Cutting it Close

Men have been shaving for thousands of years, using everything from seashells, to sharpened rocks, and eventually metal tools. These metal tools changed many times over, but the modern Double Edge (DE or Safety) Razor was developed and introduced to the market by King Camp Gillette in 1901. Before this, there had been various attempts at alternatives to the straight razor, but they were largely unsuccessful. Until the cartridge razors of the 1970s, Gillette’s razor was the gold standard, and while most men now use either a cartridge razor (Mach 3, Fusion, etc.) or dare I say it…an electric shaver, a man by the name of Charles Roberts is trying to take us back to a golden age of shaving, but with quite a few improvements.

Over the last few years, I personally have used most of the major brands of shaving cremes, various pre and post shave treatments, and have been a Fusion, Mach 3 and DE shaver at times, but nothing comes close to Mr. Roberts’ “Method Shaving.” Now, it is a bit daunting to get in to, but I have been Method shaving for over a month now, and can safely say I can’t imagine ever going back. Bear with me, there are quite a few concepts involve (yes, I’m still talking about shaving here):

First, and foremost, is the idea of “cutting forms.” Instead of cutting with, across, or against the grain of one’s beard, there is a standard set of three forms one cuts with their DE razor, regardless of the direction the hairs are growing in. The first is essentially top to bottom, the second cutting on a downward diagonal to the center of the face, and the final form cuts from the outside diagonal up to the center line. Try this with a traditional creme and you will end up in ribbons.

That brings us to the method shaving products, bottled by Mr. Roberts’ under the “Hydrolast” label. There are quite a few steps involved in the process, and you can find all of the information on Mr. Roberts’ website www.enchanteonline.com, but I will give you a brief overview here. Essentially, you use a combination of proprietary blends of oils and emollients to create a “shaving mix” (the term shaving creme is anathema to Mr. Roberts’) that is 90% water, which allows you to hyper-hydrate the face and cut repeatedly with little to no resistance. The result is a shave so close and comfortable that it is called “Gloss” in Method Shaving terminology. You finish up with a two step series of aftershave balm and a spray tonic that cools the face down and leaves it feeling like a clean, lightly fragrant sheet of glass. The advantages are obvious: products that are carefully hand blended, with all natural pure fragrance oils personally added at your request, you get a closer shave, and escape with no irritation.

That said, there are a few sticking points. For me, the biggest problem was the idea of giving up my shave brush. I love the aesthetic joys of the badger brush, as well as the feeling of it on my face, but it just doesn’t build shave mix nearly as well as the cloth. Also, it is a bit more messy, involves using your hands to mix and spread the creme, and doesn’t feel quite as elegant as a shave with a scuttle, brush, and creme. That said, I quite enjoy my daily shave, and have quickly found that I am not missing my brush nearly as much as I expected to. Also, to me, getting my hands a bit messy is worth having as close to a perfect mug as I can get. Lastly, getting started is a bit pricy, but not drastically more so than using any high quality shaving products, and if you think of it as an investment in the future of your face, it hardly seems disproportionate at all.

Ok, ok, I’ll stop proselytizing. If you have questions, I recommend either contacting Mr. Roberts, who is always happy to talk to excited shavers, or consulting one of the many shaving forums out there. I am still an amateur as far as Method Shaving is concerned, but trust me on this, your face will thank you.

Maintenance: The Cotton Bud - A Mans Unlikely Best Friend

When I talk of cotton buds I’m referring to those little plastic sticks with cotton wool on each end; most of us use them to clean our ears, despite the box telling us not to and they having no other conceivable use. Although, when I was a kid I remember they did make useful replacement lightsabers for Star Wars figures – provided you removed the cotton wool.

Anyways, two tips for why any well set fellow should have a couple of these in his kit bag.

Removing beer from leather

Wherever men gather there’s a good chance beer won’t be far away, and these two ingredients can make for the ruin of leather shoes. The other night I got a little beer on my Albam loafers, and having done a little research came across this tip, which works like a charm.

