Trumper's shaving triumphs

OK, I've been shaving again and I've been testing a number of creams and colognes from Geo. F. Trumper. They're not the cheapest but the company produces some of the most pleasant shaving preparations I've used - more on those in a minute.

The wet shave
I used to get quite frustrated by the sheer amount of men's publications advising us on how to shave. We know, I'd say, we mastered that when we were 13. But then I look around and notice how many blokes still have some sort of shaving rash. And it's not necessary. Here are a few guidelines...

• Blade: The blade with which you shave must, repeat must, be clean. This is very difficult once you've used a modern 'cartridge' head with about 53 razors and a bit of rubber to lubricate it more than once, which is why I switched to a double-edged safety razor a couple of years ago. If you do the same, change the blade every five shaves or so. My Dad used to tell me that a new razor will always cut you; it won't, the old off-sharp ones are the ones that will catch on the skin.
• Heat: Water should be hot and if you can (a flannel will do it) the face should be warmed before shaving, to soften the hair.
• Shaving cream: Your preference rules, but remember soapy stuff will dry up on the skin and may well lead the razor to catch a bit. If you use a cheap preparation, don't lather the whole face at once as it'll dry up.
• Shaving: Shave in the direction the hair is growing to avoid razor burn. If you have time, shave twice gently, each time to reduce the hair growth rather than machete the lot at once.
• Rinse: Get all of the soap or cream off - you don't want to be stuck with a spot-making residue.
• Cologne: On the upper chest or back of the neck by all means - but not straight onto the face after shaving, you've just been dragging a naked razor across it so it'll go red.

That should get you over a number of difficulties.

Preparations and products
My favourite barber The Valet has one fault and that is that they don't stock Trumper's, fast becoming my favourite shave company (with a respectful nod to the Bluebeards and looking forward to the Valet's own range which it will be releasing sometime next year).

Shaving cream is important. It has to feel pleasant, stay moist and not dry up and smell OK. I've been using the Trumper's almond cream (pictured) a lot recently and it fulfils all the criteria; the chances are that when I've finished my current pot I'll replace it with the coconut version I was using before as the almond smell is a bit sweet for me (NB: this is because it smells of almonds, and to be fair there's a clue in the name). The Eucris version is also nice to use with a refreshing sniff of eucalyptus in the morning, and the extract of limes is also a good wake-up concoction; both smell quite distinctive, though, and may clash with your choice of cologne.

There's no obligation to stick with the same company's scents of course. Trumper's goes for the traditional and classic rather than the modern scent and some I find too dated or overpowering; the violet cologne seemed very feminine to me, reminded me of a music teacher from primary school - I have no idea whether she shaved with Trumper's stuff or not, but she was about 100 and smelled terribly of violets. Another scent, Curzon, I found to be different in smell but similarly oversweet and elderly.

Spanish Leather, on the other hand, has become a firm favourite. It doesn't smell as manufactured and artificial as so many  of the major perfume houses' modern offerings (you know how you can get something that smells not so much of a single scent but 'smells of Armani' or 'smells of Hugo Boss'? You don't get that with Trumper). Masculine, classic, a bit refined and different from most of what you find on the High Street. Extract of Limes I liked very much as well, particularly  when used with the matching shave cream - lime and a bit of spice in there, and it lasted most of the day.

These are quite strong and should be used sparingly - a few drops will do you. And they do last - unlike some colognes  I could mention, you'd better decide you like the smell of this stuff because if you put it on at 7am you'll still know it's there at 6. 

Christmas presents 10: Skin care stuff

Woody Allen once said (no doubt incorrectly attributed) that he didn't like growing old but it beat the hell out of the alternative. It's a view with a lot to recommend  it, and Christmas is an excellent time for other halves to drop hints by donating moisturiser.

Actually before you even do that I'd look at the cleanser they're using. Clean skin will moisturise better than flesh with soapy residue on it; Dove has a nice little package available this year of gentle cleanser plus Hydrate+ moisturiser which have the benefit of being completely unscented. They do the job as well as some of the vastly more expensive alternatives you can buy.

