News broke today about Amazon introducing a "Men's Grooming Store" section of their vast online retailing website.
When I first heard about this, I thought "Oh wow, maybe there has been some significant culture shift, and there will be promotion of a return to traditional wet shaving / DE / straight razors
. Well, perhaps I was a bit too optimistic at first. Unfortunately, most of us still live in societies and cultures in which advertisements for big corporations like Gillette, Axe and the like still have a big influence on the public opinion of what "the best" grooming tools are (but hey, maybe you like Axe and Gillette ... I know I prefer my DEs and some TOBS or Proraso). Although it is a step in the right direction for Amazon to even create a space dedicated to sales of Men's Grooming (and perhaps it's creation might even be a consequence of some of the noise we make in our little corner of the internet here at B&B), the content of that space is, in my opinion, where the right information and culture is still lacking.
Upon first glance of the web-page, there is a big section that they are promoting up-front which invites you to "DISCOVER THE LOST ART OF SHAVING", which takes you to the "shave" section of the Amazon men's grooming store. This is where I started to get disappointed. The first page of products listed on this page are the farthest thing away from "the lost art of shaving" as you can get. The first page, (and most subsequent pages) consisted of various trimmers, trimmer head replacements, cartridge razors, nose and ear trimmers and the like, without a brush, puck of soap or DE razor in sight
. In fact, out of the first 48 products listed after users are invited to "discover the lost art of shaving", I could only find 4 items even remotely related to classical wet shaving, namely a VDH set, a tweezerman brush, a 10 pack of Merkur blades and a 100 pack of Derby blades. I realize that trimmers and cartridge razors are what most of the public buys, but I just thought it was a little bold, and misleading of Amazon to link to a list of products offered on their site that they claimed would allow you to "discover the lost art of shaving" when 0% percent of the products on the first page and 8% of the products on the first two pages are actually related to classical wet shaving. To be fair, on the 3rd page of groups of 24 items, I did find a bottle of clubman and the Proraso Pre-shave cream, however it was listed alongside more cartridges and cans of goop .... so I'll let you be the judge of how big of an effort Amazon is making to differentiate "the lost art of shaving" and newer products.
So maybe I was looking in the wrong place (hard to believe though, since they were the one's who claimed I would be able to "discover the lost art of shaving" by clicking their link!) Back to the main Men's Grooming portion of the site, I find another feature that gets my hopes up, a section that says "Shaving How-To Guide by Men's Fitness", which takes you to a "5 steps to the perfect shave" list of shaving products classified into shaving scrubs, shaving gels, replacement blades, electric shavers and trimmers. Again, there was not one product (potentially barring some of the facial scrubs, which I personally find dries out my skin if I use them before a shave) listed on this main page related to classical wet shaving. Using many of the products they are promoting will not get you anywhere near "the perfect shave", furthermore, it is probably because of the use of these very products that drove myself and most of the members of B&B to ACTUALLY understanding the lost art of shaving and seeking a better shave using more traditional products (hard soaps/creams/brushes/DE/Straights, what have you). I think what is most telling about these classifications is that consumers reading this list of the "5 steps to a perfect shave" aren't even given the option to find out about shaving brushes or anything other than goop in a can. Additionally, the category of "replacement blades" already assumes you are stuck in this cycle of cartridge razors and aren't looking for anything else like a DE, SE or straight.
Well, maybe there was still some hope. I shouldn't be let my initial excitement in the idea of an expansion of Men's Grooming availability be completely crushed by some poorly organized treatment of shaving options by "Men's Fitness" (whoever the heck they are). So, I head back to the main Men's Grooming page again and decide to check out the Shave section in more detail, this time not organized by the "discover the lost art of shaving" link. Exploring the "Manual Shavers", "Shave Creams & Gels" and "Aftershaves" portions surprisingly revealed many more traditional wet shaving products, with the first aftershave listed as Pinaud Clubman (also on the first page were Lucky Tiger, Proraso white balm, Clubman Special Reserve and Old Spice), along with a few decent options in the Shaving Cream / Gel section (T&H cream, Body Shop Maca Root, Proraso and American Crew pre-shaves) which were mixed in with the canned goop. Unfortunately I only found one DE, an EJ89 snuck in with the first page of Manual Shavers section, which was overpopulated with multiblade cartridges. While these sections revealed some (IMO) better options for shaving gear, there was still a majority of stuff I was trying to move away from when moving to traditional wet shaving, but I did expect this as these are the products that dominate the current market. While I only looked at the first page of products mostly in these different sections, I did so consciously, since I figure that's the stuff Amazon wants you to see most, and the stuff that takes the least effort to buy by the general public doing a quick search.
