Category — Creams

C.O. Bigelow Shaving Cream, as Proraso is sold in the U.S.

The weather in my area today is supposed to reach 104 degrees F (that’s 40C) today. Hot. I mean hot. Almost too damn hot to shave with hot water.

Luckily for wetshavers, it gets hot in Italy, too. This is the time of year I appreciate Italian shave products. Nothing cools the face like a dense lather of Proraso cream. It contains eucalyptus, something you won’t find in the English or German products… where it doesn’t get so damn hot.

As much as I love Tabac lather, sometimes I’m just not up for that powdery scent when the sun is blazing.

Cella soap, also from Italy, does well in the heat. Its sharp almond scent isn’t too cloying, when the streets are melting outside.

Proraso can be purchased in the U.S. under the C. O. Bigelow label at Bath and Body Works, or you can spring for the real stuff online.

Method Shaving is an alternative style of wetshaving conceived by Charles Roberts, an entrepreneur who hails from Austin, TX.

The Roberts Method relies on the use of products designed by Mr. Roberts and available through his shop, Enchante. The products stress natural ingredients minimizing the use of chemicals. All Method products are meant to keep the maximum amount of water on the face and beard, saturating the whiskers to their utmost potential.

Strict ‘forms’ of whisker cutting are observed, making Method Shaving almost a martial art in execution.

While devotees of Method Shaving are few, they are loyal and their numbers are growing.

I’m not going to pretend to be an expert on the Method, as I haven’t tried it. I do want to add information about Method Shaving to the Wet Shavers Blog for the record, and give you a handy jumping-off point to find out more about it.

Here’s a list of links to sources of details on the Roberts Method. First off is of course a video by Roberts’ fellow Texan, Mantic.

Mantic’s Concepts of Method Shaving Part One

Hydrolast products forum

Method shaving board at The Shave Den forum

Enchante shop online

Shaving scuttles have been around as long as men have been shaving themselves. There are some cool vintage ones on Ebay at any given time.

The idea is to keep your lather warm by keeping hot water in the bottom portion of a ceramic dish, while your soap/brush rests up above.

Some entrepreneurial potters out there are making very cool scuttles aimed at the modern wet shaver market. I like them, but at an average price tag of 45 bucks American, I can’t justify a purchase with three mouths to feed and an uncertain employment future.

I do like warm lather, though. What to do?

Fill a ceramic dog bowl with hot water. Set a free promotional latte mug in water, let brush stay warm in there.

Total cost of scuttle: about two Fusion cartridges worth.

Poor wet shaver's scuttle.