Mix a solution of warm water and washing-up liquid in a glass.  Then dip one end of the cotton bud into the solution and roll it across the stain. Leave it for five minutes and then use the dry end to dab up the excess moisture. Allow it to dry naturally and the stain should have gone. Obviously test it first on a less affected area before going all out.

Removing blood from shirt collars

Before I picked up a beard in New Zealand it was often the case that having shaved I’d have a myriad of little nicks, this was most acute when using a new blade. Too numerous and too small for the old tissue paper gambit, invariably the blood would find its way onto my collar.

Take a cotton bud and dip the end in cold water, then roll the wet end over the blood. You should see the stain begin to fade and keep going until you no longer see it. Job done.

Commonscents

It’s funny the things you suddenly realise you don’t know. As I made clear on Bespokeme this week, I’m on the hunt for new scents, having tired slightly of my current signature. The one thing I have learned is that it’s a whole other world out there, with its blogging enthusiasts as passionate and as dedicated to detail as those of us enthralled by tailoring and style.

However, the first bit of basic knowledge I’ve now got under my belt is why one scent might last a day while others merely a few hours. As a smoker – no I haven’t managed to quit yet – this happens to be an obsession of mine. Additionally, I really don’t see the point of unburdening my wallet on expensive scents that last but a few hours.

There are certain anatomical factors that determine how long a scent lasts. They take to people’s skin type differently, so there is a certain amount of luck involved. You can weight the odds in your favour by layering products, such as using the same scented body wash, deodorant and moisturiser. Alternatively put some on a comb or brush and run it through your hair – it absorbs the moisture better than skin. The other factor is the strength of scent you pick, and this was the bit on which I was a little hazy – or rather, I had hitherto met with success purely by dumb luck.

I may be entirely alone in my ignorance but just in case, you have five types of scent; Aftershave, Cologne, Eau de Toilette (EDT), Eau de Parfum and Parfum. The name is a guide to the percentage of essential oils in a mixture, and the higher the concentration of essential oils, amongst other things, the longer the scent is likely to last.

Aftershave: This is the weakest of the bunch. Typically containing 1-3% concentration of oils you can expect it to last roughly 2-3 hours. It will often contain other ingredients, like Aloe, designed to help sooth the skin after shaving.

Cologne: Typically a 2-5% concentration these will last a little longer, but not much more and it is advised that you use them like an invigorating spray. They are also better for the skin after shaving than EDT’s and EDP’s. Now this is were it gets tricky; apparently many scents labelled Colognes are in fact Eau de Toilette’s; many but not all.

Eau de Toilette (EDT): Scents in this group apparently work best if you place them on pulse points. In fact owing to the higher concentration of oils some advise avoiding the face all together –especially after shaving. A concentration of 4-8% they should last 6-8 hours.

Eau de Parfum (EDP): Also works well if placed on the pulse points. Some advise spraying it into the air and stepping into the scent cloud. A concentration of 8-15%, sometimes higher, and will last all day –certainly that’s what I’ve found with Ormonde Man. These are quite hard to find and you pay a premium for them.

Parfum: In men’s scents this is like hens teeth and even harder to find than EDP’s.

What I have realised is the more I read the less I know – which I think is a song lyric. More work.

Don’t Polish With Too Much Water

Polishing leather shoes up to a brilliant shine is an extremely enjoyable pastime.

Nathan Brown over at Lodger always says that one of the problems with being an entrepreneur is that he never gets the time to sit down and polish his shoes any more. George Glasgow at Cleverley has complained to me of the same thing. Lodger’s store manager Clement has the opposite problem: he spends all his time polishing shoes but never his own, just the ones on Lodger’s shelves.

Personally I like to spend a good half an hour over a pair while the wife is watching something atrocious on the telly. It is meditative, engaging and rewarding.

I think it’s rewarding for two reasons. First, with no other piece of clothing does maintenance actually improve the item. It just puts brakes on a natural decline. Brushing your suit only returns it to the state it was that morning. The same with ironing a shirt or repairing a button. The best you can do is get back to zero.

