Blade Runner

By Elissa Frittaion

“Teach your whiskers to behave …lots of lather, lots of soap! Please hold still, don’t be a dope …yell and scream and rant and rave, it’s no use, you need a shave!”

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-Bugs Bunny in The Rabbit Of Seville

While modern society has been conditioned to accept obvious signs of female vanity (makeup, manicures, dyed hair and such), it is only recently becoming more accepting of men who clearly take pains with their appearance. The word ‘metrosexual’ has become part of our lexicon, used to describe a man who may be gay or may be straight but either way embraces the aesthetic of exfoliators and pedicures and hundred dollar moisturizer.

The average man, metrosexual or not, spends 10-15 hours per year shaving. Personal style and preference, as well as the trends of the time, play a huge part in the type of facial hair, if any, that a man chooses to have. The 60s and the 70s were pretty hairy decades, and North American men typically had either full beards or full moustaches. The handlebar moustache was particularly popular. In the 80s, the trend was to be clean shaven (which best accommodated some of that decade’s androgynous styles) or to cultivate a careful growth of stubble (most famously worn by Sony Crockett on Miami Vice). In the 90s, the goatee took the world by storm. Some were neat and precisely styled (George Michael), some were scruffy (Brad Pitt), some were grungy (Kurt Cobain) but whatever the style, you were hard pressed to find a naked chin over the age of 22. In the new millennium, we saw the public once again embrace the clean shaven look, although this version was a little more polished than previous years. Most recently we are seeing trends move once more toward a 70s wild man style – longer hair and full beards.

But whatever your preference, gentlemen, you may appreciate the following tips:

Razor bumps (ingrown hairs) happen when the end of a cut hair, which often will have a sharp, angled end due to its having been cut in the shaving process, grows back into the skin. They are most common in the neck area and are painful and can become infected. This is especially a problem for men with curly hair. There are pre-conditioners (gels, foams, liquids etc) that tone the skin and soften the beard, which can alleviate the problem of razor bumps. Tendskin is a company that provides some very well regarded products, which you can find here: http://www.tendskin.com/index.htm

Razors with special heads and blades, which will cut a hair at such an angle that it is left blunt and less likely to grow over and back into the skin, are also available, but remember that shaving technique is more important than the products you use. The ideal shave angle (blade meeting the face) is 28-32 degrees.Curly hair, in particular, should be shaved in one direction only (down, in the direction of the hair growth) – for this reason, men with curly hair are best off if they avoid electric razors, which have rotating heads and cut in multiple directions.

While hot water on the face does make the beard hair softer and easier to shave, it also makes the skin softer and more prone to nicks and cuts. As well, the steel of a razor blade will soften and expand with heat, which of course will increase the odds that you’ll be have little bits of toilet paper stuck to your face when that cute 20-something at the bus stop checks you out. The solution? Rinse the blade twice while you shave – once in hot water to clean the oils from it, but then a second time in cold water to keep the blade condensed and sharp. This should give you a closer shave, and hopefully save you from looking silly on public transit.

Use after-shave if you need it, but also, following up shaving with some simple moisturizer can be really beneficial. Your skin is most porous when wet, and so will readily absorb any skin care products you put on it.

Razors are available in many different styles: electric, disposable, disposable cartridge, safety razor (using single, double, triple, quadruple-edged blades) and the notorious straight razor. Men have been shaving with straight razors for hundreds of years, but today, it seems that most prefer the safety razor. The safety razor is a faster and more convenient tool, and certainly less intimidating to have at your throat. Although the ritual of shaving becomes a little more elaborate with the straight razor, all the men I know who use this method all sing it’s praises. If you are interested in learning this technique, there are some great how to videos on YouTube on the art of shaving with a straight razor. As well, those old school barbershops that offered a haircut and shave may have dwindled, but they are still out there, if you know where to look.

Just stay away from that guy on Fleet Street …