The Grooming Guys Blog

Shaving Is A Double-Edged...

You may or may not be aware of it, but there is an entire sub-culture of men out there who spend a lot (capital A LOT) of time reviewing, comparing and corresponding about the best wet shaving techniques.  Now we're not just talking about armchair barbers casually querying their buddies as to whether they've ever tried Edge Gel or the new Fusion 6 (does that even exist?).

Instead, we're talking about shaving geeks (and we say that in the most complimentary way as we're certainly walking a fine line in that department) who debate ad nasueam old-school blades and how they work with new school foams vs. gels; how the hair differs on shaving brushes made in Europe vs. Asia; and the remote, out-of-the way retailers who still stock shaving implements made at the turn of the century. You might not even realize that there are entire forums on the web that devote their entire content to such subjects.  They're well-trafficked sites too mind you.

Anyway, we admire anyone who takes such an interest in shaving.  The art of it, the history of it and the tools necessary to get the best results.  And to that end, we've reviewed a lot of these message boards, chat rooms, etc. and come to several conclusions -- one of which we'll address here

A lot of guys out there like to give the classic "Double Edged Safety Razor" a role in their morning shave ritual. They like the history, the regal-ness of it and above all... enjoy the results.  So, always wanting to provide more results-driven options, us Grooming Guys ordered a few of these Double-Edge numbers and gave them a shot.  The results: a few nicks and cuts the first few times around -- but after that -- continually solid shaves.  Now were not saying the shave was better than with a quality Mach III, but it was certainly in the ball park.

The Downside Was... it takes much longer since you have to be a bit more careful not to cut yourself.

The Upside Was... it enables you to get a little better access to the curves and hard-to-reach areas of the face.

If you're interested in giving one a test drive yourself, we picked up a couple high-end ones from the folks at Merkur.  See them here.

In our next installment, we'll give you some tips on how to get the best shave using a double-edge razor.

Targeted Facials Cleansers vs. Regular Soap

The first step in any solid skincare routine is to properly wash your face. Doing so will help aid in a more comfortable shave, healthier looking dermis and fewer wrinkles and age spots down the road (if you are a guy who cares about that kind of stuff -- which you probably are if you're reading this).

So what is the key to properly washing your face you ask?  Simple.  The secret is using a product specifically designed to tackle the sensitive area that is a man's mug.  Targeted facial cleansers, and they make them for all skin types, are designed to rid the face of the bad stuff (grease, dirt, grime), while leaving be the nutrients and oils a face needs to stay looking healthy. They are the only way to go if you want to keep your skin looking good.

That said, almost every grooming novice still uses "regular soap" on his face.  From a purely skincare perspective, this just doesn't cut it.  Regular soaps are generally very drying to the face, which inevitably leads to poor shaving experiences and irritated skin.  But that is not the main challenge with said soaps in our humble opinion.  Instead, the challenge with regular soap is what's known as the:

"WHERE WAS IT BEFORE IT WENT ON YOUR FACE" PRINCIPLE

Yeah... you heard us.  What area of your, your wife's, your partner's or your roommate's body has that soap traveled to before it hit your face?  Has it traveled below the belt as they say? Has it visited the "dark side"?  Has it been dropped on the floor? Are there any un-dentified follicles on it?

If the answer is yes to one, or more likely all of these, think about that before rubbing that soapy bar all over your precious mug.  If you haven't already dry-heaved a bit... just give it some some.

The simple way to avoid the nasty scenarios above is to get a targeted facial cleanser, most of which come in a tube or bottle (that means no one else or no other body part has touched the cleanser before it hits your face).  Use it daily to avoid bad skin and even nastier mental images of where that bar has been.

Thanks for letting us gross you out and for visting www.groominglounge.com.

If The New Atlanta Grooming Lounge Were A Cartoon...

Construction on the new Grooming Lounge Atlanta is officially underway.  We're all set to roll into the Terminus Building in the upscale Buckhead area on 12/1/07.  Sure it's a ways away, but the Grooming Guys are excited.

So excited in fact, that we got our architects to provide a cartoon-esque sneak peak as to just what the place will look like.  Click on the pic in the corner to see what's in store. And if you live down in that area, stayed tuned for more info to come.

Thanks for visiting www.groominglounge.com.

AN OPEN & URGENT MEMO TO BERT

August 7, 2007

TO: Bert/Sesame Street

FROM:  The Grooming Guys

RE: Your Unibrow & Setting A Poor Example

Dear Bert:

This has gone on long enough. For awhile we brushed it off as being quirky and cute, letting it slide because of your status as an iconic character on a classic children's series. We bit our collective tongues as you continually ignored what was apparent to everyone -- turning a blind eye to the monstrosity right above your own eyes.

Somebody has to say it Bert.  And as two guys tasked with promoting good grooming to a new generation of men, it might as well be us.  This ends today. Bert...

WE DEMAND YOU DO SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR UNIBROW!

It is the worst unibrow offense we've seen in our more than 20 years in the industry. There is nary even a hint of eyebrow separation that would lead to it being referred to with the proper plural (eyebrows).  Even if not intentional, this unibrow is having an extremely negative impact on the grooming of young gentlemen.  It communicates to them that it's OK to have a unibrow (the worst of the poor grooming offenses) and subjects them to certain ridicule down the line.

C'mon Bert, you're better than that.  To be honest, we're shocked that your best pal, Ernie, with his obsessiveness with bathing (i.e., Rubber Ducky), didn't give you a head's up on this.  Guess you find out who you're real friends are in times like this?

Anyway, with your new season set to kick off next week, we demand that you do some division and turn that single unibrow into two distinct eyebrows.  If not, The Grooming Guys and our loyal followers will officially boycott your show and continue to do so until time as you see it fit to use some tweezers or come to our store for a eyebrow waxing. 

We're doing it for the kids.

Respectfully,

Michael & Pirooz

The Grooming Guys

Atlanta Is About To Get Even More Handsome

We're not saying the gentlemen of Atlanta aren't already dapper (they are indeed), but come this December, their Q rating is sure to explode through the roof. Grooming Lounge is bringing its unique version of grooming, substance and style to the Peach state -- and doing it in a big way.  Our Atlanta destination will be our biggest (that's great) and most expensive to build (good for you - not so good for us) barbershop and men's spa yet.  "It's going to be something" as they say. We really can't wait to do it right down south.

THE PLACE:  ATLANTA, GA

THE REAL PLACE: TERMINUS BUILDING IN BUCKHEAD

THE DATE:  DECEMBER 1ST

FOR MORE INFORMATION:  Drop us a note at info/@/groominglounge.com or sign up for automatic updates by visiting http://www.groominglounge.com/newsletter.html.

Check back often for frequent build-out photos and opening updates.