Likewise Rehab London (pictured) offers a couple of different moisturisers that won't add their own scent, which is always welcome. Morning Glory is aimed at normal skin, if you produce a little more oil than the rest of us then fine, they have a "no Shine" option (pictured) which works very well indeed. And yes moisturiser is still a good idea after you've shaved even if you have oily skin because it will soothe you - you've just dragged a naked razor over your skin, remember? (And don't forget to use a decent shaving cream as I've recommended here).

If you want something for your whole body or just a few chafy bits (spare us the details) then you could do distinctly worse than Palmers' Cocoa butter formula body lotion, which I've been trying out and is very pleasant stuff. Its only drawback is that you do end up niffing rather of, well, cocoa butter, which isn't at all nasty but will clash with any cologne you might want to use. I put some on after trying out the Original Source Orange and Cinnamon shower gel that's out for Christmas (rather cleverly the company gets its customers to vote for which gel should be released during which season) and ended up smelling like a chocolate orange. Each product is fine by itself but watch those combinations!

Christmas presents 2: Coconut shave cream

My thanks to the people at Niven and Joshua for responding to a query about men's Christmas presents. They recommended the Geo. F. Trumper range of shaving cream and sent a sample of the Coconut Oil variety.

My father used a safety razor and always used soap to produce a lather with a shaving brush. That's a little while ago now, he died in 1984, but proprietary shaving creams were already starting to become big business. The thing about ordinary soap is that it will often dry up on your skin while you're shaving and you'll get what I call 'judder' - the blade fails to glide, sticks and bounces and ouch. If you're trying to use a safety razor this is bad news; if you're attempting to use a cutthroat as I've attempted (see this entry) then you're going to cut yourself, possibly quite badly. Many dedicated shaving creams are glycerin-based and will therefore stay fluid for longer. Essentially the cheaper they are, the faster they'll dry up.

This coconut oil cream is distinctly pleasant to use. It doesn't dry up, although if you're using a cutthroat for the first time then I'd do an area of your face at a time as it takes ages while you're learning. The razor glides nicely and it has a very subtle scent while you're using it.  My usual cream, Coates' Shaving Cream, is a 'limited edition' and therefore isn't being made any more. Once stocks run out I could see myself urging the guys at my barber to start stocking this as an alternative - I'm very likely to be using it again.

P. S. Following the mention of my cutthroat razor I should mention that three days ago I managed to use it without cutting myself once - with a fresh blade, too, so it was definitely sharp. Now, if I can just get it to the stage where I look as though I've actually shaved, too, I'll have mastered it!

Declaration for clarity: I have no affiliation or other link with either Niven and Joshua or Geo. F. Trumper - this is strictly independent commentary.

First attempt at cutthroat razor

Last week I promised I'd share my experience attempting to use an open or "cutthroat" razor. If I start by saying it will probably be my last, you'll get the idea.

The Bluebeards sent a perfectly respectable shavette - basically a straight razor lookalike which takes disposable blades. Nice piece of kit, £9.99, click on their name to get hold of one. Once I'd loaded it up - snap a standard blade in half and put it where it fits, basically - I washed, lathered up and started shaving. My barber does  it, it can't be that difficult, can it?

Er...yes. Yes it can. The Bluebeards' site says get an angle of around 30 degrees and apply next to no pressure, going first in the direction your hair is growing and second in the opposite direction. I have no doubt this is a perfect description of how it's supposed to work.

So no, I can't tell you exactly why it didn't do much for me. I mean, the blood was probably because I'd got the pressure wrong - and the bit where my hand twitched, you just don't want to know.

The angle is probably something else I got wrong - and would no doubt account for the fact that by the end of the attempt - sorry, half way through when I gave up - I had two small grazes under my nose, a mild abrasion on my cheek and a couple of nicks on my chin. Oh, and an actual cut of about half an inch on my jaw, looking as though I hadn't shaved. And a wife who was more than usually concerned for my sanity. And a daughter who thought the whole thing was the funniest thing she'd ever seen.

Today I had a go with my trusty Merkur Futur. If I'm honest, I'm quite clean shaven, no cuts anywhere (healed up nicely over the weekend) - and before I take up the shavette again I'm going to have to work out exactly what I'm trying to fix here. Shaving with a cutthroat razor is a skill - if you want to take it up, good luck. But never underestimate the damage a naked blade can do.