Polishing your shoes is more akin to wearing a canvassed suit and feeling it mould to your body, or indeed wearing in the upper of a shoe. Except that, with polishing, greater effort is rewarded with greater results. Not only is it a positive activity, it is one you can control.

The second reason is the wonderful aesthetic experience. After you’ve applied the first layer of polish, and then returned with more polish and a touch of water, you can see each circle of your finger produce a swirl of brightness, getting more intense and reflective with each repetition. It is as if your fingers are coaxing out pure light.

But don’t apply too much water. Just a dab of it the first time and only occasional top-ups later on. The cloth remains damp for a while, and too much water can soak into the leather and make it hard to carry on polishing. This is particularly true on thinner or more flexible sections, such as the bridge and instep. The toe and heel, being more rigid and reinforced by internal pieces of leather, can take a lot more.

For each layer on the toe and heel (don’t do more than one layer elsewhere), carry on working in the polish until the surface is super-smooth, like glass. Until your little swirls make no perceptible difference to the surface. Then take a tiny bit more polish, and repeat. Don’t stop until you can tell the time on your watch in it.

‘Relocation relocation’ is on TV. I’m off to fetch my Cleverleys.

Finding A Sponge And Press

Most men destroy their suits by having them dry-cleaned too often. That much is uncontroversial. A high-street dry cleaner will stick your suit in a large drum, soak it with chemicals that spread the dirt around more than they get rid of it, and then put it in a big industrial press – which will stamp it flat, ruining any curve in the shoulders, chest canvas or lapels.

The chemicals wear away the cloth, shortening its life. The press forces a three-dimensional object to become 2D.

Much better is a sponge and press. This has to be done by hand and involves someone lightly sponging the suit before pressing it with a steam iron. The lining has to be done first, and makes a surprising difference to how comfortable the suit is. Then the pockets. Finally the outside is pressed – in small sections and rolling the lapels, chest and shoulders. A wooden mould is often used in the sleeve to retain its shape.

This is what a Savile Row tailor will do for its clients every few months, often as part of the service. It can make a suit look and feel like new.

For some gentlemen, this is all that is ever required. I remember David Gale at Turnbull & Asser telling me with great animation that “first, you only ever need a sponge-and-press, and second, it should always be free”.

For most, dry cleaning is still required, it just has to be kept to a minimum. Some have everything dry cleaned once a year, before it goes into storage for the season. Others keep it for extreme situations, such as a bad stain. I try to dry clean as little as I can – and I don’t feel it’s required that often when the suits are in consistent rotation.

But they could certainly do with a regular sponge and press. Which is where we hit a snag. There are very few, if any, dry cleaners with a spotless (sorry) reputation for hand pressing. I’ve had the shape of more than one suit ruined by a supposedly high-end cleaner.

So I’m conducting an experiment. I am collecting recommendations for companies, individuals and dry cleaners that offer a sponge and press, and trialling each one in turn. (Tell me if you have a recommendation.)

This week I tried Stephen Haughton, a professional valet who spends most of his time working with VIP clients. He has their keys, takes their suits (and shoes) when they’re away and returns them before the client returns. Some have so many they wouldn’t notice if the suits weren’t returned.

Stephen sponged and pressed a grey flannel suit of mine and returned it within a couple of days. I then took it to my tailor to get their verdict on the job – which was very good. The shape was excellent and, for want of a better phrase, it felt like new. It did.

The service cost £19.95. That includes securing any loose buttons and threads. If it was heavily soiled, ripped or had silk lapels it would have been £25.

Stephen does pick up from businesses as well as people’s homes, and has worked with tailors in the past including Kilgour and Welsh & Jeffries. If I use him in the future, I will probably leave a few suits at Graham Browne and have him pick them up from there. Stephen can be contacted at: stephenhaughton at aol dot com.

Next time I’ll give an old suit to a ‘good’ dry cleaner.