Michael Ham

Leisureguy's Guide to Gourmet Shaving the Double-edge Way Michael Ham

Publisher Marketing: It's a perfect gift for Father's Day, Valentine's Day, birthdays, graduations, and bar mitzvahs---and a particularly apt gift for men who shave daily but when asked whether they actually "enjoy" shaving answer, "No. I hate it!" Give them this book so that they can look forward eagerly to their next shave---and that is not an exaggeration. Men who have just started DE shaving frequently write that they wish they could shave more than once a day and look forward eagerly to the next shave. This is the seventh edition of the complete beginner's guide to traditional wetshaving---brush, shaving cream or soap, and using a safety razor with double-edged blade. It's a major update of the previous edition: longer, with new sections and new information. It covers not only the basics of how to shave with a double-edge safety razor, but also DIY projects and guidelines on collecting. Reviews of new razors and other shaving products are included, and the appendix now includes over 150 on-line vendors as well as forums and reference sites. The book provides excellent guidance for beginners putting together their first shaving kit and discusses tradeoffs in the options for the initial purchases. Traditional shaving is enjoyable and thrifty: double-edged blades are as low as 7cents each---a year's worth of shaves for $3.50---compared to the same amount spent for one single disposable multiblade cartridge. The recommended beginner razor, the Parker 24C, can last a lifetime and uses a head that is both very comfortable and also very efficient, when used according to the techniques described in the book. The multiblade cartridge's tug-and-cut action often results in skin irritation, razor bumps, in-grown hairs, and razor burn---thus all the "protective" shaving preparations and "soothing and healing" aftershaves now offered. Most men with these skin problems decide that they have "sensitive skin," never realizing that the problem is their daily use of a multiblade cartridge whose its tug-and-cut action, made even worse by the shaver pressing hard to try to extend the life of the (expensive) cartridge. The book also includes a chapter on shaving and skin problems, including information on how DE shaving can help those who have acne as well as how to cure and prevent razor bumps and in-grown whiskers. The book is a complete instruction manual and guide for those just beginning DE shaving, and it also includes links to a host of resources on the Web that complement the book. Contributor Bio:  Ham, Michael Michael Ham started traditional wetshaving 50 years ago, when it was simply "shaving." He hated it because he didn't know how to do it and the only instructions available at the time were limited to "be careful and try not to cut yourself." So for most of 40 years he wore a beard or used a multiblade cartridge and canned foam, which made shaving a tedious, boring, hateful chore. Then he stumbled into the shaving the old way, but this time around he learned how shaving could become something he truly enjoyed---and he wrote this book to help other men look forward to their daily shave as with the same eagerness he now feels.