Skyfall boosts cuttrhroat shaves

OK, I'm very excited because I've seen Skyfall and it's brilliant. My faith in Connery as the best 007 is finally shaken and stirred (see what I did there?), not his fault the movies are dated after 50 years of course but there it is.

Highly recommended, and notable from the lifestyle point of view because of the (gulp) bit where one of the Bond girls - I'm not going to give away any plot points by saying who - takes his cutthroat razoe and shaves him. OK, call me old fashioned but if anyone wants to shave me, like Hadi at The Valet (incidentally I once took some stick from a correspondent for having a valet - can I repeat for the hard of thinking, it's the name of my barber in Croydon, anyone can go there), they'd better be qualified or at least experienced. Some secret agent who's recently shot me by accident (it's in the opening sequence, no plot spoiler there) can, quite frankly, bugger off.

So I admire the people who're buying cutthroats from Shaving Shack, which tells me that since the movie launched they've noticed a 405% increase in sales. They're going to send me a sample(from The Bluebeards, pictured) so I can have a go. It comes with instructions of course.

I am daunted but will give it a go. And if I end up with a better shave than I get from my trusty Merkur, which cost five times as much, don't be surprised if I end up looking a bit narked.

Razorpit: save yourself money

I've been looking at the Razorpit Razor Blade Sharpener. You'd never know it was called the Razorpit, it's in tiny writing on the box on which the main logo says "Razor Sharpener" - odd bit of branding but this isn't a marketing blog, so whatever.

I'm actually surprised the company can call it a sharpener as such because it's not - it's significantly better. Sharpening would shear off bits of a blade abrasively, make it sharp again (tell me if I'm going too quickly for you here) but possibly leave jagged edges. No, this is more of a super-cleaner. Its surface, when lubricated with whichever shaving product you prefer, gets rid of the little bits and pieces of hair, skin and dust which are likely to cause shaving rash.

It also means it's removing debris so the shave will be closer, by all means, but technically it's not actually sharper. It's more efficient use of your blades than before and will certainly extend their life; if you use a cartridge blade and are accustomed to paying something like £8 for a pack of blade heads you'll find it pays for itself in a matter of months and after that you're into savings.

The packaging boasts that it works on double sided safety razors as well. I've no doubt that it does - the sort I use with my beloved Merkur Futur Brushed Steel Razor (£49.99 a shot, but keep reading) - but then I get 30 replacement blades for under £12, so am I very worried about renewing rather than replacing them? On reflection I'm probably not, and it was the long term benefit of paying peanuts that appealed to me in buying it in the first place.

I'm in the minority of course, many more people use cartridge blades than the double sided safety models. If you're among those paying over a quid a blade rather than pennies, this could be a good investment - and it looks OK in the bathroom, somewhat resembling an iPhone (and don't think that's a coincidence). By all means shop around; the link above will take you to Amazon where you can get one for £14.95.

All Amazon links take you to my Amazon affiliated page - if you buy I will get a small per centage. This has not biased my coverage but is mentioned in the interests of full disclosure.

Seacret skin care

One of the things about being a male lifestyle blogger is that you get sent quite a lot of skin care products and a load of men end up wondering why you're bothering. Growing up as I did in the 1970s when using deodorant was a bit girly you can start to see why the idea of skin care ranges seem a bit odd to the male of the species - we're used to looking and feeling a bit rough.

This view always surprises me a bit, though. By all means we're used to it but we're also used to dragging naked razors over our skin on a daily basis. So I'm quite pleased with two of the products I've been sent; Seacret after-shave balm is soothing and odour-free and yes I think I look a bit less spotty for using it. ProActiv Solutions' day treatment has a similar effect; Seacret seems to work better on my skin and you can make what you want of that.

Seacret also sent me some shampoo (which works well enough, pictured) ands mineral-rich peeling gel (it says here) to get rid of dead skin buildup on your face, which would also give you a shaving rash. It's a brand I'll be watching with interest - women still tend to be more interested in this stuff than men, which is odd as they tend not to shave their faces.