The only slightly remediating section was listed at the bottom of the main Men's Grooming page, listed as "Kits and Gift Sets", which brings you to a list of shaving kits . This made me smile a bit more, as every item listen on the page is either an EJ razor, brush and stand kit or something along those lines. However, looking at the prices (barring the Deluxe Van Der Hagen set) which averaged around $100, made me realize the it is problematic that the closest Amazon got to introducing actual traditional wet shaving products to the average consumer was in a way that would turn most people off in terms of price-point, or even further, make them think that traditional wet shaving is some bourgeoisie, elitist venture, only available to those who can afford it. However the truth is just the opposite! Time and time again, the members of B&B proclaim to have switched to traditional shaving in order to SAVE money and stop spending so much on cartridges and canned goop (myself included)!
I realize that there are other ways people can find out about affordable and approachable ways to get into wet shaving (B&B is at the top of my list), however it concerns me that all of the great information, products and shaving experiences we share here so frequently, which may have been partly responsible for the advent of this Amazon Men's Grooming development, has been largely ignored by the largest online retailers initial foray into presenting "the best" men's grooming options to the general public. I don't expect the capitalistic influences of Gillette and Axe to yield to overnight because of the activity on B&B, and I don't readily expect Amazon to pay more attention to B&B then then do to these large corporations. However, I'd like to think that this change in culture we have seen recently of increased focus on Men's Grooming and shaving has been accelerated and promoted in part by the quality, accessibility and breadth of information that is constantly growing on B&B. Amazon is an incredibly powerful company in that the products and vendors it promotes and makes readily available can influence the public's culture of consumerism, sometimes very rapidly. I can only hope that as we continue to make more noise here on B&B, and as people continue to find our forum for advice of all kinds, and that we all do our duty in spreading the good word to our neighbors and friends that there is a better way to shave, that a large enough culture shift might come one day to see Amazon or another large company in the public eye actually promote traditional wet shaving in a more comprehensive, knowledgeable and effective way.
Feel free to discuss and share your thoughts on shaving in our culture and what you think the role of Amazon or other companies should have in backing up claims such as "discover the lost art of shaving" with appropriate resources.
When I first heard about this, I thought "Oh wow, maybe there has been some significant culture shift, and there will be promotion of a return to traditional wet shaving / DE / straight razors
. Well, perhaps I was a bit too optimistic at first. Unfortunately, most of us still live in societies and cultures in which advertisements for big corporations like Gillette, Axe and the like still have a big influence on the public opinion of what "the best" grooming tools are (but hey, maybe you like Axe and Gillette ... I know I prefer my DEs and some TOBS or Proraso). Although it is a step in the right direction for Amazon to even create a space dedicated to sales of Men's Grooming (and perhaps it's creation might even be a consequence of some of the noise we make in our little corner of the internet here at B&B), the content of that space is, in my opinion, where the right information and culture is still lacking.Upon first glance of the web-page, there is a big section that they are promoting up-front which invites you to "DISCOVER THE LOST ART OF SHAVING", which takes you to the "shave" section of the Amazon men's grooming store. This is where I started to get disappointed. The first page of products listed on this page are the farthest thing away from "the lost art of shaving" as you can get. The first page, (and most subsequent pages) consisted of various trimmers, trimmer head replacements, cartridge razors, nose and ear trimmers and the like, without a brush, puck of soap or DE razor in sight
. In fact, out of the first 48 products listed after users are invited to "discover the lost art of shaving", I could only find 4 items even remotely related to classical wet shaving, namely a VDH set, a tweezerman brush, a 10 pack of Merkur blades and a 100 pack of Derby blades. I realize that trimmers and cartridge razors are what most of the public buys, but I just thought it was a little bold, and misleading of Amazon to link to a list of products offered on their site that they claimed would allow you to "discover the lost art of shaving" when 0% percent of the products on the first page and 8% of the products on the first two pages are actually related to classical wet shaving. To be fair, on the 3rd page of groups of 24 items, I did find a bottle of clubman and the Proraso Pre-shave cream, however it was listed alongside more cartridges and cans of goop .... so I'll let you be the judge of how big of an effort Amazon is making to differentiate "the lost art of shaving" and newer products.So maybe I was looking in the wrong place (hard to believe though, since they were the one's who claimed I would be able to "discover the lost art of shaving" by clicking their link!) Back to the main Men's Grooming portion of the site, I find another feature that gets my hopes up, a section that says "Shaving How-To Guide by Men's Fitness", which takes you to a "5 steps to the perfect shave" list of shaving products classified into shaving scrubs, shaving gels, replacement blades, electric shavers and trimmers. Again, there was not one product (potentially barring some of the facial scrubs, which I personally find dries out my skin if I use them before a shave) listed on this main page related to classical wet shaving. Using many of the products they are promoting will not get you anywhere near "the perfect shave", furthermore, it is probably because of the use of these very products that drove myself and most of the members of B&B to ACTUALLY understanding the lost art of shaving and seeking a better shave using more traditional products (hard soaps/creams/brushes/DE/Straights, what have you). I think what is most telling about these classifications is that consumers reading this list of the "5 steps to a perfect shave" aren't even given the option to find out about shaving brushes or anything other than goop in a can. Additionally, the category of "replacement blades" already assumes you are stuck in this cycle of cartridge razors and aren't looking for anything else like a DE, SE or straight.
