Almond scents. I think either one is wonderful, but I've had some people disagree with me. Almond products are more lightly scented, I find it to be a very clean smell. On the other hand, I've had at least one customer in the store telling me that he didn't feel that it was "masculine enough" which is why he preferred Sandalwood. Whatever floats your boat, I suppose.

Think you might want to get into this but you have no idea what to get?
If you're looking for a place to start, I'd start with something that can be enjoyed with regular shaving equipment. A badger brush and some sort of shaving cream, either a shave soap (in a lovely wooden bowl) or a little tub of shaving cream, which is wonderful for men who don't have as much time in the morning. Give us a call about the C-M Classic Shave Set, which we don't have on the website at present. It has the shave soap in a wooden bowl, a badger brush and a stand for the brush.

If the man in your life is already getting into this, look at what he already has and try to go with that. Maybe he needs a new shaving brush, or he's never tried using a preshave oil. Some new blades for his razor, maybe. 

Maybe you (or your guy) might want to try a different scent of shave soap. I've been talking about Caswell-Massey a lot recently because of the promotion going on right now. But we also carry Col. Ichabod Conk shaving products.  Their almond scent is a little sweeter and lighter than C-M's. Conk has a great traditional scent, Bay-Rum. It's perhaps a little old-fashioned, but I love it.

There are a few things that set Conk apart from C-M. The first is that their soap is glycerin based, which keeps the scent a little lighter and works better with some skin types. It lets them have the classic amber soap scent, as well as fun scents like lime. The second is that the amber, almond, and bay-rum scents are available in two different sizes, so that you can use your own shaving mug. Or, our third thing, the way that Conk soaps are packaged lets you use the resealable plastic as a shaving mug, if you aren't interested in making that investment right now.

If you are interested in  shaving mugs, though, Conk brings us several options some with ducks and ships and "Dad" on them. We also have a few barbershop style shaving scuttles.What's a scuttle? Read all about it here.

Conk also carries brushes, like this useful travel brush, and some accessories like a mustache comb and razors stones. Speaking of brushes and razors, Conk knows that a wet brush should never be closed up, and the best way to dry it is hanging fuzzy side down. So we also have a couple of brush stands that will also hold your safety razor.

And that brings us to the most important thing for shaving: razors! Conk has some fancy track razors in chrome and gold finishes, which you'd recognize as "normal" razors with disposable blades. Very nice, but right now there are a lot of men who have started using safety razors (pictured at left). All of our safety razors are made by Merkur in Germany, for the Conk company. I keep trying to get my husband to start shaving more so that it'd be worth getting him of these, but he sadly going through a  hirsute phase.

Weddings-- Groomsmen gift ideas

One of the more complicated details of planning a wedding is attendant gifts.
1)You have to get them something that's nice and is something they'd like/use.
2)You either have to get everyone the same thing, or spend about the same amount of money.
3)Depending on your budget, you might not be able to do 1 or 2.
So here are some suggestions, in a variety of price ranges, for groomsmen and best man gifts.

Guys, take my word for it, you will win BIG points if you tell your future spouse that you will handle buying the attendant gifts for the guys all by yourself. (Unless you're planning on giving them their ties or something, but what fun is that?)
Simply put, it's hard to buy GOOD gifts for people you don't know very well. And, generally, the groom will be spending less time with wedding related things so he'll have time.

If you look at all the bridal magazines and things, apparently pocket knives are very popular gifts for groomsmen. Fortunately, we carry a bunch of those, to give you a wide enough selection that you can find the right knife for the right person.
My favorite knife to get, if you're going for a nice basic knife that's ornamental as well as functional is a Buck knife. Specifically, the Buck Gent knife. They're entirely made of stainless steel, which means that the handles cam be engraved as well. (Heimerdinger Cutlery does complimentary engraving on items purchased from us, but it's only available in typewriter font. I believe that Things Remembered will engrave items not purchased there, for those in need of something more elaborate) If you want something equally affordable, but more visually interesting, I'd go with something from Columbia River Knife and Tool (CRKT). The K.I.S.S. (Keep It Surely Simple) and the P.E.C.K. (Precision Engineered Compact Knife) are interesting, affordable, and have names that make them hilarious attendant gifts.

We also have more traditional looking knives (Case) and more modern ones (Gerber or Spyderco). I particularly like the Spyderco Cricket for the Best Man, if you want to spend a little more.
Opinel has good basic utility knives that are nice gifts for guys who love to lose knives. They're inexpensive and have locking blades available in both carbon and stainless steel.


If you want to kick it up a notch from a knife, we also have a variety of multi-tools.

Maybe your guys aren't into sharp things or tools. For personal grooming we have variety of manicure sets (very manly, with some sturdy scissors and toenail clippers), mustache scissors, and nose hair trimmers. Well, maybe that last one isn't a great idea.


In terms of shaving materials, we carry items from Col. Ichabod Conk and Caswell Massey. Here's what I had to say about it before, when we first started carrying them. Not only do we have a wide variety of shave soaps from both, but we also have other products. Caswell Massey has has a wide variety of regular soaps(Can I mention that the rose soap smells absolutely wonderful? I love using it.)and aftershave stuff. You can get the same soap that George Washington and JFK enjoyed.

Another option would be a nice razor, one that will last a lifetime. We have straight razors with blades disposable and non, though generally a safety razor would probably be a safer bet. There are some lovely options in both traditional and more modern styles.


We also carry items from Jon Hart Design. The Jon Hart Design collection includes over 150 custom items for travel, home, business, fashion, and just plain fun. Things range from luggage tags to actual luggage (probably that would be overkill, though). These products are hand-crafted in Texas and are available in a variety of colors in coated canvas trimmed with the finest natural leather trim, in beautiful choices of all leather, in Denim trimmed in Acorn leather, or in Texas Mink with leather trim. All of the items can be monogrammed, with four styles available.

So, does anybody have any suggestions? Can you think of something else that would make a great groomsman gift?
I'll be posting female attendant gift ideas soon.