Like many in their early 20s, I spent a lot of time staring at the patches of hair on my cheeks, worrying I’d never be able grow a full Grizzly Adams beard (despite the fact that I’d never really wanted a huge beard anyway). By the latter half of that decade, my whiskers were in full effect, though, and believe you me, I grew out one serious face mane. And it was awesome, especially the goatee and various mustaches I enjoyed during the multi-day removal period.
Every couple of years now, I grow out a beard that I’m rather proud of (gray hairs and itchy growth phase, be damned) because a big beard is a good thing to have now and then. The rest of the time, I tend to have a good deal of stubble, shaving only once or twice a week. This, I know well, is penny wise, pound foolish, because shaving off one day of growth takes me about three minutes, while shaving off three or four days of growth takes 10 or even 15, my razor getting junked up with longer hairs after a short pass over hirsute flesh. Also, those longer whiskers lead to many more cuts and much more irritation.
Still, I just can’t make shaving a part of my daily routine, no matter how many times I commit to it. Now at least the nicks and cuts are fewer, the semi-weekly shaves faster and closer, and my face often smelling great thanks to Lather’s Almond Shave Crème, honestly the best shaving cream I have ever used.
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Light and airy in feel, just a teaspoon or so of the stuff spreads out and covers my whole face and neck. The razors glides through the cream giving me as close a shave as I have ever gotten and with each stroke longer than I get with other products. To be sure of this, I have used other creams and gels several times since making the switch, and Lather wins each time in terms of closeness and in how much hair I can remove at a pass.
And when the shaving is done, my face is left deeply moisturized and lightly scented like sweet almonds, which isn’t a bad way for a face to smell. In all candor, occasionally this shaving cream also briefly leaves my skin reddened with irritation, but I don’t care, that’s how much I appreciate the shave: a few minutes of redness as I mildly react to something or other is well worth the close shave and the lasting smoothness and hydration.
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