If you do have difficulty with your skin after shaving here are some basic tips:

1. Face should be clean - this doesn't mean a quick rinse, it means a wash, preferably with a non-soap cleanser as soap can gunge up your pores. A scrub with bits in (or 'scruffing lotion' or whatever your supplier calls it) once a week will get some extra gunge out.

2. Hair should be softened - water is very good at this, I find a dab of shaving oil or my favourite Proraso shaving preparation helps too - this isn't obligatory.

3. Decent shaving cream - ask a good barber. I use Coates and sometimes The Bluebeards. Apply with a brush as this will raise your facial hair and make it more accessible to the razor.

4. Decent razor with a sharp blade, washed frequently. OK, I'm fussy so I've gone for the Merkur Futur which isn't going to be to everyone's taste let alone budget (although replacement blades cost pennies so over a couple of years you do save money). Very gently, aim to reduce rather than eradicate hair - then repeat from step 3. Change the blade frequently.

5. Rinse excess soap off in cold water, this closes the pores up

6. Moisturiser or after shave balm like the Seacret stuff above or the many other products I've reviewed here from time to time. This helps your skin recover from the razor being dragged across it.

7. Scent if you like but top of the neck/chest (unless it's very sunny, you can burn yourself) and maybe back of the neck. So many people put a scent on newly-shaved skin, it stings like hell and they wonder why they go red afterwards. Your face needs about five hours to recover completely before you start splashing smellies onto it.

Summer scents 4: Kouros EDT Tonique

On the scent of more scents (see what I did there?), and on to Kouros Eau De Toilette Tonique. This is a summer edition of the perennial lemony Kouros and if I had one issue with it then it would be that the original ain't broke, doesn't need fixing. I find this often with seasonal variants; last year Armani made a summer version of Diamonds and Code as well as a Sport version of Code, and for me the originals of both remained preferable.

Kouros EDT Tonique is a bit like that. It's certainly one of the better purpose-built summer scents and of the review samples I've been sent this season it's one of those I've used more than a few times to try. I do like this one but I wonder, other than for financial reasons, why it needed tampering with.

The opening aroma is familiar enough - you get a lot of lemons. This is what perfumiers call 'top notes' - the first scent that hits you. It's sharp, citrussy and of course this calms down eventually. This fades away to something a little more leathery; you wouldn't want the sharp lemons all day and you don't get them. They're in the background and this is an overall pleasant scent to use. It lasts a while, unlike certain  other bottles I've tried - there are a lot out there which are perfectly OK for an hour or so and then you realise they've disappeared.

It's been out almost a month according to the publicity and if I were looking to buy a new aftershave at the moment it would certainly be on my list of possibles. I just suspect I'd end up giving in and getting a bottle of ordinary Kouros if I wanted that particular niff.

Christmas gifts 5: Shaving and shoe care

There's little relation between shaving and shoe care, except that they both fall loosely within "personal care" when it comes to grown-up gifts. So I've been looking at the BlueBeards' Revenge pre-shave oil a bit, and it certainly adds to the smoothness of the shave.

Of course it doesn't do it by itself. Cleanse the skin first, scruff it once a week or so (that's bloke for "exfoliate"), apply small amount of oil to help blade glide. Spread over skin, apply foam - preferably a decent shaving preparation that comes in a tub and has more natural ingredients than chemicals in case of allergies. Use a double headed safety razor rather than something that proudly claims it's about to drag about five naked blades over your skin (are you nuts???), be careful of the angle and apply next to no pressure, aim to reduce rather than eliminate hair, shave. Lather again, shave, rinse in cold water to close pores back up. Dry, mousturise and don't put any scent onto the skin that's still going to be a bit raw - back of the neck and top of the chest will make you smell just as good and you won't get shaving rash.

Bluebeards is a good brand and so is Coates for the soap; these are really good stocking fillers for men who like a good shave. My scent of choice for the moment is Jo Malone Lime, Basil and Mandarin but beware, it's not cheap - if I hadn't been travelling and able to buy duty free I'd have been shelling out £70 a bottle. Unusually I'd say this one's probably worth it.

