A few weeks ago, I attended Olympia beauty with my wife. I did not know what to expect from it, and ordinarily this would not be my scene at all, but I was pleasantly surprised that a small proportion of the arena was actually dedicated to male grooming.
There were two standouts for me at the show, and I was lucky enough to get to road test the skills of Pat Bryan of the wet shaving company. Pat and his wife run courses in how to “perform” wet shaves And run a kind of shaving school, if you will, and it was at pat’s expert hands that i got to have my first wet shave!!! I have to say as much as I was up for it, there is something very daunting about being watched by avid beauty therapists ( and all I had to do was sit there!)
I am a convert! Not only was this the best an closest shave I have ever had, but there is a sense of occasion about it too. Honestly, if the hairdressers that do ladies hair offered this service, I would sign up every time while my other half gets her hair cut!
Pat practices a technique called ‘shaveology’ which incorporates elements of traditional wet towel shaves ( straight from the barbershop), massage and male grooming, to create the perfect gentleman’s treatment.
Firstly, I got the hot towel treatment, I’m paraphrasing here but it opens up the pores and softens the skin etc and also just feels good! He carefully places this around my head, covering the hair growth areas and generally just encouraged me to relax. Next he used an old fashioned shaving brush ( you know like the posh men had on the tv in the eighties!) and used a hard soap to lather up a Santa Claus beard in a matter of seconds! There is something stylish about wet shaving, I had never experienced it before, but I got the feeling that this was something sacred and quintessentially British! ( I should add that while we do have a certain tradition of this, the products that were used were Turkish and American) None the less it was very gentlemanly, and Pat was not put off by by probing journalistic approach or any of the several passersby who stood dauntingly close to my face! Ultimately, this is a great product and one I would thoroughly recommend to you all to experience. I can’t really comment on the action of the shave, as I couldn’t see it but I must say it was a very close shave. And true to form as pat predicted as the shave was finished, I brushed under my nose and the corner of my mouth – apparently if you only shaved those two areas most men wouldn’t notice you hadn’t done the rest as that is the only place we ever check!
You can get a luxury shave for £30 for a half hour session or a the ultimate shave package which includes shoulder massage for £55 in Winchester, but also they are a school and they offer training courses about your everyday shaving routine and teach you how to shave in the best way for your face and hair growth. A snap at £80 for a 2 hour course.
With christmas around the corner, this is a great gift that I would love to receive.
Go to www.wetshavingco.com for more details.
The second brand that I loved ( in fact I picked up one of their men’s shaving kits) is Eve Taylor. I know very little about their brand other than their products are aromatherapy based, and the kit that I picked up is an assortment of ( super) fragrances that all work together for the ultimate in home shave. The range is called et men and I picked up a kit with 5 full size products in it. Check them out online, but I promise you it all smells amazing.
Www.eve-Taylor.com/category/mens
I will being doing a full review on the kit in due course but I have to say,for me, these two brands were the stand out of the show.
Talk soon
ThatIsBeyond 