Finding the Perfect Pocket Knife
With all the variety we see in pocket knives, deciding which is the right one for you can be a sure headache. Depending on your needs, you may need a multi-purpose knife or a single, trade-specific one. Distinguishing between a cheap and well-made blade can also warrant confusion. Below, we’ve outlined all the specifics to consider when shopping for your perfect blade. Fixed Blade vs. Folding Blade While knives with fixed blades are by and far the strongest, they’re not…
Marco Finardi Crafts Artisan Brushes for Marfin
In a mechanized, modern world, where commodities are rarely made by hand, let alone by the hands of one person, it can be refreshing to see someone step forward and make his livelihood by his craft. There’s a unique charm to something roughly hewn from raw materials, none of which can be mass replicated; each one bears a personal touch that lends special value to the fruit of one’s hard labour. Marco Finardi, an artist from Cremona, Italy, worked…
The Road Tripping Grooming Secrets You Need
Spring has sprung, and that means it’s prime road tripping season. There’s no better freedom than a joy ride across the countryside, with good friends, merry tunes, and maybe even your family dog. With happy company, striking scenery, and all-round good cheer, there’s not much more you can ask for. But while it’s romantic from afar, the adventure of a road trip can easily be derailed by the ever-more-fearsome odour of your companions. Is it possible to stay hygienic on…
Maintaining the Perfect Beard
It’s easy to get confused with all the different beard products you’ll find on store shelves. And, to make matters even more baffling, no one pictures the prototypical rugged, bearded man as part of a community of fops, excited to buy fancy grooming products. But, if you’re a modern man who likes to wear a beard, while still maintaining a clean and somewhat refined look, then it’s good to know the differences between these products, as they can be…
Eyebrows for Highbrows: What your Eyebrows Say About You
Eyebrows are a curious feature: often forgotten about, they’re seemingly absurd, yet their shape and style can have a great impact on one’s beauty, as well as the way one is perceived by others. Anthropologists hypothesize that the brows were evolutionarily adaptive, conferring protective benefits to the eyes: since the brow hair follicles run laterally across the facial plane, they help to re-route dirt and moisture dripping down from the forehead, carrying it away from the eyeballs, and towards the…
What’s the Difference Between Colognes, Parfums, and Eau de Toilettes?
In the world of fragrances, things can get pretty confusing with all the brand names we see while scanning store shelves: eau de parfum, eau de toilette, cologne, even eau de cologne. But are these just fancy French variations of the same thing or are they distinct products? For once and for all, we want to set the record straight, and clarify what each one of these terms means. In fact, the different names correspond to fragrance concentration levels. In each…
How Our Ancestors Did It: Shaving Through History
The dawn of shaving is shrouded in mystery: no one quite knows its exact beginning, and its cultural meaning ebbs and flows with time and location. We do know, however, that the shaving ritual is long-standing, appearing in the far reaches of human history. In prehistoric cave paintings, men are depicted with shorn facial hair, using seashells to tweeze away beards one cuticle at a time, and shearing with shark teeth or roughhewn flint knives. While it’s easy to imagine…
Are Straight Razor Shaves Legal in North America?
Many modern men have a perennial attraction to the old-fashioned barbershop experience, and one of the touchstones of barbershop quality has always been the straight razor shave. Though extravagant in today’s shaving world, it is part and parcel with the old men’s tradition, and many still go in search of it. Barbers who provide straight shaves are less commonplace today, but the tradition is still very much alive. Only licensed barbers are permitted to give customers straight shaves, and every…
Speick Grooming Products: A Force of Nature
Every year during the autumn months, high up in the Austrian Alps, you’ll see local farmers. They are gathering delicate, yet discreet little plants in an annual harvest known as the Speick Sting. These mountain farmers are workers from Speick Natural Cosmetics Company, gathering the Alpine valerian plant in the Nock Mountain region of Carinthia, Austria. This is the only place in the world where the Speick plant grows, and Speick is the only company that has the rights to…