Well, maybe there was still some hope. I shouldn't be let my initial excitement in the idea of an expansion of Men's Grooming availability be completely crushed by some poorly organized treatment of shaving options by "Men's Fitness" (whoever the heck they are). So, I head back to the main Men's Grooming page again and decide to check out the Shave section in more detail, this time not organized by the "discover the lost art of shaving" link. Exploring the "Manual Shavers", "Shave Creams & Gels" and "Aftershaves" portions surprisingly revealed many more traditional wet shaving products, with the first aftershave listed as Pinaud Clubman (also on the first page were Lucky Tiger, Proraso white balm, Clubman Special Reserve and Old Spice), along with a few decent options in the Shaving Cream / Gel section (T&H cream, Body Shop Maca Root, Proraso and American Crew pre-shaves) which were mixed in with the canned goop. Unfortunately I only found one DE, an EJ89 snuck in with the first page of Manual Shavers section, which was overpopulated with multiblade cartridges. While these sections revealed some (IMO) better options for shaving gear, there was still a majority of stuff I was trying to move away from when moving to traditional wet shaving, but I did expect this as these are the products that dominate the current market. While I only looked at the first page of products mostly in these different sections, I did so consciously, since I figure that's the stuff Amazon wants you to see most, and the stuff that takes the least effort to buy by the general public doing a quick search.
The only slightly remediating section was listed at the bottom of the main Men's Grooming page, listed as "Kits and Gift Sets", which brings you to a list of shaving kits . This made me smile a bit more, as every item listen on the page is either an EJ razor, brush and stand kit or something along those lines. However, looking at the prices (barring the Deluxe Van Der Hagen set) which averaged around $100, made me realize the it is problematic that the closest Amazon got to introducing actual traditional wet shaving products to the average consumer was in a way that would turn most people off in terms of price-point, or even further, make them think that traditional wet shaving is some bourgeoisie, elitist venture, only available to those who can afford it. However the truth is just the opposite! Time and time again, the members of B&B proclaim to have switched to traditional shaving in order to SAVE money and stop spending so much on cartridges and canned goop (myself included)!
I realize that there are other ways people can find out about affordable and approachable ways to get into wet shaving (B&B is at the top of my list), however it concerns me that all of the great information, products and shaving experiences we share here so frequently, which may have been partly responsible for the advent of this Amazon Men's Grooming development, has been largely ignored by the largest online retailers initial foray into presenting "the best" men's grooming options to the general public. I don't expect the capitalistic influences of Gillette and Axe to yield to overnight because of the activity on B&B, and I don't readily expect Amazon to pay more attention to B&B then then do to these large corporations. However, I'd like to think that this change in culture we have seen recently of increased focus on Men's Grooming and shaving has been accelerated and promoted in part by the quality, accessibility and breadth of information that is constantly growing on B&B. Amazon is an incredibly powerful company in that the products and vendors it promotes and makes readily available can influence the public's culture of consumerism, sometimes very rapidly. I can only hope that as we continue to make more noise here on B&B, and as people continue to find our forum for advice of all kinds, and that we all do our duty in spreading the good word to our neighbors and friends that there is a better way to shave, that a large enough culture shift might come one day to see Amazon or another large company in the public eye actually promote traditional wet shaving in a more comprehensive, knowledgeable and effective way.
Feel free to discuss and share your thoughts on shaving in our culture and what you think the role of Amazon or other companies should have in backing up claims such as "discover the lost art of shaving" with appropriate resources.
