http://www.thestar.com/living/artic...se-shaves-the-straight-razor-has-been-outdone
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Cribb: After many close shaves, the straight razor has been outdone
Advances in shaving technology have even traditional barbers doubting their old toolsPublished On Fri May 14 2010
Rick Ricci of Truefitt and Hill in Scotia Plaza shaves client Richard Hoffman with the new Schick Hydro razor, which Ricci says is far superior to the traditional straight razor.
RICK EGLINTON/TORONTO STAR
By Robert Cribb
Reporter
The straight razor, that timeless icon of quality mens grooming, is officially a relic.
The latest generations of drugstore razors, born from millions of dollars in research and development, put grandpas old single blade to ignominious shame.
I cant compete with this, says straight razor guru Rick Ricci as he holds up the new Schick HYDRO, a scruff chopper developed over a seven-year period by engineers in Germany and the United States.
Ricci owns Torontos Truefitt and Hill, a lavish mens barbershop in Scotia Plaza, where Bay Streeters recline in old school barber chairs for the retro charm of an old school shave.
Were world renowned barbers and, Im telling you, the single blade cant do as well as this.
Ah, these are heady days for shaving technology.
Simultaneous with the Schick launch, Gillette unveiled its latest high-priced offering the ProGlide.
Billed as a dramatically better version of the popular Fusion razor (which is advertised on television every 15 seconds), the ProGlide is the product of 30,000 customer trials involving precise measurement instrumentation used in the aerospace, semiconductor and medical imaging categories, says a release.
The thrust: Thinner, finer blades reduce tug-and-pull and unlock the secret to irritation-free closeness.
Keep in mind, they said the same thing when they released the Fusion a few years ago.
Shaving technology standards are a swiftly moving target these days.
After hundreds of years of being largely ignored, the daily male horror of ripping wirelike facial hair from skin seems to have suddenly seized the singular attention of the worlds biggest grooming tool makers.
This is linked, no doubt, to impressive growth in the overall male grooming market over the last decade.
The modern man is motivated unlike ever before in modern history to step up his grooming game. That appears to include dropping big bucks on extortionately priced blades and other exotic skin care sundries.
The most obvious reasons for this are, of course, primal.
A recent Schick-funded poll, echoing the findings of less biased studies, found most Canadian women are more likely to get jiggy with clean-shaven men than those who arent.
The findings show a clear link between material, emotional and romantic satisfaction and the frequency of mens shaves, says a release.
An anecdotal survey of a half dozen Toronto women backs this up.
Darcie Vany, author of Toronto dating blog fitdarcie.com, recently mused on the grooming habits of men by concluding, Just because men are genetically able to grow hair on their face doesnt mean that they should . . . You need to shave every day. We can tell when you dont, and you look like a bum.
Ouch.
Probed further, the 31-year-old says there is widespread agreement in female ranks that male facial scruff triggers silent dismissal.
Its a deal breaker, he says. Weve all been with someone who doesnt properly groom, non-shaving is usually symptomatic of worse bad habits.
Enough said.
Break out the $20 blades lads.
Whatever it takes.
Robert Cribb welcomes your male-oriented thoughts and queries at [email protected].
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