Also on the "YOU PAID WHAT?" scale is the Black Crocodile shoe kit from Charles Burnand. A spokeswoman swears it looks amazing when you get up close to it - it would need to at over £90. Much as I'd love something as swish as this if any rich benefactors are watching, I suspect the similar offering from Charles Tyrwhitt that's a third of the price would do an equally good job. No, I'm sure the crocodile skin isn't present and correct in the cheaper version and yes, the brush is almost certainly lower grade. But I'll bet it cleans your shoes just as well.

Oh, and don't forget the competition - details here, nominate your all-time worst Christmas tune and be in with a chance of a prize worth over ten quid. Literally.

Video: getting a barber-type shave

I've just had my attention drawn to this guy who does videos on shaving. He goes by the name of Mantic 59, he has a whole series of shaving videos on YouTube and you can follow him on Twitter as well by clicking here.

The video above is on preparing for a shave as your barber would prepare you and the advice is absolutely sound. You'll get a closer shave and he's not urging you to spend a fortune either (says the man who's just treated himself to a new Muller badger hair shaving brush).

If you're a wet shaver like me try giving it a go - I'd be pleased to hear how you get on.

I should of course credit Will King from King of Shaves on Twitter for pointing me in his direction.

The scent of a man 1

So a short while ago I said I'd be blogging on eau de toilette, aftershave, that sort of thing. And I've had a few samples in - too many to bore you with at a single sitting.

Here's the first batch, then. Starting with the rather upmarket Versace Pour Homme (pictured). We're talking long-lasting fragrance, clean notes of bergamot and citrus morphing into woody musk as the day continues.

Not entirely dissimilar and indeed similarly wallet-tightening is the one I'm wearing today, Loewe Solo Intense. If you know Loewe Solo (one of my favourites) then you can guess what a less subtle, less musky version would smell like. This is another one that goes on all day and either I've put too much on or it's getting just a little cloying.

By the way these are eaux de toilette rather than aftershaves. The difference is that a true aftershave should do something to heal the skin after the shaving process, which is why one of my favourites of the moment is Muhler Sea Buckthorn. Yes it smells fresh but it's actually more of a moisturiser than a scent, the smell goes away quite quickly and just leaves you feeling refreshed.

My barber at The Valet put me onto that one and it's one of the better moisturisers I've found. Equally he put me onto Taylor's of old Bond Street Victorian Lime cologne. At £18 it's more reasonable than the more upmarket brands I've favoured before (although we'll have more on those in the next post, I still have my favourites among them), it smells of limes as it says on the bottle and if there's a fault with it then it's that it's too discreet - subtlety is one thing but compared to several of the others I use it's the one I have to top up a bit later in the day. You pays your money...

Finally today there's Molton Brown Black Pepper Recharge. This matches the same company's shower gel of the same name perfectly, and if you use the shower gel (it's very popular) you might as well buy the eau de toilette as well, the gel's going to clash with everything else - although if you use the gel you might not need the edt as it's fairly overpowering as a scent in its own right.

Next post: Hermes, Armani nand why I'm annoyed with Dunhill.

How to shave 2: the blade

The previous entry on shaving tells only half the story - skin preparation and using the right stuff on it is important of course, but the right razor is equally so. My favourite shave by a mile is from the barber's chair as I've said; you relax, an expert takes care of you and you feel as though you're worth a million by the time you leave.

This would get costly as a daily occupation. So I've tested three different home shaves recently (at my expense, by the way, no freebies or bribes involved). You could call them reasonable, costly and flaming 'eck. Naturally I'm sticking with flaming 'eck.



First the cheapie. King of Shaves' Azor just does the job. It's available, as you can see, from £1.99. Replacement blades, for a good one, cost £9.49 for a pack of eight. It doesn't buzz, the head's not that flexible but you get a reasonable shave out of its three blades. You need to get used to the angle but that doesn't take long. The only thing is the cost of the replacement blades will add up.



Gillette's new Fusion ProGlide Power Razor has about a squillion blades, buzzes like a good 'un and gave me a considerably closer shave than I'd been used to from its predecessors. Like all cartridge based razors its replacement blades can cost a small fortune; six-pack for £16.89 from Amazon, which when you consider the razor itself costs over £10 less will make a lot of people think. A less expensive manual (no-buzz) version is available. I couldn't help but think a lot of people will end up paying a load of money for a bit of gimmickry over time. Which led me to believe it's not necessarily the one for me, although I do like the way it lights up blue when you start buzzing (see what I mean about paying a lot for gimmicks?)

