Welcome to the Brotherhood of Shaving

At a recent outing to South Coast Plaza with my brother, Matt, it occurred to me how dramatically the men's fashion and grooming industry has evolved. Gone are the days of marketing campaigns targeted towards the blue collar, beer drinking, pizza eating, dirt under the fingernails demographic. The new target demographic is clear and simple.  Men may not be complex as their double X chromosome counterparts, but they are equally deserving of top of the line cosmetic regimes.And the consumer who will fall prey to this seductive lathery appeal is US...the wives of our wonderfully simple men.  Because when we need or want to get our honeys a lil somethin somethin, it's always good to have a go-to gift. And when you are dealing with hygiene...you can't go wrong.

Case in point:

Obviously...women are not the only ones who deserve a top of the line product-filled sink routine, right? 

Enter...the art of shaving.  And so we did.  In just a few minutes of meeting the perfectly well-groomed salesman with a purposeful five o'clock shadow, the artful yet testosterone-infused propaganda had even me believing I was shorting my dear husband by assuming all his manly skin required was a bar of soap, some Gillette shaving cream and a bic razor!

Matt and I had entered the monochromatic barber boutique in search of a comparison between purchasing disposable razers (which gets annoying and costly) vs. the straight razor which never goes bad.  You can purchase a hand crafted horn handled straight razer like the one below for only $260.  Just please don't attempt to travel the friendly skies with this bad boy, TSA will confiscate that concealed weapon before you can say badger brush.  Speaking of badgers...
If you are wishing to compliment your man's 4 step silky epidermis routine with a classy 40's inspired lathering component you could select from the variety of fine feathered badger brushes... or perhaps accessorize your bathroom with a vintage flair by perching your hunk's razor in a chrome razor stand.

Either way, I felt compelled to at least purchase a starter kit for Bryan.  I went with the lemon scent, which smells amazing.  He hasn't been too impressed with it, and i think more than anything, this marketing appeals to the women who are in the malls more than men to begin with! Not that there is anything wrong with that...it's nice to be able to buy a gift for your man that he can use everyday...I'm just not sure mine would.  He prefers the scruffy look...and I don't mind it.  But, beware, too much kissy face with a grunged up hottie can cause your skin around your moth to break out as the oils produced from his skin get trapped in his beard and then rub against our pores.  Kinda gross, but back to the Art of Shaving...

So although the majority of the world categorizes shaving as a mundande daily task, it obviously is not.  It's not only an ART, it's a cash cow niche!! Had founders and creators Myriam and Eric not sold their $12,000 car in 1995 and followed their dream of the impossibly smooth shave, this cash cow Proctor and Gamble recently ate up over would have never actualized. And the fact of the matter is, selling the classic, clean shaven image that the good ol boys represented is priceless isn't it?

Carey Grant

Ask yourselves this...is YOUR man in the brotherhood?