The guys at The Valet put me onto the Merkur Futur. They sell it less expensively than Amazon and offer advice on using double-edged safety razors for newbies like me, so do shop around if you want to get one. It's expensive and noticeably heavier than the others; it's designed so that you keep it for years, preferably for life, so it's solid and well balanced. Merkur will sell you blades but the ones from Wilkinson Sword are just as good at £1.90 for ten. They don't last as long as the cartridge versions but they don't have to at 19p each.

The Merkur requires a different shaving technique from the others, and it needs a little perseverance. Have a look at the last shaving blog I did. Follow those instructions but when you get to the shave, remember to rest the round metal part on your face. I do mean rest rather than press. Apply no pressure at all and move in the direction of your hair growth - it's like using a fountain pen when you're used to using a biro, it's a much gentler pressure. You might not actually think you're touching your hair, which is normal and means you're getting it right.

You can adjust the angle of the blade for closer shaves - I've started on a 1, it moves up to 6, which I'm told is almost like using a cutthroat razor. Shave twice and replace the blade at least once a week - you can do that when they cost pennies. Rinse rather than rub the casing for cleaning - or take the blade out first, these things are pretty savage.

I've been using mine for a couple of days. I'm getting at least as close a shave as I did with a succession of Gillettes - probably better - and I'm fairly certain I'll be producing a lot less waste by disposing (carefully) only of the blades. It'll take time but over a few years not replacing the razor and buying blades for pennies, at some stage it'll become economical as long as I'm not tempted by another toy.

The drawback is of course that you need your fifty-odd quid to start off with, and it's ages before any economies kick in. You pays your money...

A shave at the barber

Call me inexperienced but I'd never had a shave at the barber before. I'd just used a decent razor (the new Gilettes give a close shave but are pricey), a bit of shave oil and some gel or cream, and got on with it.

Then we were having the bathroom done a couple of weeks ago and suddenly a morning shave was an epic experience. First, get in early enough so the workmen weren't around (OK, I'm a home worker, I usually have the luxury of waiting until everyone's out). Then see which taps are working, whether the basin's connected to a waste pipe...

So I went to a newish barber that's set up in our area, The Valet (not a sponsored link, I'm getting nothing for this I promise). Near me, on the Addiscombe Road, this is more than a barber - it has a full treatment room for blokes wanting facials, massages and other treatments, but I wasn't in the market for that on this occasion. I sat down, was brought a coffee (could have had a beer or wine but it was a little early and I had the car), and looked through the bloke's fashion mags and newspapers on offer.

I wasn't kept waiting for my turn in spite of it being a busy Saturday and their squeezing me in as I'd booked on the day. The shave itself was a bit of a revelation. You can read about the Hot Towels Deluxe shave on the company's own website but I had my head wrapped in a number of lemon-scented hot towels, two lather shaves with an open razor (sounds so much less intimidating than "cutthroat" but there was no blood!), finishing off with a tepid towel to close the pores up again, a face massage and some moisturiser. I'd left by the time I realised they'd overlooked the splash of cologne at the end but wasn't all that worried.

It was possibly even more soothing than the facial I had last year and which I blogged on here, and that's not a comment on the facial. The company was good and less rushed than my usual hairdresser in spite of the amount of people they had to get through; the background music was there but quieter, there was a screen with news headlines running in real time beside every barber's chair. I suppose I felt a little more relaxed because unlike most hairdressers or indeed the spa where I had my facial the ambiance was pretty male-oriented here (some of the stylists and from the look of it senior management were female - I stress this is a question of ambience, not sexism). It took around 45 minutes, I could have stayed a great deal longer.

My wife informed me that my face was smoother than she'd seen it before (and she's known me since I was 13) and the skin clearer; I felt thoroughly pampered and half-built bathrooms were literally miles away.

On checking I find that I can have all of the above plus a haircut for less than I normally spend on a cut at Rush in Croydon. My wife has asked me what I'd like for Valentine's Day - it's very simple, just pick the phone up and book me in.